Chapter 18 #2
She groaned as she turned onto her side and retched. Even that was almost overwhelmingly painful, as her stomach contracted when she threw up the breakfast and coffee she’d consumed earlier that morning.
Then she lay there, next to her own vomit, for at least a minute before forcing herself to turn onto her back again, then to her other side. Each movement sent agony shooting through her body, but she forced herself to do it.
Because she suddenly remembered what had happened.
All of it.
Thinking she was going to meet Natasha and having Tamika and her flunky get in her car instead. The gun. The drive to the middle of nowhere. Her flight into the woods, Louis punching her, trying to get her pants off, his hands around her neck.
Frantically, she reached down—and let out a huge sigh of relief when she found the button to her jeans undone but the zipper still intact.
He obviously thought he’d killed her, and he’d left her in the woods. Thank God he hadn’t decided to violate her “dead body” before he went back to her car to meet Tamika.
Thoughts of the bitch who’d orchestrated everything that happened to her threatened to overwhelm Brinley.
Hatred for her rose hard and fast. She’d pretended to be Natasha Blue, who most likely had no idea she was being impersonated by a jealous, bitter, spoiled-rotten bitch.
Had arranged for Brinley to be kidnapped.
Had to know that Louis might assault her sexually…
and was too fucking chicken to be there when he killed her.
She and that asshole had probably laughed at everything they’d put her through as they drove back to Fairbanks in her car, leaving Brinley stranded.
Of course, they likely thought she was dead, and that no one would ever find her body.
Louis obviously hadn’t watched enough crime TV.
Clearly he didn’t know that it took minutes to actually kill someone by strangulation.
Brinley almost laughed at the thought. He must’ve taken his hands off her neck as soon as she’d gone unconscious—without even checking to make sure she was dead!
The joke was on them, because she wasn’t dead. She was alive, and she had every intention of staying that way.
If Tamika thought she and Louis would get off scot-free, could just go on with their lives as if they hadn’t tried to murder someone, she was mistaken.
Screw them! Brinley wasn’t going to let them get away with this.
She had no idea where she was or how long it would take to get help, but she’d crawl for days if necessary.
Her thoughts turned from hatred for Tamika and her accomplice, to Dash. And in an instant, she changed her mind. She wasn’t going to live to get revenge on her kidnappers—she was going to live for the man she loved.
Thoughts of what he’d be feeling when he realized she was missing were almost more painful than the bruises Louis had put on her body. He’d be totally beside himself. Frantic. He wouldn’t take care of himself while trying to find her. She hated to think about him suffering.
Yes, she hurt. Yes, she was the one who’d been taken against her will and assaulted, but she instinctively knew Dash was experiencing more pain at this moment. Not knowing where she was or what happened had to be the worst thing in the world.
Brinley refused to be a victim. Refused to be the cause of more pain for those she loved…namely, Dash and Cypress.
Determination to get back to them swelled inside her as she slowly sat up.
It took a couple minutes before she felt like she could even move that much without passing out.
Her head spun and the trees around her began to take on a menacing vibe.
As if they were coming alive and reaching for her, trying to force her to lie back down and stay right where she was.
Not.
Happening.
Looking at her watch, Brinley saw that it was four o’clock in the afternoon.
She’d been unconscious for several hours, which was somewhat alarming.
But she pushed all the things that could be wrong with her to the back of her mind.
It didn’t matter if she had a concussion, or cracked ribs, or anything else.
Because it wasn’t as if she could call for an ambulance.
She had no phone and no idea where she was.
All she could do was move. Try to find someone, anyone, who could help her.
A wry smile formed on her lips, and she wished she’d had time for Dash to teach her some of the land-navigation skills he and his friends taught other soldiers in the Army.
They’d come in handy right about now. Because she had no clue which way was north or south, which direction Fairbanks might be, or which direction would most likely bring her across someone who could help.
She could end up going farther into the wilderness rather than toward civilization.
But what she did have going for her was stubbornness. And a need to tell Dash that she loved him. Along with a smidge of spite.
She was going to live despite what Tamika wanted.
And she was going to press charges against her.
Do whatever she could to see her pay for kidnapping and attempted murder.
The spoiled bitch wasn’t going to get away with this.
She might not have been the one to put her hands around her throat, but she’d arranged for her to die.
Had set the trap that led to Brinley’s current situation.
Slowing maneuvering to her hands and knees literally took Brinley’s breath away. She panted for several minutes as she crouched on the ground, trying to get the energy and strength to stand.
The second she tried, she fell.
Brinley wanted to cry as she lay on the ground once more.
But she didn’t give in to despair. She couldn’t. Dash was out there suffering, and she needed to get back to him as soon as possible.
Moving back to her hands and knees was a little easier the second time, but Brinley didn’t attempt to stand again. The world was still spinning, but less so than when she tried standing. So for now, she’d stay as she was and crawl.
Every inch hurt…but she was moving. Slowly and surely. All she had to do was follow the trail Louis had left behind when he’d made his way out of the trees to head back to her car. Once she reached the road, she could follow it back toward Fairbanks.
Ignoring the fact that she couldn’t remember all the turns they’d made to get to where Tamika had ordered her to stop, Brinley crawled on. That was a problem for the future.
For now, she was going to concentrate on only positive things.
She was alive. That was the biggest one.
And since it was almost summer, it would stay light outside for most of the night, so she wouldn’t have to move in the dark. And there wasn’t any snow on the ground, and while it would get chilly in the evening, it wouldn’t get frigid.
Another positive…since Tamika and Louis had stolen her car, and they needed it to get back to Fairbanks, maybe Dash would’ve reported it stolen by now. They’d possibly get stopped and interrogated.
And there was no way they’d be able to claim nothing had happened, that they didn’t know anything about her disappearance, because Brinley clearly remembered the deep scratch marks she’d made on Louis’s face.
And arms. And neck. She’d scratched the hell out of him.
A cop would take one look at the guy and know something was wrong.
Each inch she moved sent waves of pain throughout her body, but Brinley kept going.
One hand forward, one knee, then the other hand and knee.
Rocks and dirt dug into her skin, but she barely felt those tiny hurts over all the others on her body.
Her hair fell into her face and she paused to push it back impatiently.
She didn’t even want to imagine what she looked like right about now. Her pale skin always bruised easily, and she remembered racing through branches and bushes and being scratched up as she ran. But then again, all those marks would help the police make a case against Louis and Tamika.
She also had to have bruises around her neck from his fingers, and since she could only open her right eye partway, since it was swollen almost shut, her face had to look awful as well.
Her normally out-of-control hair would probably terrify small children right about now. She could imagine the frizz and how wild her curls were, not to mention the dirt that was in the strands. For all she knew, a spider or two had made a home in there while she’d been unconscious.
None of that mattered.
Just keep going.
The words were a mantra. She said them over and over in her head.
As she crawled, Brinley realized she had to find help before all the marks on her body healed. That meant she couldn’t be crawling—and eventually, hopefully, walking—around the wilderness for weeks. She needed the proof of her injuries to help document what she’d suffered.
It was difficult to keep revenge from sneaking into her thoughts.
But then again, whatever kept her going, kept her pushing forward when all she wanted was to lie down and cry, Brinley would embrace.
Even though she wanted Tamika and Louis to pay for their actions, her main goal was feeling Dash’s arms around her, telling her everything would be okay. That she was safe. That she could relax, he had her.
Despite recalling her escape from Louis being brief, it took Brinley an hour to crawl through the trees and reach the road—but she finally made it.
Immense satisfaction filled her.
She’d actually done it!
Moving slowly, she sat up on her heels and took a few deep breaths to control the agony that coursed through her body at the change of posture.
Then she looked to her right and left. She saw where her car had made a U-turn in the middle of the road, trampling some of the vegetation on her left in the process.
It was a sign as clear as day, telling her which way she needed to go.
Brinley faced right and began to painstakingly make her way once more on her hands and knees.
Toward Fairbanks.
Toward Help.
Toward Dash.