Chapter 27
twenty-seven
Carolina
My mind was groggy as I woke up. I opened my eyes, only to be met with darkness. They were covered with fabric.
My body lay against a soft comforter, my head at an odd angle on the pillow beneath.
Panic clawed at my insides as I tried to move my arms and legs, but couldn’t. The rope bit into my wrists and ankles, and I stilled as the pain shot into my wrists and up my arms. I pulled at the rope on my fingers, but couldn’t figure out how to untie it.
“Hello,” I choked out; my mouth was as dry as the desert.
“Ah … you’re awake,” Mitchell’s familiar voice said somewhere in the room.
The bed dipped beside me. My heart beat fast in my chest. I had to find a way to get away from here.
“What … what do you want from me?” I asked, trying to keep the panic within so he wouldn’t sense it. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“I already told you, my sweet Carolina. You… I want you and Luke and me to finally be a family,” he whispered, and his rancid breath caressed my cheek from above. At the mention of Luke, the panic consumed me even more.
“You’ll never get to my son,” I grit out through my teeth. Leo would never allow it. He’d protect him.
“It’s already in motion,” he said before he kissed my cheek.
I flinched away from his touch.
If it was in motion, that meant he had help. Because he was here with me. He couldn’t be in two places at once.
He had to be lying to get a rise out of me. And I gave him exactly what he wanted.
“Where am I?” I asked, trying to keep him talking so that I could come up with a plan. Maybe if I knew where we were, I could signal for help.
“In the perfect hiding place. They’ll never find you here,” he said as I heard him moving around the room.
“It’s Haven Valley. It’s a small town. There aren’t many places to hide here without someone noticing,” I said in an attempt to get him to slip up.
“I’ve been hiding here all along, and no one’s thought none the wiser,” he taunted.
“They know it’s you. You’ll never get away with it,” I revealed. Maybe if I got him mad enough he’d reveal something, anything that would help me get away.
The bed dipped beside me again, his breath right above me, one hand on each side of my head.
I swallowed hard. I had to keep him talking. Maybe get him to reveal something.
“I just don’t understand. Why me?”
“You don’t remember, beautiful?” he said as I felt his fingers move a piece of hair from my face. I had to keep myself from recoiling from his touch.
“Remember what?”
“I knew you were the one the moment I saw you when you brought Luke into the emergency room.”
That was five years ago. He’d been stalking me for longer than I realized.
“I still don’t understand,” I whispered as I wracked my brain to recall our interaction all those years ago.
“You brought him in and were so frantic. I’ll never forget the scared look in your eyes while we helped him, or the hug you gave me for helping to save his life.
You thanked me over and over again for saving Luke.
It was in that moment that I knew.” The hope in his voice as he recalled our interaction made my skin crawl.
He turned the innocent hug from a frantic mother into something so sinister.
“What’s your plan?” I said as I held back tears.
“I have the perfect plan. Once I get Luke, we’re leaving the country. The three of us will finally be a family,” he said before he licked the side of my face.
My stomach rolled from the smell of his breath and his touch. The thought of him getting to my son… There was no way I’d let that happen.
“What are you going to do if you can’t get to Luke? You may as well take me and leave. Leo will never let you have him. Neither will his family,” I taunted. I didn’t want him to take me and leave, but if it came down to it, I’d rather him have me than have us both.
“You leave those Courtright brothers and family to me. Now sit there and be quiet, or I’ll have to give you this,” he said as I felt the metal tip of what I assumed was a needle trace down my arm.
I swallowed hard and pulled my lips tight.
The vibration of his phone sounded in the room, and he chuckled as he moved off the bed. His heavy footsteps echoed as he walked across the space, and I heard a door close. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to get away from him.
I had to find a way to get free. I lay on the bed very still as I kept trying to free myself from the rope, when I felt it loosen. I had to keep trying, to keep him unaware of my attempt to break free.
Leo, find me before it’s too late, I prayed to myself.
Mitchell’s loud footsteps came back in the room, and as I heard him start to pace, I found a way to loosen the knot just enough to free my wrists. I kept them behind my back. I couldn’t let him know I was free just yet because my ankles were still tied.
As I thought of a way to get my ankles freed, a knock sounded at the door.
My mind raced as to who it could be.
His partner. Maybe.
“Housekeeping,” I heard at the door and gasped.
There weren’t any hotels in Haven Valley. There was only one place we could be. We were in one of the cabins at Courtright Ranch. He was right. He’d been hiding in plain sight all along.
The sound of Mitchell’s footsteps grew closer before they stopped.
“Quiet,” he gritted out in my ear, and I jumped at the closeness.
He stomped over to the other side of the room. The urge to scream consumed me, but I refrained. I didn’t want him to hurt whoever was at the door. I laid there, still, and quiet as I heard the door creak slightly and then bang against the wall.
“No,” Mitchell screamed.
“Mitchell Hale, you’re under arrest,” I heard and let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness they’d found me. But I needed to know if Luke was okay. I pushed myself up on the bed and removed the blindfold to find Mitchell pressed against the open door, his face staring directly at me as he was cuffed.
“You’ll always be mine, Carolina,” Mitchell bit out as he was pulled away from the door and taken outside.
Frantically, I pulled at the ropes trying to get the knots untied, but I couldn’t.
“Carolina,” I heard Leo yell, and I turned toward the door to find him just across the threshold being held back by deputies.
“Let me go to her,” he screamed as he fought their hold.
He found me.
“Luke,” I cried out as I pulled at the ropes. I had to make sure my son was safe.
“He’s safe with my parents,” Leo shouted as he held up his arms and backed away from the deputies.
An officer I didn’t recognize walked over to the bed as I struggled to break free of the ropes. He helped untie me as I shook with anticipation of getting to Leo.
“You okay, Carolina?” the officer asked as he finished freeing me.
“As okay as I can be,” I replied and slid my way across the bed. The moment my feet touched the floor, I stood and felt dizzy. I braced myself on the side of the bed as my head cleared. The moment I could see straight again and felt well enough to walk, I ran to the door.
Pushing past the deputies that guarded the door of the cabin, I stepped out onto the porch and ran across it and down the steps.
Leo stood at the bottom of the steps with his back to me, his head bent down to his chest, with his hands on his hips.
“Leo,” I yelled as I ran toward him, desperately needing the comfort and safety of his arms around me.
He jerked around at the sound of my voice, his face filled with relief at the sight of me walking down the steps toward him.
Our bodies collided, and I wrapped my arms around his neck just as he wrapped his around my waist.
The moment I was in his embrace I allowed myself to break down.
“Thank you for finding me,” I sobbed into Leo’s chest.