Chapter 50
“I’m lost.
I should have been there already, but no.
There was no obvious path. Of course, there wouldn’t be an easy way to get to the man.
When has it ever been easy with him? Blowing out a frustrated breath, I look around, trying to remember if I’ve been here before, but everything is starting to blend.
Pocahontas’s song from the Disney classic comes to mind.
Humming, I sing, “Every rock, and tree and creature,” trying not to scream.
I lift my phone, hoping to catch some sort of signal.
Nope. The GPS bubble that is me is stationary, not moving. Fuck.
I could call for help. Emergency call and all, but I’m technically trespassing on land that I don’t even know belongs to Stone. I don’t have his number to call him. What would I say anyway? ‘Hey, so I tracked you down. I’m lost in what I think are your woods. Come get me.’
The ground gets wetter, squishing after each step. The air is getting colder, and the smells are getting stronger. More earthy and foul. I suck in a breath at the stench, and I gasp when I see it.
Cautiously, I step closer in disbelief and curiosity.
It’s a dead carcass. The smell is horrendous, but it doesn’t stop my fascination.
Entrails hang out in a water-filled cavity from the middle.
The bloated mass makes it hard to tell what animal it is.
Meaty bones are nearby. Ribs stick out, chewed on, but I don’t see any fur.
Just some skin. What the fuck? Is it human?
The horrendous impossibility of it makes me blink.
No, I shake my head. There is no way, but it doesn’t stop me from looking around.
Oh god. It’s a Date Line Special. ‘Woman stumbles on a decaying body’.
My breathing speeds up. Jesus. I force myself to concentrate and use my medical and anatomical knowledge.
A leg bone, like a deer femur, is very similar to a human femur.
We even used one in a class I had a long time ago.
Think Camryn. Think. I close my eyes and recall.
Deer femurs are similar, but have differences.
Like the angles, but I would have to get closer, touch it, examine it, to be certain, and I’m not touching it.
If it is human, then my DNA would end up all over it. Nope. No, thank you.
A bear. That’s what it is. That’s what must have killed it.
I know there are no grizzlies this far south, but hopefully it’s a black bear that won’t give me too much trouble if I make too much noise.
On the other hand, I just stumbled upon a dead body.
The two-legged predator who dumped it out here could be back.
And then at that point, I’d like to be in the woods with the bear.
Leaving it alone, I head around. I need to get the fuck out of here. Stone can wait.
The smell hits me again, and I gasp when I see another body.
There is no doubt that it is human, despite the head having been removed.
Millions of flies buzz around, and some maggots are crawling.
This time, I do yell out and stumble back.
At the end of each arm, the hands have been removed.
The legs are bent, almost as if they have been posed.
Splayed open, in a grotesque way. As if in a trance, I step closer.
The area between the legs is a bloody mess, but I can see.
The genitals. Oh god. They’ve been removed.
Whoever did this brutalized this body. Who?
I keep staring, taking in every detail. There is a rectangular piece of flesh missing from the chest. Why? Then I hear a snap of a twig, and my heart drops to my feet. Oh shit.
I crouch down by the tree, praying that it was a cute little rabbit that caused that noise. I hold my breath, watching, waiting. Then I spot him.
A masked man moves through the trees, and I tremble. Holy shit. I can’t see much since he’s still too far away, his body hidden in shadows. The moment he steps past the shadows and into a beam of light, I know I’m in trouble.
His shoulders are broad. He’s big. Way bigger than I am.
Fuck. He’s wearing dark goggles with a mouthpiece.
Three binocular lenses are hanging over the eye sockets of the mask.
He looks like a freaking alien. He could be military.
The face covering resembles something worn by military personnel.
I think. It would also explain the gun strapped to his chest and the knife in his hand.
Fuck. Adam would know, but my brothers are miles away.
I’m on my own. Shit. Perhaps this is a training facility.
I have no fucking clue. I try to slow down my erratic breathing, swearing that he can hear it.
When he walks near the bodies, I wonder what he’s going to do.
I was just standing moments ago. He bends, lifting the leaves near the spot I was standing, bringing them closer to his face.
What the hell is he doing? Christ, is he smelling me?
I hold my breath when he slowly turns around and looks right at the spot where I’m hiding.
Suddenly, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he can see me.
Those three lenses are trained on the very spot I’m in.
When his fingers lift and flex around the knife's handle, I start hyperventilating, forgetting to keep quiet.
I freeze when the light that leaked out from the canopy of trees glints on the sharp metal edge.
The muscles on his massive arms flex, and I notice that his neck is covered in what appears to be oily black paint.
He pulls out his gun, and I brace for him to shoot.
What I don’t expect is the guttural voice beneath the mask to bark.
“Run.”
I run. My legs pump, and I use every scrap of athleticism in me to keep going.
My legs are already exhausted from walking for hours, but the adrenaline spreading through me, fueled by the terror, makes it so that I dodge roots and vines in my poorly equipped sneakers.
But the mud makes my escape more challenging.
My foot slips, causing me to trip, and I lose my advantage.
He tackles me, and I scream as I crash into the ground.
A hand presses down on my head, and my chest burns from his weight.
Clawing and trying to crawl away. My fingers find a rock, and I lift it, smashing it into the side of his face.
He grunts, and I twist. The self-defense training Jace forced her to take suddenly kicks in, and I use my elbow to push him back.
It doesn’t do much, but it feels good to fight back.
His body gets heavier and heavier, restricting the air in my lungs.
I can’t breathe. He’s going to suffocate me.
My mind goes into blind panic. I’m going to die.
He’s going to rape me, kill me. Stupid. Shouldn’t have gone out alone.
I scramble in the mud, feeling the sharp rocks cut into my skin through my clothes.
I manage to get to my side and I claw at his face, but my nails only find purchase in the thick cloth mask covering his face.
My nails manage to find some skin, and he curses.
I keep going, hoping that I can manage to throw him off me.
He shackles one wrist, and I use all my strength to heave him off, but he’s too fucking heavy, and my limbs are burning from the effort.
I keep screaming, hoping someone, anyone can hear me, but he pushes my face into the mud, and seconds later, a cloth goes over my eyes, blindfolding me, and a gag goes around my mouth.
My hands are yanked behind my back, and my shoulders ache, feeling like they are being ripped from the sockets.
He holds them in one hand, and I start to cry, knowing I’m defeated.
My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest. I’m paralyzed with fear.
Thoughts run through my head. Baby Valentina.
My brothers. My friends. The news that will be broadcast: Camryn Park.
Body found. Raped. Killed in the woods by a madman.
I keep screaming behind the gag, screaming until my voice is hoarse and my vocal cords are shredded.
“Shut up.” That garbled voice initiates more sobs. More screams. No one can hear me, but I keep yelling against the cloth covering my mouth. It’s the only thing I can do to escape the pain and the panic. I have to keep fighting. I refuse to think about the end.