AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was time to check the map. They’d been riding in a northerly direction the whole time, and Aaron thought they might be getting close to where the blue dot resided. He reined the horse down to a walk and took his phone from his pocket. Lifting his head, he searched the horizon, looking for a specific landmark. A large outcropping of rock showed on the map. And there it was, almost dead ahead. Past that, a creek was marked, flowing toward a low set of hills on the skyline. The creek might be dry, but he should still be able to spot it through the scattered trees when he got near enough. He was getting close. Perhaps he should slow down, he didn’t want to alert the guy to the fact he was coming.
Aaron urged Chester into a fast trot rather than a gallop, which was what his mind was screaming for him to do. If he had his way, Chester would sprout wings, and he’d fly over this terrain faster than a speeding bullet. In Aaron’s mind, all he could think of was getting to Julie. It threatened to overtake all his logical thought and years of extensive training. He couldn’t bear to think she might be hurt. A savageness he never knew existed was roaring to get out. To smash and to pound to and to hurt anyone or anything who got in his way. Kill them, if that’s what it took. It was scary, that his emotions could be this fierce and completely untamed when it came to Julie. He didn’t like to think what it all meant, but now was not the time to analyze his overpowering feelings. All he could do was try and rein them in enough so he could continue to use the rational part of his brain to help him find her.
They passed the mound of rocks to the left and Aaron had just turned to study them when Chester propped and reared suddenly, taking him off guard. He was thrown sideways, clinging onto the horse’s neck like a crab, but then Chester bolted, bucking and weaving through the scrub and Aaron lost his fight to hang on, hitting the ground hard, trying to curl into a ball and roll, to break his fall.
“Fuck,” he yelled. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He lifted his head and watched the horse take off through the woodland. What the hell had got into that horse? Wincing, he gingerly got to his feet and began to take stock of any injuries. That’s when he saw the snake, slithering off into a tussock, its brown body fat and loathsome.
“Oh.” Julie’s words came back to him. “Chester’s practically bomb proof, and really patient. He’s only got one flaw; he hates snakes.”
Aaron straightened and then flinched as pain shot through his knee. And there was something wrong with his shoulder, as well. He leaned over to inspect his leg, finding a large tear in the fabric of his jeans and a trickle of blood running from a series of grazes and cuts on his knee and shin. Too bad. There was no time to play doctor on himself. As long as he was still standing and could keep moving, he only had one objective in mind. Just in case, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check if by some miracle there might be reception out here. Nope, no signal. He began to jog in the direction of where he hoped the creek lay, grunting each time his wounded knee bent to take his weight. Chester was nowhere to be seen. The horse would hopefully turn up back at the stock camp, horses were smart like that. Aaron put the unfaithful steed out of his mind; he had no time to worry about a lost horse.
A sound had him lifting his head to stare at the floodplains in front, and he stopped to listen. A muffled bang echoed through the bush. Then another, and another. Shit. That was gunshots, coming from the direction he was headed. Sound travelled a long way in the country, and he had no idea how far away they were. Julie. He took off at a near run, fear driving him onwards.
Panting heavily, he wished he’d brought some water with him, his mouth was dry and he knew with all this sweating he’d be losing a lot of valuable moisture. Dehydration could kill you, but what was his alternative? He kept going. After ten minutes of running as fast as his damaged knee would let him through the outback scrubland, he thought he could make out a line of slightly larger trees than the surrounding scrubland. That could indicate the creek he was looking for.
Forcing himself to slow to a walk, Aaron wiped the sweat from his forehead and peered into the flat terrain ahead. It’d do no good to run headlong into a situation without scoping it out first. Especially if the stalker was shooting. For a fleeting second, he wished he had his own gun, or a weapon of some kind. Something glinted through the trees, a quick flash of sunlight off metal. Was that a car? Had he found them? Aaron took a few deep breaths to slow his heartbeat. Think. What to do next?
Movements stealthy now, he wound his way carefully and slowly toward the vehicle—he was sure that was what it was now, he could see the shape of a white four-wheel-drive half-hidden behind a large river gum. Aaron scanned the area for movement, but there was nothing. No sound either. Almost as if the place was deserted.
Quietly, he approached the vehicle. The driver’s door was open, but there was no one inside. Aaron crept around the vehicle, checking in all the windows, but apart from some camping gear and food wrappers, it was empty. He checked the dashboard of the car, hoping it might have a UHF radio installed, so he could call in backup, but no such luck. In front of the car, on the other side of the large river gum, were some scattered tools. A large wood saw, some large nails, a cordless drill and other implements. What the hell…? He picked up a long-handled screwdriver. It wouldn’t protect him against bullets, but it was something, at least.
A trail of footsteps led away from the car, and as Aaron followed them, he noticed marks that indicated something heavy had been dragged through the dust. His fist tightened at his side, but he continued to edge forward. Around twenty meters away, in a flat area away from the shade of the trees, was a pile of dead wood and something else scattered on the ground. As he approached, he could see that a scuffle had taken place, the ground was all churned up. Had Julie fought for her life here? The idea made his blood run cold.
Then he saw that what he first thought had been a pile of dead branches was actually a crudely fashioned crucifix, and he stopped dead. It was proof this was Julie’s stalker.
But where was she? Why was the place deserted? Something had played out here that he couldn’t understand. Turning on his heel, he spun around slowly, scanning the area for more clues. He noticed a pile of material a few feet away that he’d missed on his first quick inspection of the area. Stalking over to it, he picked up one of the dusty bits of fabric. It was a shirt.
Julie’s shirt.
Quickly picking up the rest of the clothing, he saw it was her jeans, bra, and panties.
That fucking bastard.
Anger boiled up inside him, so hot and fast he thought it might destroy him. The inner demons inside him howled their anger and anguish, making Aaron want to scream into the outback, as well. But he dare not give himself away. Not yet.
Dropping the clothing, he scanned the ground around the cross, trying to decipher what’d happened here.
A few drops of blood lay in the dust beneath the cross. Who’s blood was it? Had someone been shot? A set of bare footprints led away from the cross, toward a large clump of shrubby bushes, clear and precise in the red dust. Julie. Was that her? Running away? Escaping from this bastard. Here and there, the footprints were overlaid by larger boot prints. He must’ve chased her.
Breaking into a jog, Aaron followed the trail. Around the back of the bushes, the footprints were messed up again, and it took him a while to figure them out. Finally, he found more signs, the bare feet continued their way toward the line of trees and the dry creek bed. She was still running; still fighting for her life. Good girl.
Then he lost the trail for a second once he got beneath the shade of the trees towering over the watercourse. It was much rockier down here, the marks in the sand harder to decipher.
What was that? A shape farther up the tributary. Unmoving, like a pile of rags or… He ran as fast as his damaged leg would carry him.
It was a man, curled in the fetal position in the bottom of the ravine. It was the guest from Stormcloud, the man who’d called himself Chase. A gun—Aaron’s handgun—lay a few feet away on the stony ground. Aaron leaned down and snatched it up before prodding the man with the screwdriver. Nothing. No movement, no sound.
Aaron Checked the ammo in his weapon. The clip was empty. Had this asshole fired at Julie as she tried to escape?
He knelt down awkwardly, gun held ready to strike him on the back of the head if the guy so much as twitched a muscle. With shaking fingers, Aaron felt for a pulse. After a few seconds, he decided the man was dead. Rolling him over, he noticed the pool of blood beneath the man’s head. Examining the side of his cranium, Aaron found a large, round wound above his left temple. If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like he’d been hit with a hammer.
Aaron stood up with a grunt of disgust. If this guy wasn’t already dead, Aaron knew he’d probably have killed him with his bare hands.
He studied the dead guy with barely disguised revulsion, but then something caught his eye. A glint of silver amongst the rocks near the man’s hand. Aaron dropped the screwdriver and knelt to retrieve it. A thin chain with a single heart charm. It was the GPS anklet he’d given Julie, what seemed like an eternity ago now.
Shit, that wasn’t good. He tucked the chain in his pocket.
Where the hell was she?
Aaron squinted into the flat landscape, willing Julie to appear before him, whole and safe and well. No such apparition appeared, however. Had Chase shot her, and she was lying somewhere, bleeding out, even as he stood here? The sun was getting low on the horizon, turning the ochre dirt a fiery red where the rays still touched the earth. He walked up the ravine, eyes searching the ground for signs of her. There. He spotted a random footprint heading up the side of the embankment. A little farther on, he found another half-print in the sand. It looked as if she were heading for the cover of the low hills. Should he follow her? Aaron was no tracker, he could very easily lose her trail and never find it again in the growing late afternoon.
If he waited, help would turn up soon, he was sure of it. Jake would’ve contacted Steve, and the muster crew would be here soon; probably within an hour or so. Within a few hours, the place would be swarming with people and cops.
But then it’d be dark, and Julie’s trail would be harder to follow. What if she was hurt or injured? He couldn’t wait that long. Julie was out there somewhere, naked and afraid, and he was going to find her.
