AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“All except Sawyer. We hadn’t bet on him.” I hope that’s still true now. Sawyer has been coming here all his life. He knows these woods like the back of his hand. I have to hope Brooke or Jess have noticed I’m missing and have called him. I must keep him talking. It will take Sawyer a couple of hours at least to get here, and at this point I have no doubt this lunatic plans to kill me.
Why else would he be answering all my questions? There’s no threat of me telling anyone anything if I’m dead.Shaking my head, I push down my thoughts. I can’t fall apart now.
Dropping the last bead, I send up a silent prayer that it’s enough.
“And the girl he abducted from the park?”
“That was all me. I wanted to know how it felt. We had plans for her, but that changed when we were able to track you here.”
“What do you mean? What plans?”
“I’m done talking. Here is as good a place as any. Stop walking.” His voice has changed, and it’s suddenly emotionless.
I do as he says and stop. My body shakes again, and my breathing becomes erratic. Reaching my hands around my waist, I hug myself, imagining it’s Sawyer’s arms wrapped around me.
Silent tears fall from my eyes as I realizethis is it.
This is where I’m going to die.
I’ll never see Sawyer or my family again.
ChapterThirty-Nine
Sawyer
The car comes to a sudden stop on the asphalt of the driveway as I throw it into park and jump out, then run to the cabin door.
“Brooke, it’s me. Open up,” I shout as I bang on the wooden door. What feels like hours pass as I wait for the door to open. When it does, I push past everyone and head for the den where I can pull up the CCTV. We have a camera covering the front door and the back of the cabin. I’m hoping one of them will show me which way Blake took Hallie.
“What are you doing?” Brooke asks as I pull up the vision on the television.
“Checking the cameras. I need to know which way they went.” Rewinding the footage, I play it in fast forward until Hallie comes into view. I watch her walk toward the garage when she suddenly stops and turns. Anger courses through me as a figure walks out of the trees toward her. She even makes a move toward him, obviously thinking she can trust him.
“Oh my God!” a voice cries from behind me. “That’s Nick.” Looking over my shoulder, Jess has tears streaming down her face.
“You know him?” Brooke asks.
“I know him too. He’s played us all.” Turning back to the screen, my stomach rolls as he grabs Hallie. His hands seem to be all over her, and I want to kill him. She’s struggling against him when she suddenly stills, and I can’t help but wonder what he’s said to her.
“Sawyer, look,” Logan says from beside me, pointing to the screen.
I get close and drop my head.
“Fuck! He’s armed.” A gun is stashed in the waistband of his jeans, and I watch on helplessly as he drags Hallie into the trees and out of sight. My heart breaks knowing how terrified she must be. I have to find her.
I played in those woods hundreds of times as a kid. I have the upper hand on him, and I need to use that to my advantage. “I need to find her,” I exclaim, standing up.
“Wait for backup, Sawyer,” Logan says, his hand on my shoulder. “They’ll be here soon.”
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, shrugging off his hand. “She might not have that long. I can’t lose her. I made her a promise, one I intend to keep.”
He sighs and drags his hand through his hair. “Then I’m coming with you.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” Turning to Brooke, I pull her in for a quick hug. “Stay inside and lock the doors behind us. Don’t unlock them unless it’s me, Logan, or the cops.”
“Okay,” she whispers, her face full of fear. “Be careful.” I squeeze her hand before heading to the kitchen. Once outside, I pull out my gun, keeping it by my side. Looking to Logan, I point to the section of the woods where Hallie was taken, and he nods, silently following me.
No one’s been through here in a while, and the ground is overgrown. A small section has been flattened where someone has walked recently, so I follow it, not having much else to go on. My gun is out in front of me, and I jog along the recently made path. My eyes flick from left to right, but all I see are trees.
