AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Had Grace Mitchell’s body been found? That was her only hope. If someone found Grace, they’d find Michelle’s wrecked ATV. And while that wouldn’t necessarily lead them to this run-down cabin, it might spark a search.
As she’d stared at the four walls, she puzzled over what theman wanted from her. Did it have anything to do with her work for the shelter? Michelle helped Idoya with the books, and she’d begun wondering about some outside deposits. She’d planned to ask Idoya if she knew who had donated that much money. Michelle had snapped photos of the logbook’s pages and had even slipped the logbook into her backpack to take a closer look. Idoya would need it back, and Michelle had thought she’d manage to return it before her boss knew it was gone.
Nosiness had always been her besetting sin, though it was a good trait for a reporter. It was what got her into trouble with Brandon when he’d found her snooping through his office. She hadn’t found anything noteworthy, but he hadn’t spoken to her for a week.
Would Idoya wonder about her when she didn’t check in? Had she tried to call her? Only a handful of people would miss her if she died in this old cabin.
Her phone was in her backpack at the accident scene. If they found that, the police could open her phone, but it wouldn’t show them her location now. How would anyone find her? The whole situation seemed hopeless, but she’d thought that once about her marriage. She’d thought she would never have the courage to escape Brandon’s abuse, but she’d found the strength.
She could find that same strength now. There had to be a way.
She looked at the window again. He hadn’t nailed shut all the windows. Just this one. Maybe she could drag the bed to another window. But after staring around the room, no other spot was suitable. The other two windows in the room had obstructions to positioning the cot properly.
And the door was locked, so there was no escape avenue there.
She pressed her fingers to her temple.Think!There had to be something she could do instead of lying here awaiting her fate. And while she didn’t know what her kidnapper had planned for her, she was sure it wasn’t good. The throbbing in her leg brought tears to her eyes, and she grabbed her calf and rocked back and forth. The movement helped soothe her a bit.
Her jujitsu training had made her proficient in delivering incapacitating moves. If she could disable him, she could take his keys and drive out of here. She’d have to use her left foot on the accelerator, but that was a minor detail.
What advantages did she have? She swept her gaze over the room for the umpteenth time since her captivity began, and she still found no option for a weapon.
She thought through her training. She could use a knife-hand strike to the carotid artery. Or even better, she could blind him temporarily by driving her thumbs into his eyes. But to do that, she had to catch him off guard. If only she could escape when he wasn’t here.
She studied the dirty mattress where she lay. The cot itself. If she could take it apart, she could use the metal leg or some other part as a bat. His truck engine was so loud that she had heard him approach from a distance. She could be waiting behind the door and attack before he could respond.
Could she get the bed apart? She slid to the floor with her legs extended in front of her. Once she was there, she dragged the mattress down, too, so she could examine the way the cot was assembled. Multiple bolts held the legs and frame together, and she thought she could get it apart.
For the first time in two days, Michelle felt a sliver of hope. She gripped the closest bolt and began to twist it counterclockwise.It didn’t budge. Was she turning it the right way?Righty tighty, lefty loosey.Counterclockwise was correct. But years of dirt and grime had welded it in place. Maybe another one would be easier.
She scooted back three feet to the foot of the cot and tried the next bolt. It moved half a turn but then froze completely. The next one seemed even more immovable than the first. A few minutes later she’d tried them all and only had bloody fingers to show for it. Was there anything she could use as a makeshift wrench? Or some kind of tool?
She’d spent many hours in the past week exploring every nook and cranny of this tiny cabin and had found nothing loose lying around.
She was stuck here at the mercy of that awful man. And she suspected it wasn’t just him she had to deal with but more people in the shadows. But she couldn’t give up and wait for her fate. There had to be a way. And she would find it.
***
Thunder rumbled overhead, and the smell of ozone wafted and rain slashed at Jon’s car. The wind nearly shoved it off the road at the curve onto the marina property. It was so dark it appeared to still be night, even though it was seven in the morning. The back-deck lights glimmered through the storm, and he spotted Annie moving around in the kitchen.
He parked and sat in the lot a few minutes, hoping the storm would abate a fraction. While he waited, he noticed a dark SUV backed into a small opening in the forest. Why hadn’t it been parked in the lot? Did the driver need help?
He tried to peer through the curtain of rain to see if there was any movement in the vehicle, but it was too dark. There was no help for it—he had to get out into the raging storm and see if anyone was in trouble in that SUV. He didn’t have a rain jacket or even an umbrella, so he grabbed the newspaper he’d bought in town even though he hadn’t read it yet. He unfolded it and held it over his head as he got out, then jogged through the mud puddles to the SUV.
As he approached, the headlights switched on and nearly blinded him. He held up his other hand to block the glare as the engine roared to life. The vehicle barreled out of its spot and drove right at him. He barely jumped out of the way to avoid being hit and fell into a mud puddle.
He lay stunned in the muddy water and watched the vehicle vanish around the curve. The glow from the vehicle’s lit dashboard showed him the outline of a head. He thought it was a man, but visibility was too poor to be sure.
It had been deliberate.
He didn’t doubt the driver had seen him and tried to run him over. Why? And why had the person been parked where he could watch Annie’s cottage and the marina? Was someone casing the property? Or was it something more sinister? They’d found Grace’s body yesterday, and he’d thought someone was in the woods watching them then too.
He got up and wiped his dripping, muddy hands on his pants. Or maybe it had nothing to do with the body they’d found. If that was the case, Jon had no idea what it was all about. But it made him uneasy.
He was already soaked to the skin. He jumped over mud puddles as he ran through the driving rain. The back door of thecottage was unlocked, and he practically fell into the kitchen. The aroma of cinnamon and maple syrup swirled in the air.
Annie turned from mixing a batch of pancakes. “Jon, what on earth?” She snatched up a dish towel and handed it to him to mop his face. “Let me get a bigger one. There are some in the dryer.” She went through the door into the utility room and returned with a fluffy bath towel.
He was shivering, and the warmth from the dryer felt good on his cold skin. “Thanks.”
