Escape chapter 1A

His face was inches from hers, his fetid breath filling her nostrils with its stench. She wanted to retch. Even her own bile in her mouth would be an improvement. She looked into his yellow eyes. All she saw was pure evil. His greasy hair hung down around her eyes, blocking off the rest of the room… his face was the totality of her world.

His body crushed down on top of hers, restricting her breathing. She had to do something, and it had to be quick. She could already feel herself fading, her vision tunneling. She couldn’t breathe. Everything was turning gray.

She fought against the bindings on her wrists. They were tied with a rough rope that rubbed her skin raw, she was already bleeding from where the ropes cut into her wrists and ankles. She pulled her shoulders back and forth, trying to force his face away from hers as she tried to pull her wrists from the bindings.

Even if he killed her, it would be an improvement over this torture.

“Don’t be that way,” he said, his voice crackling with lust, excitement and rage. “Just let yourself like it. You could grow to like me.”

She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a response. She just continued to struggle.

She felt him pull back, “Answer me, Bitch,” he yelled before backhanding her hard across her face. She tasted her own blood in her mouth.

His hand leapt to her throat, cutting off her airway. Again, she could feel herself fading away. As her vision closed in on her and what was left turned gray, she hoped she would never wake up. She wondered what she had done to deserve this fate. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she prayed for an end to the torture.

***

Garrett Wilson pulled the screwdriver from his back pocket. He wormed it through the fuel lines and vacuum hoses to adjust the carb mixture… again… for the fiftieth time, it seemed. He loved his Jeep but hated this stupid carburetor. He wanted fuel injection, but that was out of his price range.

Maybe in the summer when he could pick up more hours at work. School would be out in a few weeks and his boss had already mentioned several projects he’d wanted Garrett to complete for him. But that was still a while away.

Satisfied that it was as tuned as it would get… until the next time he needed to fiddle with it… he laid down the prop rod and closed the hood on his old Scrambler. He walked around to the driver’s side and hopped up into the seat.

“No time like now,” he said to himself as he pushed in the clutch and slipped the Jeep into first gear. Easing the clutch out, he idled up the driveway. He goosed the throttle and the Jeep jumped forward.

“Hot damn,” he said out loud, “the off-idle stumble is gone… for now.”

He turned out of the driveway and headed to the gas station to fill it up. In the morning he was supposed to meet up with a couple of the guys and do a little four-wheeling in the mountains. Of course, even though they had confirmed the plan two hours ago, there was a fifty percent chance they would flake out. It wouldn’t be the first time, he said to himself.

No matter, he planned on having a good time whether they were there or not. Life would be easier if he had someone there with him if something happened, but he needed a good Saturday trail ride. The air, the view, and the challenge cleared his mind and cleansed his soul.

***

Bright and early the next morning, Garrett loaded up his Scrambler. He checked the parts and tools that he normally carried, grabbed his recovery gear, a cooler with some food and drinks, an extra set of rain gear, and the soft doors. He preferred driving without the doors, but there was a good chance of rain, so he strapped the doors in the bed of the rig, just in case. “I better grab some extra jackets, in case I get wet,” he said, looking over everything. Be prepared.

It was a little before nine when he yelled up to his dad that he was leaving and pulled out of the garage heading to Ian’s house. Steve and Luke were supposed to meet up with them at quarter after.

Ian strolled out of the house as Garrett backed into the driveway. He walked around to the driver’s side of the Jeep, hanging his head.

“Hey man,” he said, “my old man told me I can’t go. I gotta knock out a project for school. Sorry. He just reminded me a minute ago or I woulda called.”

“Dude,” Garrett said, wanting to give him a hard time, but realizing he had a few of his own things he should have been catching up on, too. “No big deal, I guess. Heard anything from Luke or Steve?”

“Yeah, Luke called, his Land Rover had a puddle under it this morning. Nothing from Steve, so he should be here any minute.”

As if on cue, Steve Bird’s Land Cruiser pulled up next to Garrett’s Scrambler. He waved before dropping out of his driver’s seat and walking around by his friends.

“Hey guys,” he said, “are we just waiting on Luke?”

“He begged off…” Garrett said.

“Let me guess, he found a drip on the driveway, right?” Stave says, laughing. “I guess it’s just us. Has nobody ever told him that his old Land Rover is just marking territory? He can no more get that thing to stop leaking than getting his dog to stop peein’ all over the yard.”

“I’m out,” Ian said, eyes downcast, “got schoolwork to catch up on. Sorry guys.”

“You and me,” Garrett said. “Let’s roll.”

Steve headed back to his truck and hopped in, keying up his two-way radio and letting Garrett know he was good to go.

Ian’s sister walked out of the garage and playfully smacked her brother in the back, “I coulda gone with them,” she said. “I’d ride with either of them.” She smiled.

“Yeah, I’m sure Dad would LOVE to send his fourteen-year-old daughter out into the woods with a couple of sixteen-year-old guys. Give it a rest, Sis.”

“Whatever,” she replied, waving as they drove away. “Besides, Dad likes Garrett. Still time for you to get your Eagle… then Dad would like you, too.”

“Bite me.”

***

“Look, Von, you HAVE GOT to get control of yourself. I can’t keep cleaning up your messes. I might be the Sheriff, but I can’t fix everything.”

“I’m sorry, Deke. Sometimes I just can’t stop myself. She was so pretty, and she didn’t have anyone anymore… I wanted her. I’ll get rid of her and I promise not to do it again, ok?”

Deke looked at his brother. Von was ten years older, but because of a head injury from the Army, he was like a giant six-year-old with hormone and impulse control issues. Their parents were gone, and their mother’s final words to Deke were to make him promise to take care of his brother and keep him out of trouble. Of course, she reminded him that the injury that made him like he was, was all Deke’s fault. He never understood her rationale for that, but regardless, Von was his responsibility.

That’s what he had done for the last fifteen years, taken care of him and kept him out of trouble… no matter the cost. He kept a roof over his head, even though it wasn’t much, and made sure he had food. And, like he was getting ready to do now, he took care of his messes. This was the third girl in the last year. There had been several others since his mom died, and he was pretty sure there had been several more before that.

“You head up to the shed, I’ll be along in a while,” Deke said, pulling out his radio to respond to a call from Betsy in dispatch. “Von, sounds like I gotta go deal with something. I’ll be back as soon as I can, ok?” he shouted after his brother.

“Ok, Deke. I’ll have everything ready,” he shouted back.

Von turned and headed to his trailer to get a couple of tools and a tarp. A few minutes later, with everything he needed, he trundled back toward the shed. He whistled as he made the short walk. He figured he would have time to ask her if she’d changed her mind and fallen in love with him again before he “fixed her up” for his brother. That made him happy. He didn’t mind fixing her up, but he would have preferred to not have to do that.

He opened the door to the shed and saw that the light was off. As he turned to flip the switch, juggling the stuff in his arms, he was thrown off balance by the door hitting him in the back. Before he could react, he felt something slam into his head.

The girl jumped down from the counter, letting go of the claw hammer, which had stuck in her torturer’s head. As she landed on the floor, she collapsed in a heap from the weakness in her limbs. When she hit him, he’d just crumbled to the floor. She struggled to her feet and looked back at him as she stepped through the door and saw the claw of the hammer had embedded itself into his head all the way to the handle. She jumped back toward him and ripped the knife off his belt. Blood was pooling up on the rough concrete floor around him.

She hobbled into the woods as fast as she could. She was completely naked, and her feet were raw from stepping on branches and rocks before she was even out of sight of the shabby little shack and trailer. The morning chill wasn’t yet gone, and she tried to wrap her thin arms around her naked body to hold in the little heat she had.

As she stumbled along, she heard an engine. She looked up and saw a Sheriff’s car running along the road. She dropped to the ground and watched as it drove out of sight around a bend in the road. She was pretty sure she’d heard the Sheriff talking with the man who had taken her. She couldn’t risk him finding her… not if they were talking about “getting rid of her,” she thought.

Next part...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the first part of an ebook available on my blog at LaneBailey.info. Subscribers have access to download the ebook for free.