Seeking Safety (5 page)

Barry hands the woman the ibuprofen and a
glass of water. Then he asks her as he spoons some stew into her
mouth, "Ma'am, what's your name?"

"That doesn't matter, we'll be leaving in a
few minutes," I answer after I swallow the delicious stew.

"I don't really think you're going anywhere
tonight. A blizzard is blowing outside in case you didn't notice.
Besides, you're sick. At the very least you need a good night's
rest." He points out spooning more stew into my mouth.

"I can't stop. He'll find us," I insist
taking another bite of the delicious stew, determination ringing in
my voice.

Barry notices that she is becoming more alert
as gets more food into her stomach. "He who?" he asks spooning more
stew into her mouth.

"Eric's father," I explain after I swallow.
"He'll be right behind us. I know he won't stop until he finds us."
I take another bite of stew.

"You rest here tonight. The heavy snow will
cover any tracks you might have left. You should be safe for a few
hours." Barry says. When he looks at the boy he sees that his
eyelids are drooping. "Come on Eric. I'll show you to a room where
you and your Mom can rest awhile." He helps me stand and then
places his arm on the boy's shoulder and notices that he
immediately flinches away from his touch.

He leads us to one of the downstairs
bedrooms. He doesn't think the woman has enough strength to make it
up the stairs. When he has them settled he comes back into the
great room where his Mom is waiting.

"What do you think is going on with them?"
she asks, concern showing on her face. Virginia saw the boy's black
eyes and the bruises on the woman's face and neck. She is sure they
have been beaten by someone. A shiver of disgust slides down her
spine. It's been years but she remembers all too well what it's
like to be on the receiving end of a man's angry fist.

Barry responds, "I don't know. I'm going to
call Jason and see if he knows anything about a compound in Idaho.
They're obviously running from Eric's father for some reason. I'll
try to find out more in the morning. Go on to bed Mom. I'm going to
sleep down here tonight."

Barry pulls his cell phone out of his pocket
and dials Jason Murray's number. "Hey Jason, I need some
information." Jason has been back in Wyoming for several years now
and is more familiar with other activities around the area.

"Sure, what kind of information Barry?"
answers Jason.

Barry proceeds to tell Jason about Ringo
finding the boy and his mother on the logging road along the back
of the property. He explains about bringing them to the house and
giving them food. Then he asks Jason if he knows what the boy meant
about a compound in Idaho.

"Oh man, Idaho is where all of those
anti-government groups have their compounds. You know the
quasi-military groups. He could be talking about one of them.
They're some bad dudes, Barry. Be very careful. We'll help you any
way we can."

After he hangs up with Jason, Barry places
another call. A call to a friend he hasn't seen but one other time
in the six years since he retired from the Marines. Scoot, Dylan
Drake, is the head of Drake Security which is composed of the four
former Marines that served for eight years with Barry. He tells
Scoot of his dilemma and Scoot assures him they are on their
way.

Then Barry sits down in his favorite chair
and thinks about the woman. She is very beautiful with long, dark
blonde hair falling in waves around her shoulders. Her skin is
creamy and unblemished except for the fading bruises. It doesn't
show any signs she had been wearing makeup. Her eyes are green with
long naturally dark lashes. She is of average height, but her face
appears to be thin. He couldn't judge the particulars of her figure
because of the shapeless clothes she is wearing. The calluses on
her hands indicate that she is use to hard physical work. From what
he has heard, those militia groups live in very primitive
conditions. The calluses seem to confirm Jason's assumption she and
the boy came from one of their compounds. She is obviously hurting
since she grimaces every time she moves. She must have broken ribs
or something. Eric's father probably beat her and that's why they
are running from him. He wonders again about the boy's black eyes
and why he pulled away from his touch earlier. Maybe the creep even
beat the boy.

About three o'clock in the morning, Barry
hears the woman moaning and mumbling in her sleep. He walks into
the room and over to the bed. When he touches her forehead he
realizes she is once again burning up with fever. The boy is lying
beside her wide awake and obviously scared. Barry signals to him to
come back out into the great room. He makes him a bed on the sofa
and tells him to go back to sleep. He then goes to the kitchen and
gets more ibuprofen and a glass of water. He carries them into the
bedroom and rouses the woman enough to swallow the pills. After a
while, she settles back into a deep sleep.

Barry goes back into the great room, leans
back in his favorite chair and drifts into sleep, his sidearm on
his belt and Ringo at his feet.

******

Darren Calloway shakes his head in disgust.
This damn snow! He can't see three feet in front of the truck.
Well, he has no choice but to stay in this roadside park overnight
and make his way down that logging road after daylight. That stupid
bitch isn't going to get far in the deep snow on that unplowed road
and this storm is only going to make it worse. After checking the
GPS on his cell phone he laughs. Yep, it is showing that the car is
stopped. He'll get them tomorrow. That is, if they don't freeze to
death overnight. The heater in that car she is driving hasn't
worked in years.

Grinning at the thought of Melanie as an
icicle, he calls Steve Simpson, his second in command at the
compound on his cell phone. He updates him on his search for
Melanie and tells him he expects to have them back in his
possession by early tomorrow. He asks him the status of things at
the compound. Steve assures him everything is fine. Then Calloway
says,

"Steve, listen, if for some reason, something
happens and I don't make it back, look in the locked metal box in
the safe. I have instructions inside that will tell you everything
you need to know going forward. The key is hanging on the wall by
the door in my cabin. I'll call you again after I have Melanie and
Eric and we are headed back to Idaho."

Steve replies, "Sure thing, Darren. Don't
worry about anything. I'll make sure your instructions are followed
to the letter."

Darren smiles as he disconnects the call. He
is confident Steve will take care of everything at the compound.
All he has to do is concentrate on getting Melanie and Eric
back.

Leaning the seat back in his pickup he lets
his imagination conjure up the scenario of what he's going to do
when he catches Melanie. First he will tie her up and take her back
to the compound. He visualizes in his mind tying her to the bed in
the cabin just like he did the first night he brought her to the
compound ten years ago. Then he visualizes using the biggest, most
intimidating knife he can find and slowly cutting the clothes from
her body piece by piece. He might even let that knife slip a time
of two.

He remembers James Bixby telling him a story
about how he intimidated Jasmine when he first kidnapped her. He
used his knife to carve a shallow line around both her breasts.
Maybe he'll try that. He can see the fear on Melanie's face and his
heart starts pounding with anticipation.

Then, he visualizes raping her, again and
again. He pictures the fear and pain on her face as he is pounding
in and out of her. His imagination is so vivid he feels the rush of
adrenaline in his veins. Yeah! He can't wait! He feels himself
growing hard just thinking about raping her and he places his hand
inside his pants in order to relieve his discomfort.

******

When I slowly come awake in the luxuriously
soft bed, I am confused about where I am. I open my eyes and look
around the spacious room lit by the light coming from an adjoining
bathroom. The walls of the room are painted a pale green. A dark
green comforter covers the king size bed where I am lying. The
drapes on the wall have a white background and a dark green
abstract design. In the corner is a dark green leather chair with a
matching ottoman. An afghan in various shades of green is lying
across the arm of the chair. The bed and dresser are made of a dark
wood maybe pine. They look very heavy and very expensive. This room
is beautiful! Where am I? How did I get here?

I try to remember the past few days. My
memory is fuzzy, probably because of the pain and fever I have been
suffering from my ribs. I place my hand to my side and press
lightly. Yes, I am sure some of my ribs are broken.

I finally remember that Eric and I are trying
to escape from the compound and Darren because he had beaten the
boy. Tears cloud my eyes as I remember Eric's black eyes, swollen
nose, and bloody back. They were driving down that really narrow
logging road with all of the deep ruts. I remember the car sliding
into the deep hole and I couldn't get it out. I remember hugging
Eric and apologizing to him for failing in our quest to escape from
Darren. Then I remember the really good looking blonde man coming
to rescue us. He invited us into his home out of the cold and fed
us that delicious stew. This must be his house!

I glance at the other side of the bed and
don't see Eric and panic washes over me in waves. Where are they?
Where is Eric? Oh God! I've got to find him! My heart is pounding
with fear. I jump out of the bed and immediately double over from
the pain in my ribs. I take a minute to get the pain under control
and then as quickly as I can make my way out into the great room
where I see Eric asleep on the sofa. The blonde man, Barry, is
sitting in a chair by the fireplace sipping from a mug. I take a
calming breath as relief flows through my veins and my heart slows
to a more normal pace. Thank God! Eric is safe.

Barry is up before dawn the next morning. He
makes a pot of strong coffee and prepares warm homemade cinnamon
rolls his Mom had stored in the freezer. He grabs one for his
breakfast and leaves the remainder in the warmer on the counter in
the kitchen. He is sitting in his favorite chair in the great room
sipping on a steaming mug of strong coffee and thinking about the
situation when the woman runs into the room frantically looking
around. She spots Eric on the sofa, sighs with relief and asks, "Is
that coffee I smell?"

"Sure, help yourself. It's in the kitchen
along with some cinnamon rolls." Barry answers. He is struck again
by how beautiful this woman is, yet she doesn't seem to realize it.
It's not the made up beauty that is so common in Hollywood either.
It is true natural beauty. With her sleep ruffled hair falling in
waves around her shoulders she is really quite a vision to
behold.

I look around my surroundings as I make my
way to the kitchen. This is truly a magnificent place. I see two
more bedrooms besides the one where Eric and I slept and a hallway
leading to a huge indoor swimming pool. I see stairs leading to a
second floor. This man, Barry, must be very wealthy. He is also
very good looking with his blonde hair, sexy deep blue eyes, and
extremely muscular body. I wish my life was different but I gave up
that choice the day I ran away from home. A deep sadness flows
through me. The way my life is now I can't even think about how
cute a guy is. My only concern has to be getting Eric to
safety.

When I return to the great room sipping on a
mug of strong, hot coffee and nibbling on a cinnamon roll, Barry
says, "You look a little better this morning. Do you have any
fever? The ibuprofen is on the counter in the kitchen. I have some
ace wraps if you want to wrap your ribs. I couldn't help but notice
they seem to be hurting you."

"I saw the ibuprofen, thank you. I appreciate
the offer but I don't think I need the ace wraps. I'm really all
right, Barry? Isn't that what you told us your name is? I want to
thank you for your kindness last night. You were right. I needed a
good night's rest and some good food. I feel much better now. Eric
and I will head out this morning."

Barry says hesitantly, "Well, I think we need
to talk about that. Your car is buried under at least a foot of new
snow and that road you were on is going to be completely impassable
for several days. Your car's certainly not going anywhere today.
I'm not sure what you're running from but you know you can't keep
running forever. I'll do everything I can to help you, but I need
to know what we're facing."

I shake my head and say dejectedly, "Nobody
can help me, it's much too late. I only care about Eric. I want him
to have a better life than rotting away in that compound with those
maniacs. I've got to get him as far away as I can and find someone
to raise him, someone who will take care of him and never let him
go back to that horrible place."

"Where do you want to go? I can take you
anywhere you choose," offers Barry.

"No, I can't let anyone else get involved.
It's too dangerous. Our being here now is going to put you in grave
danger." I notice for the first time he has a military issue
sidearm attached to his belt and a frission of alarm slides down my
spine.

At the sound of the doorbell ringing I jump
and stare at Barry panicked. Oh my God! It is barely daylight! Who
would be visiting at this time of day? It's got to be Darren! My
heart starts pounding with fear and I look around frantically for
someplace to hide.

Barry encourages her, "Go into the bedroom
and shut the door. I'll handle it." He hurriedly picks up Eric from
the sofa and carries him into the bedroom closing the door behind
him.