Those Girls (32 page)

I stood up and looked around the room again, trying to focus on the details. The bed was in the center of the back wall—the only window was on its left side. Crystal was sitting on the floor in a small stream of light, watching me. The foot of the bed, where I was tied, was closest to the door. It looked like there was a closet to the left, with two bifold doors. A closet meant coat hangers, which we could maybe use for weapons or something, but we had to get there.

The dresser was in the opposite corner from me, near the closet. The room itself was fairly large, obviously the master bedroom. I could make out a deer head and a few paintings on the wall, hunting scenes.

He liked to kill things.

I sank to the floor, my back against the mattress, and pressed my head into my knees, my mind spinning with panicked thoughts. What would he do with my car? What was he going to do to
me
? I looked at Crystal again. She had her arms wrapped around her legs, but I could still see the bruises on her body. Would Gavin rape me too? Did Brian know Gavin had Crystal? Did Riley know?

I thought about my mom. What would she do when I didn’t come home Thursday? Would she call the police right away? Would it be too late?

I’d been so stupid. I thought of all my lies, how clever I’d thought I was to disable the location services on my phone, throwing her off track.

I tried to stay calm, tried to think what my mom would tell me to do.
Wait, Skylar. Think. Plan your escape. Don’t give up. I’ll come find you.
It comforted me, thinking of my mom searching. She was smart; she’d know what to do. They’d track Crystal like I did, they’d talk to the lady at the motel, they’d find out somehow that I’d been working at the ranch, they’d get the police to search for us.

Then I thought about how Gavin had looked at me, how he’d realized I was Brian’s daughter. Would that change things? Maybe Brian would let me go? My hopes plummeted. Of course he wouldn’t, not after I’d seen Crystal. If he knew I was his daughter, he might even kill me sooner.

He wouldn’t want anyone to ever know about me.

*   *   *

As the hours passed, the room got hotter, the stench from the bucket making my eyes water and my stomach surge into my throat. Flies buzzed in the window and into the bucket, an incessant hum. I couldn’t stop thinking about water, how good it would taste, how dry my mouth felt. I hadn’t eaten for twenty-four hours.

We were both sitting with our backs against the bed. Sometimes Crystal would rest her head on her knees, like she was sleeping. A few times I caught her watching me, tears in her eyes. I wondered what she’d been doing every day, imagined her lying on the bed, sleeping or staring up at the ceiling, wondered if she’d been hoping we’d rescue her or if she’d just wanted to die. I felt another wave of shame. It was my fault that she was here, and now it was my fault she didn’t get rescued. I
had
to find a way to get us out of here.

I studied the bed, the bottom of the posts, hoping there were some wheels we could get off, some metal parts I could use to slice the tape, but it was solid wood. If I could get to the fan I could use the cord to choke Gavin, or maybe bash him over the head with the stereo, but both were out of my reach.

I stood, motioning for Crystal to do the same. I leaned down and pressed my shoulder into the side of the mattress, pushed with my body. She understood quickly what I was trying to do and started pushing. We used our bodies to shove the bed toward the other wall. I was closer to the fan and stereo, but they were still a frustrating foot away no matter how hard I strained.

We pushed the bed back into place. My bladder ached from holding on for so long, pains shooting through my stomach. I hooked my thumbs in the back of my shorts and tried to shimmy them down so I could use the bucket, but they were too tight. I had to pee my pants again, feeling ashamed and dirty. Crystal looked away, like she was trying to give me privacy. I tried not to think about it, tried to focus on escaping.

I wondered if Crystal had tried anything yet and wished we could talk. What should I do when Gavin came back? Try to fight or beg for my life? I had to get him to untie me somehow.

The room was even hotter, sweat dripping between my shoulder blades, my hair wet at the back of my neck and my forehead. My shorts were damp and uncomfortable. I could smell the sweat and urine on my body. Flies were walking around the edge of the bucket, some landing on Crystal, crawling on the bite marks, but she didn’t move, not even a twitch. I worried she’d get an infection, then I thought maybe she didn’t care anymore, maybe that’s how she’d been surviving. She’d looked terrified earlier, but now she just seemed kind of out of it.

Flies were buzzing near me now, circling and landing on my jeans shorts. I wiggled my body, trying to get them off.

I remembered the waitress telling me about the record heat waves in the Sunshine Valley.
Gets so hot around here you can fry an egg on the sidewalk
. Was Gavin just going to leave us up here to die of starvation or dehydration? I imagined my body turning to a husk, my skin cooking, the flies eating at my eyes.

The hours passed slowly. He had to be getting off work soon. I strained my ears, wondering if I’d hear his footsteps over the music. I figured I was in some sort of shock, my body breaking out into waves of shivers, and then a numb feeling coming over me. I felt faint sometimes, my head woozy if I moved too fast. It was weird not being able to talk to Crystal. She’d cry sometimes, looking at me, then I’d start crying too.

It felt late in the day now, seemed like I’d been trapped for hours and hours, but I’d lost all sense of time. I had my head resting on my knees when I noticed the doorknob turning. I looked up with my heart beating fast.

Gavin walked in, gave us a smile as he turned down the music. He was still wearing work clothes, his jeans covered with dirt, his red T-shirt stained with big sweat circles under the arms. He smelled like manure.

He was also carrying a couple of sandwiches, the bread squished in his big hand, and two bottles of water.

“Sorry I’m late, girls. Had some business to take care of. Goddamn, it’s hot in here.” He set the water and sandwiches on the dresser, took his baseball cap off, and rubbed at his sweaty hair. “Miss me?”

I glared at him. Crystal was watching, a nervous expression on her face.

He sniffed at the air. “You girls stink.” He came over with the water and the sandwiches, squatted in front of me, sniffed again. “Guess you couldn’t get your shorts off, hey?”

He undid my gag. I inhaled deeply, finally able to suck in a big lungful of air. My mouth was sore from being stretched for so long, my tongue thick and swollen. I licked my dry lips, the salty sweat at the corners of my mouth.

He reached up and grabbed one of the bottles, fed me the water. I sucked at it desperately, trying not to let any spill out, swallowing it all down. When the bottle was empty he shoved a sandwich into my mouth, let me take a bite. It was dry, tasted like old meat and cheese, but I bit and chewed as fast as I could.

He replaced the gag then moved on to Crystal and repeated the process. Then he stood up, threw the bottles toward the door, and came over to me.

“Get on your feet.”

Fear rushed through my body. Was this it? Was he going to kill me? I glanced over at Crystal. Her eyes were terrified again.

“Don’t look at her.” He gripped my arm, pulled me to my feet. “I found your car. You won’t have to worry about the cops impounding it.” That mean smile again.

His hands were at the front of my shorts. I screamed behind my gag, tried to step backward. He grabbed my rope leash, gave it a quick snap. The rope tightened around my throat.

“Unless you want more of that, stand still.”

I froze, tears forming in my eyes and dripping down as he undid my button and zipper, staring into my face, his tongue licking his lips.

He stepped back, lowered my shorts, leaning over slightly, his face brushing against my crotch. I closed my eyes. My body was shaking violently.

“Lift your feet.” I lifted them one at a time. He took off my shorts, threw them into the corner. “Going to have to burn those.”

I felt him step closer, felt the heat of his body. He put his finger inside the waistband of my underwear, and I flinched. He circled his finger around to my lower back and then the front again.

“You like that?”

My eyes were still closed. I was crying so hard I wondered if I’d suffocate.

Now he was pulling my underwear down, slowly. He let out a whistle.

“Aren’t you sweet.”

He made me lift each foot again. I kept my eyes closed, didn’t want to see him staring, didn’t want to see the look on his face. Something landed in the corner, probably my underwear. I heard him step back.

“Open your damn eyes.”

I opened them, my whole body heaving with sobs.

“Your daddy was being a right prick today.” He reached out, gave me a hard slap across my face. I stumbled backward, trying not to fall onto the bed, my face stinging from the blow.

I heard noises, like Crystal was screaming into her gag. Gavin lunged toward her as she ran at him, hit him hard in the chest with her shoulder.

He grabbed her and threw her onto the bed, sprawled on top of her. Her legs were kicking at his backside. He slapped her hard a couple of times, the sick sound of flesh meeting flesh ringing through the air. She stopped kicking.

I screamed helplessly into my gag, tried to get closer, wondering if I could use my rope and get it over his head and choke him, but I couldn’t reach that far.

He had one forearm pressing down on Crystal’s throat, his other hand undoing his jeans. I sank to my knees, turned my back on the scene, and closed my eyes. I chanted over and over in my head, trying to drown out the noises, the sound of the bed slamming against the wall, animal grunts from Gavin.

It’s going to be over soon. We’re going to get out of here. We’ll find a way. My mom is going to find us any minute. She’ll kill him for this.

Finally Gavin let out a groan and was silent, the sound of his breathing filling the room. I could hear small whimpers from my aunt. My eyes were shut tight, holding back tears that leaked out anyway. I thought about my mom and Dallas, how they’d lived through this. I hadn’t really understood before.

I heard Gavin get off the bed, the sound of his zipper.

Footsteps coming closer now. I heard him squat in front of me, felt his presence. I opened my eyes, braced for him to slap me.

“I’ve got to get ready to go out, but you and me, we’ve got a date later.”

He turned the music up, gathered the empty water bottles, and left. I got to my feet, looking for Crystal on the bed to see if she was okay. She rolled on her left side, so that her back was facing me. Her shoulders were shaking.

I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn’t do anything. I slid back to the floor.

*   *   *

I thought Gavin was gone for the night, but he came back a little while later, rifle in his hand. I scrambled to my feet. I heard Crystal move on the bed and glanced at her. She was in a sitting position, her body turned to the side like she was trying to shield herself. He wasn’t even looking at us, though.

He walked over to the stereo, turned the music down. He seemed agitated, his movements jerky, his face flushed and his breath heavy like he’d run up the stairs. He walked back to the door, then turned around.

“You two make one sound, I’ll kill you.”

He locked the door again. I heard his footsteps going down the hall, then another door opening. He must be in the spare bedroom. I remembered how the window looked out to the front of the house. Was someone coming?

I heard a vehicle pull up, a car door slam shut. Knocking on the front door.

The doorbell rang. I waited, expecting Gavin to run downstairs, but I didn’t hear his footsteps. Was he going to shoot whoever was at the door?

Silence for a few more minutes, then knocking on the back door. It sounded like it was almost right under our window.

A voice called out, “It’s Sergeant McPhail with the RCMP. We’d like to talk to you for a minute, Mr. Luxton.”

I wanted to scream—help was so close. I looked at Crystal. She was on her feet, staring at the window. I motioned to her that we should try to lift the bed. Maybe if we dropped it a few times the posts would make some noise, but she shook her head, looking toward the door. She was right. Gavin would hear.

A couple of minutes later, I heard a car door slam again, then the sound of the car driving away. I felt desperate, helpless. We’d been so close.

Gavin came into our room. He still looked nervous, but his breathing wasn’t as fast as before. He paced around a bit, glancing at us every once in a while like he wasn’t sure what to do next. He stopped and looked at us.

“You bitches are lucky,” he said. “You get to live a little while longer.”

He turned the music back up, flicked the light off, and left the room.

I sank back down to the floor. No one was going to come now.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

J
AMIE

We drove back to the motel when we were finished at the station and rented a room close to Crystal’s.

“I don’t want to just sit around waiting,” I said.

“What do you want to do?”

“Maybe we should stake out the ranch, see if they leave.”

“We can’t—not if that sergeant is heading out there.”

“Then we should try to find the warehouse. But I don’t know how.”

“I saw a flyer up at the station,” Dallas said. “It was for a town barbecue in the park today at five. There’ll be lots of locals there, right?”

I glanced at my watch. “It’s almost seven.”

“They had a band playing too. Might go on for a while.”

“Think we should ask around?” I said.

“Someone might’ve seen them in town. Maybe it’s like that cop said, we shouldn’t rule anything out, you know? We could at least ask people to check their properties and see if anyone knows of any old warehouses.”

“It’s worth a shot,” I said. “But what if the men are there?”