Text (Take It Off #4)(12)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Off to my right were more woods. I couldn’t see very far in because it was so dark, but I figured if she was anywhere, it would be over to this side. When I realized I was around the area where she was, I stopped the Jeep and got out, walking into the trees to search for a place to put my Jeep. Leaving it out in the open seemed like a bad idea.

About a mile farther than I wanted to be was a small clearing beneath a canopy of trees. I jogged back to the car and drove it forward, using my four-wheel drive to go off the gravel road and basically four-wheel through the trees and over the uneven ground. I nudged the Jeep between two trees with low-hanging branches and then cut the lights and the engine.

I sat there a long time, listening to the sounds of the woods, wondering if anyone else was out there. The night remained still, except for the distant rumbling of thunder above.

I prayed the rain was moving away from us and not closer.

Before starting off on foot, I pulled out my phone and sent word to Honor. I think I’m close by. If you hear me call out for you, answer.

I didn’t get a reply right away and I hadn’t expected one. My service was low and I knew hers was worse. Hopefully she would at least get the message.

I palmed the pistol beneath the front seat and tucked it in the waistband of my jeans and then tucked the knife I always carried in my front pocket.

Then I pressed a few keys on my phone and held it to my ear.

Patton answered on the second ring. “Hallow,” he drawled.

“Patton, this is Reed. Don’t say my name.”

“What’s up?” he said, his tone staying the same, but I knew he was alert.

“You still playing poker?”

“Sure am!”

“Lex still there?”

He paused. I knew he wanted to ask me what this was about. I really hoped he didn’t. “No.”

I swore.

Patton stayed quiet on the other end of the line. Then I heard his muffled voice say, “I gotta piss.”

I heard the opening and closing of two doors, and I imagined the path he was taking through the door by the bar, across the laundry room, and then into a tiny two-piece bathroom beside it.

“He left,” Patton said, turning on the faucet as he talked.

“How long ago?”

“About thirty minutes.” He paused. “He seemed a little distracted after you left.”

Fuck. I probably shouldn’t have pointed out his phone was missing. He hadn’t known, and I called attention to it. I might have cost myself—and Honor—precious time. I was merely acting in the moment. I hadn’t yet fully decided if those texts were the absolute truth. But once I saw his reaction to the missing phone, added to the picture and the necklace… I couldn’t not believe it anymore.

“What’s this about?” Patton asked, and I heard the sound of a toilet flush.

“I’ll explain later,” I said urgently. I needed to find her, and fast. “Don’t tell anyone I called.”

“I won’t.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear just as I heard Patton say, “Hey.”

“Yeah?” I said.

“If you need anything, I got your back.”

“Good to go,” I replied.

“Semper Fi,” Patton said and then he cut the line.

Semper Fi. Always faithful. It was the Marine Corps way of life. I knew if shit hit the fan, I could call and Patton would be there.

I hoped it didn’t come to that.

I didn’t bother to lock the Jeep when I got out and walked into the trees. I pulled the bill of my hat down low and tucked my hand in my jacket, pulling out a high-powered flashlight that was the size of a pen.

But in this case, size didn’t matter.

This little baby would cut through the worst of the darkness tonight. Overhead, another rumble of thunder rolled. It covered the sound of a text coming through my phone.

I pulled it out, silenced the ringer, and looked down at the message.

Two words.

Two words that made my blood run cold.

He’s back.

13

Honor

The thunder rolling through the night sky wasn’t a good sign.

“Seriously,” I muttered. “Like this day isn’t bad enough?”

I guess when it rains it pours. Literally. I had very vivid imaginations of the sky opening up to some kind of freak torrential downpour and me being trapped in this hole as it slowly filled with icy cold rainwater. Slowly freezing or drowning me…

What would be a better way to go? Freezing to death or drowning?

I’m a writer and even I never dreamed up half this shit. Well, I guess one positive would be if I survived this, I would have a ton of new material to work with.

Thunder rumbled again, and I sighed. My stomach growled, matching the ferocity of the thunder, and I realized I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. I never ate before my early runs because it upset my stomach. I usually made a pot of coffee and some kind of egg scramble after I returned home.

Then I would spend most of my day typing away at a story, social networking, marketing, and communicating with my agent.

I wondered if anyone noticed I was missing by now. I loved being a recluse, but I was beginning to think that my choice of lifestyle was a serious hazard.

Maybe I should have gotten a dog after all. A companion to have around all day might have been nice.

I paused. This was the second time today I thought of a dog. Why would I be thinking of something like that at a time like this?

I was insane. More so than usual. I was probably ready to suffer some sort of psychotic break from the stress of being kidnapped. I mean really, I thought I was stronger than that.

Or maybe you’re just thinking of the things you never got to do.

I don’t know where that inner voice was coming from, but it needed to shut up. I think I would prefer some psychotic break than sitting down here and thinking about the bucket list that was never fulfilled. I wasn’t ready to admit defeat. I wasn’t going to accept my death.

And also, I found it quite amusing that on the cusp of death, my one regret seemed to be that I didn’t have a dog.

Of all the things I could regret, that was what I chose?

I had a feeling a psychiatrist would have a field day with that.

I looked up toward the top of the hole, and though it was dark, I could make out the tops of the trees swaying in the wind. I didn’t want my kidnapper to come back, but I also didn’t want to spend the entire night down here in the rain.

I pulled out the phone again and looked at the signal. No bars. I decided to distract myself by snooping. I called up the camera roll and started going through his pictures. They looked like pictures you’d find on any regular guy’s phone. A barbeque, a baseball game, and one featuring the kidnapper front and center, with poker chips piled high in front of him.