The distorted sound of the men shouting crackled through the speakers. They started banging on the glass. Worry now pooled at the base of his spine. Did she have anything to defend herself with? His eyes scanned the room. A fake antique bayonet and decorative sword were crossed over the mantel, but even at a glance he could tell how useless they would both be in a real battle. But she might be able to barricade herself in a room upstairs long enough for him to help her plan an escape.
“Theresa! Listen to me!” His voice rose. “Don’t panic. I can help you protect yourself. But you need to do exactly what I say.”
Theresa took a step back, but her head didn’t turn. The shouting grew louder and more vulgar, with the demand that she open the door. The glass windows and doors rattled and shook like an earthquake.
“Theresa!” He forced his voice to stay clear and calm even as he battled the fear beating in his chest. “I need you to listen to me. Step away from the window. Walk backward to the laptop. Then grab a piece of furniture. Heavy but something you can lift. A small table. A chair.”
She wasn’t listening. Her eyes darted to the weapons above the fireplace.
Dear God, please help me protect her!
Her hands struggled in vain to pull the antique weapons down from the brackets holding them.
“Theresa! Please! Listen to me!”
Oh Lord, please, save her life.
The patio door splintered. Theresa turned and ran toward the laptop. But she’d barely taken a step before the world exploded behind her. Wood splintered. Glass shattered. Wind whipped through the open doorway, hurling snow in with it. Three men ran through in winter jackets, blue jeans and ski masks.
Armed with shotguns.
A scream ripped from Theresa’s lips. Her fingers reached toward the keyboard.
Someone grabbed her from behind. The laptop fell to the floor. It landed on its side and for one helpless moment Alex could see nothing but muddy floorboards and boots. Then Theresa’s head hit the ground. A gloved hand pushed her against the floor.
Theresa’s panicked face filled the screen. Her terrified eyes met his.
* * *
Theresa’s lungs ached with every breath. A hand gripped the back of her head pushing the side of her face into the floor. A knee pressed hard into the small of her back.
Alex’s eyes met hers through the screen of the fallen laptop. She could hear the men searching the cottage. Things were being tossed off shelves. Furniture clattered and fell. Male voices shouted and swore. She kept her eyes locked on Alex like a lifeline. Alex leaped to his feet, still holding the laptop in one hand while he dialed his cell phone with the other.
“Stay strong, Theresa,” his voice filtered faintly through the speakers. Fear filled his blue eyes, making something inside her own chest ache in pain. “I’m coming for you. I promise.”
A boot landed hard on the laptop, stomping it over and over again until the screen died. Alex’s face disappeared. She was alone. Theresa closed her eyes and prayed. Lord, help me. Please. Whatever this is, please keep Zoe and Mandy safe from it. Thank You that Alex knows I’m in trouble. But please, keep him out of danger.
His cottage was a good forty-five minutes’ drive from here. The nearest police station was more than an hour and a half away. Even if Alex came for her, would she even be here when he arrived? Would she even still be alive? Panic filled her throat pushing tears to her eyes.
Mandy had seemed so anxious and distracted about something. Did it have something to do with these men? If so, how had Theresa missed it? Dealing with victims of violent crime was a huge part of her work and yet she’d never imagined Mandy could be linked to something like this.
“Castor!” A voice filtered down from the second floor landing. “It’s not here!”
“Well it’s somewhere!” The man pinning her down shouted loudly. “Tear the place apart if you have to!” His hand jabbed in the direction of a small, wooden hatch, barely visible in the floor near the kitchen’s old-fashioned wood-burning stove. “Check the cold cellar. Check everywhere. If they’ve got it, they’ll have brought it here.”
A heavy man in a red ski mask yanked the hatch open. “There’s nothing down there. Just wood and kindling.”
“Then check upstairs.” Her captor growled in frustration. Then he yanked her head back. His low, menacing voice filled her ear. “Where’s the trunk?”
“What trunk?” She tried to turn her head toward him but his grip held her tight. “Look, this isn’t my cottage. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We’re looking for a trunk!” Castor shouted, so loudly her ears rang. His mouth grew even closer to her face. The stench of stale coffee and cigars grew stronger as he leaned toward her, shifting his weight deeper onto her torso. “You know, a large, heavy, old-fashioned luggage trunk. Something big enough to hide a body in.”
Snickering came from the other side of the room.
“Again, this isn’t my cottage!” She could almost feel the defiance rising in her voice, battling back against the fear as her breath pushed its way out of her aching lungs. “I just got here this morning. I haven’t seen a trunk.”
Castor sat back, relieving just enough of the pressure on her torso to let her gasp a deeper breath. He turned and shouted more frustrated profanities at his two henchmen. For a moment, she was ignored again as they ransacked Mandy’s family cottage. She closed her eyes, prayers filling her heart as she listened and tried to focus on any tiny sliver of information she could glean. Castor called the other two Brick and Howler. Brick sounded angry and frustrated by the futility of the search. Howler barely spoke.
“Where’s Mandy Rhodes?” All too soon Castor was back barking in her ear again. “And that other woman she drove up with?”
A shiver of fear ran through her heart. How did he know who they were? Had they been watching them?
Lord, please keep Zoe and Mandy far, far away from here.
“I don’t know where they are. They went for a drive.”
“Where did they go?” Castor’s grip tightened. “When are they getting back?”
“I don’t know! They didn’t tell me!”
Her hands were yanked back. She heard the rip of duct tape tearing. Then she felt him bind her wrists together behind her. Castor stood and pulled her to her feet. She looked up at the tall, heavyset man, whose sneering mouth and dangerous eyes seemed to float unmoored through the holes of a ski mask. “You’d better not be lying to me.”
“I’m not. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
Castor leaned in so close that his face was inches from her, making it difficult not to turn away from the stench of his hot breath. “What if I threaten to kill you, slowly and painfully? Would that help you remember?”
No. But it would make her even more determined to not go down without a fight.
