Captured Again (27 page)

He hesitated at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the door, hoping Emma had heard or seen them pull in and would save him from having to ring the bell and possibly come face to face with Rick.
She’s not coming, dude. Move it,
Dusty’s conscience prompted him.

When his foot hit the first step, he nearly fumbled, his shoe coming down on the edge of something. He shined the flashlight down and found Emma's phone. He picked it up. The colorful case had a crowd of cartoon figures on it; he'd never seen another like it. He turned around, shining his light across the yard.
Is she out here?
The swing broke his beam. It looked different than the only other time he'd been here. He quietly stepped over to it and grabbed the ribbons with his free hand, alarmed to see what looked like a few drops of blood splatter. He took a closer look at the swing seat and saw what looked like a blood smear there, too.

He swung his flashlight over the entire yard and then focused on the edge of the woods closest to the swing.
There.
He saw the weeds and brush pushed down as if someone—or something—had recently run through there.

He looked back over his shoulder to Jump's car first. Jump was still sitting tight, with his head poked out the window, probably trying to figure out what Dusty was doing. He still looked spooked. Dusty held his hand up and gestured that he was going up to the house; he made sure his light was aimed on his hand so Jump would clearly see his intentions.

Jump waved back. The moonlight caught his arm, but Dusty had no idea what his signal was... probably something he'd seen on TV.

He was halfway up the steps when he heard a scream coming from the woods. Dusty froze mid-step.
That was Emma!
His heart skipped a beat—or two—and then start thumping double-time. The stillness of the night had carried the sound, but Dusty felt like it had come from the woods, behind the house somewhere.

Dusty looked toward Jump. He had heard it too and was already out of the car.

“Get back in the car, Jump!” he roared. “And call 9-1-1!”

Before he could see if Jump followed his instructions, he was off the porch and had dove into the woods.

E
mma's legs were jittery, but she couldn't stop. If she did, he'd find her. She'd run straight onto a deer trail that threaded through the woods. She'd thought to herself then she was glad she wasn't just a rock in the latest show; her workouts in front of the microphone had given her an advantage. She'd run on the trail as far as it took her—always making sure she could hear him somewhere far behind her—until it had ended with an army of tall trees, each looking dark and sinister, their trunks blocking out the moonlight.

Then she'd had to fight her way with every step, caught in briars and brambles—cut and bleeding—walking through nearly pitch dark in the dense woods with her hands in front of her. She’d known she was still somewhere in the back of Gabby's property, although not exactly sure where, but she had purposely tried to keep circling the back tract, trying to get close enough to the house that she could make a run for it with enough time to snatch up her phone and get inside to lock the door behind her and call the cops. But this had turned into a very long game of hide-and-seek, and she was tired of playing.

Who is this guy? And how does he know Gabby?
That question had been flipping and flopping around in her mind, along with false starts to a different plan, different than what she was doing. Her original plan didn't seem to be working. Every time she'd come near the tree line to Gabby's yard, she'd frozen, her heart pumping wildly while she second-guessed whether or not she was far enough ahead to beat him in a foot race across the yard to the house.
What if he's not as tired as I am? Maybe this guy runs in the woods every freakin' day
. Forcing her to turn away and lead him back away from the house again to try to get a bigger lead.

Now her legs were nearly given out, twitchy and tired.

She slowed to a fast walk and continued to plod along, her feet feeling heavier and heavier.
Come on, feet, keep my ass from falling in the grass,
she thought. This uneven terrain and long, steady pace was different than flittering around on carpet in the studio. Her ankles, feet, and hips ached. Her lungs felt abused and even her skin hurt; it stung where she'd stumbled several times, falling and catching herself on her hands in the dark. She'd been out here over an hour, walking, then stopping... listening to be sure he was still chasing her. When she heard his footsteps get faster, she'd run again until he slowed down. It was an on again, off again chase.

Emma was panting.
I'd kill for a cold bottle of water,
she thought and then shivered, realizing that wasn’t even funny in these circumstances, even if she hadn’t said it out loud.

She stopped to lean against a tree to rest and get an idea how far he was behind her. She breathed in silence, although it was an effort and her lungs were seriously getting pissed from the abuse. The sweat dripped off her nose and she could hear it hit the dry leaves with an exaggerated
plop
... No other sound other than the distant tree frogs and cicadas. She listened harder. A breeze rustled up some leaves, but when it quieted, she heard nothing. She couldn't hear him moving anymore. The silence was deafening. She started to panic. Maybe she hadn't stopped soon enough? Maybe he'd given up and was already on the way back to the house?

All other notions flew from her mind as the belief planted itself firmly that he was on his way to the house. It paralyzed her with fear and turned the sweat that soaked her clothes into a prickly bath of ice water.

Emma shrieked, loud and long, and began to race toward the direction she thought the house was.
“No! No! No!”
she screamed even louder as she blindly raced through the trees with her arms out in front of her, slapping away the branches and brush. Here, the trees were spread apart more. Moonlight peeped in, letting the bigger trees mimic the shadow of a man, frightening her over and over again, but she wouldn’t stop.
I’ve got to get to the house!
She kept running, branches slapped her without mercy, and she could feel the water stream out of her eyes, flying backwards to wet her face. She sprinted, adrenaline feeding energy to her tired limbs. She darted faster and faster through the trees, barely feeling her feet on the ground.
There!
She could see a break in the tree line and caught a glimpse of the backyard as she dashed closer and closer, finally seeing the outline of the house—dark and squatting—the back windows dark except for the moonlight reflecting off them, giving the house a threatening, sinister appearance, as if it lay in wait for Emma to reach it. But she had no choice now. Panting with effort, she pushed on, almost to the edge where the woods would finally release her into Gabby’s backyard.

The woods exploded all around her with noise, startling Emma and causing her to stumble in the dark. Her feet tangled beneath her and she crashed down toward the forest floor. She squeezed her eyes tight as she fell, realizing he'd won the game.
He tricked me. He was still out here in the woods. Now the son of a bitch has me.
She twisted her body as she was falling, trying to land on her back. She'd still fight. Just before her head hit the ground, she opened her eyes and saw him, a dark blur barreling toward her, and then she lost herself in the spreading darkness.

“E
mma,” Dusty whispered.

He held her hand gently in the crowded ambulance, trying not to jostle the IV drip. Between the paramedic and Emma’s gurney, there wasn’t much room for him in here, but he'd fiercely insisted and no one had dared deny him after he flashed his badge.

Her eyes were still closed. They hadn't so much as flickered as he’d carried her out of the woods and onto the waiting gurney in Gabby’s backyard. She'd been checked by the EMTs and found to be dehydrated, bruised up, and scratched all over. She had a nasty knot and gash on the back of her head that had knocked her out cold.

The EMT signaled for Dusty to move away for a moment while he waved something under Emma’s nose to wake her.

Her eyelashes began to flutter. Dusty gave her hand a little squeeze. She was coming around very slowly. She opened her eyes and stared at the top of the ambulance.

“Emma?” Dusty said again, his eyebrows up, forehead squeezed into ripples of concern.

She rolled her head to look his way, squinting now to focus. “Dust?” she whispered. “Where... am... I?”

Dusty’s shoulders relaxed, dropping several inches.
She called me Dust
, he thought.
I like the sound of Dust on her lips.

“We're still at Gabby's. You're okay, but we're going to transport you to the hospital, just to be sure,” he answered.

Emma scrunched her own eyebrows together and looked around her.

She gasped. “Dust...” she said, her words still coming to her very slowly. “There was... a... man.” She paused and took a breath. “He... chased me... in... the woods?" It sounded like a question, not a statement.

She’s still confused,
Dusty thought.

“I got him, Emma. I'm just sorry you got hurt. I had to tackle him. He was almost on top of you.”

Dusty didn't want to mention the knife that Emma had escaped by mere inches. He had been stalking this freak through the woods without his flashlight, trying to sneak up on him before he got to Emma, but the freak had gone from tiptoeing to rushing her in a matter of seconds. Dusty hadn’t seen the glint of the knife until the nutcase was already crashing through the brush, headed straight for her. He’d gotten there just in time; a few seconds later and the story could have ended badly.

“But you're gonna be all right. And he’s taking a ride with my friends from the county.” Dusty continued. He smiled at Emma. “He won't be getting out any time soon.”

He leaned down and kissed her hand. She may not be fully awake and coherent, but he couldn't wait to tell her. He'd say it again later, however many times she needed to hear it.

“Emma, I think I'm in love with you. If something had happened to you, I don't know what I woulda done.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked into hers, still slightly dazed but strikingly blue.

“I know you said before that you have baggage, but I don't care about that. Everybody's got some baggage. You just have to love someone enough to want to help them unpack it. And I do. I love you like that, Emma.”

She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand back. “You barely know me,” she whispered.

“I know enough about you to know I love you, Emma. Everything else is just a bonus.”

No response.
Awkward.

Her smile slowly slid away and her face transformed to panic.
Um, not what I was hoping for,
he thought.

The ambulance jerked as it began to pull away, taking it very slow through Gabby's backyard. Everything jostled to the left and the right as the driver eased up onto the gravel driveway. Dusty spread his big feet to balance himself on the tiny stool he was sitting on.

“
Baggage!
” she blurted out, as if she'd just remembered something, her eyes darting all around her. “Dusty, where's—”

“Wait!” Someone screamed from outside the vehicle, followed by a loud knock, cutting Emma off. The driver stopped the ambulance’s slow roll.

Dusty jerked his head up to see Jump's face in the tiny window, darting side to side and bobbing up and down. Jump could never stand still. As usual, he was bouncing on the toes of his feet, making him taller, shorter, then taller again.

Shit, I forgot all about Jump! Has he been sitting in the car all this time, waiting for me?
Dusty cracked a smile.

The EMT looked at Dusty, skepticism all over his face. “You know this guy?”

“Yeah, open the door a second,” Dusty answered.

The EMT cracked the door, just far enough to speak to Jump. “What do you need, sir?”

Jump shifted from foot to foot. “I don't need anything, but I got someone here who wants to ride with Emma.”