In The Shadows (8 page)

 Chapter Fourteen

Several hours after her visitor left, Danielle began to lose consciousness again, this time due to the drop in temperature. She felt weaker than ever and couldn’t believe it had grown so cold, colder than it had ever been since she’d been stored in the compartment. Suddenly, she knew that whatever he did on his last visit had everything to do with her current condition.

Danielle was too sleepy to call out as she went to sleep thinking about her family. Danielle felt hopeless as she decided to say her prayers and go to sleep for good. She’d not heard from him in a long time, and she knew that her health was deteriorating and fast. He’d never been gone this long before, and Danielle realized he had left her there to die.

* * *

It was Saturday morning, and Natalie and Janelle were dressed in their gear and ready for their assignments. The search team captain spoke to the group before they departed and let them know they were running out of time, and the chances of finding Danielle alive were growing dimmer. His announcement caused a buzz within the group, and fear spread throughout the search team like wildfire. Tonya walked up just in time to console the girls and let them know that anything was possible. Tonya truly believed that with God’s presence, anything was possible and urged the girls not to give up hope.

Tonya knew Brandon would be there later and felt she needed to get on the grounds with the girls helping with the search. She agreed to meet with Brandon for lunch and match up notes. The search area that day was farther north, and the volunteers were driven to a field near Northport, which was thirteen miles away.

Tonya agreed to drive the girls, so they would be able to come and go as they needed to. Tonya dialed Brandon on the way to the site to inform him of her whereabouts. His search was also moved farther north of Tuscaloosa, and he wondered what clues the found body held.

Brandon would spend the rest of the day searching, but the next day he wanted to follow up on the three missing persons’ files he had narrowed his search to. One female was a runaway, and two were homeless people. He really wanted to go to the homeless shelters in town to see if he could get more information on the ladies. The runaway was reported missing from Columbus, Ohio, and he knew following up on that tip would require a visit to the local police station in Columbus.

Brandon’s team returned to the church around lunch, and he waited for Tonya and the girls to show up. As soon as he saw her car pulling up, he stepped out of his truck to make himself visible. When she parked and exited the car with the girls in tow, for the first time Brandon had to wonder if her family and friends would be receptive to him. He’d always been concerned about his father, then he had to worry about the reaction he would have on Tonya’s family.

Once he saw her heading in his direction, he pushed his body away from the truck and started walking toward her. Her face lit up as she made eye contact with him, with the two girls following. Seeing this put him at ease, and he began smiling as he walked up to meet her. As soon as he reached her, they shared a short but warm embrace.

“Brandon, I want you to meet my cousin Natalie and her best friend, Janelle. They are both very close to Danielle.”

Shaking their hands, he said, “Ladies, it is very nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Natalie said smiling. “We’ve heard a great deal about you. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Now with a whimsical expression, Brandon had to wonder just what Tonya had shared with the girls. The girls excused themselves and disappeared inside the church for lunch.

“Don’t worry, Brandon. I didn’t tell them your deepest darkest secrets. I simply told them how we met and that we were sort of seeing each other.” Tonya smiled, with her smile soon turning into laughter.

“Oh, did you now? That’s cool. I’m okay with that. I wasn’t sure if it was something we should be keeping from them.”

“Why would we keep it from them? Is that how you prefer us to exist?”

“No. By no means would I want that to happen. I was simply trying to make my presence easier for you.”

“And by keeping you a secret would make things easier for me or for you?”

“Okay, wait, let’s start this over. I am used to my father being stubborn when it comes to my dating preferences. I wasn’t sure what your family and friends would think, and today it suddenly hit me when I saw you pull up with them in your car. I never want to put you in a difficult position, that’s all.”

“Well, Brandon, that is very considerate of you, but I can handle my family and friends. If I haven’t told you already, my family has always been supportive of my decisions to date whomever I felt comfortable with. If you hadn’t noticed, I feel totally at ease when I am with you. As for my friends, I could really care less if any of them had an issue with the fact that I was dating someone of another race. I learned a long time ago that when times get rough or things become different or difficult is when you learn who your true friends are. I can honestly say that I can count on one hand how many real friends I have, and I’m okay with that. I’ve never been about pleasing people or doing things to make them happy. I just want to be happy.”

“It’s good to hear you say that. Saying that really puts my mind at ease,” Brandon said, smiling as he remembered Tonya mention they were dating. He knew she was a carefree and independent young woman, both of which he welcomed totally.

Brandon wanted to be happy too, and he thought being with Tonya would not only make him happy but allow him to be true to himself. He’d been hiding his feelings for so long, and now to find someone who thought like he did blew him away. Not only was Tonya a beautiful girl, she was smart and ambitious too. He knew he’d gotten lucky, and he only wanted to keep her happy.

They had lunch out on a picnic table and discussed and exchanged their new information. After Brandon shared his information with Tonya, Tonya surprised Brandon with her new development. Brandon was excited about getting closer to identifying the body that was found not long ago. He told Tonya he’d narrowed it down to three girls. Two were homeless, and one was a runaway from Ohio. Brandon wasn’t sure how yet, but he needed to get to Ohio and do some more digging without stepping on any toes.

Tonya explained that after she did some more research at the library last night, she had an idea and needed to get information. On her way to the search site, she questioned Natalie and Janelle about the missing girl. Sometimes the locals had more information than the sheriff’s office who was supposed to be investigating the case. The girls told Tonya that it had been rumored that the missing girl had been seeing someone and was supposed to see him the night she disappeared.

Brandon was shocked to hear that information and knew it made complete sense, although finding the boyfriend would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Brandon was sure whoever it was didn’t want to
be found.

 Chapter Fifteen

When the room fell quiet again, Danielle knew it was now or never. She’d almost given up on escaping or seeing her family again. She awoke frantically gasping for air and rubbed her legs together in an effort to warm up and realized the room had grown extremely cold.

Danielle knew her heartbeat had slowed considerably, and she needed to get out of the area and fast. Danielle was thankful for the box of juices she’d been supplied with since she’d been held captive. Although they didn’t come every day and didn’t make up for a meal, she learned how to ration them to keep herself semihydrated. Danielle knew it wasn’t enough, and she could tell her kidneys were beginning to shut down. She’d not used the bathroom in days and felt her time was coming to an end.

Then deciding it was now or never, Danielle pulled herself up to her knees. She began to stand slowly until her back hit the top of the box again. It was already so cold in the box that she felt like her feet were stuck or frozen to the bottom of the floor. The top was cold to her back too as she pushed with all her might while she stood.

Almost screaming in pain as she used every ounce of strength she had left in her debilitated body, the screaming soon became joyous laughter. Danielle could not believe she had managed to get the top open. She’d tried numerous times to push the top open, but it was always locked. That day, she knew her prayers would be answered. Although she didn’t know what she would find once she got out, she was hopeful people were still looking for her.

As Danielle pushed the lid back, she immediately shielded her eyes from the painfully bright sunlight. Danielle realized she was extremely photophobic and moaned in pain. Then finding her footing, she was able to get one leg on the outside of the compartment, which she discovered was a large deep freezer. Being weaker than she imagined, Danielle found herself falling clumsily to the wood floor with a thud, hitting her head.

Realizing it was still daylight, Danielle suddenly panicked, not knowing if someone could hear her moving around inside the room. Maybe he would know instantly that she had escaped. With her mind racing, Danielle knew she had to be smart.

With the room being lit only by the tiny window covered in years of dust, Danielle squinted her eyes as she crawled around the room, looking for anything to cover her naked body. She found two old T-shirts stuffed into a corner of one of the shelves in the room. Danielle knew wearing this would be better than wandering around in the middle of nowhere wearing nothing.

Searching for a weapon, Danielle was unable to find anything she could use for a weapon. She crawled to every corner of the room and was finally able to find half-empty cans of paint with a paint scraper sitting on top of one of the cans. This would be better than using her already weakened and fragile limbs and hands.

As she put on the oversized T-shirt, she was able to tie the other one around her waist to cover her bottom. When Danielle finally mustered the strength to stand on her weak legs, she realized she had started her menses as she felt the blood trickle down her leg. She had been so out of touch with her body that her cycle was the last thing she thought of.

Now removing the second T-shirt from her waist, she stood on one end of it while pulling with all her strength on the other end, to tear the T-shirt into two pieces. She then had two strips of cloth she could use for a pad. Danielle needed to get out of the building before he returned as she looked about the room for her escape route.

The window was too high to climb through, and she knew he would probably be watching the door. She wasn’t sure which route to take, so she slowly made her way over to the window and stood on her tiptoes to get a peek outside.

She was shocked to see that she was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a grassy field in a heavily wooded area. There were no roads or other buildings in sight. Realizing she was not far from the tree line, she figured if she could make it to the trees, she could get lost in the woods.

Growing up a tomboy, Danielle had no fear of being in the woods or climbing trees with the neighborhood boys. As she focused in on the doorknob, she realized the key was still in the door. Almost gasping aloud, Danielle knew she had to stay focused on the task at hand.

With trembling hands, Danielle reached for the doorknob and found it locked, but it didn’t discourage Danielle. Once she grabbed the knob with one hand and the key with the other, she was able to unlock the door with ease. After gently pulling on the doorknob, knowing she was only seconds away from being outside, she realized the deadbolt was on.

Now slightly laughing at her inability to focus, Danielle looked around the room one more time before trying to open the door. Holding her breath, she almost felt like he would appear out of nowhere just in time to stop her from leaving, like in the movies. Danielle listened for any outside sounds over the thud of her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Not seeing him or hearing anything on the other side of the door, Danielle slowly opened the door and felt the warm sun on her fragile skin.

* * *

Saturday’s search ended up just like the previous Saturday, and the family was beginning to lose hope. Danielle’s mom, dad, and brother had been out every day, searching for her. Now that the search area had been changed, they were relieved, and believed that she might be found alive. Reverend Hall had come to pay them a visit late Saturday evening and wanted to counsel them and pray for Danielle. The family knew they were running out of time. They had spent every waking moment driving through neighborhoods and walking through parks and trails every chance they got, in hopes of finding their little girl.

* * *

Danielle thought of her family as she began to crawl across the grassy field. There was no cover in sight, so she crawled on her hands and knees through the tall grass hoping to go undetected. Danielle missed her family and hoped they hadn’t given up on her. As she stumbled out into the evening and into the woods, she walked with her hands outstretched, and her eyes closed half the time. She had to get used to the light from the sun and felt her eyes water each time she opened them.

She wanted to get as far away from that place as possible and never look back. Danielle made sure she closed the lid on the freezer and locked the door, so he wouldn’t be suspicious when he returned. Afraid he would come back soon, she stayed away from the sound of vehicles and lights for fear it would be him coming back to finish her off. Traveling through the woods provided cover and felt safe to her as long as she kept moving.

It was getting darker, and Danielle had been walking for what felt like hours. She barely noticed the change from evening to night as she walked aimlessly through the heavily wooded area. At one point, she found herself jogging through the woods away from the building, running into branches and limbs along the way. Trying to put more distance between herself and the building, Danielle found herself out of breath as she tried to control her breathing. She was hungry and thirsty and knew running was out of the question in her condition.

Her feet felt like ice blocks as she stepped on the uneven ground and rocks with no feeling. The temperature was dropping, and she was bleeding heavier and feeling weaker with each step. It was a full moon that night, which helped her find her way through the woods. Danielle only stopped once and that was to wrap her body with the other cloth.

She hoped and prayed she’d be found soon before she completely gave up. She began to move slower and slower and then felt it was time to take a break. She’d only heard a nearby vehicle shortly after she escaped and had hoped to find the main road or a trail or anything. Danielle thought of her family before she closed her eyes.