One Good Reason (8 page)

She
pulled on her dress and underwear and fell to the ground crying.

She
didn’t know if they were tears of joy that she’d just escaped. Tears of fear
that they might find her, and then what? Tears of what she had just been
through the past two weeks and how she’d had to have a strange man feel her up
and kiss her. It had been so degrading, but she had to do it. She knew it was
the only way.

She
wondered if Hayden had found out about her escape yet. Maybe he had, and was
already out to come and get her and bring her back. But she couldn’t go back,
she wouldn’t.

She
wiped her eyes. She could cry when this was all over. When she was back in
Australia. Back home. Right now, the sun was setting and it would be dark soon.
She needed to find shelter for the night and figure out a way to get home. She
had no idea where she was, or how far away the closest town was. She could be
running in circles for all she knew. She had to find higher ground and see if
she would be able to see any sign of civilisation from there. Until then, she
had to keep going. If she couldn’t run anymore, she would walk and not stop
until she felt it was safe.

   She got back up from the ground,
and dusted herself off. She looked at the rifle in her hand. She’d never held a
weapon like this before, she didn’t even know what it was. It didn’t matter
though. She would use it to protect herself even if it meant shooting someone.
She had to get her life back; there was no question about it.

She
set off through the forest, walking as fast as she could, again ignoring the
pain her feet felt. Instead, she focused on the landmarks around her, trying to
see if any of it gave her clues on if she was getting close to higher ground,
water, or a town.

She
walked for hours until the sun had set and it was too dark for her to go any
further. She found shelter against some large rocks. It wasn’t the shelter she
had hoped for, but having the huge objects behind her made her feel a little
safer in the dark. She’d lived in darkness for nearly two weeks, but this was
different. The noises of the forest frightened her more than being in that
room. She didn’t know what was out there. Who was out there?

She
sat holding the rifle against her chest, her back against the rock, looking out
into the darkness, the only light from the stars shining through the tall
trees. She didn’t want to close her eyes, fear of what might happen if she fell
asleep. But her attempts at keeping her eyelids open failed her. The physical
and emotional exhaustion too much as she drifted off to sleep.

***

Ava
woke the next morning at sunrise, the birds waking her from her sleep with
their morning songs.

She
was still hugging the rifle against her chest as she stretched her legs out in
front of her. Sharp pains ran through her calves and thighs. She pulled her
feet up to her waist to inspect them. They were cut and bruised, but not as bad
as she’d thought they’d be. Her waist and legs though, had sharp cuts along
them. Thankfully, they weren’t deep enough to worry her too much, but she knew
she needed to get them cleaned up. She needed to find water.

With
all the strength she had, she pulled herself up until she was standing. What
she would give for a pair of shoes right now…

She
looked around at her surroundings, and then set off once again, careful not to
step on any sharp objects or scrape herself up against any twigs.

She
walked and walked. Each step she took gave her confidence she was where she
needed to be, and that she would find safety soon. The sun was shining down
through the trees, giving her an idea it must have been midday, meaning she’d
probably been walking for six hours or more. Time meant nothing to her until
she heard something she couldn’t ignore: the sound of running water. She
stopped instantly at the sound. She looked around the forest trying to track
down the sound, and then took off in a brisk walk, following the sound.

Minutes
later, she found a small stream. She fell to the ground, cupping the water in
her hands and drinking the water.

Finally,
after so long, she felt like she was getting somewhere.

She
took her time drinking the fresh water, and then washed her scrapes and cuts.
She sat by the stream for a good hour, using the time to rest and regain her
strength. She watched the water trickle down the rocks, the peaceful sound
giving her a sense of calm.  

Now
that she had found water, she couldn’t leave it in fear she wouldn’t find
another water source again. So instead, she stayed with the stream as she
walked alongside it upstream, hoping it would lead her to a hill of some kind.

While
she walked, she thought about all the things she would do when she got home.
How she would wrap her arms around Olivia and promise her that nothing like
that would ever happen again. She thought about the foods she would eat, the
bed she could sleep on. The thoughts keeping her going long into the day, until
night fell once again.

7 WILD AND FREE

Ava slid into the passenger’s seat of her
mother’s car.

She
held her graduation certificate tightly in her hand and looked over to her mum
sitting in the driver’s seat. “I can’t believe I finally graduated!”

Her
mum smiled at her, then turned the car on and set off out of the school’s
carpark. “All those late nights finally paid off, hey?”

“I
thought it would never end!” Ava laughed with her mum as they drove down the
dark street.

“So…”
her mum said with a cheeky grin. “I noticed Ethan had eyes for you all night.”

Ava
rolled her eyes. “Not going to happen, Mum.”

“But
he’s such a nice boy.”

“I
know he is. But he’s just…well… he’s just Ethan. When I’m with him there’s no
spark. No passion. He’s a perfect guy to most girl’s but-”

“You’re
not most girls,” her mum interrupted.

Ava
smiled.

“There’s
nothing wrong with being different and dreaming of big things. I’m sure you’ll
meet lots of cute boys in the city.”

Ava’s
smile widened. “It’s going to be amazing! No more small town country life where
everyone knows everyone and there’s nothing ever to do. When I’m in the city
every day, it will be like a new adventure and there will be
soooo
many hot guys!”

“Just
as long as those ‘hot guys’ don’t become the only reason why you’re moving
there. You’re there to further your education, remember? You can have fun and
party, but don’t forget about your grades. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come
now. You’re a fighter. Don’t ever give up, not even because of some boy.”

“Yes,
Mum,” Ava said mockingly with a smile.

Ava’s
mum turned to smile at her. Ava poked her tongue out at her jokingly. Her mum
rolled her eyes as Ava looked back towards the road.

It
all happened so fast. One minute the dog wasn’t there, then it was. Right in
front of their car.

“Mum
look out!” Ava screamed, reaching out to grab her mum’s arm, but she’d already
spotted it as well. She steered the car to the side off the road. Ava heard a
loud sound like a bomb exploding as the car collided into the tree. Her body
was flung forward as she crashed into darkness.

Ava
woke with a gasp.

It
took a moment for her to focus out of the dream like state and realise where
she was, and it had only been a dream. But it wasn’t a dream. It was a memory.
A memory of the night her mother had died. A night she hadn’t dreamt about in
years.

She
set the rifle down beside her and crawled over to the streams edge, splashing
the water on her face. It cooled her skin and helped her try to focus.

She
sat back on her knees, staring at the reflection of the girl she barely
recognised in the stream. A girl who’d once lost everything and thought she’d
lost it all over again only days ago.

Her
hair was a knotted mess. Her face and eyes showed of someone starving for food,
and she was. She knew nothing of the Thai land. She didn’t know how to survive
in the forest. How to find food in the forest. The only thing she had was
water, and water wasn’t going to keep her walking for hours on end. She needed
food before she had no energy left to survive.

Her
dream had conjured up old feelings. Feelings of living a carefree life. Nothing
stood in her way of her dreams or love for adventure. But it seemed like so
long ago now. Life wasn’t as carefree as she’d always thought. It certainly
wasn’t always kind. She’d learnt this after her mother’s death and now her
kidnapping.

“Why
me?” she asked her reflection. “Why do fucked up things always happen to me?”

She
closed her eyes trying to fight back the tears. She’d been weak for so long,
not wanting to face her mother’s death. Hiding behind it and using it as an
excuse. Finally, when she thought she could move forward she was kidnapped.
Now, she was spending her days walking through a forest in agony just trying to
survive.

How
can one person have so much pain thrown upon them? How is anyone even meant to
survive with a life like this?

But
she knew it could be worse. She knew she might not even have a life to fight
for. Life could always be harder and more painful than what it was, even if the
pain felt unbearable.

“You’re
a fighter. Don’t ever give up…”
Her mother’s words echoed in her thoughts. Ava was a fighter and she
couldn’t give up now, not after everything. She had to get home. Had to make
sure Olivia was safe.

Olivia.

Ava
tried not to think about how her friend would be feeling right now. If Olivia
was safe, she’d be worried out of her mind about Ava… Especially it being weeks
since her kidnapping.

She
missed Olivia. Missed her crazy, outspoken friend. She’d never let anything get
to her. Always willing to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. Ava would
do the same, and when this was all over, this nightmare finished, she would
take Olivia home, if she wasn’t already, and she would find a way to thank her
friend. But right now, she had to keep going, she had to keep pushing forward.

She
stood from the ground, ignoring the tightening pain of her muscles in her
body. 

She
picked the rifle off the ground and looked upstream. The stream was getting
wider and deeper, giving her hope she might be making progress.

She
set off on bare foot again, this time she would reach the town. She focused all
her thoughts on it. She couldn’t sleep one more night in the forest, walk for
one more day. The night was terrifying. Each sound scaring her to the point of
singing songs to herself to tune out of the sounds around her. She didn’t know
what lived in the forest, and had no intention of finding out.

So
once again, she focused on positive thoughts.

Today
is the day. Today I’m going home.

***

The
Thai tracker knelt down next to the stream. Hayden watched as the tracker
inspected the dirt with his fingers. He was the best tracker Hayden had ever
known and used him on a mission once before. He was never wrong about anything.

“She
was here,” the tracker said, “but the footprints are not new. Yesterday, she
was here.”

“Yesterday?
Shit,” Hayden cursed.

“It
seems she ran for hours, never stopping,” the Thai man said.

Which
means they’d lost a lot of time. He had to wait for the tracker before they
began their search, and now to find out she’d been running a long distance,
meant they had a lot of distance to catch up to her.

“She
is following the water upstream.” The tracker looked forward and behind himself
at the tracks, nodding in approval at his words.

“Smart
girl,” Hayden said approvingly.

She
may have been able to escape and get to the stream for water, but without food,
she’d be slowing down and Hayden would have to use that to catch up to her.

The
problem was the land was vast and dense with plant life. There were locals who
lived in and around the forest. If she stumbled across one of them looking for
safety, they could easily lose her.

He
hoped when he left, the Thai men kept their promise and didn’t tell anyone
about Ava’s escape. If it got back to Stevenson, it could ruin everything.

He
had to find out what Stevenson was up to and the only way to do that, was to
find Ava and get her to safety, and then use his contacts to dig deeper and
find out why she is so important to him. Stevenson was hiding something. Hayden
couldn’t and wouldn’t continue his mission until he found out the truth. For
his and Ava’s sake.

***

“She
what?” Stevenson roared at Riley.

Riley
flinched and took a step back from the office desk.

“The
report says she got away while Price left to talk with you. Apparently, Price
left one of the Thai men in charge, but she managed to get away from him,”
Riley said nervously.

“How
the hell are we meant to give Harris proof of life when we no longer have her?”

“We-Uh-”
Riley stuttered. “We will. Price took a tracker into the forest. He’s…He’s the
best there is. They’ll find her. We will have proof of life.”

“They
better find her! She is the only thing standing in the way of this whole thing
being blown to fucking pieces. Without her, we are screwed.”

“They’ll
find her,” Riley said again with a bit more assertiveness.

Stevenson
grabbed the nearby vase of flowers and threw it across the room into the wall
in anger.

“Get
out of my sight!” He yelled at Riley who flinched and ran out of the room
quickly, like a dog with his tail tucked behind him.

“Fucking,
Harris! This will be the end of him,” he said through clenched teeth. “After I
get that file, he’s dead. I don’t care what I have to do. He won’t live to
breathe another breath after this. Mark my words.”

***

Paul
sat impatiently on the couch in Jamie’s lounge room, staring at the television
screen, waiting for news on Ava.

He’d
arrived safely at Jamie’s with no sign of anyone following him. His friend had
kept his package safely for him. Paul now had all five packages, but no word
back from his colleagues of Ava’s proof of life. He waited by the television
day and night hoping for proof Ava was still alive, but nothing.

Paul
didn’t expect to stay at Jamie’s for so long. He’d thought by now, for sure he
would have the proof of life he needed, and be on his way to deliver the file.

Paul
watched Jamie take a seat beside him, holding out a cup of coffee for Paul to
take.

“Any
news yet?” Jamie asked, staring at the news headlines on the T.V.

Paul
shook his head.

Jamie
was in his thirties. They’d worked on some big stories together in Afghanistan.
They both had experienced some horrific scenes while over there. They’d been
stuck in situations that were life and death. Paul trusted Jamie with his life,
and the feeling was mutual.

Jamie,
like Paul, wasn’t in one place for too long up until recently when his wife,
Lorraine, gave birth to their first daughter. He’d temporarily given up the big
stories and settled for working at the small town newspaper. It wasn’t
something Jamie wanted, or even liked doing, but Lorraine insisted on raising
their daughter in a town with all her family and friends.

Jamie
still occasionally did some freelance jobs, but for now, his priority was their
daughter, Bella. Although Paul could still find small stories, he yearned to
get back out there and uncover the big stories.

“I’ve
been thinking...” Jamie said out loud, “if this story is as big as you say it
is, then maybe you could give them the file they need, but make more back-ups
and leave them with me.”

“No
way,” Paul replied. “There is no way I’m risking your life or your family’s
life as well for this story.”

“But
people have the right to know what is going on, you know that, Paul. You can’t
just let this go.”

“Yes
I can, Jamie. And I will,” he said, unwilling to change his mind on the
subject. “You would do the same for your  daughter.”

“Of
course I would. But there has to be another way. There is always another way.”

Paul
shook his head. “It’s not worth the risk. If anything happens to her because of
me, because of this story… I’ll never forgive myself.”

“It
just doesn’t seem right,” Jamie huffed. “At least let me go with you.”

“No
way!”

“But
at least if I’m there, they won’t do anything to you.”

“And
then they will think you know something, even if you don’t. They’ll come after
you just like they came after me.”

Jamie
leant back in the chair in thought. Paul turned towards him.

“It’s
okay, Jamie. I know what I have to do. Once I know Ava is safe, then I’ll give
them what they want.”

“But
what if that’s not enough? What if the file isn’t enough. You know too much
now. If I go, then at least-”

Paul
interrupted, “You’re not coming, Jamie. That’s final.”

He
leant back against the couch next to Jamie taking in a moment’s silence.

“I
know you mean the best, Jamie. I trust you with my life. But because of me, Ava
is going through hell right now. If the same thing happened to you…”

“I
know. It’s… well… I guess I just get a little frustrated with myself sometimes.
There’s all these stories going on in the world, cover-ups waiting to be
exposed, and I’m stuck at the shitty town newspaper writing stories about
stupid baking competitions at the local market.”