Savage Cinderella (27 page)

"I thought your parents were out of town this
weekend." Brinn commented as Abby headed to the front window to
peek out.

"They are. There’s a man coming up the walk."
Abby shrieked. "Oh my God, Brinn, it's him!"

“
Him, who?” Brinn peered
over her friend's shoulder, her heart instantly seizing.

"I'll call the police." Abby raced to the
kitchen, leaving Brinn staring, wide-eyed with horror, at the face
of Roy Stockman. When he glimpsed her in the window his face lit
up, a malicious smirk taking over. He disappeared around the corner
of the house out of sight.

Detaching her feet from the floor where
they'd frozen, Brinn ran to the door, latched the deadbolt, and
darted into the kitchen. Abby was already locking the back door.
The girls shared a panicked look. Abby broke the silent tension.
"The phone went dead before I could tell the 911 operator what was
happening. He must have cut the wires."

"Where's your cell phone?" Brinn whispered
hoarsely, the two girls now huddled together in the windowless
pantry.

"We have no cell phone reception until you
get to the top of the hill at the end of the street. Brinn, what
are we going to do?" Abby's face was pale with fright.

A pounding on the back door made both girls
jump. Abby shrieked. "The police are on their way!" She yelled out,
her voice a high-pitched squeak.

Brinn knew that the threat wouldn’t cause the
man to retreat. She grabbed Abby by the shoulders. "It's me he
wants. I need you to distract him—just until I can make it out to
the barn. I'll take Callie across the meadow and up into the hills.
I'm certain he'll try to follow me. Then you can take my truck up
the street and call the police. My cell phone is in the glove box
and my Dad's number is programmed in. Tell him what's happened and
he'll send help."

"Brinn, you can't be serious. We should stay
put and wait for help. I'm sure the 911 operator traced the call.
The police will come; they have to." She added doubtfully as tears
welled in her eyes.

"Trust me, Abby. It's better this way. I know
the woods better than he does. Once I'm in the forest, he’ll never
catch me. Now, draw his attention to the front door, and I'll slip
out the back. Here, take this, just in case." Brinn reached for the
wooden block filled with knives on the counter and handed her
friend the nearest thing she could find to use as a weapon.

Abby's eyes widened, but she took the
nine-inch chef’s knife and bobbed her head. "All right, Brinn. But
you'd better hope this works." Abby shook as she crossed through
the kitchen toward the living room, talking loudly as if Brinn were
in front of her. "Don't do it Brinn! You'll never make it to your
car in time. He'll catch you!"

Her words did the trick. The sound of
retreating footsteps leading off the back porch gave Brinn the time
she needed to slip out the back door and bolt for the barn. Sounds
of Abby screaming behind her nearly made her stop until the screams
turned to shouts urging her to run. From the barn, Brinn could see
Stockman was already coming around the corner of the house.

She grabbed the bridle and fed the bit into
Callie's mouth. Brinn was mounted bareback and tearing a path
toward the field before the man was half-way to the barn in
pursuit. She ducked low against the horse’s back when she saw the
man raise an outstretched arm and fire two shots, both from too far
away for accuracy.

One last look over her shoulder and she could
see him disappear into the barn. She had a good head start and
Callie was faster than Appollo, but Brinn didn't want to get too
far ahead. She had to make sure he followed her. She had to give
Abby time to get away and call for help. As she reached the edge of
the wide-open meadow, she hoped and prayed that Abby was all right,
and that help would not be far behind.

Kicking her mount hard in the ribs, Brinn
pressed herself low against the mare’s neck, holding on to her mane
for dear life as she galloped at top speed for the darkening forest
ahead. Needles pricked up her spine as she felt his eyes on her
back. She didn't need to see him. She knew he was there. She knew
he’d found her. He was coming after her, just as he’d promised. But
now, it was going to be on her terms, in the familiar arms of the
forest she called home.

Cloak of Darkness

The daylight dipped below the trees and a
chilly breeze settled over the mountains. It was mid-September and
hunters were already staking out their territories for the fall
hunting season. Brinn knew them well, the men who camped up in the
hills, tracking and stalking their prey, men who would take to the
desolate high country where even hikers were few. Brinn had watched
them for years, learning their ways while remaining invisible even
to the keenest eye.

She could easily fade into the landscape, her
ability to hide in the forest equal to any of her wild
counterparts. She was silent and motionless as a deer, able to
climb as well as any cat or bear, and faster than a rabbit. Oh,
yes, and smarter than a trout. Brinn knew her battleground of
choice, but she would have to lure Roy Stockman there, set a trap,
and then find the strength to overtake the man if help did not
come. Either way, one of them was not going to escape this time,
Brinn determined with a shudder.

A light drizzle soaked her skin. She released
Callie when the slope grew too steep for the horse, and slippery
rocks lined the trail. Once on foot though, Brinn immediately found
a quiet confidence in her ability to out-hike her pursuer. He
looked like an old man, though he was probably no more than fifty.
He was still wiry and strong, but his face was weary and worn.
Those cigarettes will be the death of you yet, Old Man, Brinn
sneered silently as she watched him struggle up the trail a few
hundred feet below. Every step held danger on the mossy, overgrown
mountainside.

She remained on the path for some time
longer, making her tracks easy to follow. Once full night came on,
she would disappear into the darkness like a ghost and he would
have to wait until morning to continue his pursuit. By then, she
thought with grim satisfaction, the forest would offer him no
protection from the dangers that could befall a person hiking alone
on such unfamiliar and rugged terrain.

Climbing higher into the mountains as
darkness swept through the trees, Brinn felt the cool mist grow
heavier. Good, let the rain come, she smiled smugly. The ground
would be soaked in no time. There would be no fire or warmth for
her guest tonight and what little moonlight there was would soon be
overshadowed with cloud cover. The night would be black as tar and
Roy Stockman would know what it was like to lie in the cold, wet
blanket of Georgia’s Northwest High Country.

Brinn, however, was already settling into a
well-sheltered overhang of rocks: dry, covered in pine boughs, and
comforted by the sounds of a waterfall not far off and the soothing
chirp of cicadas. Silence would be her warning if danger
approached. But Brinn knew exactly where her enemy was and she was
certain he was not enjoying her hospitality. She closed her eyes
against the darkness but didn’t sleep. She kept her buck knife in
hand, listening to her pulse throb in her ears, knowing her
tormentor lay a few hundred yards away.

∞∞∞

Abby's farmhouse looked like a scene from The
Fugitive. Police cruisers, search and rescue teams, and helicopters
arrived, setting up search teams that would start out at first
light. "We have to go now!" Justin barked at the stout, ruddy-
faced man in charge.

"These mountains are dangerous at night, Son.
My men will pick up the trail in the morning. I have dogs on the
way. When they arrive, I'll send out one scout team on an
overnight, and the helicopters will stay out as long as they can,
but our best bet is to start fresh tomorrow."

Justin started to protest again, but John
Hathaway laid a firm hand on his shoulder. "There's no use arguing
with him, Justin. He's got a head like a rock, but he knows his
business. I'm as worried as you are, but you and I both know Brinn
is in her element. If we can't track her at night, neither can
Stockman, and if she can just stay far enough ahead of him until we
can get to her..." He let his words fall away, his sense of grief
and frustration mirroring Justin’s.

Justin retreated to a back bedroom where Abby
sat, still crying and shaking, Cody's big arms wrapped around her
shoulders.

"I can't just sit here waiting! I have to do
something." Justin stalked around the room, rubbing the bruised
knuckles he'd gotten from punching the door of his Beemer in
frustration when the police had refused to let him go with the
initial search party. His pride and joy finally had a dent, and he
could care less.

Abby settled into choked sniffles and looked
up into Cody’s eyes, a small smile making her blushing cheeks grow
rounder. "Thank you, Cody. I'm all right now." She straightened her
shoulders, swiped away tears, and looked back and forth between the
two men. "Why don't you start your own search party? The horses are
back in the barn and Callie will lead you close to where Brinn
probably dismounted. I can show you on the map where her trail
heads off into the hills. I showed the search and rescue team, but
they seemed to think the trail was impassable and that she wouldn’t
have gone that way."

Justin smiled at Abby. "We both know better
than that, though, don't we?" He eyed Cody with a determined look
of inquiry, "Are you up for some night maneuvers, Marine?"

"Oohrah, Brother. Lead the way." The burly
Marine stood, causing the mattress to spring under the relief of
his bulk, and turned to Abby, whose eyes were glued to Cody in
fascination. "Will you be all right, Abigail?" He looked down at
the sweet-faced blonde with an expression of affection that made
Justin raise a brow and smirk. Abby's blush deepened. She
apparently liked the idea that she had just graduated from her
childish farm girl name to that of a grown woman assisting with a
covert military operation.

"I'll be fine. But please, be careful. The
trails on this side of the mountain are especially steep and
slippery." They all looked out into the darkening night, noticing
the rain falling in spatters against the window.

∞∞∞

A short time later, the two young men were
packed and prepared. Wearing rain gear and carrying flashlights,
they had trail maps, water bottles, climbing rope and first aid
supplies tucked into small backpacks. Cody and Justin disappeared
from the chaotic scene of the farmhouse and snuck toward the
barn.

Justin had heard over the radio that the
search teams had set up camp for the night, having lost the trail
in the downpour. Justin determined that they were camped at least a
quarter of a mile from where Abby had said Brinn's trail left the
meadow. With attention drawn to the well-lit house, the two men
silently saddled the horses and slipped out the back of the barn,
making a wide berth around the property and disappearing into the
night.

Depending on the horses to guide them, Cody
and Justin made their way across the meadow and finally reached the
place where Brinn had ascended the mountain. Cody shone his
flashlight up into the thick woods. The trail rose sharply and a
cascade of water rushed over the rocks. "It doesn't look like we're
going up this way."

Justin dismounted, grabbed the heavy coil of
rope from the saddle, and patted the horse’s rump. "The horses
aren't, but we are."

Hunter or Prey?

Brinn crept out of her cozy nest into the dim
light of dawn. The forest went from small stirrings of insects at
night to an almost instantaneous symphony of bustling life as the
sunlight broke over the mountains. Birds chirped loudly and
squirrels and chipmunks left their nests and burrows to begin their
day of foraging. Mosquitoes buzzed in the moist warm air and Brinn
stretched and yawned, listening to the familiar sounds of the
forest while getting her bearings.

The shots fired into the night let her know
that Stockman had not slept, but had fired in blind fear at the
invisible sounds of imaginary beasts. The thick forest was blacker
than the darkest night when clouds covered the stars and moon. Real
or imagined, the sound of creatures stirring could fix a person’s
mind on the idea that they were being stalked. Brinn had gotten
over that a long time ago, but remembered the feeling like it was
yesterday. A sense of satisfaction rose from within at the thought
of Stockman’s terror.

Unfortunately, it had been her own fear that
kept her from coming out of hiding into the darkness when she heard
helicopters flying overhead. She couldn’t risk drawing Stockman’s
attention. It had seemed likely that the rain and thick forest
would have made it impossible for rescuers to see her at any rate.
At least someone was looking for her. The thought gave her a burst
of hope.

Brinn watched the man from between the
shrubs. She had chosen this particular hiding place because it was
obscured from view, surrounded by a wall of thick rhododendron on
one side and a mass of thorny berry bushes on the other. A person
could pass right by and not know there was a small cave in between
that sheltered her from wind, rain and her unwelcomed pursuer.
Although the waterfall nearby would provide her with fresh drinking
water this morning, it also covered the sound of approaching feet.
Her enemy would be heading her way soon enough. A shiver of
apprehension rushed through her. It was time to move on.

After an easy climb to the top of the next
ledge, she found a good vantage point. She could make out the
figure of the man in the distance, already trudging up the steep
incline, holding onto trees as he went and looking at the ground
for signs of his prey. He swatted at the relentless bugs buzzing
around his head, cursing with each bite and sting, his clothes
soaked from the night before.