The Abducted Book 0 (15 page)

With that, she took off, determined to catch
Gowdy, dead or alive. She ran to the fence and climbed over it,
falling to the other side. Everything seemed like a repeat from
before. The mosquitos. The palmetto bushes. The weeds and thick
brush hampering her view. Her mind raced as her heart beat rapidly.
She was tense and shaky. She might never make it out alive, but she
pressed on.

Pistol in hand, she pushed aside branches
while trying to hear anything beyond the crackling of leaves and
sticks under her own feet that would alert her to Gowdy’s presence.
She continued on, wrestling with the fingerprint revelation. What
did it mean? What was Gowdy’s part? She was determined to find
out.

She came to a clearing, sweaty and out of
breath, with adrenaline pumping through her veins. A figure ran by
in the distance. It was Gowdy. There was no mistaking it. He limped
along as though he had twisted an ankle. She bolted forward,
closing in.

He was close—about one hundred feet ahead.
Miriam took a knee, raised the pistol, and steadied her breathing.
She took the first shot and missed. Gowdy dropped to the ground. He
rolled to the side, taking cover behind a tree. She kept her aim
tight and waited. Then Gowdy, maybe feeling trapped and too eager,
fled from the tree and tried to make a run for it. “Gotcha,” she
said.

With one eye open, she locked on her target
and gently squeezed the trigger. The gun blasted. A shell was
ejected to the side. Gowdy collapsed immediately. She ran forward,
staying low. Her insides were filled with elation and fury, and
just then, she heard sirens blaring in the distance.

She stopped inches from Gowdy as he writhed
on the ground, reaching for his Uzi. He was hit behind his right
thigh and desperately struggled to crawl away, digging into the
ground and clawing at the dirt like a madman. As his fingertips
inched toward the Uzi, she fired another shot into the ground near
him. A clump of dirt flew up into his face, and Gowdy froze. Miriam
walked over to him and kicked the Uzi away. He ended his attempt to
escape and fell back on his stomach, wailing in pain.

Miriam said nothing as she stood over him
and pointed the gun at the back of his head. Gowdy grunted and then
rolled to his side, holding one arm out in a helpless plea. His
previous cockiness was gone, and only fear and desperation
remained.

“
You knew, didn’t you?” she said.
“Why?”

Gowdy looked up at her and tried to speak,
spittle flying from his mouth. “Kn-Knew what? That he’s royally
fucked in the head? That he takes young girls and locks them up?”
He cried out in pain after moving his leg.

“
Spare me your tears,” Miriam said.
“Just tell me where Emily is.”

Gowdy bowed his head, murmuring in
exhaustion.

Miriam fired the gun, hitting the ground
right by his head. He fell onto his back, terrified. She crouched
down and put the hot barrel against his forehead. “Here we are
again, only this time, I’m not going to hesitate.” She looked him
in the eyes. “Tell me!”

Gowdy opened his mouth and cried out. “He’s
got a bunker out here! I take them food and supplies. He keeps them
locked up.”

“
The girls?” Miriam asked in
wonderment. “They’re still alive?”

Gowdy paused, not wanting to answer the
question. She couldn’t kill him now, and he knew it. Not with her
being so close to the truth. Instead, she pressed the pistol
against his other leg and fired. The blast was deafening. Gowdy
fell back, screaming at the top of his lungs, a high-pitched,
piercing squeal.

“
You crazy bitch!” The open wound on
the back of his thigh pulsated with blood as the fresh hole in his
other leg started to bleed—slowly at first, then with a steady flow
of dark red.

She pressed the gun back against his
forehead while he cradled both legs in agonizing pain.

“
I have one bullet left, and I’m not
going to waste it trying to scare you. The next one goes in your
head.”

“
Two of them are still alive!” he
shouted. “The others… well, they got sick of playing with him after
a while, and he…”

“
He
what
?” she said in a venomous tone.

“
He had me get rid of them.” Seeing
her finger on the trigger, he raised both hands defensively. “I’ll
take you to them. Just don’t shoot me!”

“
Where’s the bunker?” she
asked.

He hesitated. She brought the pistol back
and smacked him across the face. He cried out as a chunk of skin
opened on his cheek, pouring blood.

“
You’re standing on it!” he
said.

She stopped and slowly stood up, looking
around.

“
Twenty feet underground…” he
continued. She backed away as he cried to himself—one sad, helpless
sack. She went to her knees and started digging, tossing dirt and
debris frantically out of the way. The sirens in the distance got
louder and louder.

After frenzied digging, she felt a metal
surface. She brushed the sand away and found a huge latch. It was
an entrance—that much she was sure of.

“
See…” Gowdy said with bloodshot,
tearing eyes. “I told you. There it is. The girl’s underground. I
think she’s okay. I-I was gonna check on her today.”

Miriam said nothing but kept her eyes locked
on his. She walked over to him slowly. Her words were calm and
measured. “So he shot my partner? He shot Deputy Lang, leaving his
wife without a husband and his children without a father.”

Gowdy’s eyes darted in all directions,
panicking. “He didn’t mean to. The cop just got in his way.”

“
And again, you helped
him.”

“
I had to!” Gowdy shouted out. “After
all he’s done for me, I owe him. I was nothin’ before I met him. No
one wanted me. He took me in. His family took me in, and they made
me one of their own! Do you understand that? You understand what
it’s like to be unwanted and unloved?”

Miriam raised her pistol, aimed squarely for
his head. He covered his face with his hands, shaking and crying
out. “Do you understand what it’s like to be a terrified young
girl?”

“
Please… I’m sorry,” Gowdy said.
“Don’t shoot me!”

She hesitated. Gowdy clenched his eyes shut,
blubbering and crying. For a moment, she just stood there with her
pistol aimed. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Her last
bullet wasn’t for Gowdy. It was for Phil Anderson—the man
responsible for it all. She lowered the pistol as his eyes slowly
opened. His hands shook as he continued to shield his face. She
looked down and noticed a ring of keys on his belt.

“
Are those for the bunker?”

Confused and shaken, he lowered his hands.
And looked down. “Yeah…” he sputtered. His legs twitched as he
winced with every move.

“
Toss ’em here,” Miriam said, holding
a hand out.

Without a second thought, Gowdy reached
down, unhooked the key ring from his belt, and tossed the keys
inches from her shoes. She picked them up and walked toward him.
His hands went back to his face as he pleaded with her not to shoot
him. She ignored his cries and picked up the Uzi that was just out
of his reach. She put her pistol in her pants pocket and took the
clip out of the Uzi.

She shook her head and looked at Gowdy,
displaying the empty magazine. “Not a lot of good this is going to
do you.”

She swung her arm back and threw the
magazine into the bushes while holding onto the Uzi. Gowdy looked
at her, stricken with fear. He had no idea what she had planned
next. She studied his pale, frightened face and then gave him an
answer.

“
You better hope those girls are still
alive.”

“
I’m sure of it!” he cried.

She said nothing else and kneeled down next
to the trapdoor, pulling it up by the handle. The door was heavy,
nearly impossible to budge. She clenched her teeth and pulled again
with all her might. Nothing mattered more. She pulled until the
heavy door began to lift. She screamed out and used every last
ounce of energy to get it open. Halfway there, she pushed it open
on its hinges, and it slammed open onto the ground, exposing an
underground tunnel leading straight down.

“
Down there,” Gowdy said, in a
strained, exhausted voice. “That’s where they are.”

She saw a ladder and began climbing down
into the darkness. Her eyes took a while to adjust the farther down
she went until finally she reached the bottom, where a door, set
into a heavy frame, blocked the way. There was just enough light
coming in from outside to let her see what she was doing.

The thick metal door was locked, but she
managed to fumble through the keys, trying each one, sometimes too
hurriedly and having to try again. By the fifth key, the door
unlocked with an almost magical-sounding click, and then she felt
the door handle turning in her hand. She swung the door open and
called out, her voice faltering and high pitched.

“
Hello? Is anyone in here?”

She nearly tripped on a small
battery-operated LED light that illuminated the long hallway, with
its catacomb-like rooms arrayed off to the sides. She grabbed the
lamp and walked down the hall.

Each room was the size of a broom closet,
with chains mounted to the wall and a small mattress on the ground.
There were board games and toys everywhere. One of the rooms even
had a tea set and table. The sight made her sick to her
stomach.

“
I’m here to help you. My name is
Miriam. You can come out now. The bad men have gone away.” She came
to the last room on the left and saw a young girl crouched in a
ball in the corner of the room, sniffling.

Miriam stepped closer, inches from the girl.
“It’s all right, honey. Don’t worry.”

The girl looked up, beyond her matted hair,
and backed farther into the corner, screaming.

Miriam set the lamp on the ground. “It’s
okay. My name is Miriam, and I’m going to get you out of here.”

The girl looked up again, a little less
afraid when she got a better look at Miriam.

“
I want my mommy…” she said,
crying.

“
What’s your name, dear?” Miriam
asked.

“
Emily,” she answered and wiped her
eyes.

Miriam swooped down and picked her up. Emily
buried her face in Miriam’s chest and cried, her thin body shaking.
She was wearing an old nightgown at least three sizes too big. Her
feet were bare, and she was trembling. Miriam stroked her head
repeatedly, trying to calm her as they made their way back toward
the ladder, but first, there were other rooms to look into.

“
We’re going home, Emily,” she
whispered. We’re going home.”

With Emily in her arms, Miriam began
searching the rooms on the other side. They had obviously been
occupied at one time but now were empty, and she felt a sense of
overwhelming defeat. One more room, and there in the corner, she
saw another girl lying on a mattress. She was dressed in tattered
pajamas and would not look up when Miriam called out. Her tangled
hair went all the way down her back, beyond her waist. She made no
movements. One arm was chained to the wall.

Miriam set Emily down carefully on the
ground, placing the lamp next to her. “Just give me one minute,
honey. We’re about to leave. Just wait here.”

Emily curled into a ball as Miriam crept
into the small chamber, where she hoped and prayed that whoever was
lying on the bed was still breathing. She lightly touched the
girl’s back and could feel it rising and dropping. She looked to
the young girl’s wrists. They were covered in cuts and bruises from
metal clamps. Miriam dug furiously through her pockets for the
keys. Pulling them out, she tried each one on the padlock that
connected the chain to the clamp. Emily began crying again, causing
Miriam to hurry and fumble.

By the third key, she heard a click and
opened the padlock. She removed the wrist clamp, tossing the chain
aside, and gently helped the girl up. She could hear faint
breathing. The girl’s face was dirty. Her skin looked ghost pale.
Her long hair was a knotted tangle.

The girl groaned. Miriam spoke softly,
bringing her lips close to the girl’s ear. “My name is Miriam, and
we’re getting you out of here.” She could feel the girl’s rib cage.
She was sickly thin and malnourished. “Can you hear me?” Miriam
continued.

“
Mm-hmm,” the girl moaned.

“
What’s your name?” Miriam
asked.

The girl paused, and faint breath came from
her dry, blistered lips. “Jenny…”

An overwhelming relief swept over Miriam,
almost sending her onto the ground in tears. She couldn’t believe
it. Finding both girls, nothing short of a miracle.

She picked Jenny up, cradling her long,
skinny body in her arms. “We’re going home, Jenny. Hang on.”

She faced a dilemma: two girls and one set
of arms. But Jenny’s condition was ten times worse than
Emily’s.

“
Emily, can you stand and walk,
honey?” she asked.

Emily nodded between sobs.

“
Strong, brave girl,” she told her.
Miriam took her hand and helped her up. She then picked up the lamp
and walked to the exit with Jenny in her arms and Emily at her
side.

Miriam climbed the ladder, slowly and
carefully, with Jenny in one arm, balanced on her hip, and hanging
onto the lamp and the ladder with the other. Emily, now the strong
girl Miriam had told her she was, gathered the strength to climb by
herself. Miriam was behind her, helping her along. By the time they
made it to the surface, Miriam had to shield Jenny’s eyes from the
blinding light of the sun. They had all made it above ground.
Miriam took a knee and set Jenny down, exhausted, her muscles
shaking from the strain. She explained to both girls that they only
had a little more to go.