The Price of Trust (29 page)

"Hi, Kelly! Hi, Carly!" Angie said sarcastically, elbowing her friend in the side.

"Hi," they both said coolly, exchanging glances.

"What are you two doing here?" she said, trying to peer inside their bags. Instinctively, Carly pulled her bag closer to her side, making it difficult for her to see anything.

"Just shopping," Kelly answered, eyebrows raised.

"Kelly, you remember Amy, don't you?" Angie said, a malicious glint in her eyes.

"Amy," Kelly said coolly, nodding her head in greeting. "This is Carly." She introduced them, obviously uncomfortable.

"Hello," Carly said calmly, knowing that Angie was watching for any adverse reaction she might have.

"You're Carly. I've heard so much about you," Amy said, her voice sugary. "We were just going to sit down and have dinner. Would you two like to join us?" She smirked.

"We were just leaving. Thanks anyway," Kelly said quickly before Carly could answer.

Angie stepped in her way, sneering. "What are you afraid of, Kelly?"

"Nothing," she said disdainfully. "We have nothing to be afraid of."

Angie smiled contemptuously. "Oh really. Well, if you weren't afraid, you would have dinner with us."

"Angie, leave them alone," Amy interrupted, looking at Carly, her blue eyes glittering with hatred. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to eat dinner with my fiancé's ex-girlfriend either. Actually, I was almost his wife." She winked knowingly at her. Carly just smiled in return.

"So how is Joe?" she asked, changing the subject.

Carly held her gaze, carefully hiding all emotion. "Good, thanks."

"I bet he's still as handsome as ever. He always was a good-looking guy. I could kick myself for letting him slip away." She laughed, trying to goad Carly into getting angry.

"I'm sure you could. But that's all in the past now, isn't it?" She smiled sweetly at her rival.

Amy glared at her, smiling thinly. "Perhaps. Then again, maybe not. I could come back and take him away from you in a heartbeat. It would be so very easy."

"Are you trying to threaten me?" Carly asked calmly, unperturbed. "You don't worry me."

"Let's go," Kelly said, taking Carly by the arm and pulling her toward the door.

"You should be worried," Angie said after them.

"Oh that's right," Carly said, turning around to face them. "I almost forgot. Have a good dinner, and a great night! Good-bye!" she said, waving to them as if they were the best of friends.

"I can't believe they did that," Kelly said angrily, climbing into the passenger seat of the truck. "I didn't think Angie would go that low. Are you okay?" she asked, worried.

Carly sat quietly in the driver's seat, leaning her head on the steering wheel. Kelly put her hand on her arm, hoping to comfort her. Carly looked up laughing merrily.

"That was funny! Did you see their faces? That was priceless!"

Kelly stared at her friend, dumbfounded. "Aren't you mad?" she asked, bewildered.

"Mad? Why would I be mad? I know what Joe really thinks of Amy, so no. I'm not in the least bit mad."

Kelly smiled, visibly relaxing. "Come to think of it, it was pretty funny. Angie thought she was going to hurt you, and you took it all so well. I'm so proud of you! I bet she's so mad she could spit nails!"

"You know," Carly said, her eyes twinkling merrily. "I have half a mind to go back in there and give Amy Ian's phone number!"

"You couldn't do that." Kelly said, surprised. "I'd have to feel sorry for him."

"Let's go home before we get ourselves into more trouble!" Carly laughed, expertly driving toward the farm.

"Carly!" Kelly called over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen. "Your phone is ringing!"

"Oh my word, I forgot to take it with me!" Carly said, dropping her bags and running to the table where she had left it. "Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Hello!" Joe answered, sounding surprised. "I was just going to hang up."

"I'm sorry. Kelly and I went to the mall, and I forgot to take the phone with me. I'm still getting used to having one. How are you?" she asked tenderly, walking upstairs into his room.

"Better now that I'm talking to you. I was getting worried."

"I'll remember to take it with me next time. Did you have a good trip?" she asked, sitting down at his desk.

"Yeah, I guess it was all right. We're at Aunt Ruth's house right now with a bunch of people I haven't seen in ages, so we're doing a lot of catching up on family things. I just stepped outside to call you. Did you have a good time at the mall?" he said, sounding much more relaxed now.

"Let's say it was interesting. Angie was there," she said, listening to his groan. "And I met Amy."

Silence.

"Amy," he said stiffly. Pause. "Did you talk to her?" His voice was tight.

"Yes, actually I did." Carly waited.

"And?" he prompted.

"And what?"

"What did you say?"

"You never told me how pretty she was. She's about my height, blond hair, blue eyes. Small and thin. You know." She paused.

"She's only pretty on the outside, Carly," he said huffily. "Are you jealous?"

"Should I be?"

"As jealous as I should be of Ian."

"Okay then. I was so jealous that I had to wave desperately at Billy Pruit when we came back through town." She paused for effect. "Maybe I still have a chance with him!"

"Carly," he said, his tone threatening.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I'm just joking. You know, she really is very pretty until she opens her mouth and talks." Joe breathed a sigh of relief. "She said that she could come take you away from me any time she wanted to."

Joe snorted in disgust. "Did you tell her to drop dead?"

"No, actually I wished her a good night. I was very nice to her, and it drove her nuts. It was great. How's your aunt Ruth?" she asked, tired of talking about Amy.

"Actually, she's doing better than we all thought. I don't know when Mom and Dad are planning on coming home, but I know Todd and I are anxious. We should have driven separately, but we didn't think about it. Hey, is Kelly around? Todd would like to speak to her for a minute."

"Sure, I'll go get her," Carly said, jumping up and walking into Todd's room. "Kelly, Todd's on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?" She winked at Kelly.

Kelly grinned, tapping her finger on her chin. "I don't know."

"Here, he says you have no choice in the matter." Carly laughed, handing the phone to her.

She walked back into Joe's room, giving them some time to talk alone. In Joe's room, she wandered around aimlessly, opening and closing his closet doors, looking listlessly through his drawers, pulling out one of his favorite shirts and caressing it lovingly, just trying to be as near him as possible under the circumstances. Finally, she sat on his bed, sighing heavily. Kelly came in, still talking to Todd.

"Here you go. Sorry we talked so long," she said, handing the phone to Carly.

She reached out, grateful for another chance to talk to Joe.

"Hi, it's me again. I guess I better let you go; you've got an early day tomorrow. I miss you and love you with all my heart," he said softly.

"I love you too and hope your aunt Ruth will be okay. I'll be praying for you all. Please tell your parents I said hi. I'll see you when I see you." Carly attempted to sound cheerful, but didn’t quite succeed, and hung up.

"Well. I guess that's it then," Kelly said, coming into the room. "I really miss Todd."

She placed the phone on his desk, running her hand over the smooth finish. "I know what you mean."

The next couple of days went by slowly for the two girls, but they kept busy so they wouldn't have as much time to be dreary and feel sorry for themselves. When they weren't out in the barn, cleaning up the house, or doing laundry, Carly helped Kelly work on her cooking, and Kelly kept Carly laughing.

"When do you think they're coming back?" Kelly asked one morning after all the chores were finished. She pulled a perfect cherry pie out of the oven and set it on top of the counter.

"That looks awesome!" Carly said excitedly. "I can't wait for you to make one for Todd!"

"Me neither." She sighed, sitting down at the table. Carly's cell phone rang. They both dove for it, Kelly answering it first.

"Hello!" she said, laughing as Carly stuck her tongue out at her. "Carly? Do you want to speak to her? Okay. I'll tell her. Good-bye!" Kelly said, pretending to hang up the phone.

Carly grabbed it out of her hand. "Don't you dare hang up, Joe!" she said quickly. "Hello? Hello?"

Joe laughed heartily. "Hi, babe. I'm just teasing you."

"You better not hang up on me! I'd have to declare war on you! How are you? I've missed you so much! It's been ages since you called me."

"Ages? It's been only about twelve hours. Anyway, I was hoping you'd rather see me in person than talk to me on the phone."

Carly squealed with delight. "Are you coming home? How's your aunt Ruth? Is she better?" she asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

"No, Aunt Ruth isn't any better. We're still at her house, Mom's going to stay with her for a little while longer, and the rest of us are coming home. Lord willing, we should be home this afternoon, unless of course, you'd rather us stay another week," he said jovially.

"At the peril of your life, you stay another week!" she said, trying to sound threatening but not quite making it.

"Well, give the phone to Kelly, and we'll let her and Todd talk for a bit. I'm coming home, babe, and I can't wait to see you! I love you!"

"I love you too! Drive careful." Carly said before handing the phone to Kelly, unable to stop smiling.

"They're coming home! They're coming home!" They danced around the room after Kelly hung up, giggling like schoolgirls and flopping down into chairs, breathless with excitement.

"I can hardly believe it!" Kelly said dreamily, fanning herself. "Hey! What about making them a special dinner tonight? What do you think? Then I could show Todd how much you've helped me with my cooking."

"Sounds great. What do you want to make? Something easy, or something really difficult?"

"It can't be too difficult, or Todd will never believe that I did it. No, I think something easy but spectacular. Any ideas?" she asked, her face beaming.

"We could make some country fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Or we could make some omelets with bacon, cheese, ham, onions, and tomatoes with some homemade bread? What do you think?" she said, blushing with excitement.

Kelly clapped her hands, her eyes twinkling. "Omelets are my favorite! Let's do that. First, I'm going to go over Todd's room with a fine tooth comb and make it perfect."

"Yeah, I'll tidy up Joe's room, then I'll go check on the animals and make sure that the barn is nice and clean and they don't need anything. Come on, I'll race you!" They both jumped up, and raced upstairs, both hoping to get finished before the other.

A few hours later, Carly was in the barn, making sure all the animals were taken care of, when she heard a car driving slowly down the road. She looked out the door window to see a dark green BMW stopping in front of the house. The windows were tinted black, making it impossible for her to see the driver. But she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who was driving that car.

"Ian!"
she breathed, her heart skipping a beat. Frantically she watched the house, hoping Kelly wouldn't come out until the car had gone.

Slowly the car began its crawl down the road, the occupant watching the house incessantly. An eternity passed before the car had completely gone by, enabling her to open the door of the barn a little to listen. Satisfied that they weren't parked just on the other side of the tree line, she raced as quickly as she could, bursting through the kitchen door, locking it behind her.

"Carly!" Kelly exclaimed, dropping the broom she was using. "You sc—"

Terrified, Carly grabbed her by the hand and yanked her upstairs.

"Run! We've got to hide!"

"The attic!" Kelly shrieked, petrified. Quickly she led the way to a door at the end of the hallway and flung it open, taking two steps at a time. "Hurry!"

"Wait!" Carly said, grabbing her cell phone out of Joe's room, and dashed into the attic. Slamming the door behind her, she fumbled with the lock, her fingers stiff from terror.

Joe woke with a start, his heart pounding. "Where are we?" he asked groggily, trying to get his bearings.

Tom smiled, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "We're a little less than an hour away from home. I've got to stop and get some gas," he said as he pulled into a service station. Todd was in the front seat, snoring loudly. None of them had slept well since they had left home.

"I'll be glad to get back," Joe said out loud, adrenaline pumping. "I've got to get out of here," he said, grabbing the door handle and jumping out of the truck, trying to calm his nerves.

"You all right?" Tom asked, looking at him doubtfully. "You look a little pale. You're not getting sick are you?"

Joe bent over, gasping for air. "I don't think so. My heart is beating really fast, and I can hardly catch my breath. Dad, something's wrong."

"What?" he asked, coming over to him to help. "Should I take you to the hospital?"

He looked up, his eyes wild with panic. "It's not me. We've got to get home. I think there's something wrong at home."

"Now calm down, Son. Why do you think there's something wrong at home?" Tom looked skeptical.

"I don't know. It's a feeling. I think the girls are in trouble."

"What's going on?" Todd asked, climbing out of the truck, blinking in the bright sunlight.

"He thinks the girls are in trouble, but I think he's not feeling too well," Tom said, putting the cap on the gas tank. "I'll be right back."

"I've got a feeling that something's not right at home," Joe said, still trying to calm himself down.

"You have your cell phone. Call them," Todd said easily.

He punched in Carly's number and listened apprehensively.

"Well?" Todd asked after a moment, reaching for the phone. Joe shook his head and handed it over to him. Todd listened, waiting impatiently. "Are you sure you dialed the right number?"

"Yes," he replied shortly. Tom came back out, carrying a bottle of soda for each of them.

"Here. Maybe this will help," he said, giving Joe the bottle. Silently, Todd handed the phone over to Tom. He listened, shrugging his shoulders. "They're probably outside. Let's go," he said, trying to sound casual, but he climbed hastily into the truck.

Carly snatched up her phone the minute it started to ring and turned it to vibrate, hoping it hadn't been loud. They could hear someone on the porch, shaking the door handles and rattling the windows trying to get in.

Silently, she motioned for Kelly to hide behind a large assortment of old steamer trunks and barrels and handed her the cell phone.

"Shh. Whatever happens, stay hidden.
No matter what!
" she said, tiptoeing toward an antique roll-top desk. She jumped at the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen, her whole body shaking with terror.

Please God
, she prayed silently, squeezing her eyes shut.
Please keep Kelly safe. Don't let Ian find her. Please God, please God, please God,
she continued, unable to think of anything else to say, trying to stay as calm as she could.

They heard someone in the kitchen, opening and closing the doors. Giving up, the person went into the living room, checking the closets in there.

"Carly," Ian said in a singsong voice. "I know you're here. I saw you run in here from the barn."

Looking up at Kelly, she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she was having a nightmare. She started to cry, unable to stop herself.

They heard him walking up the stairs, still calling out her name. "Don't be scared, Carly," he called soothingly. "I've come to take you home with me. We'll be married and live happily ever after. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" He threw open the door to Todd's room, carelessly hitting the wall.

He opened the closet doors. "I'm getting closer. There can't be many other places to hide. Come out, come out wherever you are," he sang, walking into Joe's room.

"Well, look what I found. What a nice picture of you, but you look so much better with me," he said angrily, tearing the picture of her and Joe sitting together at Wilson's Pond and scattering the pieces around. "Oops. Look what I just did. I'm so sorry I tore your picture. So this is where Joe sleeps," he said viciously as he turned the bed over, smacking the wall.

Carly held her breath, as if she were afraid that he would hear her breathing.

"I wonder whose suitcase this could be." He flung it across the room, breaking the window. "After all I've done for you, this is the way you treat me? I bought you everything, I gave you everything. And yet you treat me like I'm the enemy. In fact"—he kicked the closet doors repeatedly until they broke—"I'm the one who bought you and your friends' lunches the other day. Now do you think an enemy would treat you so well?"

Kelly shrank back as far into the wall as she possibly could, both hands over her mouth, smothering her terror.

"You think you would be happy with Joe, but you wouldn't. He can't give you the things I can," he said, flinging the papers on his desk everywhere. Next he pulled out all the desk drawers, throwing them into the wall, smashing them. They heard him trashing his room like a madman.

"You belong to me," he said, unsuccessfully twisting the doorknob to the attic. "Open the door, Carly," he sang, jiggling the old knob, trying to force it open. "You're not playing very fair. You're supposed to come out when you're found!"

He began kicking the doorknob over and over again as Carly cringed further behind her hiding spot, praying for a miracle.

"Hello?" Joe said into his phone after the first ring, expecting to hear Carly. Nothing. "Hello?" he said louder, listening a moment. Todd turned to look at him apprehensively. "There's nobody there. Wait," he said, straining, plugging his other ear. He heard something in the background. "Todd. What is that?" he asked thinly, handing the phone over to Todd. Todd listened intently, his face going pale.

"It's someone calling Carly's name," he said quietly, handing the phone back to Joe. He looked helplessly at Tom. "We've got to go faster," he said thickly, barely able to talk around the lump in his throat.

Without saying a word, Tom pushed the gas pedal down as far as it could possibly go.

"I know you're in here. Why don't you come out, and we'll talk about this like the adults we are," Ian said, stepping slowly up the stairs, the broken door swinging back and hitting the wall.

"Carly. You know I don't like games like these. They make me a little angry. Come out, Carly."

He stepped up another stair.

"You know you love me and not this country hick."

Another step.

"I've got the plane tickets ready and waiting."

Another step.

"We can get married and be on our way to the Bahamas."

At the top of the stairs.

"Come out now. Your little game is over. I've won. You've lost," he said, starting toward the pile of trunks Kelly was hiding behind. Carly stifled a cry, afraid that he would find and hurt Kelly. Immediately he was at the roll-top desk.

"Get up," he said, grabbing her roughly by the arm, glaring at her.

"We've got trouble," Tom said, pulling the truck over to the side of the highway. Todd and Joe groaned as they saw flashing blue lights behind them, unable to believe they were getting pulled over at a time like this. Tom rolled down his window.

"Hello, officer—"

The officer interrupted him impatiently. "Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Yes, sir, I do. But we've got—" Tom said as calmly as he possibly could.

"May I see your license and registration," he said again, obviously aggravated. "What's the rush?"

"Here," Joe said tersely, pushing the cell phone toward him. "Listen for a minute."

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses…" the officer started, then listened for a second. He glared at them. "Is this some sort of prank?"

"No. My fiancée is in trouble," Joe said with difficulty. "Her ex-boyfriend has been stalking her for years, and I'm afraid he's going to hurt her." The officer looked from Joe to Todd to Tom and back again, unwilling to believe their story. "Just listen!" Joe demanded impatiently, wanting to jump out and run the rest of the way. "If you don't believe us, then follow us home and give us the ticket there! Please! I'm begging you. We're almost there," he said, trying not to give in to the urge to curse.