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  “You guys, I think… I think we actually did it,” Tara said, her eyes filling with tears of joy. “We’ve… escaped.”

  The two children began to cheer.

  “Don’t celebrate yet,” she said, smiling and wiping the corner of her eye. “We may have escaped but I’m driving. So… we’re still in a lot of danger.”

  “You’re doing great!” Sammy said. “Especially for someone who’s never driven.”

  “Thanks. Actually, I used to ride four-wheelers at my aunt’s cabin and that probably helped.” Aunt Joan had been related to her father, who’d died of cancer when she was nine. Tara remembered how much fun they’d had and wondered if she’d ever get to see her again.

  “What’s a four-wheeler?” Lainey asked.

  As she was explaining, Tara kept checking the rearview mirror. Her heart was still racing and knew that they weren’t out of the woods yet. They still had another half mile or so to go before they reached a real paved road. This felt almost like a scene from a horror flick and she knew what happened to movie characters who let their guard down. Nothing good.

  “That sounds like fun,” said Sammy. “I’ve never been on one.”

  “You’d have a blast,” Tara said, grateful that the moon was out and the layer of snow that had accumulated seemed to help her see better. “Maybe, if things work out, I can invite you over to my aunt’s.” Her heart stopped. There was suddenly a vehicle headed toward them.

  “Oh my God, who is that?”

  “Maybe it’s one of the other neighbors. Or a cop?” Sammy said.

  Tara didn’t think it was a cop.

  “You guys, get down,” she ordered.

  “Shouldn’t we see if they can help us?” Sammy asked.

  “No. It might be one of them,” Tara said, her voice quivering. Although she’d never met the others involved with the trafficking, she knew they were out there. “Now, unbuckle and get down so they don’t see you.”

  The children did as she asked and slid down to the floor mats. Taking a deep breath, Tara turned on the headlights, so the other driver wouldn’t run into them, and continued forward. She didn’t know what else to do but understood that there wasn’t any other route to take.

  Please, help us…

  As the vehicle grew nearer, Tara tried to stay calm but the truth was, she was trembling like crazy and about ready to pee her pants.

  Sammy looked up at her. “Who is it? Can you tell?”

  “Not yet,” she answered, clutching the steering wheel tightly.

  When it was almost upon them, the other vehicle flashed it’s high beams, momentarily blinding her. Gasping, she stomped on the brake without thinking. The wheels spun and Tara lost control of the car.

  Chapter 29

  Hawk

  HAWK NOTICED A pair of lights suddenly appear in the distance. At first he thought it might be Kurt, but as the car grew closer, he realized that the headlights were different. Since there weren’t any other houses around, besides the old couple’s – and Kurt mentioned they were now dead - Hawk knew that it could only mean one thing. Tara had gotten her hands on a car.

  Impressed at her ingenuity, he waited until the vehicle was close and then turned on his high beams.

  The other driver, definitely Tara, swerved and lost control of the car. It slid off the road and ended up down in the ditch.

  Pleased with himself, Hawk parked the truck and slid a ski mask over his face. Grabbing his gun, he noticed that she was trying to get the car free. But, the harder she tried, the more stuck the Chrysler became. It amused him.

  Whistling to himself, He walked over to the driver’s side door and rapped on the window.

  Tara looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.

  “Unlock the door!” he ordered.

  Ignoring him, she tried throwing the car into reverse again, which kicked up snow and mud.

  Pissed off, Hawk raised the gun and pointed it at the window. Knocking on the glass again, he made sure she saw it.

  “Unlock it now!” he yelled, cocking the pistol.

  Frightened, but not completely stupid, she did what he asked.

  Hawk opened the door and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her outside roughly. She slipped and fell down into the snow. Meanwhile, he could hear the children crying out for her in the vehicle.

  “Get up,” he ordered.

  Weeping, Tara got back onto her feet.

  “Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused?” he asked angrily, holding the gun up to her face. “Do you?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, sobbing.

  Although he’d never shot anyone before, his finger itched to pull the trigger. She’d made a mess of things and knew that Kurt wouldn’t have the heart to kill her and, of course, he’d beg Yury to keep her alive.

  But, he knew that Tara was too dangerous to their setup. She’d almost gotten away this time and if given the chance, would try it again.

  “Please, don’t kill me,” she begged.

  Sighing, Hawk lowered the gun to her thigh. He didn’t have time to deal with her but didn’t want her running off.

  “Sorry, but… this is going to hurt,” he said before pulling the trigger.

  Chapter 30

  Carissa

  “WHAT DID JEREMY have to say?” she asked Dustin after he hung up the phone.

  “Not too much. I gave him Mike’s phone number and hotel information,” he replied. “He said he’ll check on it.”

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “I think we should go. It’s getting late,” Dustin said quietly. “I’m sure she probably needs some time to herself anyway. That bombshell you laid on her was definitely a hard thing to swallow.”

  Carissa glanced over at Beth, who was on her phone, talking to Detective Samuels again. “I know, but… I’d like to meet Mike, first. He should be arriving soon, from what she said.”

  “Sure. We can wait.”

  They walked over to the sofa and sat down together, waiting for Beth to finish her conversation. When she did, Dustin asked if the detective had any new leads.

  Beth sighed. “No, although he also asked me about the guy you mentioned. Yury Popov. He wanted to know if I’d ever heard the name before.”

  “Samuels must have spoken to Fielding,” Dustin said to Carissa.

  She nodded.

  “Who’s that?” Beth asked, sitting down.

  “He’s the Minneapolis police chief. Jeremy and Fielding are longtime acquaintances, so he reached out to him,” Dustin explained.

  Beth looked relieved. “So, now maybe Lainey will get the attention she deserves. Not that Samuels isn’t a good cop. He just doesn’t seem like he’s doing enough.”

  “Samuels is a good cop, but he could definitely be doing better,” Carissa said, still remembering their first encounter. “I’ve dealt with him before.”

  “Really?” Beth asked. “Another case?”

  She nodded and told her about it.

  Last summer, a nine year old boy had been abducted while riding his bike home from a friend’s house in Forest Lake. It had been around eight o’clock in the evening and the man who picked him up, Joe Phillips, had been a longtime neighbor. Stephen had trusted the man, so when he was told that his mother needed him to come home quickly because of a family emergency, the little boy hadn’t thought twice about getting into his truck.

  “A neighbor?” repeated Beth, surprised. “That’s crazy.”

  “What’s crazy is that it happens all the time,” Dustin said. “Many times the child trusts the perpetrator. In fact, they usually spend time grooming them before they actually make a move. In that case, Stephen looked at him only as a friendly neighbor.”

  “How did you get involved?” Beth asked Carissa. “Did you know the family personally?”

  “No,” replied Carissa.

  The fact was, she wasn’t even sure how or why she’d envisioned what would happen to that particular boy. It wasn’t as if she’d come into any physical
contact with him or his family, which usually triggered her premonitions. But, two hours after the boy had gone missing, an Amber Alert went out and she’d been watching television when they’d broadcasted it. The moment she saw the photo of Stephen, she immediately called the police.

  “I know who has the little Cutler boy,” she’d told the operator on the phone.

  They’d immediately connected her to Detective Samuels, who, coincidently, was a friend of the missing boy’s family. When she told him of her vision, he’d said a few choice words, and then hung up on her. Knowing that it was a matter of life or death, she drove her SUV to the neighborhood where the search party was looking for the child, and was able to talk to the boy’s uncle, Tim.

  “There’s a fifty-something-year-old man who lives in this neighborhood. He owns a white pickup truck and always wears a fishing hat,” she’d told him desperately. “He’s taking Stephen to his cabin.”

  “How do you know this?” the uncle had asked, skeptical.

  “I saw him take the boy,” she’d said, which had been both a lie and the truth. “You have to hurry and stop him before he kills your nephew. Believe me, he will if you don’t do something.”

  Frantic, Tim called the boy’s father, who knew exactly of whom she was talking about. Although the parents insisted that they trusted their neighbor, Carissa pleaded with them to find Joe Phillips. Desperate to locate their son, they called Samuels and insisted that he check out the lead. An hour later, Joe was pulled over on the interstate with Stephen Cutler unconscious in the backseat, unharmed, for the most part. When the police inspected Joe’s cabin in Wisconsin, however, they found traces of blood in his basement, and later, the skeletal remains of another missing child, buried in the backyard. When interviewed later, Carissa admitted that she hadn’t witnessed Joe take Stephen with her own eyes and that it had been a premonition. Grateful for getting their son back, Stephen’s parents didn’t care either way, nor could they thank her enough. Detective Samuels, on the other hand, didn’t like her story, but couldn’t connect her in any way to the perpetrator. In the end, he thanked her for ‘the hunch’ and informed Carissa that she might have to testify in court. It never happened, however. Joe Phillips died of a heart attack three weeks later, in his cell.

  “Wow. Thank goodness you helped save that little boy,” Beth said, staring at her in wonder. “I’m just surprised that Detective Samuels treated you so unfairly. I would think he’d have tried anything to find Stephen. Although,” she frowned, “I told him about working with you and he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about it.”

  “I bet. He’s a very stubborn man. He doesn’t want to believe in anything that’s unexplainable,” said Carissa.

  “But, it is explainable,” said Beth, her eyes shining. She smiled. “You have a gift. And that’s all the explaining needed.”

  Carissa smiled back in gratitude. “I wish everyone felt that way.”

  “Has it every steered you completely wrong?” Beth asked, her smile fading.

  “I’ve steered myself wrong by interpreting the visions incorrectly,” she admitted.

  “Let’s hope that in the case of Mike, you have,” Beth said softly.

  “What about Mike?” said Tom.

  They all turned to find him walking out of the hallway.

  “When did you get back?” Beth asked, looking up at him.

  “Just now. I let myself in through the kitchen.” He looked at Carissa and Dustin. “By the way, there’s plenty of food in there, if anyone’s hungry. I figured you might be back.”

  They thanked him.

  “Back to Mike. What’s going on?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a stoic expression on his face.

  He would love to hear something negative about the man, Carissa thought, almost amused.

  “Nothing to concern yourself with,” Beth said, giving Carissa a look that warned her not to say anything.

  “Is it the roads?” he asked. “They’re getting pretty slippery out there. He’s still heading back tonight, right?”

  “Yes,” said Beth. “Anyway, how about we all go into the kitchen and have a bite to eat? Meanwhile,” she looked at Tom. “We can fill you in on what Carissa and Dustin learned while they were away.”

  “Sounds good,” he replied.

  Dustin patted his stomach. “To tell you the truth, we just had Taco Bell, but I’m always hungry.”

  “Good, because I brought back a lot of food,” Tom replied. “In fact, that’s why it took so long for me to get back.”

  “Did you get any cream cheese wontons?” Beth asked, a sad look on her face.

  He nodded. “Of course.” He looked at Dustin and Carissa. “They’re Lainey’s favorite. I figured… in case she came back tonight,” he voice hitched. He looked away. “She’d be hungry.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Chapter 31

  Lainey

  LAINEY AND SAMMY screamed when the masked man shot Tara and she dropped down into the snow.

  “He killed her, didn’t he?” sobbed Lainey from the backseat.

  “Yes. I think so,” Sammy answered, also shaken and crying.

  The man turned away from Tara and headed back toward them.

  “Oh my God, he’s going to kill us too!” Sammy shrieked.

  The killer opened up the back door and ordered Lainey to get out. Too terrified to move, Lainey curled up into a ball and wept harder.

  “Lainey,” the man growled angrily. “If you don’t get out of this car by the time I count to five, you’re going to be in seriously, big trouble!”

  Recognizing his voice, she looked up at him. “Why did you kill Tara, Uncle Mitch?”

  Muttering to himself, he pulled his mask up, revealing his face, which was glistening with sweat. “Because she did something very bad, Lainey. Now, if you don’t get out of the vehicle, I’m going to spank you so hard, you won’t be able to sit for a week. Or better yet, I’m going to start shooting again and neither of us want that.”

  She stared at him, mouth agape.

  “I mean it. Get up!” he said loudly.

  Trembling, she obeyed. Lainey had almost believed that she’d been dreaming about who’d actually kidnapped her. But, witnessing this side of him, Lainey realized it really had been Mitch who’d taken her from Walmart and he was just as evil as Kurt and Yury.

  “You, too!” Mitch hollered, looking over at Sammy. “Move it!”

  Terrified, Sammy opened the front door and quickly got out.

  Mitch pulled the mask back over his face. “Now, both of you, go and get into my truck.”

  “What about Tara?” Lainey already grieving for the teenager lying in the snow, blood seeping out of her thigh.

  “Don’t worry about her,” Mitch said angrily.

  Lainey’s heart wrenched with sadness. She couldn’t believe that Tara was really gone.

  Mitch’s eyes dipped down at her feet. “Dammit, where are your shoes?”

  Lainey was suddenly too stunned to answer him. She thought she’d seen Tara’s eyes open and close.

  Was she alive?

  Mumbling under his breath, Mitch bent down into the backseat of the Chrysler, searching frantically for her shoes.

  Tara opened up her eyes again.

  Shocked and relieved, Lainey didn’t say anything. She wasn’t dumb. She knew that if Mitch realized Tara was alive, he would probably shoot her again.

  Mitch stood up straight, a frustrated look on his face. “Seriously? No shoes for either of you?”

  “No,” Sammy muttered. “We didn’t have time to find them.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Of all the stupid… you’ll catch pneumonia if you’re not careful.” He waved the gun. “Hurry up and get into the truck.”

  Lainey glanced back over to Tara.

  What about Tara? Would she bleed to death, alone out here in the snow?

  “Move it,” snapped Mitch, trudging back to his truck.

  Begrudgingly, she followed him over wi
th Sammy.

  “I still can’t believe you two were wandering out here in the snow without shoes. Your toes must be freezing,” Mitch said, opening up his club cab.

  “Yes,” they both mumbled.

  He helped them into the back and gave an irritated sigh. “Take off your wet socks. I’ll turn up the heat.”

  The children did as he ordered.

  Mitch slammed the door shut, went around to the driver’s side. Opening the door, he leaned in, turned the heater up, and then grabbed his cell phone from the center column.

  “I’ll be right back. Don’t either of you dare move a muscle,” he said sharply, before closing the door.

  “That guy is really your uncle?” Sammy said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

  “Not my real one. His brother is going to marry my mom,” she said, watching Mitch pace back-and-forth outside.

  “Why do you call him uncle?”

  “He asked me to call him that, which I didn’t mind before. Now, I… I hate him.”

  “I hate him, too,” said Sammy, glaring at Mitch. “He’s the guy who took me.”

  “Me, too,” she said, watching as he began talking into his phone. “And when my mom finds out, she’s going to be so angry.”

  “If she finds out,” Sammy mumbled.

  Lainey wondered if Mike knew about the kidnapping. Her mother would never marry him if he did. If that was the case, maybe she would even get back with her father.

  “We need to try and escape again, so that my mom finds out about Mitch. Plus,” she glanced back toward where Tara was lying, “we have to get help for Tara. She could die out here if he leaves her.”

  “What are you talking about? She’s already dead,” he said sadly.

  “No. She’s not. I saw her open her eyes,” replied Lainey.

  Relief flooded his features. “She’s alive?”

  Lainey nodded and smiled.

  Sammy turned to look out at Tara and chewed on his lower lip. “If he realizes that she’s not dead, he might shoot her again.”

  “I know.”

  A new determined look crossed his face. Sammy leaned forward and stared at the controls. “I bet I can drive this thing out of here. We could go to the police and they can call an ambulance for her.”