Broken Dreams (Franklin Blues #2) (18 page)

~**~

I get to the station and race inside with my brother and Tyler on my heels. Once inside, everyone stops and looks at me.

“I figured it out. I know who has Amy and why they took her. It’s her ex, Jeremy. Did anyone try and talk to him after she was taken?”

I look around and my eyes land on Shawn and my captain. They both shake their heads and tell me that they’ve tried to reach him, but he’s out of town on vacation, according to his employer.

“He’s got her, I know he does. Look at the case files; the killings didn’t start happening until right after I brought her home from the hospital. They started in Crossville, that’s where Amy and him lived when they were married, and her hometown. All the women look exactly like her, it all makes sense now. I’m thinking the fact that she was able to get pregnant by me broke something inside him. We have to go find her. We’re so close, let’s go.”

“Lance, Dude, stop for a minute and take a breath. We can’t go in guns blazing, I remember you telling me this when we went after Hailee. We have to think of a plan to get her out. Now that we know all the details, we’ll start to come up with a plan. Crossville isn’t even our jurisdiction. We need to be smart about this.”

I look at Shawn, I know he’s right, but we didn’t wait for anything when we went after Hailee. Why is he doing this to me? He knows as well as I do that if we don’t get her out soon that they likelihood of her ever making it out alive gets smaller and smaller.

Amy

The last few days have been torture. The Jeremy that brought me and was here when I first woke up is gone. I don’t even know the man who is standing in front of me right now. His eyes are hollow and void of any emotion, and he’s started to torture me physically.

He’s burned me with cigarettes, broken the rest of my fingers on my right hand, and has beaten me more times than I can count. I’m hoping Lance finds me soon, but I’m getting to the point where I’m not sure he will. I hope that he finds another love in his life, because as each minute passes, it’s becoming clearer to me that I’m not going to make it out of here alive.

I’ve lost count of how long I’ve been in this room, but I know that I’m going to end up starving to death because I haven’t eaten a thing since I’ve been here. I’m too scared to eat anything; afraid he’s poisoned it.

I finally have a moment of peace between beatings, and all I can think about is Lance. I’ve had several hallucinations where Lance has saved me, only to be brought to reality when Jeremy comes back to torture me some more. I’m really not sure how much longer I can hold out. I’m so tired of fighting and I want to go to sleep and never wake up. At least then I wouldn’t be in all this pain anymore. I don’t think there’s a single part of my body that doesn’t hurt.

I hear him unlocking my door, so I lay back on the bed as much as I can and act as if I’m asleep. I hear the door open and shut, then footsteps coming towards the bed. I’m trying to keep my breathing as even as I can, but I’m not sure it’s working.

I can hear him mumbling about how the baby I lost should have been his, and how he’s going to make it his mission to get me pregnant. I hear something else about us having to move locations because we wouldn’t be able to stay in this house much longer without getting caught.

I feel him lightly touch my face, and I have to force myself not to flinch in pain from where he’s hit me, and from pure disgust. He reaches to undo my right hand, and this time I do flinch. All the bones in my fingers are broken, and I’m pretty sure my wrist is too from pulling on it. He picks me up and takes me out of the bedroom. I’m not sure how he can stand to be around me since he’s forced me to even use the bathroom on myself because he didn’t trust me to even go to the bathroom. I haven’t showered either, so I know I’m smelling something awful.

I open my eyelids only slightly to see where we are. Everywhere I look, looks like our old house, from the furniture to the pictures hanging on the walls. I don’t think we’re in our old house since that would be too risky and I know he’s smarter than that. I start to stir around in his arms, and he grips me tighter. I try to squirm out of his arms, but it’s no use. My body is too weak from malnourishment. I think he’s taking me outside when I see the sun getting brighter, and I’m right.

“If you scream, I will kill you, so you better lay there keep quiet. Don’t tempt me Amy. I already want to kill you because you’re not the same girl you were when we were married, and you seem to think this Lance is going to come to your rescue. I’ve heard you yelling out for him at night, and I hate to tell you, he’s not coming for you. He has no idea it was even me that took you, so you’re stuck with me, forever.”

He kisses my head and I gag. Like literally gag, turn my head and get sick. Since there’s no food in my system, the only thing coming up is stomach acid, but I couldn’t help it. It makes me physically sick that he had his lips on me.

Jeremy sets me down on the couch, and goes into the kitchen for something. I can hear the rustling of him looking for something, and then I hear him start to walk back towards me. He comes to stand in front of me, takes a blindfold out of his pocket and starts to put it on me. I’m begging him not to as the tears are falling down my cheeks. I know that if he puts that on me, I won’t be able to see the attack coming, and that scares me beyond anything else. My words fall on deaf ears as he puts the blindfold over my head. He then takes my ankles and binds them together, using what feels like zip ties. He scoots me forward on the couch, turns me around, and secures my hands behind my back. I cry out in pain when he roughly handles my right hand. I feel a wave a nausea hit me, and I’m almost certain I’m going to get sick again.

“If you get sick again, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life, so you better hold it in.”

I nod my head and swallow the bile that has risen in my throat. I start gagging on it, but force myself to not expel it from my system.

He picks me up again and walks through another door. I can feel the sun beating down on me so I know we are outside. He opens what I assume is a car door and puts me inside, putting the seatbelt around my body. He closes the door and opens another door. I feel him get into the car and turn it on. I have no idea where he could be taking me, and I’m afraid that I won’t come out alive from the next place.

He starts driving and the only think I can hear is the car as it moves down the road. I hear him mumble something under his breath and the car engine revving up as if he’s hitting the accelerator to pick up speed. I’m sitting here lost in my own thoughts when I hear sirens behind us.

I’m beginning to think that I’m going to be saved. However, I don’t feel him start to slow down, but speed up. He’s not going to stop and I start getting really scared; he’s going to try and outrun the police. I move around in my seat as my nerves settle in my stomach. There’s no way he can outrun the cops, and I know, right now, that if he doesn’t pull over, I’m not going to make it out of this car alive.

I am thrown around the car like a sack of potatoes as he swerves through traffic. I hear other drivers blaring their horns as I’m sure he’s cutting people off. I can hear more sirens coming in from behind, and I’m starting to get anxious. My hand is throbbing from the continuous hits to the seat behind me, and I’m starting to feel dizzy from all the pain. He turns left very sharply and I bang my head on the window. I can feel the blood running down my face, and now I know for a fact that I’m going to die.

Even though I can’t see anything but darkness, I can still see black spots swirl behind my eyelids. I hear Jeremy mumbling to himself about how if he can’t have me, no one can as he keeps speeding down the street. I start crying, pleading, and begging for him to let me go and he yells at me to shut up. I sit here and cry silently to myself, praying to God that I make it out alive. Praying that Lance will come and save me from this monster that I used to call my husband.

I feel the car accelerating, and I’m wondering how he hasn’t hit max speed yet. I hear what sounds like wood, almost like we’re driving over a bridge, and then I can tell we are airborne. There’s a sudden impact and I’m flung forward, hitting my forehead on the dashboard. I think I’m hearing water surrounding us, but can’t be sure if it’s all in my head. The pain in my body is excruciating, and I’m on the brink of passing out. The last thing I remember hearing before I finally pass out is Lance’s voice. He’s yelling at me to hang on for him.

I love you Lance. Please be happy in life, and know that I’m always with you.

Finally, I succumb to the darkness that’s pulling me under. I know that I’m going to die sitting next to the man I used to love, and being taken from the one that I love now.

Lance

I’m lying in bed wide awake, because let’s face it, I can’t sleep until I get Amy home safe and sound. My cell goes off and I look at the screen to see it’s my captain.

“Hey cap, what’s going on?”

“Lance, son, we found her.”

I sit up as quickly as possible, and race to the closet to get dressed. I left my phone on the bed and when I go back to it, I see the call with my captain is still connected.

“Lance, we have to move fast. Jeremy has the police on a high speed chase right outside of town. He’s getting reckless, and we aren’t sure what his end game is. They are heading towards Lake Monroe, and it’s not looking good son.”

“I’m on my way out the door now, I’ll wake up my brother and Tyler and bring them with me. Aaron is a doctor so if she’s hurt when we find her, he’ll be able to take care of her.”

I hear the captain give me an affirmative, and warn me about the state that Amy may or may not be in when I find her and hangs up. I rush through the house, yelling for the guys to get up. Aaron and Tyler come out of the guest room looking as bad as I do, asking what’s going on. I explain the best that I can what the captain told me, and they rush to get ready. I’m jumping into my truck when they come running out of the house. Aaron has some type of medical bag, and as soon as they get in, we are speeding off towards the lake. I have a feeling I know what he’s going to do, but for once I hope that my gut feeling is wrong.

My sirens are on as I race through town. I find the chase going on and I speed in front of everyone. He turns sharply to the left, and I see Amy’s head hit the window. My guy clenches at the sight of her. I can tell by the brief sight of her that her face is bruised, and decide I’m going to kill that asshole for putting his hands on her.

We get to the lake, and he’s finally out of options. He has to stop, or so I thought. My worse fear comes to life as I watch him drive onto the dock and plunge the car into the lake. I slam on my breaks and jump out of the car. I’m yelling for her to hang on, that I’m coming to save her, but I’m not sure if she can even hear me.

I’m running towards the lake, and I’m about to jump in when I see Aaron dive into the water. I stand on the edge of the water and wait to see the love of my life. After what seems like hours, but in reality is only probably a matter of minutes, Aaron surfaces with Amy under his arm. This time I don’t hesitate. I jump into the lake and swim over to them. Aaron tells me to take Amy so he can go back for Jeremy. I try to tell him not to bother, but with him being a doctor it’s his duty to save anyone he can. I swim to the edge and Tyler is there, waiting to take Amy. He’s got a towel in his arms and places it around her as he picks her up. He places another towel on the ground for me as I pull myself out of the lake. I rush over to Amy’s side and notice that her lips are bright blue. I waste no time in starting CPR. I hear Aaron come out of the lake and hear him tell the medics to start working on Jeremy while he comes over to Amy’s other side. He takes over CPR and all I can do is watch helplessly as he tries to save the love of my life.

In the middle of a compression, she starts coughing up the water she’s inhaled and opens her eyes. Her eyes find mine and she smiles.

“Lance, I knew you’d come for me. I kept telling myself to hold it together for just a little while longer and my man would come save me. I have to say, it took you long enough.”

I chuckle at her. Even after all she’s been through, she’s still the same smartass I fell in love with.

“Well if you weren’t so good at hiding, I’d have found you a long time ago. If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask for it. This is all a little extreme, even for you.” I wink at her and she rolls her eyes at me.

“Asshole.”

“Yeah, I am, but I’m your asshole and that’s all that matters.”

Now that she’s awake I take a close look at her. Her face is bruised all over, she’s still wearing the dress from the gala five nights ago, her shoes are gone, it looks like her ankles are being held together by zip ties, and her arms are behind her back. I’m going to kill Jeremy with my bare hands. I look over to Aaron who is looking over my shoulder at Mason, one of the medics on scene. I look over at Mason and he’s shaking his head. Jeremy’s dead. Good, saves me from having to do it.

I look back down at Amy since she’s really quiet and see that she’s asleep. I yell for Mason to come over here with a gurney so we can get her to the hospital. Aaron takes out a pair of medical scissors and cuts the restraints on her ankles off of her. I pick her up so that he can get the ones off her wrist too. I hear him gasp and I look behind her.

Son of a bitch, you can tell her all her fingers in her right hand have been broken. My poor girl has had to go through so much pain. I keep whispering how sorry I am to her, even though I know she can’t hear me.

I place her on the gurney that Mason had brought over, and follow it over to the ambulance. Mason hops in and tells me to come on so we can get her to the hospital. I turn to Aaron and give him a hug and thank him for saving my girl. He returns the hug and asks for my keys, saying that he and Tyler will meet us there. I give him the keys and hop in the ambulance. The entire ride to the hospital I curse myself for not finding her sooner. If I were a better detective, then I’d have found her before she had to endure all this pain.