Running Home (22 page)

“Get in,” he barked
, while flinging the passenger door open and pointed to the car. I hesitated for a moment and he grabbed my ponytail, ripping it back, and then shoving me forward into the seat. I tumbled into the car as he slammed the door shut.
This can’t be happening
.  Carson’s eyes were locked on mine as he ran around the car and jumped into the driver’s side. “Don’t fucking bleed in the car; it’s not mine.”

I silently nod my head and pray someone notices us driving through town. “Put a fucking smile on that pretty little face of yours
, Carmen, I don’t want someone thinking I’m kidnapping you.”

“You are,” I whisper
ed, gently laying my arms on my lap. Carson just laughed.
What a fucking psycho
.

We drove a little ways out of town and stopped at the old lumber mill. “Get out,” Carson directed. I pulled on the door handle and cried as the pain from using my arms shot through my body.

“This wasn’t the plan
, Carmen, this wasn’t the FUCKING PLAN!” Carson shouted as he started to pace the abandoned parking lot. I knew where we were. This place had been deserted for the last fifteen years or so, no one would ever come looking for us out here. Carson swiftly stopped moving and pointed out into the surrounding woods. “Start walking,” he demanded. My eyes grew large with fear. Where in the world are we going?

Not ushering a word
, I started to head out into the brush, keeping my arms tucked tightly in front of me. I realized there was a path I was following, but it was overgrown with brush and didn’t look like it had been used in years. “Where are we going, Carson?”

“
Don’t fucking ask any questions, Carmen, do you hear me? I don’t know what in the hell I am going to do with you now,” he said dryly. I lowered my head and kept walking, trekking further out into the woods.

We walk
ed for what felt like miles. The darkness had started to fall, and the woods were no longer inviting in the pitch blackness of the night. I could make out a silhouette of a building a few yards ahead and my stomached dropped.
Is this where the end was going to happen?

“Stop,
” Carson barked, as we neared the now visible shed. Using the light from his phone Carson opened the door and waited for me to enter. I couldn’t see a thing, as I stepped over the threshold into the tiny shed. Shivering from the cold empty place I was forced to be in, I let the tears creep back over my face.

“Stop your crying Carmen. Fuck you dumb bitch, I
thought you were stronger than that.” Light rapidly flooded the wooden shack as I glanced around to take in my surroundings. Spider webs and dirt were everywhere. A small table sat in the corner with two chairs and now a lantern that Carson apparently brought along. “Sit,” he directed as I slowly walked over to the rickety chair. Carson pulled out his phone and started to pace around the small place looking for reception. “Fuck,” he grumbled.

“I’m going to go find some sort of signal
, and figure out what in the hell I am to do with you. STAY HERE.” He stalked out of the shed and slammed the door. Dust and dirt fell from the dilapidated roof as I closed my eyes and cried. I heard a click and watched as the door shook from the outside.

“Just sit there
, okay? I locked the damn door, so there is no way you’re going anywhere. Go ahead and scream all you want, too; no one is going to hear you out here.” He laughed. I cringed at the sound of his voice; I can’t believe this is happening.

“Emergency”
Paramore

Walker

The rest of the day was torture for me. Carmen having to move out was weighing heavy on my mind
, and I couldn’t seem to focus on anything but that. I understand that it wasn’t the best idea having her just move in right away, but keeping her safe was the only thing I could think of at that time. I want to be able to be there for her, and living in two separate residences makes me feel like we are going to drift further apart again. I know that is a stupid thought, considering she promised she wasn’t going anywhere. But I just couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. The same feeling that came over me after graduation; this wasn’t going to be an easy thing to deal with.

“Hey
, if you need any help moving Carmen into the apartment let me know, man; I’m off tomorrow,” Derek said as he walked with me out to the parking lot.

“Thanks
, Derek, but she really doesn’t have much to move anyway.” Opening the back door, I motion for Waylon to climb in and slam the door. I winced at the sound after it was done.

“Mason,
it’s all going to work out. Stop sulking around, and cheer the hell up,” Derek yelled as he got into his truck. There were so many variables in Carmen moving out; the biggest being, what was going to happen between us. Sighing, I started to head home, mentally making an inventory of everything Carmen would need while living at the apartment.

The house was dark when I pulled up;
that’s odd.
Parking my patrol car a spot over from where the Bronco normally sat, I made another mental note that she was going to need a vehicle. I couldn’t keep driving this back and forth all the time, so I was going to have to take back the Bronco if she wasn’t living here. Shit, if she would have been able to stay here we could have just shared a ride into town. One more thing to add to the ‘it-blows-she-has-to-leave’ gigantic list.

It was a little after six when I walked into the dark house, flipping on the light I could tell she hadn’t been back this evening. I reached for my cell phone and dialed
my mom’s number, wondering if they had to stay late at the café. Flipping on the living room light, I took a seat on the couch, waiting for my mom to answer the damn phone.

“Hi
, sweetheart, how is your evening going?” Mom answered the call, sounding cheerful.

“
It’s going, Mom. Hey, did you guys have to stay late at the café?”

“Not really, I left a little after five or so.”

“Oh, because Carmen isn’t home yet, Any chance you know where she is?” I ask, as sadness filled my voice.

“Well
, she talked to me about the apartment, so I gave her the keys before I left. Was that not okay?”

“No
, Mom, that was fine. I just figured she would have come to get her stuff or something like that.”  My heart was crushed. I knew it was for the best, but it still fucking sucked.

“Walker, she is trying to deal with all these things life has thrown at her. Baby
, she loves you too; give her some space to work it all out,” Mom said with compassion in her voice. She always gave the best advice; straight to the point and no beating around the bush.

“I know
, Mom, it’s fine. I’ll guess I’ll swing by for lunch or something tomorrow.”

“Alright
, baby boy, I love you,” Mom replied.

“Love you too,” I said back, closing my phone and turning it off for the night. I couldn’t be tempte
d to call the apartment tonight; she needed space and I had to give it to her. Easier said than done.

I tossed and turned all night. Not having Carmen under my roof basically killed any sort of sleep I thought I was going to get. Even Waylon paced most of the night, whining at the closed bedroom door. She hadn’t even been back in our lives for a full week, and both of us were suffering because she wasn’t here. Two bachelors that got along just fine in life before her, crumbled the first night alone, pathetic.

I hurried to get ready for work;
this way I could swing by the apartment and check on her. I knew it was still early, but I didn’t really care. I gave her last night and that was a challenge itself to not just call and check on her. Seeing her beautiful face and hearing that voice was all I wanted. Well ,that and to touch her. I had doubts that she would run into my arms; we weren’t at that step in our relationship yet. Well, we really didn’t have a relationship to start with, but I wanted one. It was going to work, living apart was going to work, and our lives together would  forever change.

“Waylon
, let’s go,” I yelled, and turned to head over to the door. “Shit,” I grumbled as I almost tripped over the mutt waiting at the door
. Looks like someone else is excited to see Carmen this morning too.

Pulling into the back parking area, I noticed a light on in the kitchen. Glancing over at the clock, I wrinkled my brow, it was a little after five, she must have not been able to sleep either. Parking my patrol car next to the Bronco, I let the dog out to wander as I went to retrieve the spare key to the shop. Opening the door I noticed just the kitchen light was left on,

“Carmen?” I yelled into the dark shop.
I waited for a response, as I flipped on the light switch in the front of the house. She wasn’t there, or in the kitchen.
Must have forgotten to turn off the lights last night.
Walking back to lock the back door, I noticed the Bronco keys hanging on the hook by the door. Something wasn’t right. Why didn’t she take the keys with her?

I hurried out the door and slipped the key back in the storage
pipe; looking up at the apartment door I noticed the door was slightly open. My world started to spin as I ran up the few steps to the back door. Everything came crashing down when I noticed the glass all over the small deck; the window was gone.

“Carmen!” M
y voice cracked as I screamed out her name. I thrust the door open and scrambled inside, hearing the glass crunch under my boots. The floor was covered in splatters of blood, amongst the remaining glass from the door. Sheer terror sets in, as I looked over the scene. “Carmen!” I yelled again.

All of the kitchen c
upboards were open along with the drawers; it doesn’t appear that anything was taken, but at this moment I couldn’t be sure. I ran into the bedroom, and threw the door open…….nothing. My chest tightened as I dug for my cell phone. I needed help.

“Derek! Carmen
is gone; she is fucking gone, man! There is blood and glass everywhere and I can’t find her!”

“Walker? Slow down;
I can’t understand you.”

“Fuck
, Derek, she is gone and there is so much blood,” I broke into hysterics, standing over the mess on the floor, shaking. I’ve had training to deal with these types of situations, but when it’s family and the person you love all common sense and logic flies out the window. All I could do was stand there and panic; my whole world felt like it had combusted.

I was pacing the parking lot
, when Derek came screeching up in his truck. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes after he finally got me to say where I was, and said he would be right over. The only thing I could think of was finding Carmen. Was she hurt? What happened? I just fucking needed to find her.

“Walker, what is going on?” Derek said in a concerned voice, grabbing my shoulders to stop my pacing.

Shock was setting in and I couldn’t seem to make the words form, so I just glanced up on the deck as the tears spilled from my eyes. Derek immediately dropped his grasp and ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time. I had to look away when he stopped at the entry way; this couldn’t really be happing.

“I need help at the Mason
Café. We could have a possible missing person’s case,” Derek stated calmly into his cell phone. I bet he called work;
fuck ,who else would he call
?

“Go sit in my truck
, Walker,” Derek demanded, as he turned my body and gave it a shove. I drug my feet in a trance over to the red Ford, pulling myself up into the driver’s seat. I just sat there and cried.

I watched as other members of the department started to process the scene. It didn’t take long for the small town to wake up to this monstrosity. People were just standing there in the parking lot
, watching as the morning unfolded; so many questions to be asked and no answers yet to be given.

“Walker!” My mother shouted as she ran from behind the yellow police tape and rushed over to Derek’s truck.
“Baby, what’s going on? Where is Carmen?” The look in my eyes said it all. I had no clue what happened, or where the love of my life was.

It was a little after nine when the apartment scene had been processed and I had been officially put on leave
until further notice. I didn’t know what to do.

“Where is Waylon?” I yelled, jumping out of the truck. I quickly glanced around the scene and noticed Sheriff Ramsey talking with Derek
, who held an obviously distraught Waylon at his side.

“Waylon!” I shouted as I ran over to them. Ripping the leash out of Derek’s hand
, I give the command to search, which instantly perked the nervous and rattled dog up.

“Mason, we alread
y ran a search pattern with him; the scent stopped next to the Bronco,” Derek said calmly, resting a hand on my shoulder.

“
It’s not you’re fucking dog, Derek; of course he wouldn’t perform for you,” I snapped. Waylon whined at my feet and I let him drag me over to the Bronco. He sat and gave the indicator that this was as far as the scent goes.  “FUCK!” I roared; I’ve got to find her. 

“Go home
, Mason; we will alert you if we come across anything,” Sheriff Ramsey directed in a sympathetic tone.

“Do you really think I’m going to sit a
t home? We need to get working, Sheriff,” I stated. I refused to just sit back and wait.

“I’
ll take him back to the office, Sheriff,” Derek commented. Sheriff Ramsey just nodded as we walked over to his truck.

“Walker
, we will find her.”

“She promised she wouldn’t leave again,” I
murmured, staring out at the crowd that was still watching as we drove away.

My mind was going five million miles an hour
, sitting in the conference room. I wanted to help, but I was removed from duty right now.

“I pulled her records. Criminal, work h
istory, rental, and tax history,” an officer said as he came into the room and dropped off copies. Carmen’s life was laid out in front of me on the table; everything that she still had yet to tell me was screaming at me to look. Picking up her employment history I cringed when I read the business; a strip club, escort service, and a production company. My stomach turned when I read the production company. Being in the company, added with the other two professions, I was betting this wasn’t like being an extra in a movie.

“Has she been known to go by any other alias?” Sheriff Ramsey questioned everyone in the room.

“Sir, she also stared in some videos under the name Jeanie Mason,” Derek said, his voice riddled with hurt and doubt.

“What are you talking about?” I pushed my way in the alread
y cramped room to his side by the laptop. There, on the screen, was Carmen, dressed in very little lingerie. “Small Town Girl Part 23,” I muttered fucking fantastic. That explains the production company. “How many titles are you finding Derek?”

“You don’t want to know
, Mason; trust me, it’s not pretty,” he said, avoiding my eyes. No wonder why she was so screwed up, her past history was a mess. Even with everything that was being brought to light, I still loved her. Hell, I’ve always loved her, and refused to let this be the end.

“Sheriff, Dale
Scott is out front. He says he might have something of interest to this case,” Gloria said as she poked her head into the conference room, offering me a weak smile before she disappeared.

“Alright gentleman, I need an accurate time report on the last twe
nty-four hours for Miss. Westin,” Sheriff demanded before he left the room. I sat down in a chair; resting my elbows on the table, I buried my face into my hands.

“Miss. Montgomery! Has anyone notified her or fucking checked on her?” I shouted, springing from the chair.

“Paul, I need you to head over to the Montgomery residence and check on her,” Derek firmly told a fellow officer. “Now Paul, go now!” The officer hurried out of the room and ran down the hallway.

“I should be going with him,” I argued.

“Sit down, Mason; I need you to collect yourself so you are of use to us,” Derek said, as he clapped my back and went back to the laptop.

“Sure you can live by yourself Carmen,
its fine. Nothing bad would ever happen,” I mutter angrily.