The Broken Road (The Broken Series) (38 page)

Kadyn
ran his hand through Cade’s fur. “I know, little guy,” he whispered brokenly.
“I’m worried too.”

*
* * * * *

The
longer I sat staring out the window, the angrier I grew. I’d spent the last
nine years of my life being manipulated, controlled, and beaten down by another
man. And, now? Here I was being held prisoner in another man’s home, robbed of
what little control I’d gained over my life since my divorce.

I’d
finally found someone who respected me… a man who actually cared about me… who
wanted nothing more than my happiness… and now he was gone. He was yanked from
my grasp, as if some unattainable dream, and replaced with an unfathomable nightmare.
I turned and glared at Justin.

He
was watching me with cold, calculating eyes.

I
rose from the chair with fists clenched. “
How dare you
,” I hissed.

His
eyes turned seething as he shot to his feet. “How dare I?
How dare I?
How
dare
you!
You’re the one who blew me off! You wouldn’t give me a chance.
You made me beg. You rejected me. You made me feel like I was some worthless
piece of shit. I’m not worthless, you stupid fucking bitch.” His hands clenched
as he spit out the last four words.

I
was immediately thrown into another place and time, when another man screamed
those same exact words as he pummeled me with his fists. “I hate you! I hate you!
I. HATE. YOU!” I screamed with the full force of my lungs.

I
didn’t see him lunge for me. His face burned red as his fingers dug into my arms.
He shook me violently. “Shut up,” he rasped.

I
fought to ignore the pain as his fingers pressed into my bones. “
I hope you
die,
” I spit back.

He
backhanded me with an incomprehensible amount of force.

The
log chair bit into my ribs as I fell. My entire body slammed against the floor.
I grasped my side as I forced myself onto my knees. The blood from my cheek
splattered against the hardwood floor. My hand shook as I brushed my fingers
against my cheek. I gazed down at the blood that now stained my hand. My ribs
screamed in protest with each heaving breath I took.

His
fingers wound through my hair until they were just inches from my scalp. He
yanked me off the floor and held me by the hair as he turned me around to face
him. His eyes darted to my cheek. “This is all your fault. You couldn’t be nice
to me for two seconds, could you?”

I
smeared blood on his shirt as I tried to push him away.

He
dragged me back into the bedroom, grabbed the handcuff, and forced me into the
bathroom. He handcuffed my arm to a thick pipe under the sink. “You can rot in
here for all I care,” he snarled as he slammed the door.

I
looked around the small bathroom. It wouldn’t be the first, the second, or even
the third time I had to sleep on a bathroom floor. I leaned against the base of
the toilet, pulled my legs to my chest, and buried my face in my knees. My
tears hung suspended as Charlie’s voice washed over me.
I want you to
remember one thing. You are not alone. You are never alone.
I began sobbing,
even as I prayed. “Please, God, please be here with me. Please don’t let me die
alone.”

*
* * * * *

Kadyn
spent the entire morning with the DC police. He offered as much information as
he could without revealing the means by which he had acquired it. The detectives
agreed to coordinate with the Seattle authorities, but they repeatedly insisted
that Kadyn leave the investigation up to them. Kadyn walked out of the police
department, refusing to make that commitment.

The
police weren’t the only ones making demands. Kadyn insisted they keep the abduction
out of the news. He was concerned the publicity would place Kri in more danger.
The detectives grudgingly agreed, but they reserved the right to reconsider as
the situation warranted. Kadyn felt like it was a wash in the end, but he
recognized the value of getting the Seattle authorities involved.

When
he returned to work, it was with a heavy heart. He may have pulled more people
into the investigation, but he was still no closer to finding Kri. As each hour
slipped by, he wondered whether she was an hour closer to freedom or an hour
closer to death.

*
* * * * *

I
looked at my watch and found comfort in that one simple act. I wondered if sanity
could be maintained by measuring time. Two days had passed since Justin had locked
me inside the bathroom. I could hear him moving around in other areas of the
house. Shadows from his boots had slipped under the door when he hovered
outside the bathroom. Still, he brought no food. He didn’t speak to me, and he
didn’t open the door to check on me… not even once.

Every
part of my body ached from sleeping in awkward positions on the cold, hard
floor. Pain shot through my ribs every time I moved. I was thankful to at least
have access to water from the sink, because it helped ease the cramps from my
empty stomach. And, although it was a painful reach, I was able to use the
toilet.

My
brain circled around and around, most often landing on memories of harsh words
and physical abuse. I would intermittently push my mind toward happier times
with my parents, my cousin, Kimme, and Kadyn, but it would always circle back
to memories steeped in violence and pain. Eventually, the memories subsided,
and an eerie numbness settled over me. I welcomed the reprieve.

*
* * * * *

He
came for me on the third day. I studied him warily as he entered the room and
kneeled in front of me. His eyes looked sad as he ran his finger down the mark
he had left on my cheek. My stomach turned at the feel of his touch, but I
didn’t dare move. My eyes followed him as he stood and pulled a towel and a
wash cloth from the linen closet. Still, I didn’t move. Justin wet the
washcloth in the sink and crouched back down on the floor in front of me. Then
he gently cleaned the wound. He unlocked the handcuffs and rose to his feet as
he motioned toward the shower. He left without saying a single word.

I
was too weak to stand in the shower, so I took a bath instead. Afterwards, I
leaned on the sink, mesmerized by my reflection in the mirror. Dark shadows
lined dull, haunted eyes. My face was bruised on both sides, and there was a
small gash along the cheekbone on the left side. I had a large purple bruise,
about the size of a pear, near the bottom of my ribs on the left side. Staring
at my reflection was like looking at a picture from my past.

Slowly,
I made my way out of the bathroom. I was too weak from days of not eating and
in too much pain to move quickly. I discovered a tray of food sitting on the
bed in my room, so I sat on the bed and examined the sandwich and grapes. I picked
at the food. I was hungry, but I was concerned that eating too much at once
would make me vomit.

I
crawled onto the bed. I was too sore and too tired to move any further. I was
just drifting off to sleep when Justin appeared in the doorway.

We
eyed each other cautiously before he approached the bed. “Why don’t you come
into the living room so we can start over?” he asked.

“I
really need to rest,” I responded hesitantly. I didn’t want to make him mad
again.

Justin
pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket. “If you rest in here, I’ll have to
handcuff you to the bed.” He hooked one end of the handcuff on the headboard to
prove his point. “If you rest on the couch, then I can keep an eye on you, and
you won’t need these.” He gestured toward the handcuffs, which were now attached
to the spindle.

I
weighed my options. I didn’t want to be in the same room with Justin, but my
side hurt enough to where I didn’t want to be forced to sleep in yet another
painful position. I was too tired to fight, and I was hesitant to make another
decision that would make him angry. “I’ll sleep on the couch,” I finally
relented.

Justin
smiled, pleased with my response. He grabbed the comforter and a pillow and followed
me as I shuffled out the door. He set the pillow and blanket on the couch. Then
he helped me lower onto the makeshift bed. I moved the pillow so I could lay on
my right side. Justin turned some soft music on from somewhere inside the
kitchen.

I
watched him from the couch for as long as my eyes would allow. He was being
kind now, tender even, but I knew it wouldn’t last. I knew every step of this
dance. It was only a matter of time before he lost it again.

*
* * * * *

Kadyn’s
nerves unraveled more with each passing day. The thought of what Kri might be
going through... the danger she could be in... whether she was even alive... was
eating away at him bit by bit.

He
tried to focus on what little progress had been made. Border security had ruled
out a border crossing. Phil’s staff had ruled out most of the international flights,
and the Seattle police had run Kri’s picture by all of the car rental places
and were now working their way through the hotels. Still, he questioned their
strategy. He knew they were missing something, but he couldn’t quite put his
finger on what it was.

Kadyn’s
friends watched helplessly as he paced across his living room floor. They had
spent every free moment they had with Kadyn, trying to generate strategies that
would help locate Kri.

Kadyn’s
cell phone rang, forcing an end to his silent contemplation. Kadyn glanced
briefly at the Caller ID, then quickly answered the phone. “Dan, please tell me
you have found them.”

“I
think I’ve hit pay dirt,” Dan responded cautiously.

Kadyn
quietly regarded his friends. “Wait. I’m switching over to speaker phone.” He
quickly changed the setting on his phone. “Okay. Continue.”

“Evidently,
our boy, Morris, owns some property a few miles outside of Trout Lake,
Washington,” Dan replied.

“Bingo,”
Matt whispered.

“Where
the hell is Trout Lake, Washington?” Roger asked. His fingers hovered over his
phone.

Mason
looked up from texting on his own phone. “That’s in the Cascade Mountains near
some volcano… Mount Adams, I think. I went trout fishing there once.”

Kadyn
nabbed a pen from the coffee table and began searching for paper. “Do you have
an address?”

“Yes.
I’ll text it to you shortly.”

“Do
you have anyone in the area who can scope the place out?” Kadyn asked as he
resumed pacing.

“I've
already recruited a skip tracer out of Portland to go to the property and check
things out. He doesn’t have the authority to make an arrest in Washington
State, but he's the closest guy I’ve got. He’s a retired Navy SEAL with some
serious skills. He can get close without being detected.”

“How
far is Trout Lake from Portland?” Roger asked.

“Two
hours,” Dan responded. “But I don’t know how far the property is from there or
how easy the access is this time of year.”

Roger
looked at Kadyn. “Can we get a drone over there any faster than that?”

Kadyn’s
feet ground to a stop. “It would take us at least that long just to track one
down.”

Mason
shook his head. “I doubt a drone would get close enough to get a good view. The
area is too heavily treed.”

“Okay,
Dan. Send your SEAL in, but if Kri is there, I don’t want him to intervene
unless absolutely necessary. For now, this is Intel only.”

Cenia’s
eyes met Kadyn’s. “Are you going to tell the police?”        

The
room grew quiet as Kadyn contemplated his response. Finally, he spoke. “No. I’d
prefer to keep this between us… for now.”

“I
agree,” Dan responded. “This Navy SEAL has hostage extraction skills that
exceed even the most seasoned law enforcement officers. I’m going to pull
together some fire power and a few of my boys. Then I’m going to commandeer a pilot
and a private plane from those yahoos who leased that plane to Morris. We’ll remain
on standby. We can always abort the mission if the SEAL tags it as a dead end.”

“We’ll
do the same,” Kadyn responded before disconnecting the call. He shoved the
phone in his pocket, then looked at his friends. “Okay, who’s in?”

“I
am,” all four friends immediately replied.

“Phil
and Marie are going to want in on this too,” Mason noted as he began texting
Phil.

Cenia
scrolled through the list of contacts on her cell phone. “I’ll call Shawn to
see if he’s available to fly.”

“I’ll
call the Leesburg Airport to get some estimates on leasing a plane,” Matt offered
as he reached for his phone.

Kadyn
dug the phone back out of his pocket. “I need to call the dog walker to make
sure she can take care of Cade while we’re gone.”

Everyone
stopped what they were doing. They stared at him incredulously.

“What?”
Kadyn asked.

Mason
shook his head in disbelief. “Dude, there are more important things to do than
line up a sitter for the dog.”

Kadyn’s
jaw clenched. “I disagree. That dog means everything to Kri.”

Mason
shrugged. “Okay. This is your operation.”