Alone and Afraid (Rocky Mountain Home Series Book 1) (8 page)

December 2
2nd

She hung up the cell phone and finished smoking her cigarette.  She knew Dani and Erica didn’t approve of smoking, but they were realists and knew the women who had this bad habit felt as though they needed to keep it.  Therefore, the women were provided with buckets outside the safe house and barn for their butts. 
They were each cautioned on safety; not only fire safety, but also their own safety, and told to stay next to the buildings while they smoked.  They were not to wander off without a companion.

After putting the cigarette butt in the bucket filled with sand, she went back inside the barn.  While she hung her coat back up where all the other coats hung, she secretly replaced the phone back inside Erica’s coat pocket, where she had taken it before going on break.

For the next three hours, she worried that she might have made a big mistake calling him yesterday and setting up this meeting.  The last time she spoke to him, before yesterday, was from the sheriff’s office, after she gave her statement.  She promised to call again when it was safe.  That was almost a week ago.  She felt enough time had gone by that now it was safe.  One of the rules here was no phone calls, period.  She knew it was for everyone’s safety, but she didn’t see any harm in calling him.  He only wanted to see her and make sure that she was all right.  He wouldn’t compromise the safe house, even if he knew where it was, which he didn’t. She made plans to meet him a short distance from the barn the next afternoon, which was now, today, during her break.  And if she were lucky, no one would find out.

It was hard for her to act normal when her stomach churned.  She felt guilty deceiving Dani, Erica, and the other women here, as she found herself constantly watching the clock, counting down the time until her next break.

The time finally came, and she rushed to retrieve her coat and then walked out of the barn.  She took off running toward the forest on the left side of the barn.  It was hard to run in afoot of freshly fallen snow, but she made good time.

He wasn’t there yet, and
though it was against the rules, she lit her cigarette and smoked.  She had smoked two and was in the process of lighting a third, when a hand came over her mouth.

“You scream and you’re dead. 
Is that understood?” He said in a very deep voice next to her ear.

She nodded her head,
though she was almost too terrified to move.

“I’m going to remove my hand and you won’t make a sound except to answer my questions.  Do you understand?”  The voice spoke into her ear again.  And again, she nodded her head.

“Do not turn around, just stand perfectly still and you won’t be hurt.  If you try to scream or run, I will kill you.  Is this completely clear?”

She was too terrified to answer, but when he pulled her head back
, and she saw the blade of the knife, she nodded uncontrollably.

She stood as still as a statue, wondering who this person was.  He wasn’t the man she was scheduled to meet.  Before her thoughts took her any further, he asked, “Where is she?  Where is Karen?”

She knew she was in serious trouble, but she was not going to give out information that would harm any of the women here.  So she said, “I don’t know any Karen.”

She felt the knife slice through her coat sleeve, but before she could cry out, he covered her mouth again.  She felt the blood running down her arm as the tears ran down her face.  She tried to remember some of the
self-defense moves that Dani and Erica taught at the safe house, but her mind was almost as frozen as her body.

“I will ask you again, and this time you will tell me what I want to hear.  Where is Karen, and where is the safe house?” he snarled.

She tried to recall what to do in this situation, but realized that she hadn’t paid very close attention in class.  Again, she said that she didn’t know any Karen.

This time, she felt the knife slice her leg, and she almost crumbled.  If he hadn’t pulled her up, she would’ve hit the snow covered ground.

“This is your last chance.  Where is she?”  He whispered next to her ear.

When he removed his hand in order for her to answer, she made a pitiful move
to backhand him in the face with her fist and was set to run, but he recovered in a flash and as he turned her to face him, he plunged the knife into her chest.  Her last thought, as she fell to the ground, was of the mountain angels.

He didn’t even try to hide his crime.  He left the way he came and vowed to find Karen. He was going to teach her a final lesson on what happened when someone tried to leave him.  He also planned to teach an even bigger lesson to the ones who helped her leave him.

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“Naw.  She’s okay.” I half managed to get out as my friends were teasing me about having a crush on April Powders. 

“Yeah, you do! Ohhhh, yeah, you do!  Jimmy likes April.  Jimmy likes April,” Mikey sang
out loud while dancing around our lunch table.  I’m not sure how, exactly, I became friends with Mikey.  I suppose it was because we had homeroom together since I could remember.  He was very tall for a thirteen year old and built like a lumberjack.  And, like you’d assume from looking at his unkempt hair and dirt-stained face, he had absolutely no manners.  He didn’t even care if there were girls around when he needed to pass gas, or shoot a booger out of his nose.  And, he certainly didn’t mind embarrassing me in front of April Powders. 

I was
quickly turning beet red, and wanted to die. 

April wa
s a girl who I sat next to each day in my English literature and biology classes.  She had curly, brown hair that always smelled like roses.  She was our class president, and my lab partner in biology.  The truth was, I did have a bit of a crush on her, but I’d never tell Mikey that.  No need to give him more ammunition to use on me later.  It was always so hard to concentrate on the biology lesson when I was sitting next to April.  I was magically transported into the wishful thinking of my mind by the lovely, clean scent of April’s hair.  I would get so nervous, though, that I had to constantly wipe the palms of my hands on my pants in class.  They would sweat so much when I was around her.  I mean, they would sweat a lot…so much so, that I felt like a sweat factory in biology!  I probably left class everyday with pit stains under my arms too.  I’m sure she thought I was a complete and utter idiot. 

Bei
ng thirteen and in high school was hard to figure out.  As a teen and high schooler, I was supposed to hit on girls every chance I got and try to get dates or more from them…but, just last year I was made fun of if I even had a crush on a girl, or a girl had a crush on me.  I never really knew what to do, and Mikey seemed to know that and pounced on me every chance he got.  Unfortunately, for me, he got a lot of chances.  I mean A LOT!

“Aww…leave him alone, Mike,”
my best friend, Connor, interjected.  “Can’t ya see he’s embarrassed?”

Connor was
everything I wished I was.  He was taller than me…standing at five foot nine inches.  He was athletic and toned.  He had brown hair and hazel eyes like me, but also kind-of a crooked smile that seemed to make girls swoon.  He was the kind of guy who was smart, funny, witty, goofy, and outgoing.  I felt very lucky to have him as my best friend.  I could tell Connor anything and know my secrets were safe with him.  He was completely trust-worthy, and we had been friends since I was nine years old.  That’s when he stopped a bully from beating my face to a bloody stump.  I know he was just trying to protect me this time too, but Mikey was hard to reel in when he knew he was getting under a person’s skin. 

Just as Mikey was
about to start in again, and likely embarrass me to even greater depths than before, the school bell loudly rang. 

RRIIIINNNNNGGGGGG….

Saved by the bell, lunch was over. 

I exhale
d a huge sigh of relief, as I picked up my trash and partially eaten sandwich and tossed them in the fly ridden trash can.  I missed while trying to shoot the balled up wrapper into the can, as if it was a basketball.  I quickly looked around to make sure Mikey didn’t see my failure, and it seemed that I was in the clear for once.  Now, I just had to make it through the rest of the day. 

Connor and I to
ld Mikey we would see him later since he had Algebra class on the other end of campus.  As we walked away, Mikey yelled at the top of his lungs, “Jimmy!  See ya later, Loverboy!” and cracked up laughing to himself as he blew a kiss in my direction.  About thirty kids stopped and started looking at me and laughed…some hysterically.   

“Don’
t mind him, dude,” Connor offered, and playfully tussled my hair as he broke away to his locker.  He always knew how to make me feel better.  

The
next few classes went well.  I didn’t have any classes the second half of the day with either Mikey or April, so I could just focus on my schoolwork.  I was always a teacher’s pet type of guy.  I naturally got good grades, and was always polite and attentive to my teachers.  I didn’t brown-nose or anything, but I still got singled out as the example to follow in quite a few of my classes. 

Finally, the last bell of the day
rang and I couldn’t wait to get home.  Mom said that if I got my homework done early enough, we could go look at Christmas lights around town.  I’ve always loved Christmas. Living in Washington State, I was fortunate enough to get a white Christmas every year.  It just seemed to make everything so much more magical.  The lights seemed to twinkle more, as they reflected off the snow and ice…and the people became just a tiny bit happier, in spite of having to drive in a foot of snow.  The cold temperatures made me wanna get a fire going in the fireplace, and drink hot cocoa while watching my favorite Christmas television special.  I had to imagine the fire since we never had a fireplace in our house.   

Connor and I live
d right next door to each other, so we always walked home together and talked about our day.  It was actually the part of my day I normally looked forward to most. 

“Wanna have a snowball fight throw-down?” Connor
challenged as we passed the park near our houses.  A snowball fight throw-down is like the ultimate snowball fight….winner takes all.  The last three years Connor has held the championship, but I was determined to beat him one day.  It would have to wait until some other day though. 

“Can’t today, bud.  We’re going to go look at Christmas lights tonight, so I gotta get my homework for Mrs
. Schiltz’s class done ASAP!” I answered.  “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Deal.” Connor said with one of his patented
winks as we each crossed our front yards. 

As soon as I opened
the worn and squeaky door, I threw off my snow covered shoes and ran straight to the fridge.  I was fortunate enough to have a very good metabolism.  Though, sometimes, I wondered if I was too thin.  I weighed just under one hundred and thirty pounds.  I felt like that was a good weight for my age and height.  I grabbed some whole wheat bread, three or four ham slices, colby-jack cheese, and some Cheez-Its and headed to my room.  I put a sandwich together quickly, and got my books out of my hand-me-down book bag. 

“Is that you, Honey?” I hear
d Mom yell from down the hall.  My Mom was a very pretty lady, who had to raise two kids all alone.  She worked hard as a deli manager in our local super-market, and always seemed to have a smile on her face.  Sometimes, I worried that she worked too hard.  She was older than most of my friends’ moms, and shouldn’t have been doing as much manual labor as she did.  My friends used to tease me when I was little about my Mom being the same age as their grandmas, but I still thought she was the best Mom around.  When I would see laundry detergent commercials on television, I remembered my childhood being just like what was portrayed in them.  The rays of sun would be coming in the windows, with a gentle spring breeze.  Mom would always have everything smelling so great, and welcome me home from school with a perfect smile on her loving face. 

“Yeah.  I’m starting on my homework now.  Are we still going to look at lights tonight?” I ask
ed her. 

“As long as you and your sister get your homework done in time,”
she hollered back from down the hall. 

My sister’
s name was Sarah.  Don’t let the angelic sounding name fool you.  She was pretty…she definitely got Mom’s looks.  She had the same long, wavy, blonde hair that shimmered, and eyes that changed between blue and green depending upon which type of a mood she was in.  Her skin was very pale, almost porcelain-like.  But, my sister could be mean….to me, at least.  I guess that was to be expected from an older sister.  She just turned sixteen, and thought she was too cool to hang around her dorky, younger brother.  Even as kids, she seemed to find ways to torment me while we played together.  When I was barely eight, she would only play with me if I would pet and talk to her feet.  She would pretend they were turtles, and if I didn’t pet them, and snuggle with them, their feelings would get hurt.  On
several
occasions, she made me eat the dead skin from her feet…telling me it tasted like bacon, and that the turtles made it for me.  And, of course, she always got her way.  Anytime we had to pick a game to play or decide on what to watch on TV, it was always what she wanted.  I always figured my mom loved her more, but it could’ve just been that she was mom’s first-born, or because they were both girls.  Maybe it was just because my sister threw the biggest fit if she didn’t get her way.  One time, we were having an argument at
Wendy’s
about something and she took her packet of black pepper and blew the pepper right into my eyes.  Boy, did it burn!  Of course, she claimed it was an accident, but, I knew better.  I told myself that I hoped she wasn’t planning on coming home late and messing up our trip to go see the Christmas lights. 

BANG, BANG, BANG!

I sprung up from my history homework, as my sister barged into my room and collapsed onto my bed, scattering my homework all over the place. 

“What’s wrong with you?” I ask
ed a bit too rudely when I heard my sister’s sobbing. 

“I don’t want to talk about it!
” she replied.  I moved my homework out of the way, because I thought her nose was running and I definitely didn’t need snot all over my report when I turned it in.  “You wouldn’t even understand,” she continued in between sobs. 

“How do you know what I’d understand?” I asked, defensively.

“Men!” she exclaimed.  Before I could figure out what she meant, she rambled on like I wasn’t even there.  “They will tell you they love you, and that you mean the world to them…but, don’t you believe them.  Oh no!  Don’t you believe them!” 

I don’t really expect to ever be in that position with a man, but okay…..

“They’re all the same and only after one thing.  Why can’t Andrew understand that I want to take it slower than that?  He tried to get me to hook-up last night, you know?” she asked rhetorically to no one in particular, as if I weren’t really even there.  “And, then, when I said I just wanted to kiss…he said he was fine with it.  But, today he gives me the silent treatment all day, and at lunch I see him flirting with Angela ‘the slut’ Morgan!”

“Should I be hearing this?” I ask
ed, but she continued as if not even hearing me.

“If he wants Angela ‘the slut’ Morgan, well, he can have her!  I’ve got lots of guys wanting t
o date me.  That’s what I’ll do! I’ll go out with another guy tonight.  See how he likes it!”  Before she could ramble more, I stopped her and reminded her that we were all going to look at Christmas lights.  “Grow up, Jimmy!  How can you think of Christmas lights at a time like this???”  And, with that, she stormed out of my room, likely to go repeat the entire thing to Mom. 

Even if she decided she didn’t want to go look at the lights with me and Mom, I was still excited.  I
spent the next two hours doing my report until I smelled dinner.  As I was packing my books back into my book bag, Mom yelled out, “Dinner time!”

I race
d to the dining room, and saw we were having a “taco night.”  Not very Christmassy, but I loved Mexican food.  Laid out on the table were hard, corn tortillas as well as soft, flour tortillas.  There was ground, seasoned beef, refried beans, two kinds of shredded cheese, black olive slices, lettuce, onions, diced tomatoes, salsa and sour cream.  My sister was already seated at the table and seemed to be in better spirits.  As always, I started loading up my plate first. 

“Hungry much?” my sister ask
ed in a sarcastic tone. 

“You bet…” I repl
ied with my mouth full as I continued shoving the first bite in my mouth.  The taco broke and all its fillings dropped out onto my plate.  Mom and Sarah laughed contagiously.

After dinner, Sarah and I clean
ed the table and dishes.  She made me wash because she said her hands were too delicate for dish-water. 
Oh, brother!
  I didn’t mind though because I never liked drying dishes anyways.  I always thought I was going to drop and break them because they were so slippery.  Once the left-overs were put up and the kitchen was sparkling clean again, Mom told us to get our coats and shoes on so we could get on the road for some good ole Christmas light lookin’.

“You don’t have to tell me twice….” I holler
ed as I raced to find my shoes. 

“Jimmy!  I’ve told you not to get snow all over the place when you come in from school,” Mom complain
ed when she saw the mess the snow from my shoes made. “Go get a towel and mop up the puddles, please.”  I hurried and cleaned up the mess, and we all hopped in the car. 

Brrrr, rrrr, rrrr, rrrrrr….cachuk!

Mom’s car was an older, powder-blue, Chrysler station-wagon that never seemed to want to start when it was cold outside.  Mom tried again, and it finally cranked.  “Oh my God…it’s sooooo c-c-coooollllddddd in here,” Sarah complained.  She always seemed to be complaining about something.  Mom turned on the Christmas carols to take our minds off of the frigid car while it slowly warmed up.  Then, she stepped outside to scrape the ice from the windshield.  Meanwhile, I bundled up in the blanket I kept on the back seat for long trips.  I got car sick very easily, so if we were going to be in the car long, I always had to nap to prevent myself from getting too nauseous.  There was always a blanket and pillow waiting for me, just in case.