Giving Chase (18 page)

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Giving Chase

“
Our
place. Move in with me, Maggie. You’re practically living with me now. Sell your house and we can buy a place together. It’s silly to have that great big house just sitting there empty and my place is going to be too small for us in the long run. We could live in your house but you seem to be a lot happier when you don’t live there.”

“It’s true. I suppose that house has a lot of bad memories lurking around inside of it. Let’s talk about this later all right? Honestly, you know someone is bound to come in here within the next three minutes and I don’t want this to be a discussion by committee.”

“Okay, sugar. Take my car over to your place and come back by to get me when you’re done. I’ve got a game to finish with my brothers. Unless you want me to come to your place with you?”

“No, it’s no big deal. I’m three minutes away, for goodness sake. I need to grab some more clothes and check the pipes. I’ll be there and back in less than an hour.”

“Okay, Red.” He kissed her and they walked out to the car.

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She whipped into her driveway and gave a quick look around the outside of the house. The pipes looked fine but she got the insulation out of the garage and wrapped them, anyway. Especially as she’d already made the decision to accept Kyle’s invitation and move in to his place so she wouldn’t be around.

That done, she went inside and ran upstairs to grab some more clothes. She was zipping the garment bag when she heard steps behind her.

“Jeez, it’s only been half an hour, couldn’t live without me?” she teased and turned around. Only it wasn’t Kyle, it was Alex standing there and a chill of dread slid through her gut.

“I can’t live without you, Maggie. You’re mine and I’m yours. Can’t you see that? Why aren’t you home anymore?”

“What the hell are you doing here! Get out of my house now or I’ll call the police.” She tried to edge her way closer to the phone on the bedside table.

“I’m here to take back what’s mine,” he said in a strange sing song voice, inching toward her. “What is that?” He grabbed her hand and stared at the ring. “NO!” He pulled it off and threw it on the bed.

“Stop that!” She reached for her ring and the world went black for a moment. When she came to he was dragging her out of the room. A surge of strength and will to survive surged through her and she grabbed the wall near the door and tried to hold on but he yanked her loose. He half dragged her, half carried her down the stairs. Reaching down he slapped

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her across her face, hard, when she kept grabbing the spindles on the banister to stop him. Her head hit each stair, and her world hovered gray as she fought to keep conscious. She tried to yell but all she could do was moan and hoarsely whisper at him to stop.

“I’m taking you away from here, away from those meddling Chase boys. Now be a good girl and walk out of here. I don’t want anyone getting suspicious.” He yanked her upright and held her by the hair and she tried to kick him but got the leg of the table instead and knocked it over. Weeping now, she tried to grab at the doorway to hold on but he elbowed her in the face and the darkness fell over her again.

After two hours Kyle began to really get worried. “What could be taking so long? She said she’d be back in less than an hour and it’s been nearly two.” Kyle grumbled to Matt and Shane. Most likely she’d bumped into Liv and they were chatting about the engagement and he was worrying over nothing. Still, he had a strange feeling about it that only got worse as the minutes passed.

“Why don’t we take a drive over there? Maybe she had problems with the pipes. If so, you know how she is, she’s probably trying to do it all herself,” Matt said laughing.

“Yeah, let’s. It’s not like her to not call if she’s going to be held up.” They pulled up and saw the Saturn in the drive. “She’s still here.”

“Stay here,” Shane said and was out of the car before it had stopped.

Kyle, sensing that something was wrong got out too, following his brother. The front door was wide open and the table near the entry was on its side, the glass vase and bowl that sat upon it, broken, pieces all over the place.

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There was blood on the doorjamb. A bloody handprint. “Jesus. Where is she?” Kyle meant to yell but it came out as a whisper. He was suddenly cold.

“Go back to Matt’s car. Call the station on your cell phone and tell them I said to send out a car with two officers. On the double.” Reaching back, he took his gun out of the shoulder holster he had on.

“No, I’m coming in.”

Shane turned and shoved Kyle, hard. “No you are not, damn it. This is my job, Kyle. Do what I tell you and do it now. You’re endangering me and her by not listening.” He turned away, closing the discussion and slowly walked into the house.

Matt approached and Kyle turned and ran to him. “Call the station now! Tell them that Shane said to send out a car with two officers, on the double.” Matt nodded and got on his cell phone. Kyle began to pace.

Back in the house, Shane walked up the stairs. The sight of the blood on the light colored carpet runner sped his heart. He crept along, listening for any sound but heard none. Entering Maggie’s bedroom and saw the bedside table had been overturned and blood on the floor and then on the wall near the door, as if someone had grabbed it to hold on and pull away from someone dragging them. He walked in carefully, not wanting to disturb evidence and he saw Maggie’s engagement ring on the center of the bed. He swept the rest of the room and the upstairs but found nothing. By the time he came downstairs, the other officers had arrived and had gone through the first floor.

Kyle couldn’t seem to stop shaking as he waited out on the front lawn. Matt was with him, an arm around his shoulder. Seeing Shane come out of the house broke Kyle’s stillness and he ran over. “Where is she, Shane? Is she all right?”

“She’s not here. Kyle, I’m going to tell you what I saw in there but I need you to hold it together, okay?” Stunned, Kyle nodded and Shane exhaled and continued. “There’s blood in several places. Her ring is on

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the bed. There was a garment bag of clothes but it’s on the floor like she dropped it. Kyle, it looks like there was a struggle. There’s a blood trail from the bedroom, down the stairs and to the front door. The officers are taking blood samples so that we can run a match. Thank goodness we got that grant money to have better lab equipment here, but it will still take time to identify the blood and the bloody handprints at the doorway.

Kyle, the handprints are very small though. I’m guessing they’re Maggie’s. I think she was attacked and taken.” Kyle’s eyes went wild, his heart threatened to burst through his chest in terror for her. “No! Damn it, Shane, find her!” Shane grabbed Kyle’s upper arms and got in his face. “Keep it together, Kyle. She was still alive when he got her to the door. That handprint shows she tried to fight. She won’t give up, Kyle, remember that.”

“It’s Alex, you know that! Find him.”

“I think so, too. I’ve called the judge and asked for a warrant to search Alex’s apartment and he granted it. We’re going to go over there now.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

“No, Kyle, you can’t. This is police business. I can’t take the risk of you losing it and messing with evidence. Go back to the condo or to Mom and Dad’s. Heck, raise a search party. But
do not
to go Alex Parsons’

house.” He paused. “We will find her, Kyle.” He turned and stalked off, getting into the squad car he took with another officer recently arrived.

Matt hugged his brother tightly. “Let’s go back to Mom and Dad’s to get people out looking. We’ll drive Nan and Pop to your place in case she shows up and Grammy and Gramps can stay at Mom’s in case she comes there.”

Polly was beside herself but Edward and Peter helped by organizing everyone. Polly stayed back with her parents and Nan and Pop went over

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to the condo to wait there. They split up and took opposite sides of town to search. They all had cell phones with them and a description of Alex’s car.

Shane called in to tell Kyle that Alex had taken a suitcase and some clothes. Dee was at the bank, checking the records to see if he’d pulled any large amounts of cash out of his account recently.

“Kyle, it’s bad. There are more pictures here. Of the two of you. His walls are covered with pictures of her and there are stacks of letters everywhere that he’d written to her but never sent. His obsession with her has grown.”

Kyle hung up, shaking with rage, terror burning the backs of his eyes. He looked at Matt who was there with him. “If that bastard hurts her in any way, I’ll kill him.”

“I’ll help you. But she’s going to be all right.” Matt said, hoping he wasn’t lying.

Maggie woke up in a strange room, disoriented. Her head hurt like hell. Blinking to try and clear her vision so she could figure out where she was, she quailed when Alex came into her line of sight. Suddenly, memory of what happened earlier rushed back, filling her with terror.

“Alex, please, let me go. This is crazy. Let me go and I won’t call the cops, I promise.” She desperately tried to recall the advice from the self defense course she’d taken the year before.

He laughed and kissed her forehead and she tried not so show her revulsion. “Oh sweetheart, I’m not letting you go. You’re mine, silly. I’m sorry I had to hit you. Is your head all right?” Maggie tried not to panic as she listened to him. His voice was so odd, dreamy and high pitched. It frightened her, filled her with dread. He was obviously insane.

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“What do you think, Alex? Can you untie my hands at least? My shoulders really hurt and this angle is making my back twist.”

“No, I can’t risk it. But I’ll help you sit up and get you some Tylenol for your head.” He gently moved her into a sitting position and left the room, coming back with a glass of water and two tablets. “Here. Open your mouth and I’ll help you.”

She clamped her lips shut tight and shook her head. God only knew whether or not he’d drugged or poisoned the water or even if the pills were actually Tylenol.

“Maggie, why are you being so difficult? Look.” He held the pill up so she could see the factory stamp and he brought the bottle in as well.

“See, here’s the bottle. The water is from the tap. It’s well water. The cabin is on a well. I wouldn’t hurt you, Maggie. You can trust me.” She narrowed her eyes at that ridiculous statement.

“Suit yourself, then,” he said with a sigh. He sat the glass and the pills down. “Let me know if you change your mind. Seems silly to hurt out of spite.”

She snorted but didn’t say anything else.

When he reached out to caress her face, she shrank back as far as she could go until she hit the wall. Nausea and revulsion roiled in her gut, fear threatened to drown her. She gave herself a mental slap. She had to keep it together if she was going to get out of this mess.

“I love you, Maggie. I just want to touch you.”

“Alex, get away from me. This has gone far enough. Take me home.”

“You are home. Our home.” He smiled dreamily and got up.

“Where are we?”

“This is our cabin. Our honeymoon cabin,” he answered and walked out of the room.

She felt woozy and her world became fuzzier and fuzzier until at last, she lost consciousness again.

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It was three in the morning and many of the Chase household slept on couches and sitting up in chairs. Kyle, his brothers, father, his uncle and Maggie’s father were in the dining room sitting at the table, looking at pictures.

“Damn it! Where is she!” Kyle raged. They’d stayed out searching for hours and had found nothing.

Shane had come back to report on the situation. They had surveillance camera footage from the ATM machine at the bank. Alex took the maximum two thousand dollar withdrawal. In the background, after they’d blown it up, Maggie was clearly lying against the front seat, her eyes closed, a bloody trickle from her scalp down her face.

“Kyle, this was at five twelve, about forty-five minutes after she’d left here. We’ve narrowed the time frame down considerably. At least we know roundabout when she was taken.”

“But she could be d-dead by that time. Her eyes are closed,” he replied, barely containing a sob. Edward moved to hold his son, bracing him with his arm around his shoulders, lending him strength.

“Son, if he’d killed her, he’d have gotten rid of the body. She was probably unconscious. She was alive then, we have every reason to think she’s alive now. Alex is obsessed with her. He doesn’t want to kill her. He wants to possess her. She’s a smart cookie, she’ll do what she has to to stay alive.”

“And what will that be, Daddy? What will he do to my girl?” Kyle whispered. “We have to find her. Where could he have taken her? God, I never should have let her go over there alone. We were talking about buying a house together. About her moving into my condo and selling her place and buying our own.”

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“That’s it,” Shane said, looking up at Edward. “Daddy, can you run a title search? See if Alex has bought any property in this and the surrounding few counties since September?” Peter stood up. “I can. Let me run into the office and check,” he said, looking relieved to be able to help in some way and Shane followed him out the door.

Polly came into the room. “Honey, it’s three in the morning, why don’t you get some sleep? We’ll wake you if anything changes.” She stroked a hand over his hair, trying to comfort him.

Kyle stood up. “I can’t sleep while Maggie is out there being held by that sick bastard!” he shouted and Edward hugged him tightly and Kyle broke down and wept.

Tom went to him. “Listen to me, son. My little girl has been on her own, out of necessity, for most of her life. She’s independent and she will not quit. I promise you that. She’s strong, my baby. She won’t let herself be killed, boy. Not without a fight. You keep that ring for her because she will be back here and she’ll want it back.” Pulling himself together, Kyle took a deep breath and looked at the engagement ring he’d been wearing on his pinkie finger. He locked eyes with his father-in-law to be and nodded.

When Maggie woke up again, the throbbing in her head had subsided to a dull ache. She opened her eyes carefully but it was still dark.

Judging by the position of the moon that she could see through the window, it was sometime between midnight and about four a.m. Alex lay next to her on the bed, his arm curled around her thighs. She shuddered in disgust.

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Think Maggie
!
How can you get out of this?
She tried pulling at the ropes that held her hands but that just made them tighter and her movement roused Alex.

“Maggie, honey? Are you all right?”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh of course! Let me help.”

He got up and helped her to stand and led her to the bathroom. The cabin was large and modern. That was a hopeful sign that they weren’t out too far into the middle of nowhere, Georgia. He opened the door and started to undo her pants.