Laurie's Time (The Fairfield Series) (31 page)

In her rear view mirror, she could see the van turning around and pursuing them. Darting out onto the street, her mind swirling, she heard her phone ring, and glancing at the screen she saw the name “Tom”. Turning sharply again, her only thoughts were to get away from the van as she clicked the phone on. “Tom! They’re after us. I’ve got Cindy and the van is after us. I don’t know where to go. Cindy – hang on!” She ran a light that had just turned red, trying to do anything to put space between them and their pursuers. “Tom! What do I do?”

Tom, putting her on speaker and quickly translating the information to Jake, called the police chief over.

“Laurie, where are you? What road are you on? We’ll get cars out to you.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m in a part of town I don’t know.”

Tom, calmly speaking, “Laurie, look around. What do you see? What landmarks are around? Gas station, stores? Give me something, honey.”

The chief began barking orders for an APB out on the white van and calling all cars to the neighborhoods around the school.

Jake walked away from Tom and called Rob.

“Yeah, man, what’s up?”

“Rob, gotta situation. You gotta hold onto your shit, man. It involves Laurie. Get over here.”

Rob, yelling to Mac that there was an emergency with Laurie, ran out of the fire station and down the block to the police station, blasting through the doors and pounding down the hall.

“Talk,” Rob ordered. Jake quickly told him what was happening while Mac followed on his son’s heels.

“Dad, pick up Brock at the hotel. Fill him in.”

Mac took off running, pulling out his cell phone as he went.

“Tom…Tom, where do I go? Oh, Jesus, they’re back again! Tom!” Rob’s heart almost stopped as he heard Laurie’s voice coming through the cell phone speaker.

Tom, trying to calm her, was interrupted by Rob screaming at her. “Laurie! Laurie!”

“Rob? Rob! I don’t know where I am! They’re too close. We’ve got to get out of here. Cindy, get down!” she screamed again.

“Fuck!” Rob roared, feeling impotent.

Jake jerked him back away from Tom’s phone. Rounding on his friend, Rob growled, “What the fuck, man?”

“Get your shit together. She’s gotta stay focused on where she is, not distracted by your fuckin’ shit.”

“Laurie,” Tom said calmly, “Look at the next street sign and tell me what it is.”

“Maple Court, and …,” that was all she said before the screaming started.

*

Having to put both hands on the wheel, the cell phone went flying down into the floorboard.
Goddamn it!
Laurie’s heart pounded as she drove wildly through the streets. She realized how much bigger the city was than she thought, especially the residential neighborhoods that were totally unknown to her.
We’re going to get killed in this car. Either they are going to hit us or we are going to crash.

“Cindy, honey, I know you’re scared. I’m going to try to get away from them and then we can stop and run and hide. Can you do that? I’m afraid we will get hurt if we keep driving like this.” Careening around another corner, she drove one block and made another turn.
If I keep making turns, maybe I can lose them long enough to hide.
“Can you do that, honey?”

Stealing a glance to the passenger side, she saw Cindy, wide-eyed in terror, nod her head. Making another quick turn, she noticed that the van was no longer right behind them.

Yelling loudly, she called out to Tom. “I dropped the cell phone in the floorboard. If you can hear me, we are going to try to stop and run. Oh my god – Tom – there is a cemetery with a park next to it. We’re running there.”

Jerking the bug to a stop, Laurie snapped the buckle on her seat and Cindy’s. Jumping out, she glanced in the floorboard to see if the cell phone was visible.
Fuck!
I don’t have time to look for it.

She ran around and threw opened Cindy’s door and pulled Cindy out of the car. There was a grove of trees close to the road, so Laurie and Cindy ran there.

Peaking around the trunk of a tree she saw the van coming down the street. “Cindy, we’ve got to run, baby!” Grabbing her hand again, they began to run through the trees growing along the side of the cemetery, then crossed into the cemetery when the tree line stopped.

Hearing sirens in the distance, they kept running.
Please get to us in time. Please get to us in time.

“Cindy! Cindy!” came a voice from the road. “Come here, baby girl. It’s Momma. Come to Momma, Cindy. That woman is trying to hurt you, baby. Come back to Momma where you belong,” the woman’s voice yelled through the trees.

“That little bitch has been enough trouble to us. Wait’ll I get my hands on her,” a man’s voice followed.

Panting, not knowing how much farther she could force Cindy to run, Laurie looked down into her stricken eyes.
Jesus, help me. Give us strength.
She felt her resolve renew. Picking Cindy up in her arms, she ran a little farther towards the high wall of the cemetery where some of the old family mausoleums were built.

Setting Cindy down, she squeezed into the tiny space between the wall and the back of the first mausoleum. There was only about a foot of space, but Cindy easily fit. Laurie pushed Cindy ahead of her. Whispering, she said, “Cindy, I am going to help you climb up to the top of the wall, then I will follow. We will get to the other side where they can’t see us, okay?”

Cindy just nodded again, but her eyes were less panicked. Bending her knee to give Cindy something to climb on, Cindy scrambled up like she was on the jungle gym. Once she was standing on Laurie’s shoulders, Laurie grabbed Cindy’s feet and helped propel her upwards until Cindy could swing up on top of the old brick wall. The tall mausoleum hid her from the prying eyes of their pursuers.

Using the wall and the back of the brick mausoleum, Laurie began to shimmy and climb upwards herself. Fingernails tearing, knees and arms scraping, she inched up until she could grab the top of the wall with her hands. Continuing to inch her lower body up, she looked up in surprise when she felt small hands on hers pulling. Cindy and Laurie locked eyes for a second, smiling encouragement, each knowing that moment of shared trauma that binds people together.

The sirens grew closer, and she felt that surely the police must be near.
Please let Tom have heard my cry about the park and cemetery.
Not willing to take a chance on being found by Cindy’s crazy-ass parents, she pulled herself the rest of the way on top of the eight-foot wall. Looking down on the other side, there was a gravel slope that ran down from the wall towards the rest of the park.

Deciding that she couldn’t catch Cindy, she knew she would need to lower her down. Grabbing Cindy’s wrists, she swung her gently over the edge of the wall and leaned down as far as she could go.
Fuck, that’s not that far.

“Cindy, where’d you go, girl? You hear them sirens? That there’s the police. They’re gonna come lock you up if you don’t get over here to Momma.”

Knowing there was no time to waste, Laurie whispered, “Sorry Cindy, I’ve got to drop you down.” Cindy looked at her with such trust, instinctively knowing that Laurie would protect her. Letting go of Cindy’s wrists, she watched as Cindy dropped about five feet onto the gravel, sliding down on her butt.
Oh, Jesus, she didn’t even cry out! Thank you, Jesus.

Swinging herself over the edge, hanging by her hands, Laurie dropped down near where Cindy fell. Her feet hit the gravel, but her weight made the gravel shift and she went down hard on her knees and hands, hearing a cracking noise in her wrist at the same time her knee twisted at an awkward angle.
Fuck! Fuck! Goddamn, fuck! Son of a bitch, fuck!

The pain was almost unbearable, but by sheer adrenaline, she stood up and grabbed Cindy’s hand again. Making their way down the gravel slope, they entered another grove of trees. Weaving through the trees for several minutes, they found a good hiding place. Laurie slid down in the bushes, pulling Cindy tightly into her body.
Surely this is safe enough. Surely they can’t find us.

Minutes ticked by, and Laurie heard nothing but the wind blowing through the treetops. Her knees were stinging from scrapes and beginning to swell from the fall. Looking at her damaged wrist, she felt lightheaded as she saw the swelling and bruising. Looking Cindy over, she couldn’t see anything other than a few scrapes.
Thank God. Please, Rob, come for me.

*

When Laurie last screamed, followed by silence, the crowd around Tom’s phone did not move or make a sound, not knowing what was happening. Stomach churning, Rob felt himself drop to his knees by the table. Having gone on many emergency calls to car wrecks, he kept imagining Laurie’s mangled body.

A faint sound then came through, as though she was far away, saying that she dropped the phone. Once they heard her yell out that she was near the cemetery, the police chief had the dispatcher radio for all available cars to the area. Rob, Tom, and Jake ran outside, jumping into Jake’s truck as he put the portable siren on top. As Jake drove expertly at high speeds down the road, Rob sat in the back, hands shaking in fear and anger.
Jesus, be with her. Jesus, be with her.

Within eight minutes, Jake saw Laurie’s yellow bug and the white van, surrounded by police officers. Rob was out of the car running towards the bug before Tom could stop him. Jake and Tom pounded up from behind, grabbing Rob’s arms to hold him back.

“Report,” Jake commanded to the police officer at the car.

“Both vehicles empty; cell phone in the floor-board of the victim’s car”

“Victim?” Rob’s yelled as his heart stopped.
God, no!

Just then Mac pulled up in the fire chief’s car with Brock jumping out before the car was in park.

“What’s the status of the search?” Jake growled at the rookie cop bringing his attention back to the case.

“Well, they’re still looking for the girl and Ms. Dodd,” he answered, looking from Jake to Tom, not knowing which detective he was more intimidated by.

“Why the fuck did you call her a victim if you don’t even know where she is?” Rob asked with deadly calm as he towered over the policeman.

“Rob, back off,” Tom said as he pulled Rob back.

Just then, their radio announced that a male and female were in custody and they were coming out of the cemetery. Hearing noises raised in anger near the trees, Rob took off running with Jake, Tom, Mac, and Brock right behind.

“Get your hands off my husband you dumb-ass fuckin’ cop,” the woman was screaming. Her hair was dirty and her clothes unkempt. She continued to scream obscenities as the police officers escorted her and her husband out of the woods. “Don’t you touch me, you perv! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doin’. I got rights. I know my rights!” she continued to scream.

Jake and Tom instantly realized she was not only delusional, she was definitely under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs. As far as Rob could tell she was just bat-shit crazy. But he didn’t care. Stalking right up to her, towering over her and looking down, he roared, “Where are the girls?”

The woman’s mouth stopped yapping and instantly snapped shut, staring straight up into his vengeful face. Her face immediately crumpled as huge tears began to fall. “She screwed it all up. She’s messin’ up everything. She shoulda stayed with her momma and we wouldn’t be in this mess.” She continued to blubber as the cuffed man next to her finally spoke.

“Shut the hell up, woman. You’re makin’ it worse.”

The police officers continued to haul the pair back to the patrol cars, while the four men ran into the woods looking for Laurie and Cindy. They quickly came upon the other searchers and headed into the cemetery.

The men, along with the others on the search and rescue team, yelled for Laurie and Cindy.

“Where the fuck did they go?” Rob bellowed rage and frustration.

“Over here,” one of the officers called out from behind one of the mausoleums. The men raced over to see what was found. There was a piece of material wedged between some bricks of the building and a small amount of blood smeared on the bricks of the wall. Rob jumped up, grabbed the top of the wall, and with Tom’s assistance, he pulled himself up on top.