Shadowed Rubies

5. Dani

5

Dani

The fallen leaves crunched loudly under our feet as Kevin pulled me along behind him, so I had to struggle to keep up. His grasp was surprisingly strong on my arm, so I didn’t think I could get away with yanking my arm free again.

Deciding that I most definitely did not want to go wherever he was taking me, I considered my options. I could yell for help, but I had been lost for quite a while and hadn’t seen anyone else. The chance of someone hearing me and finding us was slim. The risk of Kevin getting annoyed by my yelling and knocking me out was much more likely.

It seemed like my best option would be to let my body fall to the ground. Hopefully, the dead weight would surprise Kevin enough that he would let go of me to keep from falling himself. While he was distracted, I would make a quick break for it.

I didn’t like the odds of this plan working, but it was the best idea I had. I needed to at least try because I had the feeling that Kevin was taking me to his lair, which the local police hadn’t been able to find, despite massive, long-term searches.

Since Kevin had managed to keep Claire as a hostage in his basement for a year, the odds of me finding a way to escape him once he had me secured somewhere would be very slim. Now was the best time for me to try to get away.

Going for it, I forced my body to go limp. As soon as he lost his vice grip on my upper arm, I planned to run like hell.

Unfortunately, my big move––or rather, lack of movement––didn’t seem to surprise Kevin in the slightest. His step barely faltered as he reached over to lock his free arm around my waist. In a flash, he hefted me to his hip as if I was as tiny as Meg.

I squirmed and bucked in an attempt to break free from my prison as he carried me at his side, but my movements only served to make him further tighten his grip. Finally, when he had my rib cage so constricted that I could barely breathe, I stopped struggling. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to beat him physically, so I would need to outsmart him.

During our seemingly interminable walk, I cursed myself for coming out here alone. In hindsight, it was easy to see that this certainly hadn’t been my smartest move, but the idea of being abducted had never even crossed my mind, until it actually happened.

It wasn’t like me to go out in the woods by myself. I guess I’d been seeking some time for introspection, and, if I was completely honest with myself, I’d been hoping to feel a bit closer to my dad. He’d passed away from an aggressive form of lung cancer just a few weeks ago, and Thanksgiving was quickly approaching.

This would be our first major holiday without him, and I just couldn’t bring myself to imagine it. He had always been the calm, quiet backbone of our family, and nothing felt right without him here with us.

Mom and I both blamed ourselves for not being able to save him. We were doctors. We saved people’s lives every day. It was in our job descriptions. Yet when it came time to save Daddy, we had both failed.

Dean was so busy with his adorable son, Jaxson, and his fiancée, Josie, it was hard to tell if he was as devastated by Daddy’s death as Mom and I were. Being male, he probably just showed his emotions differently than we did––like, not at all. I just hoped he wasn’t internalizing it all, leaving it to emerge later in an unhealthy way.

The jostling of being clutched at Kevin’s side as he trudged along the rocky, leaf-covered terrain made it difficult to focus on my introspection about my father’s death and its repercussions on our family.

I wondered if Dad was watching over me now. I needed to believe that some part of him continued to exist and look out for me. He would be horrified as he saw this scene unfold. I knew he would do anything in his power to help, but he might not be able to intervene.

It was then that I felt the intuitive nudge. I’d like to think it was from my Dad, but I couldn’t be sure. In any case, some innate sense told me that now was the right time for me to try again to make my escape. I’d been cooperating by not struggling for a while, so I thought I might be able to catch Kevin off-guard.

After taking inventory of precisely how and where he was holding me, I slowly angled my face up to look ahead of us. When we reached a slight incline that had Kevin huffing a bit, I made my move.

Arching backward and kicking my leg out, I made hard contact with Kevin’s knee. He stumbled to the ground and momentarily loosened his grip on me. I took full advantage of the brief reprieve and yanked myself away from him.

Despite being stunned that I was able to actually free myself from his grasp, I rolled quickly away and hurried to my feet. Not daring to look back, I took off running.

I didn’t make it very far. The sound of the c***k against my head instantly sickened me, just before everything went black.