AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about the trucks?” she asked.
“It would make for an easy escape if she was already loaded up,” Darren said.
“I got a building,” Buster whispered. “What do you think about splitting up again?”
“It’s risky, but we’ll cover more ground that way,” Darren said.
Reese agreed, so she didn’t speak up. There was no denying the risks or the fact they would be more productive this way. Time was of the essence and their window of opportunity was quickly closing. So, yeah, they needed to do whatever it took.
Buster gave each one a quick hug before heading toward the building. She and Darren circled back to the trucks that were lined up near the main house. There were three trucks parked off to the side of the home. The house was a side yard away from the small gravel lot, so roughly half a football field if she had to guess.
They couldn’t afford to make noise and awaken the scary dog in the house. Darren tucked her behind him as they neared the first truck. It was a small commercial delivery vehicle with one of those rolling metal doors in the back. A twist of a handle revealed it wasn’t locked.
Slowly, methodically, Darren raised the door. He palmed his cell and tapped the flashlight feature. There were bucket shelves lining the sides, easy for tucking in jars of honey for transport. The vehicle was empty. They moved to truck number two. It was empty as well. Truck number three was no different.
So much for the truck idea.
Darren turned around and sat down on the bumper of truck number three. “Something is off.” He shook his head. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Any word from Buster yet?” she asked in a whisper, but she knew full well it was too early for him to make it to the building closer to the bees, even at a dead run.
Darren shook his head.
“I was so sure we would find something in a truck,” Reese whispered. “In the end, I’m just grasping at straws here, convincing myself we’re going to find her.”
Guilt reached all the way back to tenth grade, when she’d lost Camree Lynn.
“Something is off...what it is?” Darren asked. “Let’s check the trucks one more time.”
Considering they had no Plan B and it was too early to hear from Buster, they had nothing to lose by checking. This time, they worked in reverse. Truck number three revealed nothing different, but they got inside and walked through it, feeling around for something even though they had no idea what to look for.
Walking truck two, Reese got the same uneasy sense as Darren. “It’s this one. Something is off.”
She walked through it again.
“It’s shorter than the other one,” she said as Darren nodded. They walked to the back of the truck and felt around.
“I got something,” Darren said as he bent down and reached for a handle. He cranked it as they heard a gasp.
Reese held her breath as he opened the panel. A teenager was curled in a space that was about two feet deep. There was a bottle of water and another bottle that looked like it was for urine. The smell was the first thing that struck Reese.
And then, two wide eyes blinked up at her as Darren turned the flashlight beam away from the girl’s face.
“Tandra?” Reese asked, scanning the girl’s body, looking for bindings. It stood to reason it would be her since years passed in between abductions and she was the most recent.
Tandra sat up, and scooted away from them. She had bindings on her wrists and feet. Wide-eyed, her face bleached-sheet white, she shook her head as though urging them to forget they’d ever seen her.
“It’s okay,” Reese soothed. “You’re safe now. We’re going to get you out of here and take you home.”
Darren took a step back while Tandra’s gaze stayed locked on to him. Fear radiated from the poor girl.
“He’s not going to hurt you, Tandra,” Reese said. “And neither am I.”
Tandra’s gaze finally shifted from Darren to Reese. The teen’s chin quivered before the tears started to fall. She released a sob that cracked Reese’s heart in half.
“I need you to be as quiet as you can, okay?” Reese said, looking around for something to use to cut the bindings.
Darren produced a pocketknife but maintained a distance. In fact, he turned his back so he could face the opening of the truck, then palmed the gun he’d brought along with him. If anyone showed up in the opening, he would be ready for them.
