A Penny for Your Thoughts (26 page)

Penny stared at Kevin for a confused instant before throwing her face against the phone.

“Cliff? Cliff? What’s going on?” she whispered with her raw throat. “What can I do?”

“Are you all right? Don’t worry. Matt’s with me. We’re going to get you out--”

Kevin yanked the phone away.

“That’s enough, Cliff. That was just supposed to be a goodbye...cuz we’re almost like family.” He gave a short mirthless laugh. “Not really! I let you talk to her so she’d know that you guys were so close...but too far.”

Kevin grinned at her and strode out of the room, leaving Penny helpless on the bed with a burning throat and hot tears in her eyes.

Did Matt and Cliff know where she was? How could they know? Could they get to her in time? At least Matt knew she hadn’t just left the parade without telling him. He knew... Even in her terror, she couldn’t deny a small ray of joy knowing Matt wouldn’t think she’d walked off.

Penny heard Kevin’s voice raised in anger. Was he still on the phone? With Cliff? Matt? As long as he was on the phone, she would be okay. Revitalized by the call, she wracked her brain for a plan of escape. 

Penny tensed and jumped up when she heard footsteps pounding down the hall. The door flew open, and Kevin stormed in. He brandished the knife, the glint of it in the moonlight terrifying.

“Where are the keys to your car? Where are they?”

“In my pocket,” she whispered as she backed up.

He strode toward her and grabbed her arm. His breath blew hot on her face, and she wondered if these were her last moments. He awkwardly tried to dig into her jeans pockets with one hand, but had to shift the knife to his left hand. At the moment of the switch, Penny thrust her right knee into his groin with all her might.

Kevin howled in agony and dropped the knife as he bent over to grab his groin. Penny sidestepped him neatly and ran for the open door. She flew down the hall and flung herself backwards against the front door to twist the knob with her tied hands.

“Come here, you little--” Kevin screamed as he hobbled down the hallway at an alarmingly fast pace.

Penny’s heart pounded in her ears. Her bound and sweaty hands slipped on the knob. Was it locked? She used her whole body to twist the knob and the door opened. Penny rushed through the door and onto the landing. She braced herself against the old wooden railing for balance and sped down the stairs.

Kevin pounded down the stairs behind her cursing, but Penny heard a crash as he stumbled halfway down. She took the last two stairs at a leap and landed on soft sand. Hoping she’d oriented herself correctly, she turned to the left toward the beach, ran past the house and through the trees.

She guessed right and broke through the trees to find herself on soft sand. With little traction, the sand slowed her progress, and she heard Kevin yelling dangerously close behind her. She dared not turn around to see where he was, and she pushed ahead, her breathing ragged, sobs sucking up what little oxygen she had left. Penny found herself out on the open beach, and she cursed herself for her stupidity. There was nowhere to hide on the deserted expanse of white sand where her dark jeans outlined her form. She couldn’t outrun Kevin...not for long.

Penny stumbled over her own feet and fell to her knees. She struggled to rise, but her bound hands made it difficult. She’d just made it back onto her feet when she heard the soft swish of sand behind her.

“You’re not getting away from me,” Kevin snarled as he grabbed her hair. Penny screamed and jerked away, ripping her hair from his hands. She ignored the searing pain in her head as she cut to the left, running back toward the safety of the tree line. She ran full tilt into an unexpected small sand dune just before the trees. As she awkwardly tried to scramble up the hill, she fell onto her stomach.

Penny heard a thud, and Kevin grabbed her ankle. He wrenched it painfully, and she cried out as he pulled her back down the hill. Penny kicked wildly and must have connected, perhaps with his face. She heard him howl. She struggled to her feet and launched herself forward in a dive to reach the crest of the dune. As she landed with a flurry of sand in her mouth, she rolled over onto the other side of the dune and slid down the embankment. She managed to get to her feet, and took off running into the shelter of the bushes and the trees.

As Penny swerved past dead trunks and stumbled over underbrush, she saw the lights of the high-rise condominiums in the distance to her right. She scanned the area and realized she’d run into the neighboring Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge. The lights of the buildings reflected onto the small lagoon on her right which separated Fort Morgan Highway from the beach.

She remembered a hiking path near the shore of the lagoon that led back to the highway, but it was more than two miles long, and she knew she didn’t have the stamina to run that far in the dark without the aid of her hands and arms. She dived down behind a large dead tree trunk surrounded by thick brush and held her breath as she tried to form a plan of escape. Her lungs craved oxygen and she couldn’t think straight. She eased out a breath and dragged in another.

She heard Kevin’s footsteps thudding by as he located the path and ran into the sanctuary. Unfortunately, the sanctuary consisted mostly of birds instead of lions and tigers, and Kevin would not be eaten alive. She bit down on the hysterical gurgle that threatened to erupt. 

A bright light appeared in the sky to her right, and Penny heard the soft whopping sound of a helicopter as it circled the beach. She dropped her head to her chest and tried to hold back a sob of relief. It had to be the police. Matt and Cliff were here! The sound of sirens echoed in the distance.

Penny hopped to her feet with every intention of running full speed toward the beach and the safety of the spotlight, but she heard Kevin returning, his footsteps thudding along the trail. She crouched down again as he ran past her sanctuary, effectively blocking her escape toward the beach. Then his steps stilled, and Penny knew he hadn’t gone far. She didn’t know what to do. Run for the beach or run farther into the dark brush of the refuge? 

Distant shouts from the direction of the beach reached her ears. Rescue! Her decision had been made for her. She must make for the beach. Matt would be there!

Penny rose to her feet again, and dragged a deep breath into her burning lungs. She launched herself from her hiding place and ran as fast as she could up the path toward the beach. She fixed her eyes on the spotlight of the helicopter as if it was a beacon of safety, and she hoped for the best.

She heard a muttered oath before Kevin’s footsteps crashed down behind her. He’d been hiding...waiting for her. Penny kicked into an overdrive she didn’t know she possessed and crested the sand dune once again. Desperate to wave toward the helicopter, she couldn’t raise her arms. She settled for screaming and jumping up and down. But she waited too long. Kevin hurtled into her and brought her down onto the beach side of the dune. They rolled onto the beach for a moment before Kevin straddled her struggling body, grabbed her hair and wrenched her head up.

“They can’t save you, Penny. It’s too late!” he screamed, his face contorted with rage.

Penny heard nearby shouts. The helicopter’s light swept over them once, returned and locked on. Kevin froze for a moment and stared up into the blinding light. Penny tried to pull away, but his hold on her hair tightened.

“Please let me go, Kevin. Please don’t do this. Take the keys,” she cried.

He muttered through clenched teeth. “Oh, no, this isn’t about the keys anymore. This is for me.”

“Put the knife down, David!” Penny heard a voice...Matt’s voice. She tried to twist toward the voice, but Kevin’s excruciating grip on her hair brought her up short. She felt his arm sweep under her throat, and he hauled her mercilessly to her feet. His arm squeezed painfully against her throat.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill her. I swear I’ll kill her,” he shouted.

Penny saw the knife in his right hand and screamed. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed as loudly and long as she could. It didn’t matter if he sliced her throat. She couldn’t take any more fear.

A crack rang out, and Penny fell to her knees as Kevin dropped his arm. She flung herself from him and rolled away on the sand, twisting to stare as he clutched his shoulder. He turned and fell to his knees. A dark stain spread over the back of his shoulder

Kevin moaned and collapsed onto the sand.

Shouts from every direction confused Penny, and she didn’t know which way to look. The helicopter hovered overhead, and the bright halo of its searchlight left the surrounding areas in darkness. A dog barked.

Cliff stood over Kevin with a gun aimed at his writhing body.

“Penny, are you all right?”

Strong arms hauled Penny to her feet and encased her body in a protective embrace. Matt’s arms. She reared back for a moment to look at him under the helicopter spotlight. His face glowed under the luminescent light...like a savior.

“Are you all right?” he echoed as he stepped back and ran his eyes up and down the length of her body.

“Get me something to cut this with!” he yelled. A uniformed officer ran up to him and handed him a pocket knife. Penny’s eyes widened at the small metal object, and she jumped back involuntarily.

“Hang on, Penny. I’m not going to hurt you, honey. I’m just going to cut the rope.” Matt pulled her to him and reached around her to saw through the rope. She felt the motion, but no pain. Her arms and hands were numb.  

Over his shoulder, Penny saw several uniformed police holding guns on Kevin. One kicked the knife away, though Kevin looked in no shape to be wielding the deadly blade any longer. He lay on the sand without motion. Cliff was nowhere to be seen. 

“Okay, that’s it,” Matt murmured against her ear as her arms fell to her sides. A pain such as she’d never known seared through her shoulders at the sudden return of motion, and she cried out as she wobbled uncertainly.

“I’m sorry, babe. I know that must hurt.”

Matt tossed the pocketknife to the waiting officer and reached for her hands to study them. Penny followed his eyes, but the tears in her eyes blurred her cuts and scratches and the lacerations around her wrists from the rope. Her cold hands tingled painfully while Matt rubbed them.

“He wanted to kill me.”

“Shhh,” Matt whispered as he enfolded her carefully in his arms. “Let’s talk about this later. Right now, I want to get you out of here and to a doctor.”

“I’m all right,” she murmured against his neck. His arms felt so safe and secure. She wanted to stay in them forever. No doctor could make her feel any better than Matt did right now.

“Let the helicopter go,” he yelled to one of the uniformed officers. The officer spoke into a radio, and the helicopter moved slowly away.

Matt put an arm around Penny’s shoulder and began to walk her back toward the beach house. Away from the glare of the helicopter’s searchlight, her eyes adjusted to the commotion on the beach. Several all terrain vehicles provided spotlights on the area, turning the scene into something resembling an eerie black and white film noire. Several paramedics emerged from the tree line near the house and ran to Kevin’s side carrying a stretcher. The red and white lights of their ambulance reflected off the trees through which she’d run. A uniformed officer with a lunging German Shepherd stood over Kevin along with several other police.

Penny looked away from Kevin.

“Cliff...” she muttered. “I talked to Cliff on the phone.”

“I know, honey. I was there.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on. How did you know where I was?” She turned to Matt. 

Matt urged her along toward a waiting ambulance. “I know you have questions, Penny, and we’ll talk about them later, but right now, I need you to go to the hospital. Sam is going to go with you.”