Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (35 page)

Forty minutes later
,
Gabe was at the computer entering the information he'd gotten from the lawyer. 
Cole
had dropped him off and gone to the cabin to meet the snake guy and dust for prints.  If he found some that weren't any of theirs, they'd run it through the system and see if they got hits. 

Gabe had called the administrative office at the rodeo and was told that they hadn't seen Jake Johnson in
over a month
, that he'd missed too many events, and they'd basically removed him from the competitions.
  That meant
he couldn't use working as an
alibi for
any of the things they suspected he'd done
.

Leaning back in the chair, he watched
impatiently as
the little circle on the computer screen sp
u
n
,
as it processed his request for information on Jake Johnson. 
A few minutes later, he got several
results
, including a rap sheet on the guy.  He clicked on that line item and it opened for him to view it.  Gabe sucked in a sharp breath at the three pages before him. 

It was amazing to him that he wasn't already in prison, because it included
convictions for numerous assaults, one aggravated assault, and a lot of drunk and disorderlies
,
and a
stalking
complaint.  There were several restraining orders against him.
 

When Gabe's eyes
landed on the note section of the sheet
, he let out a whoop and did a fist pump in victory
. 
Jake Johnson w
as on probation for one of the assaults, and had an outstanding warrant in
Dallas
, becaise h
is
probation had been revoked
, after
he missed
several
probation contacts
with his probation officer
. 
He'd also missed a court date last week. 

That's who Gabe needed to call right now.
..
Jake Johnson's
probation officer.  That man
wanted to find him as much as Gabe did, he was sure.
O
nce
Gabe told him what Johnson had been up to,
Gabe was sure he'd get the state involved quickly.

Gabe huffed out a frustrated sigh when the man didn't answer his phone, but he left a message and hoped he'd call him back soon.  He needed to let Cole know what was going on, but he knew his cell wasn't going to work at the cabin, and he didn't have a land line installed yet.
  Gabe had ridden with Sabrina and Cole to the station, so he was stranded.
  Maybe he could get him on the rad
io, it was worth a shot anyway. 

He'd just gotten up from his desk when his phone rang,
and he snatched it up and said shortly,
"Kelley
,
" then sat back down in his chair.

"This is Officer Finley, I'm the probation officer for Jake Johnson...you have information on him?"

"Yes, a lot
...
and I need your help."

***

Jake hadn't hit her again, but
Karlie
had felt her cheek and it was really swollen, her eye felt swollen too.  So he didn't have a reason to hit her again, Karlie had tried to stay as quiet as possible, and watch their surroundings
,
as Jake sped along the highway, but the roaring of the big tires on the road and the hum of the air conditioner, along with her extreme exhaustion lulled her to sleep.   Her head was resting on the window, and she had Sarge in her lap.

She was suddenly jolted awake when Jake grabbed
a fistful of
her hair and pulled her across the seat and out the driver's door
of the truck
.  Sarge squealed as he fell off her lap and hit the floor, and she hit her knee on the steering wheel when she was falling out of the big truck.  Pain sliced through her head and her leg as she scrambled trying to get her feet under her, while he dragged her toward the trailer, the same one they'd shared when they traveled with the rodeo. 

It wasn't
parked
at the rodeo
now
though, she looked around and saw they were in a clearing deep inside some woods. 
She saw Sarge jump out of the truck and land on his belly
in the dirt
, then
he
g
o
t his legs back under him,
and
ran after them, dragging his leash.
 

Jake flung open the door, then dragged her up the wooden steps and pushed her down on the floor on her stomach,
then put his knee in her back
, while he
tied
her hands behind her
.  Yanking her up
again
, he
pushed her down the narrow aisle to where she knew the bedroom was.  Her heart stopped, hoping he wasn't going to rape her.  She'd fight him with everything she had, even with her hands tied, she was sure she could do some damage to the warped asshole.

Jake
opened the door then
shoved her on
to
the built-in bed
.  Using her hair again, he
pull
ed
her face close to his
, and he grinned evilly when he heard her whimper
and saw the tears that rushed to her eyes
.  She could
smell
his sour odor and
whiskey on his breath when
told her,
"I need to go out--you better be here when I get back, or when I find you
...
you're going to be
damned
sorry.
  I
still need you alive to sign those papers for that lawyer
, so I won't kill you
now
,
but I'll fucking make you
wish
you were dead
.
"

Karlie swallowed down her fear and nausea from his overwhelming smell, and nodded.  He let her hair go, then walked out and slammed the door, then she heard metal scraping,
and
what sounded like a padlock clicking shut.  Holy shit, he was locking her in this windowless room, with no airflow or air conditioning.
 
It didn't even look like he had electricity out here
, and if his smell was any indication, he didn't have water either
.

It was already so hot in
the trailer
, it was hard to catch her breath
, her racing heart didn't help
.  If she had to stay in here any length of time, she was afraid she might pass out from it.
..or suffocate.
  There wasn't much in the room other than the wall-to-wall bed and a closet built into one wall.  She got up and went over there and opened it, hoping to find a can opener or something she could use to escape.

Turning so she could
reach the knob with her hands
, she twisted
it
, then
kneed
o
pen
the door
and looked
around. 
Other than a couple of pairs of jeans and a few shirts there wasn't anything in there that
could help her escape that she could see
.  She tugged at the rope and it rubbed her wrists.  He'd tied it so tight, she wasn't going to be able to loosen it.
  Even if she found something to help her in there, Karlie realized she couldn't do anything with it, with her hands tied. 

Laying back on the bed with a sob, Karlie felt desolation set in and she fought against it.  She was not going to let Jake Johnson kill her...no way in hell.  There had to be something she could do, she thought.
  She heard Sarge whining through the wall behind her.  He was outside the back of the trailer, and she worried he might be hurt. 

Scooting close to the wall she yelled to him and he barked.  The walls in this trailer were thin, it wasn't the highest quality or new, for sure. 
Since she had her boots on,
Maybe she could kick her way out, she thought
,
the
n
nudged the pillows away from the wall and laid on her back with her feet against the wall. 

If she did this and didn't succeed, she knew Jake would make her pay for it, so she had to succeed.
  Lifting her legs toward her chest, she rammed them into the wall and her whole body was jarred, and
when she looked
there wasn't even a dent in the pressboard paneling. 
Sarge barked again, as if in encouragement, and she kicked the wall again, a little harder this time.  When her boot
heel went through a board, she smiled.

Karlie was sweating profusely and she knew her body temperature was at red alert levels.  She'd worked for nearly an hour on the wall, and had only
made
a small hole
in
it
, the size of her boot.  Getting up on her knees, she wiped her face on the comforter to get the sweat out of her eyes
,
then looked into the hole to see what was in there. 

There was a
little insulation, a wooden stud and some wiring, and the outside
metal
shell of the trailer.  Looking to the right, she saw a cutout in the metal wall and a bulb covered by a red tail light lens.  Thinking that could be her ticket out of here, Karlie turned backward and used her hands to break away the paneling in pieces until that area was exposed
more
. 
Sitting on the edge of the bed she put her foot in the hole again then kicked the lens out, which left a raw edged metal hole, perfect for cutting rope, she hoped. 
She just prayed she didn't slit her wrists in the process.

Backing up to the hole, Karlie centered her wrists on one edge of the opening and sawed back and forth.
  Sarge was barking again, and she kept sawing until she felt one side loosen.  She pulled her wrists out
of the hole, then
tried to loosen the rope again, but it didn't give enough, so she went back to sawing.  After a few minutes of sawing, she yanked against the now frayed rope and it snapped and her wrists were free.  She rubbed her wrists and did a small victory dance, then got back to work. 

Going back to the closet now that she could dig around in the mess on the bottom, she dug around and found an old pair of spurs with sharp rowels on them
,
hooked to a pair of boots.
 

Karlie grinned then said, "Voila! A can opener!" to the empty room
, then hurried to the opening in the aluminum
outside wall,
and began using them to
enlarge the opening
.
  A lot of sweat and elbow grease later, Karlie had a made hole the a little bigger than her shoulders in the outside wall of the trailer. She leaned out and talked to Sarge, who was jumping around on the ground excitedly. 

Now, she just had to figure out how to get out without cutting herself to shreds on the raw edges.  Easing back into the room, she yanked the comforter off of the bed then padded the hole she'd made.  Figuring it was better to land on her feet than her head, Karlie sat on the edge of the bed and put her feet through the hole, then twisted slowly around s
o her stomach was facing down.  She slid through the opening and dropped to her feet outside, then fell to her knees and hugged Sarge
, taking deep gulps of the fresh air
. 

"Let's go, boy...I don't know where, but away from here," she told him then grabbed the leas
h and took off into the trees.
  She knew she had to get as far away as she could before Jake got back, or he would find her.  Karlie had lived most of her life in the rodeo arena, either at her own events or Uncle Jerry's, so she didn't have much experience in the woods, but she'd make due.  All that mattered right now, was that she wasn't being held prisoner in that trailer anymore, the rest she could deal with.

She didn't run in deference to Sarge's short legs, but she pushed them hard walking.  When the trees broke into a field of cattle, she stayed inside the tree line and walked the long way around to the other side of the field, then went into more woods and kept walking away from the direction of the trailer.
  Karlie figured they were at least a couple of miles away now, and decided to take a break by a small stream they ran up on.  She took off her boots and soaked her feet, and splashed the cool water on her legs, face and neck.