Taken - Before her very Eyes
Read Taken - Before her very Eyes Online
Authors: Wade Faubert
Taken
Before her very Eyes
By
Wade Faubert
Copyright © 2012 by Wade Faubert
All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be
reproduced, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without
permission.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events is entirely
coincidental.
COVER DESIGNED BY,
Jessi Nunns
www.heavenlydayphotos.com
Wampus Springs
—
Mark of the Wolf
Prologue
— Four Years Earlier —
“What
are
we doing out here?” Summer sighed, shifting in the front seat
and gazing across at Nate’s hardened face. “I know we need to patrol the entire
County, but there’s never anything happening out here. Wouldn’t we be more
valuable on the city streets?”
Nate’s blue eyes met her with a
knowing look. “We’ll get to those parts of Chatham in due time. But there’s a
route that’s been laid out and we’re supposed to follow it.”
“How can I forget?” Summer rolled
her eyes. “You’re so anal. Just because the chief laid out a route doesn’t mean
you can’t deviate from it once in a while. Wouldn’t it be nice to spice things
up sometimes?”
“Spiced up, huh.” Nate sighed,
raising his left eyebrow. “Somehow I don’t think an old man in the chief’s
position would like spice. He strikes me as a heartburn, acid reflux and
irritable bowel syndrome type of guy.”
“I’m just saying,” Summer shook
her head, “would it kill you to start somewhere different on the route and go
backwards once in a while? I’ll bet Stephens and Malroy don’t follow the same
route?”
“I can guarantee they don’t. Hell
they spend half their time goofing off behind the old grocery store.”
“How do you know that?” Summer
flipped her blond hair back from her face and leaned closer to Nate, hoping
he’d spill the beans.
“Those stupid asses brag about it
every night in the change room. I keep telling them that if they wanna screw
around on the job, that’s fine, but not to go spreading it around the station,
cause sooner or later the chief is gonna find out and then there’ll be hell to
pay.” Nate tapped his finger on the dash. “But you’ll be able to vouch that we
followed protocol the way the chief wanted.”
“And what makes you think he’ll
believe a word we say.”
“Not we.” Nate grinned. “You.
He’ll believe you because you’re a woman.”
Summer felt her cheeks heating
up. Nate seldom got to her, but the thought of getting special treatment
because of her gender pissed her off. She’d fought long and hard to be treated
like an equal all during her training and would never accept anything different
now. As far as she was concerned there was no difference between her, Nate,
Stephens or Malroy. “That’s a sexist remark.”
“It sure is, but it’s the truth.
He knows those other guys would lie to save their asses, but you’re the only
woman on the force. It’s like you’re sacred or something.” Nate gave her a wink
and a big grin. “The truth is, when you strut in that briefing room with your
hair all done and those brilliant green eyes scouring the room, half the guys
can’t stand up for five minutes.”
“You’re such an ass.” Summer
turned and stared out the side window at the crumbling silo in the distance.
The early morning sunlight was just beginning to brighten the horizon and the
shadows of the farmland were coming into view. “I suppose you can’t control
your hormones either?”
“Oh, I can control them. But if
you weren’t already married to Dean, I’d be right there with Stephens and
Malroy looking for some action.”
“I’m sure Dean would be happy to
know that all the guys on the force would like to get with me.”
“Not all the guys. I’m not so
sure that new recruit, Jones, would be interested. He seems a little on the
skittish side when he’s near you. Could be he’s still a virgin—or gay?”
“He is not gay.” Summer blew out
a deep breath, hoping it’d relieve some of the tension that was building behind
her eyes. “He’s just a little shy around me.”
“So, you wanna bet?”
Summer turned away, refusing to
answer. She watched as car lights sparkled to life in the distance to her right
and tried to change the subject. “You hear anything new on that drug bust last
week?”
“Only what they want us to know.
It was headed to Dean’s courier company and was slated to be shipped across the
country to fake addresses. I’m just glad we were able to intercept it at the
transfer yard before it got to his company.”
Summer arched her left eyebrow.
“He had nothing to do with it.”
“Exactly, and confiscating it
offsite just makes it all that much easier to prove.”
“They don’t think he’s involved
with it, do they?”
“Who the hell knows, but the fact
that Gavin Stone is working for your husband doesn’t look good.” Nate followed
Summer’s gaze to the speeding car racing down the cross road toward the
intersection up ahead.
“Dean only hired Gavin because
his parole officer begged Dean to.”
“I know, but I still think it was
a mistake. You and Gavin have a rocky past. Besides, I don’t trust that guy.”
“Even though he’s served his debt
to society?”
“Don’t give me that shit. You
don’t believe it any more than I do.” Nate hesitated for a moment, then made
eye contact with Summer. “Keep this to yourself and don’t breathe a word of it
to Dean. The less he knows, the better it’ll be.”
“What the hell are you talking
about? If something’s going down then I want to be part of it. I don’t care if
Dean is my husband. I want in.”
“I heard they’ve got a plain
clothed detective. Grimshaw’s his name. He’s tracing the truck and all the
merchandise that the meth was crammed inside.”
“And what do they have?”
Nate shrugged his shoulders.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but let’s hope for the sake of Sabrina and that
baby you’re trying to have, Dean comes out clean.”
Summer remembered how adamant
Dean had been about the whole thing. He swore he had nothing to do with the
shipment and she had no reason to believe anything to the contrary, but his
business has been booming lately and he was finally making a profit. Summer
shook her head. It was only a coincidence. Nothing more.
Nate sighed. “You realize that if
you get knocked up, we’re not skipping the route just so you can hit every
drive-thru in the city.”
Summer scoffed. “Don’t tell me I
have to get a doctor’s note so you’ll allow me food whenever the baby gets
hungry?”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Nate
said, his eyes following the approaching car. “I’m sure the chief will go for
it.”
The car was racing to the
intersection ahead, looking to beat them, but little did the driver know he was
in for a big surprise if he decided to fly through the stop sign. Nate was
waiting, his finger hovering above the switch, hoping the guy runs the stop
sign.
Nate smiled. “I’m betting he’s
gonna run it.”
“I’m betting he doesn’t know
we’re cops.”
“You think?”
The second the car bounced through
the intersection, Nate switched on the roof lights and the countryside was
illuminated in a swirl of red and blue, sweeping over the land in a smooth
rhythmic arc.
The blue sedan didn’t slow at
all. It continued on, rounding the bend in the road and disappearing from sight
behind the cluster of thick trees.
When Nate slid the cruiser around
that same corner, they could only watch as the sedan disappeared around
another. Nate pushed the cruiser to its limit, barely holding it on the loose
gravel road, determined to catch this guy.
The cruiser slid around the
corner then straightened, but the sedan wasn’t trying to outrun them anymore.
It’d struck a second vehicle at the next intersection, sending them both off
the road and into the thick brush beside the woods.
Steam spewed from the front of
the sedan’s crumpled hood as the driver opened the door and jumped out, dashing
toward the thick woods.
Nate slammed on the brakes and
slid to a stop beside the two tangled vehicles, then flung open the door and
gave chase into the dark unknown, cursing the fugitive like always.
Summer radioed for an ambulance
as she raced to the tangled mess. The driver of the van was lying in the long
grass beside the vehicle, motionless. His face covered with blood—a lot of
blood!
Summer reached into her pocket
and withdrew her gloves. After slipping them on, she knelt down beside and searched
for the source of all the blood, but couldn’t find any cuts or gouges. He
seemed to be fine. Covered with blood, but fine.
Pressing her fingers to his neck,
she counted the rapid beats of his heart and was about to check his pupils when
his eyes snapped open and an evil grin spread across his face. Summer pulled
back, letting his head drop to the ground, taken by surprise at his strange
reaction. She glanced around, searching for Nate, hoping he’d come back to
assist her, when the man’s hands shot up, grabbing her arm.
There was a sharp pain in her
bicep, followed by a burning sensation that raced up her arm toward her
shoulder. Summer glanced down at his blood soaked hands and saw the needle
sticking out of her shirt sleeve. She couldn’t believe it. He’d stabbed her—and
with a dirty needle. And all she was trying to do was save his life.
Summer’s head was swimming. Her
thoughts were melting into each other as her legs began to buckle beneath.
Everything was fading away. The flashing red and blue lights were now sickening
pulses behind her closed lids. She felt the cold damp ground beneath, and heard
the side door of the van slide open. A second later she was flying, soaring
through the air until her face came to rest on the hard steel floor of the
cargo van.
She tried to call out for Nate,
but no sound would exit her mouth. She could picture him chasing the guy for a
mile or more, whatever it took to get his man. The van roared to life and a
second later she could feel the vibrations from the tires up through the cold
steel floor—then darkness.
Summer Demure sat slouched behind
the wheel of the white Volvo, gazing off into the distance down the one-way
street. Her unblinking eyes were locked on a single point in the darkness, but
her mind was completely blank and she relished the feel of it. The ability to
shut down her mind and take a break from the constant barrage of memories was
the bliss she’d been searching for.
She couldn’t believe how drastic
her life had changed these last months and knew the feeling of dread, which
coursed through every fibre of her body, was going to be the hardest thing to
overcome. She thought of Dean and how he’d tried to comfort her, but a
shiver—that same shiver she felt every time he touched her—raced through her
body, racking her petite frame with uncontrollable muscle spasms.
It didn’t seem to matter how many
sessions she spent with the department psychiatrist, the outcome was always the
same. She couldn’t stand the touch of her own husband.
It devastated Dean when she asked
him to move out of the house, and he argued for hours that him leaving wasn’t
going to solve her problems. Summer knew this was likely true, but like he’d
said, this was her problem and she had to find a way to deal with it.
The night Dean left, he said he
understood what she needed right now, but she could tell from the look in his
eyes that he didn’t. Maybe the time apart would do them some good? Maybe after
being separated for awhile, she’d overcome her fears and they could once more
live as a family, but until then she had to live alone, taking care of Sabrina.
Her fingers strummed nervously
against the worn leather steering wheel. Worn smooth by Dean’s many miles on
the road. He loved
this car so much that Summer was floored when he
insisted she take it. Sure her old car wasn’t reliable, but Dean simply grabbed
the keys and drove off, leaving her little choice in the matter. He said he did
it for her, but she knew he’d done it for Sabrina.