Taken - Before her very Eyes (4 page)

She let up slightly on the gas
until the slide was under control, then punched the accelerator halfway to the
floor and released her breath. A smile crept onto her face, but she quickly
replaced it with a determined stiff lip. There was a time to celebrate her
returning confidence, but not now. Not with Sabrina held captive in the car
ahead.

After rounding the corner, she spotted
the taillights a quarter mile down the street. He should be farther away than
that. Could he be waiting for her to catch up? She shook her head. But why
would he do that? No, maybe he decided to park the car and climb in the
backseat to…

“No!” Summer shook her head,
refusing to let the notion enter her mind. Maybe he stopped to let Sabrina go?

She’d heard of cases like that. A
guy hops into a running car, thinking he’ll make a quick buck at the chop shop,
then looks in the back seat and realizes that he’d just become a kidnapper
instead of a car thief. So what does he do? He stops and abandons the kid on
the nearest corner.

Yeah, that’s it, Summer thought,
but she had a hard time convincing herself. After all, he could’ve approached
her and taken the Volvo, but no, he waited until Dean showed up with Sabrina.
The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. The timing was perfect. The
motive so simple. She should’ve seen it coming. How stupid could she be? Why
wasn’t she more careful? She’s the only one who can ID John Scott. She’s the
only one who’d seen his face, even if it was only for a second and it had been
covered with blood.

Summer knew she’d never forget
the look on John Scott’s face that day. That evil grin as he stuck the needle
into her arm was burned into her memory forever.

The taillights grew closer. She’d
cut the distance in half.

Drawing a cleansing breath, she
pushed the pedal harder and the car raced down the empty street, while her eyes
narrowed on the driver’s door.

Ram it at full speed and he’ll be
knocked out cold, but… The earlier image of Sabrina in the back window flooded
her mind.

“Why the hell isn’t she wearing
her seatbelt?” Summer calculated the injuries Sabrina would sustain from the
impact. The difference between stopping the kidnapper and chasing him, all came
down to a simple little belt. She’d done it many times before, used the cruiser
to disable a vehicle and apprehend the felons. Normally it was only a nudge off
the road, but tonight she’d have to sacrifice this car—Dean’s precious
Volvo—for good. A full speed impact into the driver’s door would buy her the
time to extract Sabrina, but at what cost?

“Damn!” The option disappeared
before she had the opportunity to commit either way. Just when Summer closed
the gap, the car took off like lightning. The Mercedes easily matched her
speed, then quickly began pulling away.

Summer glared at the back window,
begging to see Sabrina one more time. She was amazed at how strong her body
felt. How alive it really seemed. Although her white knuckles were glued to the
wheel, there wasn’t any hint of the trembles.

Water sprayed from the wheels of
the Mercedes, fanning up in the Volvo’s headlights before cascading down on the
abandoned sidewalk. In a flash of bright red, the car took a hard left turn,
rounding the corner with little slippage. Summer had to admit the Mercedes
handled much better than her car.

He was heading out of the city
toward the 401, the main artery of Southern Ontario. Summer had expected this.
She knew it was easier to hide away in the countryside then in the heart of the
city. And if he decided to hop on the 401 with that powerful engine, he’d be
long gone before they could organize a response.

Summer cut the corner short,
jumping over the inside curb. The car landed in a skid, sliding sideways. Her
hands panicked, cranking the wheel against the slide as the Volvo’s worn tires
continued fighting to grip the waterlogged pavement. Summer removed her foot
from the pedal and hit the brakes. The anti-lock system kicked in, but not
before the Volvo slammed sideways into a parked car. The whole side of the body
crumbled, exploding the side windows and showering her with tiny fragments of
glass.

“Shit!” Summer shook off the
crash and stomped the pedal all the way to the floor. The tires spun and a
moment later the car took off with a gut wrenching squeal of metal on metal.
The Mercedes seemed to have slowed, but remained at a safe distance. He was
playing with her—like John Scott had played that night.

Realizing she’d never be able to
catch him in this car, she decided to call for help. Taking advantage of the
straightaway, Summer dug in the console until she found her cell phone. After
flipping it open, she quickly punched in 9,1, then her finger froze. Before she
could depress the last button and summon help, the phone vibrated, then the
classic ring tone played. The car slowed as she glanced at the display. It was
Dean’s phone—the same one Sabrina had called from only minutes ago.

“Sabrina?” Summer’s voice
threatened to give way. She swallowed a lump. When only silence answered, she
stomped the accelerator hard. “Can you hear me? Is that bad man scaring you?”
She leaned forward and peered at the car ahead, praying to catch sight of
Sabrina as they raced down Richmond Street with the engine whining in protest.

There was a muffled response and
Summer sighed, picturing Sabrina huddled in the back seat, concealing the phone
in her arms. She was so proud of her little girl for using her head.

“Don’t worry, Mommy’s right
behind you. Look out the back window.” Summer had no idea if Sabrina was
obeying, or even if she was capable of obeying, but she allowed her a second.
“See, that’s me in the car behind. Put on your seatbelt, baby. This might get a
little rough.”

When a deep throaty laugh filled
the line, Summer felt her stomach drop. The sound of his voice crushed all her
hope. That’s why he’d stopped. To get the phone from Sabrina. She wondered if
Sabrina had given it to him willingly, or if she’d been too terrified and clung
onto it for dear life until he’d ripped it from her small hands.

The trembling spasms started
gripping her stomach and spread throughout her body. “No!” Summer yelled,
clenching her muscles tight, battling to control the shakes. The last thing she
needed right now was to have her car weaving back and forth across the centre
line like a drunk.

“Who… is this?” Summer demanded.
She felt her anger searing up.

“Who is this?” His deep voice
rattled through her mind as she concentrated on each and every word spoken. She
tried to place that voice to anybody from her past. Anybody she’d pissed off.
“Come on Officer Demure. Now, that hurts. I think you know exactly who this is.
We’ve spent so much time together. I’m shocked that you don’t know.”

“Please, stop the car. Give me
back my baby.”

“Maybe I should’ve taken you
again, but then that would’ve complicated matters.”

“Stop the car. Let Sabrina go.
I’ll do anything you want.”

The phone beeped a low battery
warning again. She had known it was getting low and should’ve plugged it in
this morning, but Summer remembered exactly why she hadn’t. She’d been too
distracted with the news of John Scott’s arrest to do anything more than lie on
the couch and cry.

There was nothing but silence on
the line.

Had the phone finally run out of
power and disconnected? Had her tie to her daughter been severed by her lack of
planning? Summer clenched her eyes tight for a second and refused to pull the
phone from her ear just to glance at the display. When she opened them again,
she swore she heard Sabrina snuffling back a sob.

“Officer Demure,” he said in a
professional tone. “John Scott was an innocent pawn that night. He was simply
in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Bullshit!”

“I was there with you the entire
time. Hell, I was right there inside you half the night. Remember how much you
liked it.” He laughed. “Remember how you begged me for more.”

Summer remembered all right. She
remembered the claustrophobic feeling she had when she’d come to that night.
The black sack on her head made the assault unbearable. The darkness combined
with not knowing where she was as he beat and raped her repeatedly was the
worst. She could’ve handled the pain if only she could’ve seen whose hands were
doing the damage. That unknown was what seemed to break her nerves and send her
into this unstable condition.

The last thing she remembered was
seeing John Scott’s face as she searched for the source of the bleeding after
the accident. No, not an accident. It’d all been a set up. The whole thing.

Could there have been a second
assailant that night? Someone she never saw. Could she be wrong about John
Scott being her attacker, or was the kidnapper just messing with her mind?

“Let me make this clear. If you
stop your vehicle and return home, I can guarantee your daughter’s safety. But
if you call the cops, or try to be a hero and stop me—well I can’t say how this
might turn out.”

Summer knew she had to keep him
talking and let him think he’s in control.

“I’m… sorry,” she struggled to
keep herself calm, “but I can’t let you take her.”

“Correction, I’ve already taken
her and I could’ve been long gone by now, but I thought you might want to play.
You do like to play, don’t you?”

Play? The word rambled throughout
her mind. She’d heard that word many times during her captivity. It was all a
sick game to John Scott, but to her it was nothing short of torture.

Summer shook her head. But that
was John Scott’s line. This bastard was only copying him, or was he? She
refused to give it another thought. She’d spent so many nights trying to forget
the entire ordeal, and now it was back threatening to rip her mind in two.

“Fuck you!” Summer screamed, her
white knuckles gripping the wheel too tightly. She realized this wasn’t the way
to negotiate with a kidnapper, and was precisely why you can’t get personally
involved. “Release the hostage and—”

The kidnapper’s deep throaty
laugh ate away at her sanity. “Awe, there we go. There’s a hint of the old
Summer Demure. Feisty, full of spunk. And what happened? Oh, right, you got a
taste of your own medicine?”

Summer heard another low battery
warning and knew her time was running out, but she couldn’t hang up. She
couldn’t lose connection with her daughter. She had to keep the line open.
“What are you talking about?”

“Your Medicine!” he screamed,
bringing a startled cry from Sabrina. “Locked away. Helpless, but to serve your
captor. Like the prisoners you lock away in jail.”

“Scum like you deserve to be
locked away.”

“Scum like me,” he mocked. “Scum
like me can control shit like you! You like to think you’re untouchable, but
you’re not. I’ve touched you today in a way you never expected. I’ve hit you so
hard that you’re still reeling from the blow. You talk tough, but I know you’re
full of shit. I’ve been watching you for the last five months. I know about
your shrink visits. I know all your fears. Hell, I even know about your doctor
visits. You haven’t even told your husband yet, but
I know.”

Summer felt violated. How on
earth did this stranger know every intimate detail of her life? How did he know
the reason she’d been to the doctor? How could he possibly know about that? She
felt her stomach churn.

“Put…” Summer cleared her throat
and forced down the bile that was bubbling up.  “Sabrina on the phone.”

“Why, so you can tell her how
much you love her?” He turned the corner fast, straight through the stoplight
and the tires squealed as the Mercedes headed toward the highway. “Tell her
that you’re gonna stop me and get her back.” He laughed. “I don’t think so.”

Summer hit the corner at full
speed, fighting hard to keep the Volvo from sliding into the ditch. The moment
she was out of the slide, she gave it everything it had. Wind whipped through
the smashed windows making it hard to hear as the car started to close the
distance. She was definitely making up some ground, but the highway entrance
was coming up. She needed to be close behind in case he decided to take the off
ramp and run against the flow of traffic.

“If you have anything to say to
her, tell me and I’ll—” A phone rang, cutting him off. The line crackled then
she heard his muffled voice talking. “Yes, just as planned. She’s fine…
Actually, the mother’s on the other phone right now. But… yes, I understand. I
was just having a little fun. Yes, I know this is business.”

There was a muffled silence, then
the irregular whooping noise of a vacuum.

Did he open the window?

Summer continued to close the gap
as the whooping noise increased. A second later, she saw it coming—heading
straight for her head. The phone smashed into the windshield, sending a spider
crack out in every direction.

“Shit!” Summer jumped and the car
swerved. Suddenly she knew what he’d been ordered to do. She regained her
composure, forced down her nerves and concentrated on catching the bastard.

Quickly she dialled 911.

Veering from the highway
entrance, he cut sharply onto an adjoining dirt road. Summer dropped the phone
to the passenger seat as she gripped the wheel with both hands, fighting to
make the sharp corner. She heard the operator’s voice answer. Not daring to
drive one handed on the loose gravel roadway, she chose to shout and hope the
operator could make out her call.

“This is Officer Demure, of the
Chatham Police. I’m in pursuit of a red 2010 Mercedes S series—” The phone
beeped one last time then shut down. “Fuck!” Summer slammed the wheel. It was
just her luck. Everything was going to hell. It didn’t matter what she did
lately it always seemed to turn out wrong.

 The Mercedes continued following
the dirt road up the hill, toward the bridge. Summer felt a twinge of
excitement as he passed the laneway on the right. She knew the dirt road he was
following would curve after the bridge and circle back, meeting up with the
laneway on the other side of the creek. She could take the narrow shortcut and
hope the creek hadn’t washed out the roadway, then block the road and stop them.