Crushing (24 page)

I hurried over to help her. I was trying to keep an eye on him. I wasn’t sure how long he would be out, and I wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

I pushed her in front of me.

“Use the stair rail. Go faster!” I stepped over him and was right behind her, when I thought I heard movement behind me.

“Lindsay, run!” I yelled, and shoved her from behind.

She bolted through the door. I was almost to the doorway, when I felt a tug on my ankle. I screamed and pulled, but he had a grip on my foot. I was so scared, I was gasping for breath. Not good. I should have bashed him in the head with the step. I turned and kicked him in the face with my other foot, and he let go. Thank God.

I had only taken another step, when he pulled himself up and came at me again. I made a grab for the door to close it so I could lock him in, but he was pushing it open with one hand. He was so strong. Much stronger than he looked. I let it go and ran. I just needed to find a way out.

We were in what must have been the kitchen. No knives or anything on the counter I could use—just candles on the counter casting shadows on the walls and making the whole place feel like a Halloween haunted house. There were two doorways out of the kitchen, and Lindsay had gone left so I went right. One of us had to make it out. I was in some kind of parlor. I was looking for the front door, when out the windows I saw headlights. I started screaming and waving my arms as I ran.

“Help! Help!”

We were saved. Then I saw the hallway and the front door just beyond.

“Lindsay!” I was screaming. “Here! Come here!” I made it into the hall, grabbed for the doorknob, and tried to swing the door open, but it was bolted shut. I reached up and tried to unlock it, only to have my whole body shoved hard into the door. My head hit and bounced off.

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

My heart leapt in my chest. I felt the sharp tip of a knife to my neck. He pulled me back from the door and started slowly backing up toward the kitchen.

“We’re not done here.” He whispered in my ear.

His voice was silky now, like he was enjoying all of this. He was insane. In that moment I realized he was the man who had grabbed me all those years ago when I was hiding in the woodpile. It was the way his voice sounded now. I remembered. Smooth and relaxed, like he was enjoying every minute. Not at all the man who always spoke to his son with a hard edge to his voice.

My stomach clenched. How did I not know that all this time? My whole body felt loose and shaky. How could I not have figured this out sooner? We needed to get out of here. Maybe the driver of that car was still near enough to hear me.

I took a big breath to scream.

He said, “If you scream, I will slit your throat. Then, when I find Lindsay, I will torture her for the fun of it. Understand?”

I nodded. I couldn’t see the headlights anymore. It was probably someone passing by. I wanted to cry. I couldn’t let him put me back in the basement. I knew if he got me back in there I would die. I prayed Lindsay had gotten away. I wasn’t sure he’d have trouble finding her though. I knew she wouldn’t be able to move fast with the physical state she was in. The burst of adrenaline could help her for a brief time, but when it wore off she would be in trouble. She was in pretty bad shape.

I heard a creak toward the back of the house. My stomach sank. She hadn’t made it out. She was still in the house hiding.

He moved slowly. Pushing me forward and whispering in my ear. I could tell he was enjoying all this. Running just made it more fun for him.

“Rory, you’re in desperate need of some lessons. All those boys hanging all over you, including my son. Who can blame a boy for such bad behavior when you dress and act the way you do?”

I didn’t answer. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“You were always such a problem child. Never doing what you were told. I’ve had you on my list for a long time. Of course, after you saw me on the golf course that day I had to do my hunting elsewhere for a while.” He waved the knife in front of my eyes for a moment. “But you and some of these other girls needed my lessons so much, I just couldn’t resist.”

We finally made it into the kitchen, and he called out.

“Lindsay, come out now, and maybe I won’t kill your friend.”

“Stay where you are, Lindsay. I’m okay,” I shouted. I was shaking and terrified, but if he got his hands on Lindsay again it would be so much worse. If one of us got away, we were saved.

He moved the knife back to my throat. “You would do better to keep your mouth shut.” He put enough pressure on the knife that I could feel a thin line of blood start to drip down my neck.

That voice. That was the voice of my nightmares. I wanted to cry. I was so scared now, but I couldn’t give in. I had to be brave for Lindsay.

I looked around for something, anything, to grab or some way to get myself out of this mess, but there was nothing but old rotting kitchen cabinets and a rusted sink. The floor was warped and peeling up in places, and the whole place smelled of mold and mildew.

He pushed me in front of him as we moved through another empty room that had a door to what must have been the backyard. It was pitch black outside, and as far as I could tell, the house was in the middle of the forest. Even if we made it out, I didn’t know if we would make it to any civilization before he caught us. I wouldn’t even know what direction to go.

He had my whole body pulled up tight to his. It was making my skin crawl. How in all these years had I not known this man was capable of such monstrosities? I hoped Lindsay knew to stay where she was. I needed to try to get away, and then maybe he would follow me and leave her.

He paused, and I could feel his hot breath on my neck.

“Come out, come out, and save your friend,” he singsonged.

“Happy to.”

Gage stepped out from the hallway ahead of us with a shotgun pointed directly at Mr. Cosgrove’s head. “Although at this point I feel like Rory and I are more than just friends.”

The air wooshed out of my lungs. How on earth had he found me? He was ten feet away, but at this point it could have been a million. My stomach dropped to my feet. Happiness and fear filled me at the same time. Now he was in danger. Gage had a gun, but Mr. Cosgrove was a psycho.

Mr. Cosgrove made an angry sound and tightened his hold on my neck. “How sweet. One of your boy toys came to save you,” Mr. Cosgrove said, as if he we were sharing the latest gossip in town.

“Step away from her now, and I’ll consider not blowing your head off,” Gage said between clenched teeth. I could feel the hostility pouring off him. He was barely in control.

“I don’t think I will,” Mr. Cosgrove said in a friendly tone.

Gage took a step forward, and the gun never wavered.

Mr. Cosgrove started moving backward, maneuvering my body so it was still in front of him.

“By all means, keep moving forward. Another step, and I’ll carve a big fat line in her pretty little face. We’ll see how much you like her then.”

“Let her go now, you creep,” Gage ground out.

“Really, Mr. Maddox, how very heroic of you. I don’t think so.” He put the knife blade up against my throat. “Try to shoot me with that and you’ll hit her. Can you live with that?”

“Let. Her. Go.” The shotgun didn’t waver.

“Put the gun down, Mr. Maddox, or I’ll make her bleed and suffer. I know you are aware of the horrors a knife can do. Put it down. Now.”

Gage turned white under his tan. He dropped the shotgun to his side and slowly leaned down to set it on the ground.

“I knew you’d see it my way,” Mr. Cosgrove said as he started to pull me back through the doorway to the kitchen. But then his foot caught on the warped floor and he stumbled. I saw my chance. I threw myself to the right and ran.

A loud roar sounded, and a heavy weight hit me from behind. My arm flew out to break my fall, but all I managed to do was sweep the candles onto the floor. A heavy weight landed on top of me. I flailed and tried to get away.

“Stop that or I’ll slit your throat right here,” Mr. Cosgrove said as he yanked my hair back. He dragged me backward with him across the kitchen floor toward the doorway where I knew Gage must still be. To my right, the wooden floor and doorway to the parlor were engulfed in flames. We needed to get out of this house. I had started a fire. Oh crap. I screamed and he shook me hard.

“Idiot girl. Look what you’ve done.” He shoved the knife back against my throat. “Be quiet.”

I tried to calm down, but it seemed impossible. Where was Lindsay? What if she got trapped in here? I had made our situation worse now, not better, and I was staring to panic. The smoke was starting to billow up from the floor making it hard to get a breath and making it hard to think.

He pulled me up off the floor in front of him, holding the knife to my throat. How was I going to get away? Where was Gage?

I could hear harsh breathing in my ear. “We are going to move slowly into the next room. Don’t try anything.”

He pushed me forward, and I took a step into the doorway. I didn’t see Gage, but the light in the room was flickering and shadowed from the fire behind us.

A deep, scary growl came from my left. To my shock, Bailee leaped at Mr. Cosgrove’s leg through the doorway. Grabbing my chance, I shoved his arm away from my neck and the knife clattered to the ground. The forward motion sent me flying; unfortunately, Mr. Cosgrove fell with me.

When I looked over, Bailee had clamped her jaws on Mr. Cosgrove’s leg.

I started to crawl toward where the knife had fallen.

Mr. Cosgrove was reaching for the knife, and I panicked. He was going to get there first. Then Gage was standing over him with the shotgun pointed at his head.

“Please,
please
, make another move. I would like nothing better than to shoot you right now,” Gage said.

He sneered at Gage and made as if to get up.

Gage kicked him hard in the side, and Mr. Cosgrove howled and curled up into a ball.

I grabbed the knife and stood up quickly, trying to get out of reach. Mr. Cosgrove grabbed my leg and pulled. I fell on top of him. I screamed and pulled myself across the floor. Mr. Cosgrove was trying to get the knife out of my hand and pull me in front of him.

Before I could even get a good scream out, Gage hit him in the head with the butt of the shotgun. I looked over and saw Mr. Cosgrove out cold with a bleeding gash in his forehead.

Bailee still had a hold of Mr. Cosgrove’s leg. She was growling and pulling backward like she was going to drag him out the back door that I noticed was standing open.

“You all right?” Gage asked, taking big gulping breaths, like he had just run a marathon.

I nodded. I couldn’t even speak. I had been so scared.

“Bailee, drop it.” He lifted the shotgun and kept it pointed at Mr. Cosgrove’s head.

Bailee let go of the leg, but she looked reluctant. She kept her eyes on Mr. Cosgrove and sat back slowly. I could still hear a low growl coming from deep in her throat. She never took her eyes off him.

“Apparently she doesn’t take well to anyone grabbing you but me.”

“She’s the best dog.” Tears were clogging my throat. “We have to find Lindsay.”

“Got her,” I heard from the doorway across the room.

Dominic had one arm holding Lindsay pressed to his side and a shotgun in the other. “Feels like old times. Trouble is never more than a hair’s breadth away when you’re around, Ror.” He nodded to Mr. Cosgrove.

The smoke was getting thick, and the fire in the kitchen brighter. I coughed and tried to get a deep breath. That was a bad idea. It set off a coughing fit.

“Let’s get out of here.” Gage nodded to the doorway leading to the backyard.

“What do we do about him?” Dominic asked.

“I guess we drag him.” Gage looked disgusted.

They dragged and pulled him outside into the backyard while I held on to the shotgun and helped Lindsay. Bailee ran along beside Gage jumping and barking. They flopped him onto the ground, and I sort of handed Lindsay over to Dom, where she seemed to want to be. I gave Gage back the shotgun and tried to catch my breath. The sirens were getting closer. Thank God.

“Lindsay, are you okay?” I asked. She looked a mess and was leaning almost all her weight on Dominic.

“Yeah, much better now.” She pressed herself closer to Dom.

“How did you find me?” I asked them. I was coughing and hacking still. Smoke and asthma did not mix.

“Well, the whole world went sideways the second you didn’t come home from the match. Maddox and I decided to go have a little chat with Holden. Veronica told us the police thought he was involved in Lindsay’s disappearance, so we thought he might know something.”

“How did you get into the rehab to talk to him? He was in lockdown—”

Dominic grinned. “We created a diversion.”

“A diversion?” I looked at Gage.

“We pulled the fire alarm,” he said. The gun didn’t waver, and he never looked away from where Mr. Cosgrove was lying on the ground.

“And then we just grabbed Holden and hauled ass out of there. It was awesome.” Dominic looked like a little boy explaining a childhood adventure. “He had a whole lot to tell us about his dad and what he knew. I almost felt sorry for him.”

“Where’s Holden now?” I asked.

“He’s a little tied up.” Dominic started laughing.

Gage’s lips twitched.

“Dominic, really?” I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked that he seemed like he was having the time of his life.

“Calm down. He’s an ass and deserves whatever he gets after what he did. He’s tied up in the backseat of my truck. We needed him to show us where this place was. Apparently it’s been in his family forever.” He looked down at Lindsay.

“I guess Holden thought he might have had the girls here but he was afraid to tell anyone. He didn’t think anyone would believe him.”

The police and fire trucks came flying into the yard with sirens blaring and lights flashing. There was a lot of chaos after that. Police and emergency personnel were everywhere. Gage and Dom had called the police while on their way here, but hadn’t wanted to wait for them to act. The firemen rushed to put out the fire, which had engulfed the whole kitchen by the time they got there.

The paramedics had to handle Mr. Cosgrove and Lindsay first, so they gave me some oxygen, then took Gage, Dom, and I aside for questioning.

They asked me endless questions about the kidnapping. How Mr. Cosgrove had gotten to me, what I knew about Lindsay, what I knew about Mr. Cosgrove and the other girls that he had taken.

They questioned Dom and Gage about their part in the whole Holden snatch-and-grab. They spent some time being chewed out for not waiting and for kidnapping Holden. Surprisingly, Dominic took the fall for most of it. In his version, he was the mastermind of it all, and he had forced Gage to go along. Weirdly enough, Holden told the police he had wanted to go, and that he agreed to being tied up and insisted that he had pulled the fire alarm at the rehab.

Detective Holbrook had to know they were all lying.

“So, Mr. Rossi, you’re going to tell me Holden Cosgrove wasn’t really kidnapped from rehab but wanted to go?”

“Yup. You can ask him. He’ll tell you,” Dominic offered with his most angelic expression. He was a master.

“And he wanted to be tied up in the backseat of your truck?”

“Sure. He was good with it. He knew we didn’t trust him, so he volunteered.” Dom nodded.

“And he set off the fire alarm?”

“Yeah, we just came to see if we could ask him some questions, but he said he wanted to go with us, and this was the only way he could get out. He just did it.” Dom shrugged and gave the detective his most charming smile.

This was not the time to laugh, but I knew Holden would say it was he who had done it. It was how they were. Even if Holden’s life was a big mess and he had done some really bad things, he loved Dom like a brother. He wouldn’t want to bring him down with him.

They spoke to Gage about the shotgun (apparently Dominic’s idea) and the fire alarm.

Since Dominic had never been in trouble, and the two of them had actually caught a serial killer and found Lindsay and me, the police were forgiving.

All our families—the Rossis, my parents, the Pattersons, and Nathan with that creeper friend Wilson—descended en masse. We had to go through the whole explanation again. So many questions. I was almost thankful to get pulled aside by the paramedics to be looked over.

Of course I wasn’t surprised to see my new best friend, the paramedic, waiting to check me out. My parents followed, of course. Making a fuss and hovering.

He raised his eyebrows. “I guess I should have known.”

“Yup, it’s me. I feel like we should at least introduce ourselves.” I started to laugh, but the coughing interrupted me.

“I’m Sam. Sit. Breathe.” He frowned at me. “Breathing treatment. You know the drill. Here.” He handed me the mouthpiece for the nebulizer, which was just like the one I had at home.

After I had breathed in and out a few times and he had listened to my lungs, I held my hand out him. “Rory.”

He shook it. “Rory, I think I should take you in.” He was still frowning.

“Sam, my dad’s a doctor, remember?” I pointed at my dad. He turned to my dad to consult. They shook hands and started to debate on whether I should go to the hospital or not.

I spoke over them. “We have a machine at home. I’ll probably just need another breathing treatment in a couple of hours, right?” I gave him my best puppy-dog face.

“I’ve got grandbabies at home that do a better job than that. You got nothing, kid.” He grabbed my face and turned it back and forth looking at my color. He listened to my lungs and my heart. Again.

“Please, Sam? I really just want to go home.”

“Another breathing treatment in a couple of hours.” He looked stern. “Or I’m coming for you with a black bag.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” I jumped off the gurney and hugged him.

“I’m glad you’re okay, kid,” he said, his voice gruff. “Next time I see you it better be at the coffee shop or something.”

“You got it.” My parents were still talking to him when I gave him a little wave and went to find Lindsay.

I made my way over to where they were getting ready to load her gurney into the ambulance. Her parents were standing with some other paramedics. Her dad was just holding her mom while she cried and held Lindsay’s hand.

When I walked up her mom grabbed me and wouldn’t stop hugging me. “Thank you for everything, Rory. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Mom, let go,” Lindsay insisted. “Don’t overwhelm her.”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Patterson. I’m so glad she’s back.” I moved to stand next to the gurney. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Thank you so much for saving me.” She was tearing up.

“It wasn’t just me. Gage and Dom did most of the hard work.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“If you hadn’t knocked him out, they might not have known where we were.”

“I’m so glad you’re going to be okay.” My eyes were starting to burn. I was trying not to cry. It wouldn’t help her if I broke down too.

“Can you lean down here a second?” She sniffled.

I leaned down so she could speak more quietly.

“This is going to sound crazy, but you’re not seeing Dominic, are you?” she whispered.

I smiled. “No. I’m not. We’re just friends.”

“Okay,” she said. “Gage is really handsome.” She gave me a little smile.

“Yes, he is. So’s Dom. Being rescued by those two was kinda cool, huh?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

She nodded, and all of a sudden we were both giggling. It seemed weird to be laughing at a time like this, and everyone was staring, but it felt good. Laughter always seemed to make everything easier. I was so relieved we were safe, it didn’t matter if everyone thought we were insane.

“Thanks for everything, Rory. I’m not going to forget it.”

“Me either. I’ll be by the hospital to see you later. You need rest now.” I rubbed her arm.

“Okay. You too.”

She looked over to where Dominic was standing. He was nearby, surrounded by his family. He kept looking over at the gurney with a worried expression. Interesting.