Dark Visions (10 page)

"I said, get up."

She shook her head.

He rushed her.

She thought he must have lost his balance
because he fell into her. She was lifted by her shirt and shoved
towards the door.

Then his foot came out and knocked hers away
from the floor. She fell hard, landing on her stomach before she
could get her hands out in front to absorb most of the fall. A
grunt escaped her lips as the tool in her pocket jabbed hard just
below her hips.

"I can see you will need to be taught a few
lessons. When I say something, you do it or you get hurt.
Understood?"

She nodded her head.

"Get up."

With a struggle, she got to her knees and
then to her feet.

"Good. It appears you can learn a thing or
two. Now walk. Go to the car and stand in front of the trunk."

A minute later they were outside. He popped
the trunk and motioned for Sarah to crawl in. She tried angling
herself to avoid the tool in her pocket doing any further
damage.

Then his hands were on her back. He shoved
her hard and fast.

She had time to duck her head, but banged
her right shoulder against the top of the trunk which caused a high
pitched cry to escape her lips.

The trunk lid came down fast, but not before
she saw him smiling.
Evidently her pain pleased him
, she
thought to herself.

In the chaos of leaving the cabin he forgot
to tie her up. Her wrists and ankles were free of restraint.

She maneuvered in a way to pull the
screwdriver out and started working on her escape.

Chapter 21

Caleb started for the door. If he was going
to get his daughter back, he was going to do it his way. The police
didn't help when Vivian was kidnapped and murdered years ago and he
was convinced they wouldn't this time either.

He stopped at the door. Did he really want
to do this without Amelia? Would she understand? Could he tell her
about the phone calls? It was always a fight with Amelia. She had
to do it her way. If he told her what the caller said about Sarah
this morning, she would be hysterical.

But maybe she should be let in on this?

He turned around and headed for the living
room. His wife lay sprawled at a crooked angle on the couch, her
neck twisted on the arm rest.

"Amelia, wake up. It's nine-thirty in the
morning. Sarah's still not home."

She grunted a reply and turned to ease the
pressure on her neck. She began massaging below her jaw as she
winced.

"What time is it?"

"Nine-thirty in the morning."

Amelia moved her head back and forth. He
wasn't sure if she was saying 'no' or trying to get the muscles
moving again.

"I've got a splitting headache. Can you get
me some tablets?"

Caleb was back a minute later with pills and
water. "Here, take these. Have a shower and we'll talk about what
to do. I've called the plant and told them I wouldn't be in for a
few days."

"Give me a minute. Do you have coffee
on?"

He looked at his watch. Every minute was
important. He was losing time. He made his decision.

"I made some coffee. It's in the kitchen.
Look, why don't you wake up, have a shower and get dressed and I'll
be back before you know it."

"Where're you going?"

The doorbell interrupted them.

"Stay here. I'll get it," Caleb said.

He rushed to the door. When he looked
through the peephole he saw two men. They looked like cops. Clean
cut, one sporting a goatee. Both wore suits. One man was watching
the street; the other was looking at the peephole.

Caleb opened the door and offered a
greeting. He lifted his hand to ward off the rising sun from going
directly into his eyes.

Goatee flipped through a notepad and asked,
"Are you Caleb Roberts?"

Caleb nodded. "Yes. Can I help you?"

Were they coming to tell him that Sarah was
found dead? He shook his head to banish the thought.

They identified themselves as police
officers.

"Would your daughter Sarah be home?"

"Not right now. Is something wrong? Is there
anything I can help you with?"

Goatee looked at his partner and then back
to Caleb, who watched this as best he could with the sun glaring at
him.

"There was an incident downtown in the
Entertainment District. A man was killed in a hit and run. There
were witnesses who put your daughter at the scene. If you know
where Sarah is, it's in her best interest to meet with us so we can
straighten this out."

"A man was killed?" Caleb asked, stunned.
Maybe that's why she didn't come home. She was in a jail cell. But
then these guys would know that. "Well, there must be a mistake
because my daughter slept at a friend's house last night. I've got
the text to prove it on my cell phone."

Caleb felt his hand shaking as he held it up
to block the sun. What had Sarah gotten herself into? Could she
have actually killed a man?

"Can we come in?"

Goatee took a step forward.

Caleb blocked his way. "Right now wouldn't
be the best time."

"And why would that be Mr. Roberts?"

"It's my wife. She's not feeling well."

He'd decided earlier there would be no
police on this. If anything, they'd just bungle shit up. Especially
not after the two phone calls he got this morning. Caleb had left a
message for Dolan last night after Amelia had fallen asleep. This
morning he got his return call. Dolan wasn't going to help with
locating Sarah, even though that's what he does. Caleb had checked
him out; he finds missing children and he has a good success
rate.

The other call told him not to involve the
police, or Sarah would die.

Today, the police would not be a part of his
daughter's welfare. Caleb had other plans.

"I'm afraid that finding your daughter is a
priority and we would rather do that with your cooperation. So I
need to ask; are you hiding Sarah?"

"Look, I understand I may appear a little
apprehensive. It's just; she's such a shy, introverted girl that I
can't really believe all of your witnesses. What they said she's
done is extremely unlikely. I'll talk to my wife. We'll make some
calls. Leave me a number where I can reach you and when we talk to
our daughter, I'll get to the bottom of this and then we'll call
you."

Goatee spoke first. "It's not that simple.
There's more to this than a car accident."

"What else is there?"

"We found a notebook at the scene."

Goatee turned and put his hand out. His
partner placed the notebook in his hand.

"Do you recognize this? Is it Sarah's
notebook?"

Caleb nodded. He'd recognize it
anywhere.

"We scanned through it and found references
to kidnappings, accidents and crime scenes; information that only
people investigating those crime scenes would know. In some cases,
Mr. Roberts, she appears to know what's going to happen and when,
based on the dated entries. She's either psychic or she plans the
accidents and then tries to save people. We don't know what to
believe."

Caleb couldn't control the waver in his
voice. "What are you saying?"

"There are references to Kim Wepps who was
kidnapped and held for ten days. We believe your daughter has some
involvement in these kidnappings. Remember, this notebook was found
at a murder scene where witnesses put your daughter at and now we
have confirmation from you that it is in fact Sarah Roberts'
notebook. Do you understand why we have to find her now, before she
does further damage."

Could Sarah be a part of something this
diabolical?

"Tell him the rest," Goatee's partner
said.

"We got a call a couple of hours ago from a
woman who claims she's from the Psychic Fair in town. She told us
that your daughter was in some kind of trouble, which we already
knew. The odd thing was she was told that her daughter was in
trouble too. She says that her daughter is going to be shot in the
next day or so. It looks like Sarah's planning something. We are
going to have to find Sarah quite fast to stop this."

Goatee had opened the notebook to the last
page of writing. Caleb looked down and saw a word circled numerous
times. He lowered his head to block the sun and saw the name
'Dolan'.

He also saw
save yourself
beside
it.

He had wanted to corner that woman Esmerelda
and make her fess up for her prophecy of danger. He also wanted to
talk Dolan into helping.

A thought was stirring in the back of his
mind. Somehow, this whole thing has to do with the Psychic
Fair.

Dolan won't even see him coming.

Chapter 22

Sarah held on to the screwdriver by the cold
steel shaft as she shifted her position. Her hands slid along the
smooth velvety surface of the trunk liner until she came upon the
plastic thumb screws directly behind the brake lights.

She removed all the thumb screws she could
feel in the dark and then pulled the liner toward her, exposing the
back of the brake light assembly.

Her tiny jail gained a small amount of
sunshine from outside. This helped her as she tugged on the brake
wires, loosening the bulb.

"You awake back there?"

She jumped and almost dropped the
screwdriver when she heard his voice coming from the front of the
car. She didn't answer him. She had no idea what difference it
would make whether she was sleeping or not.

After what she thought was a minute or so
she heard him talking. She guessed he'd wanted to make a phone call
on his cell without her hearing anything. His quiet mumbling wasn't
coherent by the time it reached her in the trunk anyway. The sound
of the highway racing by under the car was a steady drone.

With the bulb in her hand, she looked
through the small hole where the brake wire had previously been.
The red plastic brake light cover was all she could see. The hole
was too small to accommodate her hand. All her efforts were
useless. Dead end. A small hole to nothing.

With the little light coming into the trunk
now she could work on the lock mechanism.

After at least five minutes, with nothing
but sore hands, she gave up. Besides, what could she do if she
popped the trunk open while they were going sixty miles an hour on
the open highway, she wondered?

The next time her kidnapper went to let her
out he'd stumble upon what she did to the brake light and the trunk
cover unless she could replace everything exactly as it was.
Somehow, she was making this worse on herself.

The road was starting to get bumpier. The
car hit a couple small potholes adding pressure to her shoulders.
One was big enough to make her wince.

She took the end of the screwdriver and slid
it through the hole where the brake light had been. She applied
pressure to the top corners of the red cover, trying to get it to
break off. Maybe she could signal someone driving behind them.

More bumps hit the wheels. She rolled around
for a better position and pushed harder. The floor of the trunk was
merciless. Her right shoulder was on fire, the energy in her arm
waning.

A corner popped loose, followed by another.
From her limited view of the outside she could see they were on a
two lane highway, with little to no traffic.

They hit what felt like speed bumps in the
road and at that exact moment, the screwdriver was knocked from her
hand. She had thrust hard to dislodge the rest of the plastic. The
brake cover gave way and was lost to gravity as they hit the bumps,
and in the same instant she fumbled the screwdriver, letting it go.
It clanged to the road and disappeared from view.

Shit, that was my only weapon
, she
thought.

Sarah angled herself to get a better look
outside.

She couldn't believe the sheer coincidence
when her eyes spied upon a police cruiser following them. She could
only hope he pulled them over for a missing taillight. As much as
she hated cops, this may be a chance to get away from a maniacal
twist creep.

"What're you doing back there?"

Her stomach did a flip. She turned and
looked at the underside of the trunk lid.

Gravel kicked the wheel wells as he pulled
onto the shoulder. Sarah dropped her head back to the hole she'd
made and saw the police car had its lights on.

The cop was pulling them over.

Here was her chance.

This would all be over in minutes.

"I know you can hear me. Listen and believe
me when I say that I can make you die slowly. I want to explore all
of my sexual fantasies on you first. If you signal that cop, I will
teach you the definition of torture."

She heard his car door open as he got
out.

"What can I do for you officer?"

He was using a fake accent.

"I saw your brake light cover fly off.
Thought I'd pull you over to let you know you also lost what looked
like a screwdriver a little ways back there."

Sweat ran into Sarah's eyes. She raised her
hand to wipe it away. Should she scream and take her chances? She
barely breathed as she waited to see what would come next.

"Yeah, I knew it was loose. One of my
errands in town was to get that fixed."

"Your plates say you're from Florida. That's
a long way to head into town up here in Alabama."

Silence followed for a few seconds. Then
Sarah felt her nerves vibrate her limbs when she heard the officer
speak again.

"Open up your trunk. I want to get a look at
that bulb."

Chapter 23

Amelia hadn't moved when Caleb walked back
into the living room.

"Who was at the door?" she asked.

"Jehovah witnesses. It was hard to get them
off the porch. Two guys with all these questions about
religion."