Save Me (Elk Creek) (24 page)

I finally made it to the cashier, who was older and looked nothing like the girl in my dreams.

“$17.39, cash or card?” she asked with such a bored tone that I imagined her as Charlie Brown’s teacher, and I giggled. She looked up at me with an annoyed look, only making me giggle more. I finally handed her my debit card, trying to control myself.

She handed me back my card and receipt, and I grabbed the bag from the conveyer belt and made my way to the truck with a big grin on my face. I did it! I did it on my own. For the first time in
more than three years I felt anything was possible, that I was capable of doing anything I wanted.

I climbed back into the truck, buckled my seatbelt and turned the ignition. After the truck rumbled to life, I noticed the gas gauge read less than
a quarter of the tank. I decided I could get gas for Carter. Besides, this truck guzzled gas like crazy, and I didn’t want to make it home only for the truck not to have enough gas to make it back to town.

I pulled out of the parking lot
, taking a left toward the Shell station. I was still on cloud nine as I pulled up to the pump, and handed my card to the attendant. He was an older man who looked vaguely familiar. He was lean, but his arms were muscular. He was a little shorter than six feet, maybe. A hard gleam shone in his blue eyes. He took my card through the window. As he turned, I glanced at the tag pinned to the right side of his chest. “Max,” it read, in barely visible letters.

“Can you fill it
, please?” I asked.

“Sure
thing,” he said with a sneering smile. It made me uncomfortable, and I was filled with trepidation. He stared at me the entire time he pumped the gas. I fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to look anywhere other than into his eyes. Finally, after what felt like forever, the flow meter on the pump quit rolling. The attendant pulled the nozzle from the truck, tightened the gas cap, and handed me back my card and receipt. I took the card through the window and gasped as his fingers closed over mine. The look in his eyes could only be described as hateful, and it scared the crap out of me. I jerked my hand back and quickly started the truck.

I pulled out of the gas station as fast as I could, not wanting to be anywhere near that man. There was something creepy and very sinister about him. I still had goose bumps up my arms. Trying to calm my rapid breathing, my cell phone rang. I forgot to call Carter when I left the grocery store. Crap!

Just as I was making the turn out of town, I noticed a big blue SUV coming up behind me. It appeared to be going well over the speed limit, kicking up gravel and dust behind its wheels as it approached my back bumper. I stepped on the gas in an effort to get out of the way.  I glanced in the rearview mirror as I was halfway through the turn and saw the front of the SUV before it collided with the right rear side of the truck.

Everything happened so fast, yet it seemed in slow motion.
The rear of the truck swung left, and with the force that I had on the gas, the front of the truck spun into the ditch on the side of the road. Another jolt from behind had my head snapping back against the headrest. I might have screamed, but the sound of screeching metal and crunching  plastic were deafening. The truck plummeted into the ditch, nose first. My head struck the window before ricocheting off the steering wheel, sending pain sharp pain shooting through my jaw and neck. My chest burned from the snap of the seatbelt, and everything seemed foggy. I could make out the ring of my cell phone, but where was my purse?

Suddenly the door was thrown open and hard hands grabbed my chin, thrusting my head back. I saw the flash of a fist before pain exploded to the side of my head, and then nothing but blackness.

Chapter 19-Carter

Made it. Luv u.

             
Taryn texted me more than thirty minutes ago, how long could it take just to get popsicles and marshmallows? I tried to call her, but there was no answer. If she were driving, she wouldn’t answer, so maybe everything was fine. She would be pulling in any minute. I was uneasy, and felt unsettled. A feeling of dread kept creeping through me. Why hadn’t she called me?  Dammit.

             
The ring of my cell phone startled me and I almost dropped it pulling it out of my pocket.  I didn’t take the time looking at the caller ID before answering.

             
“Taryn?” I said with slight panic in my voice.

             
“Carter, are you okay?” It was my mom, not who I wanted.

             
“Yeah, hi Mom,” I sighed.

“Honey, why did the sheriff’s office just call the house looking for you? They said your truck was found wrecked.”

I froze, that dread from earlier intensified, and my heart felt like it plummeted to my stomach. 

“Where is my truck? Did they tell you where it is?” I managed to get out.

“They said on the corner of Folsom and Mill Highway. Carter, what is going on?” she asked anxiously, but I didn’t respond. I hung up, slammed my phone back in my pocket, and yelled.

“ETHAN!! It’s Taryn
!” was all I had to say to have him flinging Maddie in Blaine’s arms and hauling himself out of the water. I didn’t wait for him as I ran to his truck, climbed in and started the ignition, just as he climbed in the passenger side still in trunks and dripping wet.

“What is it?”
he panted.

“I don’t know, the sheriff’s office called my house looking for me. They found my truck wrecked on Folsom
,” I said hurriedly as I peeled down the driveway. My heart was beating so hard in the back of my throat that I could hardly speak.

“What!? Where the fuck is Taryn? Is she okay?” Ethan started demanding.

“I don’t fucking know, all I know is what I just told you!” I snapped. I was completely over the edge, and knew one little thing was going to set me off. It took less than five minutes before I saw the truck nose-down in a ditch. My heart raced and the lump in my throat made it hard to breathe.

“Jesus, oh God
,” I heard Ethan mumble right before I came to a skidding stop behind the sheriff’s cruiser. I slammed the truck in park, then leapt from the seat, running to my truck with Ethan close on my heels. I slid into the door, catching myself by gripping the mirror and door handle, pulling myself up as I saw an officer running toward us from the cruiser.

“Hey!”
he yelled. I ignored him, wrenching the door open to find it empty. Taryn’s purse laid on the floorboard with its contents spilled on the passenger side. A credit card and receipt were on the seat, there was a smear of blood on the window, and a grocery bag tipped on its side next to the passenger door. Where the hell was Taryn?

I spun when a beefy hand gripped my shoulder
. Fear and anger were ruling my instincts.  The deputy had his hand on my shoulder, and a look of arrogance painted on his face with pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows. I didn’t care, I needed Taryn. I grabbed his hand and quickly maneuvered so that I had his arm around his back. I slammed him into the side of the truck. “Where is the girl who was driving?” I snarled through gritted teeth.

“Whoa, you want to get arrested? Get the hell off me!”
the deputy yelled. Ethan stepped to my side, gripping my bicep.

“Carter
, calm down, man,” he placated.

I realized what I was doing, and how getting arrested certainly wasn’t going to get me any answers. I released my hold on
Deputy Dick, and stepped back.

“Who are you?”
the deputy asked.

“This is my truck, my girlfriend was driving. Where is she?”
I demanded, trying to level my breath.

“I need to see some ID, there wasn’t anyone here when I got here
,” the deputy replied. His hand was poised carefully over his gun belt. Ethan pulled my wallet from my back pocket.  Another cruiser pulled up, along with an unmarked SUV, before a uniformed officer and a man in slacks and a white button-down shirt got out.

“Johnson, what have you got
?” the man in slacks asked Deputy Dick, who was handing Ethan back my ID.

“Nothing, what you’re looking at. It looks like the truck was hit from behind, but no one was in the
truck when I got here.” He looked over at me. “This guy is the boyfriend to the girl driving, and he also just assaulted me.”

The officer in slacks walked over to me and held his hand out. “Detective Mitch Hoffman, who are you?”
he asked as I shook his hand, wondering why he wasn’t saying anything about my assault. Deputy Dick was a real dickhead. 

“Carter Belmont, this is my truck. My girlfriend was driving it
,” I stated as he turned to Ethan. 

“How long has she been gone?” Mitch started questioning Ethan
. I let Ethan talk as I reached in and started picking up Taryn’s purse and putting her things back in it. I had to do something, or I was going to go insane. I was blaming myself for not going with her, for letting her pleading and smiles cloud my judgment. I needed to find her. 

I picked up the credit card and receipt to put in her purse, when I noticed “S
hell” at the top of it. Why would there be a gas receipt with her card? I saw the time stamp, still stumped, but figuring it might be important. I turned around to see Ethan and Mitch still talking while Dickhead and another officer were walking around the truck.

“Hey, it looks like she stopped for gas before heading home
,” I said, interrupting Mitch’s question. He looked to me before taking the receipt from my outstretched hand. 

“You said she was gone for
more than a half hour before you left your house?” he looked to Ethan.

“Yeah, like I said
, she was just going to the store for a few things, then coming right back,” Ethan replied.

I pulled out my phone
and brought up the text she sent me. Seeing “Luv u” made the knot in my throat come back, and I couldn’t talk. I handed my phone to Mitch, who looked questioningly at me, before looking.

“This is time stamped at 11:33, the receipt is 11:58,
and it takes, what, ten minutes from the Shell station to here?”  Mitch questioned.

“Yeah, about. Taryn
is new at driving, so it might have been a few minutes more,” Ethan answered.

Mitch looked at his watch.
“That would put her missing roughly forty minutes.” He turned and walked over to the two officers. They were talking too quietly for me to hear, but the urgency in Mitch’s movements and the speed in which he spoke had my overtaxed heart beating wildly. I had never in my life been as afraid as I was at that moment. I could only pray that we found her, and she was safe.

“This is fucking bullshit! Where the fuck is Mitch?” I yelled to no one in particular as I paced the living room floor. It had been more than two hours since Ethan and I were forcibly ordered to go home. I wanted to knock Mitch right the fuck out when he told me if I didn’t go home, he would arrest me for assaulting an officer. Fucking prick!

“Calm down
, dude, you aren’t helping. While we’re waiting, let’s think this shit out,”  Matt suggested.

“Sit down
, Carter, before you pull yourself bald and wear the carpet out.” This was from Blaine. I turned to glare at him. Ethan was outside calming down a very distraught Mel and telling Jim what we knew so far, which was almost nothing. 

“It’s been…” I looked at my watch, “almost three hours since someone crashed into, then took Taryn, and you want me to sit down? Get fucking real! We need to go look for her, I can’t just sit here and do nothing. That stupid motherfucking cop! If he doesn’t hurry up
… what is taking him so long?” I ranted.

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Ethan walked back in. He looked as haggard as I felt
. He was still in his swimming trunks, bare chested, and his hair was sticking up in every direction. 

“I sent Barlow home with Aunt Mel and Maddie
. Jim will be back over after he takes them home,” he said, and started to walk toward the living room. He hadn’t walked five feet away from the door when the bell rang.

Ethan turned and quickly answered the door
. Mitch walked in with a file and a glum look on his face.

“Where can we talk?”
he asked Ethan.

“Right here!” I snapped.
 

After Mitch sa
nk onto the loveseat, he opened the manila file folder on the coffee table.  “There are remnants of blue paint left on your truck,” he said, looking at me. “It could match the blue Tahoe that was in the video, but there isn’t a way to know for sure without having the actual vehicle to compare. I talked with Charlie at the Shell station, and he gave me the security video.  She was definitely there getting gas. Apparently, Charlie was supposed to be off today, and the newer attendant, Max, was supposed to man the pumps. The video feed showed that it was this Max who attended to Taryn, and shortly after she left the station, the video showed him walking behind the building, but never coming back.

“
When the owner called Charlie to come in, it was because the store was left open with no one there. We’ve put out an APB for any suspicious blue SUVs, and we sent out a photo of Taryn. I’m waiting for a call from the Shell owner, so I can find out more information on this Max guy. He was scheduled to work until four o’clock, so his disappearance shortly after Taryn left is very suspicious. Charlie didn’t know the guy well, and couldn’t give me much information on him, other than he had been working there for the last three weeks.”

I paced
back and forth the entire time Mitch spoke, taking in what he said. “So we have to wait for this guy to call. Why can’t you just go to his house?” I questioned, still pacing.

“Because he isn’t there
,” he replied, then sighed, exhaling deeply. “Look, I know how hard this is, but you have to let me do my job. I don’t like waiting any more than you do.” When I was about to tell Mitch he had no fucking idea of how hard this was, his phone started buzzing. He stood and took it from his pocket, walking toward the door. I followed. Fuck him if he was going to try to keep me in the dark. If this had to do with Taryn, I was going to know about it.

He rolled his eye
s when he saw me behind him, then looked behind me. Ethan, Blaine and Matt had also gotten up to follow. He turned around, sighed, and then answered the phone.

“Hoffman
,” he said into the phone. I watched, wishing it was on speaker as his eyes widened, and his forehead crinkled up into deep creases. I knew whatever he was being told was not good. I was consumed with fear and trepidation as he hung up. Needing to hear it, but afraid to, I asked, “What is it?”

“Max is Maxwell
McCarty, father to Malcolm and Maddox McCarty.” I was frozen, I couldn’t breathe. I don’t even know if my heart was working any longer. I stumbled back until someone grabbed me from behind—Ethan. He grabbed me harder and pulled me into a hug.

“
I’m going to kill the bastard,” Ethan said with vehemence.

“I have to get back so I can call the Portland PD,
” Mitch spoke quickly. “I’m going to need their help on this. The last thing we knew was Max lived in Portland and his third son, Marcus, had just moved back from California. I’m going to get someone in Portland to check out his house. I’ll keep you updated.” He rushed out the door, slamming it abruptly behind him. The sound echoed through the silent house like a shotgun.

“What the fuck? Who is Maxwell McCarty?” Matt asked
.

“He’s the father
of the men who killed my dad and tortured Taryn,” Ethan said somberly.  “My God, we have to find her before he kills her,” he whispered, more to himself than anyone else, but I was of the same mind.

“Guys, get over here
,” Blaine demanded urgently.

Ethan and I walked behind Matt until we reached the coffee table. The file that Mitch had brought in was still there, and Blaine was thumbing through the papers. 

“Ethan, I need a computer,” he said. Ethan turned and disappeared up the stairs.

“What is it?” I asked numbly
. I felt like my body was on autopilot. I kept picturing Taryn hurt and screaming out for help. I imagined how afraid she was, and how alone she must feel. I was angry with myself for letting her go alone, and the despair that I was filled with was overwhelming. I didn’t know what to do, where to go, but I had to do something before I lost my mind completely.

“It’s all about Taryn
—copies of the letters, data about Malcolm, Maddox, and Maxwell, as well as a third brother, Marcus. Maxwell’s address is listed in Portland, he owns a mechanic shop,” Blaine said as Ethan returned with a laptop. 

Blaine quickly got online, and started running his fingers over the keyboard. I looked over to Ethan, who looked completely hopeless, and on the verge of a breakdown himself. I had to pull my shit together. If I was going to be any use, I had t
o put aside my fear and anger so I could think.