Page 51 of Sensual Nights

"What do you need help with? Are you hurt?"

"I need you to call the police immediately. Please call the police. I was kidnapped. I just broke free. I was at Douglas Sanders’s house. He's not there, and he didn't kidnap me, but that's where they were holding me."

"Doug Sanders? He...he's just next door."

"Yes, please call the police. Please."

The old man shook his head. Stuck his wrinkled hand in his pants pocket and pulled his phone out. He dialed 911 and put the phone to his ear.

It felt like an eternity before someone answered, but she could hear the operator's voice over the speaker. "911, what's your emergency?"

"My name is Jonathan Roberts, and I have a girl here who said she was kidnapped and was being held at the Douglas Sanders residence. But she's here now inside and we have the door locked but we need someone to come out please."

As soon as she heard the operator say we have someone en route Carley could have cried. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. Tears flowed immediately. Tears of joy, fear, relief. She wasn't sure which it was, but tears, nonetheless.

And then she heard Jonathan say, "Well, I'll be damned, there's two men walking through my backyard right now."

She gasped and looked out the window. "It's them they're looking for me. Oh my god. Please get the police here now."

"Okay, will do," he said. He held the phone to his ear. He said to her, "The operator said we're supposed to go deeper in the house so that we can stay hidden.” She moved with Jonathan into his house. She was grateful not to be tied to a bed. "Here, why don't you sit at the dining room table here? I'll get you a cup of tea."

"No, I don't need anything. It's okay, I just want the police to come."

Carley was so afraid to look out the window, but she was even more afraid not to. She needed to be prepared. The man sat on a chair at the table, and she moved to the window. She stood alongside it and peered out, trying to stay as hidden as possible. Jonathan still had the 911 operator on his phone. He tapped the speaker button, and the operator said, "Mr. Roberts, are you still there with me?"

"Yes, we're here. We moved away from the back door and into the dining room."

"All right, the officers tell me they're close."

The faint sound of sirens could be heard, and Carley said, "I hear them! I hear them!" She fought back a sob and peered out the window for the two men.

Jonathan told the operator, "We can hear the sirens."

"Stay on with me, sir, until we're sure that they're there and they have found you."

"Okay." Carley continued to peer out the window. She held her hand over her stomach and that's when Jonathan gasped.

"She's got a rope tied around her hand."

Carley looked down and realized how that probably looked to him. She wasn't lying when she told them she'd been kidnapped.

A knock on the front door made Carley gasp.

Jonathan got up, "It's probably the police."

"No, don't open it," Carley yelled, but it was too late.

He opened the door. "Can I help you?"

That's when the man looked past Jonathan and right into her eyes. She was frozen for a moment, then fear took hold, and she bolted to the back door. She heard a crash, and deep in her mind, she hoped Jonathan wasn't hurt, but she knew if they caught her, she likely would be.

She swung the back door open and ran around the front of the house, trying to remember if there was another house closeby. She saw a truck coming down the road and nearly cried. Hopefully, they could get her out of here and to safety.

A sharp burning pain seared through her shoulder, and then the sound of a gun rang in her ears.

32

Mitch turned to Mason, and just before he was about to say something, his phone rang. He pulled it up and his brows rose into his hair.

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