Page 116 of Silent Betrayal

He nods, turning his eyes back to his screen as one of the techs speaks up. “I’ve got a cabin in his name, in Rampford, Wyoming.”

“Shit, that’s the next state over, it’s hours away,” Jasper says as we all exchange looks.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Tucker says, jumping up and heading for the door.

Ben grabs the address and we follow Tucker out the door as one of the techs yells, “wait! We need to tell the chief, he’ll want to send officers in first!”

I turn to face him and continue walking backwards as I reply. “It’ll take him time to get a team together, we’re not waiting. Tell him to call me!”

I spin around and jog after my brothers, who are already exiting the station. We pile into the SUV silently, as hope and fear battle within us. We finally have somewhere to go. But the unspoken fear has us all afraid to speak what we fear most.

What if she’s not there? Or worse, what if it’s too late?

Chapter fifty-three

I’ve been here for over two days, and I’ve come to realize three things. The chain around my ankle is long enough for me to move around most of the cabin, except for the bedroom Paul sleeps in. I try not to think of him as my dad anymore, even if he is my biological father. Having to call him daddy to his face was bad enough.

The second thing I’ve realized is that my dad is completely insane. His anger flares when I don’t do or say something he likes. I’m doing my best to play along and that seems to keep him calm most of the time, but it’s hard to know what will set him off.

The third thing is that there is no way for my guys to find me here. We really do seem to be in the middle of the woods, from what I can see out the windows, and I know I’m not carrying anything they can track me with anymore. There is no doubt they are doing everything they can to find me. I promised Atlas I would always fight as hard as I can to survive, and in this case, I believe that means finding my own way to escape. And I have a plan.

I lay in bed, staring through my open door into the cabin. When the light under Paul’s door goes out, I start to count. It takes forever, but when I reach five thousand, I slowly sit up, trying to avoid the clanking of the chains. I count to a hundred and when I hear no movement comingfrom Paul’s room, I slowly make my way off the bed and out my door, manipulating the chain as I go to make as little noise as possible.

It takes me FOREVER, but finally I make it out to the living room, in front of the fireplace.

I’ve thought about this part of the plan the most. I had considered setting something on fire and throwing it in front of his door, hoping to kill him, but I’d be stuck here, too. What I needed to do was start a fire somewhere where he had a chance to wake up and unhook me. But if I didn’t do it right, he might just put the fire out and leave me chained.

I needed to plan it just right to give us myself the best chance of being released. The trouble was, if I spread the fire to the right of the fireplace, it might block the front door. If I spread it to the left, that was where the shared wall to my bedroom was, and I could end up trapped and I’m not convinced Paul will jump through flames to save me.

I take a couple deep breaths, grab a pillow from the couch and hold the corner in the fire. It catches fire in seconds and I try not to panic. I toss it back on the couch then slowly move back towards my room.

I can’t call him too soon, or else he’ll be able to put it out too easily.

It takes longer than I expect for the couch to catch, but soon after that, the whole thing is on fire. I just need to make sure it starts to spread beyond the couch before I set the next part of my plan into action. I finally make it to my bedroom door just as a few pieces of flaming fabric drop to the rug below. It instantly catches a flame and the fire blazes.

“DAD!” I scream at the top of my lungs at the same time I drop my chains so he doesn’t see me holding them. “DAD!” I yell again.

His bedroom door flies open and his wide eyes take in the scene. He seems frozen, so I yell again, “Help me!” I point to my shackled ankle as hishead turns my way.

I’m not sure if it’s the fear in my eyes that sets him into motion, or the fire itself, but he runs towards me. “I got you, honey. Everything’s going to be okay.”

He drops down to a knee at my feet and pulls a key from his pocket, quickly unlocking the ankle cuff. He grabs my hand as we run for the front door, barely making it past the roaring fire that is quickly eating up the living room.

I start to cough as the smoke grows heavy.

He throws the door open and we step out into the crisp November night, taking in several deep lungfuls of fresh air. I try to pull my hand from his, but he holds it tight, leading me away from the cabin towards the tree line.

When we reach it, he stops and we turn around, watching in silence as the flames grow bigger and bigger, slowly devouring the entire cabin.

I don’t know what he’s thinking right now, but I feel a deep rush of adrenaline. The first part of my plan actually worked. Now I’m no longer chained up, I need to figure out how to get away from him.

I notice his car parked on the gravel road that leads to the cabin, but I wonder if he has the keys or if they are still in the cabin. I should have grabbed them.

If he has the keys, my best chance might be to let him take me from here and try escaping when we stop in a town.

I realize he hasn’t said anything since we got outside, so I tentatively ask, “daddy?”

“Hmm?” he asks, not taking his eyes from the fire.

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