Page 30 of Fire
With the property in Chatsworth being the only real estate he owned, it seemed to be pretty clear where to start looking for Kenzi. The Chatsworth property seemed like the most logical place Wilkerson would have taken her. It might be a mistake, but my gut told me to do this alone. If I could get to Kenzi, then the job I was supposed to do in two days didn’t need to happen. I got her into the mess, and I felt it was my responsibility to get her out of it.
I jotted down the address in Chatsworth and logged off my computer. As I was leaving the computer room, Patton came down the stairs holding a plate with two eggs, two slices of bacon, and two slices of buttered toast. Taking the bacon and placing it between the buttered toast, I removed it from the plate and took a bite. “Thanks for breakfast, but I have to go.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Patton said. “Don’t you want to see where Levi goes?”
“No need. I already know.” I pulled open the metal door and left the building before Patton asked any more questions. I couldn’t risk him offering to come with me. This was my fight, and even though Davian offered to help me find Kenzi, I had to do this alone. I just prayed that she would forgive me once I told her the truth about my past.
Before I pulled away from the warehouse, I plugged in the address. The GPS told me that it would take a good hour and a half to reach the house. It was an hour and a half I didn’t have, so I reset the GPS to use the shortest route. Even then, it only saved me fifteen minutes. Saving fifteen minutes was better than nothing, so I selected the alternate route, which put my GPS into action.
When my cell rang, I wasn’t even five miles out of the city. “Davian, I know what you are going to say, but I have to do this alone. Kenzi is my life, and I have to make sure she is safe.”
“I wasn’t going to say a word other than leave your phone on so we can track your whereabouts. The last thing I need is to lose another good man,” Davian answered.
“I will do that, but you have to promise me not to do anything until I call you.”
“Tell you what, Axe. If I don’t hear from you in three hours, I’m sending in the men.” There was no mistaking that Davian already knew where I was headed. He knew exactly how long it would take for me to reach Wilkerson’s home in the Fort Mountains.
“You got it, but I will call.”
~
When I reached Wilkerson’s home, it wasn’t at all what I expected. If his parents lived here, it couldn’t have been for long. The small cabin looked like it should have been condemned some time ago. Then again. I hadn’t seen the inside yet. Turning the engine off, I reached for my glove box and pulled out my 9mm. I stepped out of my truck and headed to the front of the cabin. The stairs leading to the front door seemed stable enough, so I took a chance and began walking up the wooden steps. Even though the cabin looked like it could collapse at any time, the porch seemed to have been recently redone. The color of the wood, although weathered, showed good condition.
As I looked around, I noticed there were no other vehicles around. There also wasn’t a garage where one could be stored. It seemed odd that Wilkerson would leave Kenzi here alone without supervision. I was beginning to think that coming here was a waste of time. But since I was here, I decided to take a look around.
Pulling open the screen door, I found that the front door was unlocked when I turned the doorknob. Something was off. Holding my gun in front of me, I wasn’t taking any chances that a surprise would be waiting for me on the other side. I slowly pushed the door open with my foot while keeping my eyes and ears open for any movement.
The inside of the cabin said something totally different than the outside. It was immaculate with new furnishings and higher-end appliances. It might have been Wilkerson’s intention to leave the outside in shambles to detour any unwanted visitors.
As I continued searching the cabin, there was no mistaking that the cabin was unoccupied. Based on the dirty dishes in the sink, someone was here, and it looked like they had company. There were two sets of dishes in the sink telling me at least two people were here. Looking down at the sink, they couldn’t have left too long ago since the contents inside the bowls were still fresh and hadn’t crusted over yet. It also appears that one of them didn’t care for what looked to be stew or beef soup.
Turning my sight away from the sink, I took in more of my surroundings and headed toward one of two closed doors just past the kitchen. When I opened the door nearest to where I stood, I found only a bathroom. I was about to walk away when I noticed the trash can. Inside was toilet paper wrapped around something tinged with what looked like blood. My heart sank to my gut. It had to be Kenzi’s blood. She was here.
I tried to focus on why I was here. I pulled myself together, left the bathroom, and headed toward the other closed door. My hands shook as I reached for the doorknob, afraid of what I would find on the other side. I held my breath and slowly turned the knob. The breath I had been holding left my lungs, thankful that the room was empty. I walked into the room and fell to the bed. As I sat on the bed, I could smell her scent. Taking hold of the pillow, I brought it to my nose and breathed in. Her perfume still lingered inside the fibers, and my heart broke a little more, knowing that I hadn’t gotten here soon enough.
I pushed from the bed and began searching the room. There wasn’t much to the room other than the bed and a nightstand. Nothing inside the room indicated that there was any kind of struggle. Despite the blood I saw in the bathroom, there was no blood in this room. Looking toward the window, I noticed something wedged in the lock. When I was closer to the window, I could see that it was a piece of wire. It was flat and might have been circular at one time. As I held it in my hand, it dawned on me that it could have been Kenzi’s. Even at this moment, I couldn’t help but smile. My sweet baby was smart enough to use the resources she had to escape.
I didn’t want to lose hope, but there was still that chance that she didn’t. Leaving the room, I headed outside to the side of the cabin to where the bedroom window was. Just as I suspected, small footprints were left in the dirt and leading away from the cabin.
The chance that I would find her got more real. Wasting no time, I followed the footprints. They led to the road leading away from the cabin. Even though I had lost her trail, I knew what Kenzi would do. If Wilkerson found her missing, he would go after her. It made sense that there was no vehicle around the cabin. If Wilkerson found her gone and went after her, Kenzi had no other choice but to get off the road and find safety in the woods. Jogging down the bank, I headed into the woods. I couldn’t tell where she got off, but knew she would stay close to the road. “Kenzi,” I yelled with no other choice. She had to be out here. “Kenzi, please, baby. Where are you?”
~23~
Kenzi
My eyes fluttered open, and if this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up. For once in the last twenty-four hours, I felt warm. Stretching my arms above my head, I started to come alive. As my vision focused, I could see I was no longer in the woods, near the river. Instead, I was lying on a pillow of softness. It was unlike anything I had felt before. Pushing to a seated position, I felt the heat of a warm fire lit in the corner of the room.Who would put a fire in a bedroom?More importantly, where the hell was I?
I flipped off the covers, my bare feet hitting the floor. The rug beneath my feet was soft and plush and felt good between my toes. As I looked down, I noticed I was no longer wearing my wet clothes, but instead, a silky nightgown with beads carefully sewn along the bust and down the slit that came up to the mid-thigh. What the heck?
As I looked around, the bedroom I was in was like a dream. The bed was big, made of cherry wood with a silk canopy. Across the room was a matching dresser and also a matching armoire. Curious, I walked over to the armoire first and opened the cabinet doors. Inside was a large flat-screen television along with a large selection of DVDs.
My head was spinning with confusion. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep next to the river.Where the heck was I, and who brought me here?As I took in more of my surroundings, I found that the room had three doors. I opened each one and found a large walk-in closet, a bathroom, and a locked door, which I assumed was the way out of the room. Confusion took hold, and the only explanation I could come up with was that Van Wilkerson or Niles Harris had found me and had brought me to this place. But even that didn’t seem possible. It would make more sense to take me back to the cabin I escaped from. Nope, this was not their doing.
Walking over to the locked door, I pleaded for help. “Hello. Is anyone there?”
I put my ear to the door and listened for any kind of response. There was nothing. I called out a little louder, but still nothing. This couldn’t be happening again. Feeling defeated and pissed at the same time, I took another look around the room to see if I could find another way out. There were no windows in the bedroom, so I decided to look in the bathroom. Again, no windows.
All I wanted to do was scream, but I had a feeling no one would hear me. My only choice was to wait for someone to open the door since there was no way to unlock it from this side of the room.
