Page 9 of Final Escape
NOT AGAIN.Carrie stilled. Held her breath. There it was—a rustle in the bushes—closer, this time. The muted crunch of pine needles. The snap of a twig.
And another.
It wasn’t the bears this time, though she might be the only person who’d ever wished it were. They tore at the garbage can lids with single-minded determination, heedless of the noise they created. But this was too quiet. Too stealthy.
And it wasn’t a wolf.
The looming threat out there was human and she’d never felt so alone.
She eased the blinds away from the window and peeked out, thankful that the apartment was darkened already, but frustrated by the dim sliver of moon that had long since slipped behind a threatening blanket of clouds.
Marie’s words from this morning ran through her mind again and again.The Bradleys had experienced a “little” trouble a year or so ago.
After class ended at noon, Carrie had taken the long trip to Trace’s ranch, and hadn’t made it back to her apartment until dusk. Logan’s pickup was gone, but Penny had just returned with her evening float trip customers and their cars were still parked next to both buildings.
She’d had to park farther away than usual, just beyond the bright pool of light beneath the security lights shining from the peak of the boathouse and the top of a single pole close to the river landing site.
It hadn’t seemed important at the time, with a noisy group of rafters chattering along the shore as they peeled off their life jackets. But now...
She drew in a sharp breath as a hunched dark form materialized out of the gloom next to her old SUV and crept from one door to the next, trying the locks.Lord—what do I do now?
She could yell and startle him...but what if he then came crashing through her apartment door? Her heart pounding, she stepped away from the window and took a slow, faltering breath, trying to still her trembling fingers and shaking knees as she punched 911 into her cell phone.
Four rings.
Five.
Six.
Why wasn’t anyone answering?
Moving back to the edge of the window with the phone at her ear, she furtively stole another look.
The stranger wasn’t by her Tahoe. He now stood a few feet away from it, something gleaming at his side. And he was staring right at her window as if he knew exactly where she was standing. As if he were taunting her.
“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”
She stood frozen, staring through the blinds as the figure melted back into the shadows.
“You have called 911,” the dispatcher said with an edge to his voice. “State your name and the emergency, please.”
“I...I think there’s someone outside. Trying to break into my SUV.”
“Your location?”
“Nine miles north of Granite Falls. Wolf Creek Rafting Company.”
“Hold on.”
She gripped her phone even tighter as several interminable seconds ticked by. The breeze had picked up, sending branches scraping against the building. The shadows beyond the reach of the security lights seemed to be shifting, coalescing.
Was that someone lurking by the boathouse? At the bumper of her SUV? Or was it just her imagination? Billy had threatened to make trouble—was it him?
From some distant place in the darkness she heard the faint sound of a distant engine roaring to life...then fade, heading toward the highway.
“Ma’am, I have an officer who should be there within twenty minutes. Are you alone?”
“Yes.”More than I’ve ever been in my life.
