Page 72 of Unexpected Danger
Now she’d have no way of yelling or even speaking. Not that anyone but Dustin, Renee, and the animals could hear her anyway. The handkerchief tasted of a blend of cooked cabbage, moldy cheese, and liver. She gagged, the contents of food eaten that morning attempting to re-emerge. A wave of heat rippled through her, and she prayed she wouldn’t hyperventilate.
Dustin left the room and closed the door behind him. The sound of crunching gravel outside drew Londyn's attention to the window. She wiggled her way toward it and attempted to prop herself up. She caught a glimpse of Brodie's service vehicle pulling into the driveway.
Londyn lost her momentum and fell back onto the floor into a pile of who knew what.
She heard a vehicle door shut, and she figured he was exiting his truck. Would Dustin try something? Londyn had to get Brodie’s attention and warn him. Brodie was a sitting duck walking along without any clue that someone bent on harming him was just on the other side of the door. Londyn attempted to lift her elbow and tap on the window, but it only produced a lackluster sound she doubted Brodie could hear. On the other side of the bedroom door, she heard Dustin tell Renee, “Just be quiet. Don't answer the door, don't say anything.”
“But I don't want to get in trouble for stealing that horse,” whispered Renee in a panicked voice.
“Like I said, just be quiet and act like no one is home.”
“Okay.”
Londyn again propped herself up and watched as Brodie briefly inspected the sedan parked in front of Renee's house. She clasped a chewed-up tennis ball between her bound hands and pounded on the window again as best as she could and bemoaned the fact that she had a gag in her mouth. Brodiethen turned and walked to the front door out of her sight. The doorbell must have failed because instead of hearing the classic “ding dong”, there was a loud knock at the door. A brief pause, then more pounding.
Brodie stepped back from the front door and again into her view. He examined the front of the house, including the window where she stood.Brodie!But it came out as a muffled grunt. He looked in her direction—or at least she thought it was in her direction, and she hammered on the glass. She held her breath. Would he see her?
She released another strangled cry and thumped on the window again.Look this way, Brodie!But instead, he pivoted in the direction of the truck.
She had to try again. Had to get Brodie’s attention. Struggling to her feet for a third time, she called to him. Instead of seeing her, Brodie climbed into his service truck and closed the door.
Londyn slid down in dejection, her back against the wall. Tears stung her eyes, and she hung her head. Rescue had been within her reach, and yet now?Lord, please rescue me. I know that You never leave us. That nothing happens without Your knowledge. Give me the strength to survive this, the wisdom to figure a way out of this, and the ability to escape.
Had God heard her? Would He help her?
So, so many times in her life she’d felt alone. Mom had better things to do than tend to her kids. A memory of her and Logan left in the car for hours while Mom visited the local bar flitted through her mind. It had been cold that day, and they’d huddled in the back pretending they lived in an igloo in the Arctic.
Mom emerged from the bar, a man on her arm. A man who became their first stepdad, the rebound from their father’s unfaithfulness.
Jesus had been with Londyn even then. Even when she’d not known Him.
He’d been with her through the other heartaches in her life. The first time Dad promised to show up for her school recital and was nowhere to be found. His deserting his family altogether. Mom’s neglect that had continued far into her teen years. The hateful words of some of the girls in junior high P.E. class about her mom’s morals. The situation with Lance. Logan’s estrangement after he and Londyn had been through so much together. The fearful times with Dustin in Rowland. The car accident, near strangulation, the episode in the clinic parking lot, and his visits to Aileen’s and Roarke and Mila’s house.
The Lord had never left her side. He never would. She was His ever since that day in youth group when she’d put her faith and trust in her Savior. Ever since she’d decided to live for Him.
Even when Londyn doubted. Even when her life was rife with trouble, even when things changed daily, Jesus remained steadfast. She couldn’t lose hope.
A mangy black and white cat climbed onto her lap, flicked its tail in her face, and Londyn sneezed, the handkerchief impeding her, as she attempted to brush the cat aside. It hopped off and toddled through a pile of garbage.
Londyn was about to struggle to her feet when she heard the doorknob turn.
Dustin entered, and Londyn scanned the crowded, junk-filled room. An idea formed in her mind. She spied an old bird cage on the desk and the pile of remaining darts for the dartboard beneath the stack of papers.
Lord, please let this work.
“The sheriff’s gone, at least,” said Dustin. “I abhor it when people try to interfere with my plans.”
Londyn’s heart sank. She’d been so close to being rescued. Would she still have a chance to escape?
No, she refused to allow this to deter her. She could still flee. She just needed to think this out.Lord, please guide me.
Chapter 19
Brodie took a call about a possible missing horse being sighted in the yard at a house owned by a Renee Corker. It wasn’t often he had to deal with horse thievery. He chuckled as he thought of how it was reminiscent of something out of the Wild West. Speaking of which, he’d plopped his cowboy hat on his head and climbed into his service truck.
The woman accused of stealing the horse lived three miles outside of town in a white home with mold in every crevice of the siding. He'd never been to this residence before, and based on what the outside looked like, he couldn't imagine the inside. Four inoperable junked vehicles cluttered the driveway, along with an older model sedan with current plates.
A rusty generator, a dilapidated cupboard, a moldy cardboard box that was dented on one side, and a stack of tires lined the front yard. A worn-out air conditioner missing a panel kicked on, and flies swarmed around ants beneath his feet and splatters of bird poop on the sidewalk leading to the porch. Someone had tossed a discarded spray can to the side, and an abundance ofweeds grew through cracks in the porch and throughout the rain gutter overhead. He's seen hoarder places like this before, but never this bad. And he wasn’t even to the front door yet. How could people even live like that? Fortunately for her, she lived outside city limits where ordinances didn’t apply.
