Page 57 of 1st Shock
Meg–my sweet, gentle sister who loves nature–is alone there near our family home.
With Billy Ray hunting her.
I tear past Matt and JJ, those goddamn tears threatening once more. They follow, yelling questions in my wake.
I see the van a few steps later, partially hidden from the drive in a small clearing.
I keep running, start screaming. "Meg!"
The others join in. "Meg! Meg! Meg!" Our voices echo through the trees.
The shaking resumes when I find the big boulder–her favorite spot–empty. The sketchpad lies in the dirt. Matt picks it up, brushes if off.
"He took her into the woods." I can barely breathe. "We'll find her. Wehaveto!"
Footprints. I see footprints then JJ is marching past the path, following them. He points to an area where the grass is matted down. "She fell." There's a spot of blood in the grass.
"Meg!" I scream at the top of my lungs, and then Matt is beside me.
"Is there another entrance where Billy Ray could’ve parked?" He asks. I can see the panic grabbing him now. See how he's also tamping it down, trying to think logically.
We haven't seen Billy Ray's truck or any other vehicle. I hang onto that last thread of hope. Meg might’ve fallen, sprained her ankle, bumped her head. She couldn't make it back to the house, that's all. She's probably sitting under a tree. I spin in a circle.
"The only other entrance is through these woods from the opposite side, but..."
The playhouse!I didn't even notice it when I ran down here, so intent on getting to the boulder. Maybe she went to the she-shed, as she calls it.
I run back down the path, both men trailing after me. Sure enough, I pick up footprints again, veering off the path and...
My blood turns cold.
Something was dragged through the grass toward the shed.
Not something. Someone.
JJ and Matt see it too. The three of us slip behind trees to follow the matted grass but stay out of sight of the shed.
JJ touches my arm. I look over to see him pointing to a truck behind a copse of trees. The license plates are Tennessee. We glance at each other, then Matt whistles softly to get our attention. Grey is coming down the barely-there path.
By the time he joins us, all my training kicks in. I'm cool, calm, the fire inside me burning fierce, but honed and ready. The woods around us are too quiet, but we pick up the sound of a man's voice coming from the shed.
Billy Ray.
JJ takes out his phone. "I'll have a hostage rescue team here in twenty," he murmurs.
Too long."I'm not waiting." Grey, Matt, and I are armed. I hand my weapon to JJ. "Here's what we're going to do," I tell the three of them.
Billy Ray wants me, as well as my sister, right?
Well, he's about to get me, and I pray I'm not too late.
23
Meg
My sister's screaming from outside has rattled my captor.
Not a good thing when the psychotic maniac wants to kill me. I mean, seriously, I don't need this wacko amped-up any more than he already is.
