Page 21 of Dad's Cop Buddy

He opens the back door and grabs me by the arm, yanking me out of the car. I stumble as he drags me to the cabin door and tosses me against the wall.

“Don’t move,” he shakes his finger in my face and pulls a set of keys from his pocket. It takes three keys to unlock the door. It opens and a foul stench creeps out into the air. He grabs my arm again and forces me inside. It’s dark and I blink, trying to adjust my eyes. I can see movement on the far side of the room but can’t make out what I’m seeing.

Sanders lights a match and uses it to ignite a small gas lamp. As the room lights up, I see a girl chained to the wall, sitting on a dirty mattress on the floor. She kind of looks like me. Our eyes meet but all I get from her is a cold, lifeless stare. He’s broken her spirit. She’s nothing more than a ghost now.

He drags me across the room and pushes me down on an older tattered sofa beside the girls’ mattress.

“Sweet Casey, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. I know that you could sense there was someone else. You know that lately, my mind often wanders. Well, you were right. This is Kendal and, sorry, but you can’t hold a candle to her. She’s the perfect girl for me. Sadly, this affair of ours is going to have to come to an end so this will be your last night here.”

“Are you going to let her go?” I ask him.

“More like, send her away,” he laughs maniacally, and I watch as the emotionless girl sheds a single tear down her dirt-covered face.

“He means that he’s going to kill me. That’s okay. I would have done it myself by now if I had a chance. Dying is better than ever feeling his hands on me again.”

“See, she’s upset. I knew she would be. It’s getting too dark to do anything with her tonight. Someone might see the lights out there, and we can’t have that. Just try to put up with her for now. Tomorrow, it will be just you and me, sweet Kendal,” he leans over me, kisses my cheek, and leaves the room to collect a set of chains for me. I struggle against him, but he manages to connect my wrists to the chains and attach the other end to a hook in the wall.

“Try to get some rest, girls. You both have exciting days ahead of you tomorrow. Oh, and Casey, don’t forget to say your prayers,” he blows out the gas lamp and leaves through the back door. Moments later, I hear his car start, and he drives away.

“Who are you?” I ask the girl.

“C-Casey Miller.”

“How long have you been here, Casey?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I know it’s been years. He’s made me blow out three birthday cakes.”

“Birthday cakes?”

“Yes. He forces me to celebrate his birthday with him, sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and blow out the candles. That sick piece of shit.” She shakes her head and laughs, “I can’t believe these words are even coming out of my mouth. I didn’t think I’d ever see another person. I wish I never met you. Now, he’s going to do this to you and nobody deserves this.”

“He isn’t going to do this to me, and he isn’t going to kill you, either. I don’t know how we’re going to stop him, but if we work together, it’s two against one. I’m Kendal, Kendal Lawson, and my boyfriend is the chief of police. If we can get away, he’ll find us and save us. I know he will.”

“It’s nice to think that somebody can save you, but you’re wrong. My mother and father loved me more than anything in the world, and I was sure they would stop at nothing to find me. I had a boyfriend, too. I thought for sure that he would team up with my parents and they would find me. After a while, hoping just led to disappointment, and I realized I was gonna spend the rest of my life in this hell. Someday, you’ll realize that, too. All you can do is hope that it doesn’t take him too long to find someone he likes better than you, so he’ll put you out of your misery sooner than he’s doing with me.”

“Casey, I’m sorry. I know you’ve been through a lot, but I promise you, Kent is going to find us. He’s going to save us both. Just hang on. He’s probably already on his way.”

I don’t want her to lose hope, but I’m saying these things for me, too. I have to say them aloud. I have to hear the words so I know that they’re true. Kent told me that I belong to him and that he’ll kill anyone who ever tries to come between us. Seeing the way he responds to other men tells me that it’s true. He’s a smart man and a good cop. He’ll find a clue, some small detail that Sanders left behind when he grabbed me. That’s all it takes, just one little mistake that will lead Kent here.

I scan the room for anything I might use to pick the lock or cut the chains, but it’s too dark to see. I begin pulling against the chains with all of my might. They won’t budge. He must have put a lot of thought into this. These chains could hold a bear.

“I tried that. I tried to pull them out of the wall. I even broke my wrist trying to pull my hand out of the cuff once. Nothing ever works. You might as well save your strength. He doesn’t feed us much so you’re going to need it,” Casey tells me.

She’s so sad and defeated. I can’t imagine what he’s done to her to make her this way, and I don’t want to know. There’s a window behind my head covered by a dark wool blanket. I lift the corner of the grimy cloth and fold it back. That way, if anyone comes looking for us, they’ll be able to see inside.

If I can’t free myself, I can at least try to take Casey’s mind off the threat of death that Sanders has implanted in her head. I sit down and begin asking her about herself. Her favorite color, what she was majoring in at college, where she grew up, her favorite band and movie—anything that I can think of. It takes her a while, but she eventually comes around and a tiny spark lights up in her previously empty eyes. This is the first real conversation she’s had in years. Imagine that? Years with no contact with anyone but the man who abducted her.

We talk until we hear the car return, and then Casey shrinks back into her shell. Sanders comes inside and says, “I don’t want to hear a peep out of either of you. I need to get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow.” He plops down in a dingy old recliner and closes his eyes.

As I look at him, I think how much I can’t wait for him to get what is coming to him. When Kent gets his hands on him, he’ll wish he was never born.

12

FINDING KENDAL

KENT

Half the police force is combing the area between the college campus and the area where I lost the sedan. They have orders to call me before making contact with the suspect, so I head back to the cabin just to make sure Kendal and I didn’t have our wires crossed. I pull into the driveway and see that Tom’s car is parked in front of me. What are the chances he picked her up and brought her home? I feel a sudden burst of hopeful energy and leap out of the car.

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