Chapter 30

“Time to wake up, Candy Girl.”

The singsong voice came from far away. She fought to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy. Her head pounded like a drill was spiking through her brain. She tried to swallow, but her tongue was too thick, her mouth dry, as if stuffed with cotton.

A blast of icy water drenched her face and body, knocking her head back. Her skull struck something hard and unforgiving. She screamed, her eyes flew open, and she blinked at the blaze of blinding light. Water filled her mouth, gagging her…impossible to breathe…drowning…

As suddenly as the deluge began, the glacial spray stopped.

“Do I have your attention now, Candy Girl?”

She spit out a mouthful of water and sucked air into her burning lungs. Water streamed off her hair and dripped down her cheeks, puddling on the cement floor. She struggled to focus, but a nimbus surrounded the single blazing light, and everything was a colorful blur. The pounding in her head intensified, and she feared her skull would split open.

Another blast of freezing water slammed her, cold water flooding her mouth and nose. She spluttered and strained to block the torrent, but she couldn’t move her arms. They were locked behind her back.

Again, the punishing rush of water ceased, and she struggled to her knees. Shivers wracked her body, and her teeth chattered. She squinted into the blinding halo of light. Blurred shapes turned into objects, and she gasped.

A tall, muscular man, with coarse, shoulder-length dark hair and a thick black beard stood over her, grinning, exposing startling white teeth.

Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest, and she mewed in terror as she struggled to escape, but she couldn’t move her leg. She blinked away dripping water. What the hell? She blinked again. A metal band encased her right ankle above her sodden cotton sock. A chain led from the restraint to a rivet embedded in a cement wall. She tugged and jerked, but the shackle held firm.

She was chained to a wall, and the man who’d attacked her on campus, the same man she’d seen in the forest all those months ago, the man who’d watched her from his truck in the mall parking lot, was standing over her.

This was a nightmare, another of the frightening dreams that plagued her almost every night. She was at home, asleep in her bed, safe and sound. If she woke up and opened her eyes, she’d see that none of what was happening was real.

Cruel male laughter filled the small room, echoing off the rough, cement walls. “Good. You’re finally awake, Candy Girl.” His terrifying grin widened, and he rubbed his hands together. “I’ve been waiting.”

Her throat closed tight, and she had to force out the words. “How do you know my name? What do you want with me?”

“All in good time, Candy Girl. All in good time.” He twisted a tap on the wall, and the water pouring from a short, green plastic garden hose stopped. “First, we need to establish a few house rules so we can be friends.”

“Who are you?”

He chuckled. “I thought a smart girl like you would’ve figured that out. I mean, you’re a college professor, aren’t you, Doctor Cooper?” He dragged a rusted metal chair across the floor and settled onto the dented seat, his knees spread wide, his broad hands resting on his muscular thighs. A deep cut puckered the skin on his left arm. The cut was red and puffy and inflamed.

A vague memory of grabbing a knife from the drawer and stabbing him rose before her. Was that real? Had she wounded him? She couldn’t remember. Her hands were bound behind her back, and when she fought to free her arms, the strapping dug into the skin on her wrists. The heavy chain attached to her ankle rattled as she kicked and flailed, hoping to break free, but her efforts were futile. She sank onto the floor, chest heaving. “You kidnapped me. You drugged me, didn’t you? You injected me with examine just like you did before.”

“Sorry about that, but—” He shrugged. “—how else did you expect me to get you out of your house? You’re a real spitfire.” He pressed his hand over the wound on his arm and winced. “I had to do what I had to do.” His smirk grew. “That ketamine’s great stuff. One little prick and you’re out cold. I saw it used once on a black bear.” He chuckled. “The zookeepers wanted his knackers cut off.” He made a sad, pouty face. “Poor beast didn’t know what hit him.”

“You’re a veterinarian?” Fear turned her body to ice. The police had theorized that Isaiah was a vet, but they’d also suspected the abductor was a long-haul trucker, or a travelling salesman. But this man couldn’t be the same monster who took Charlene and the other girls. He was too young to be Isaiah. “Who are you?” She bit back a moan. The pounding in her head was so fierce her thoughts were foggy.

“I’m not a vet. Just an animal lover.” He smoothed his hands over his thighs, raising a small cloud of what looked like dog hairs. “You can call me Abraham.”

“What do you want with me?”

“I’ll leave you to figure that out, Candy Girl. It’ll give you something to do.” He grinned and rose to his feet. “We’ll chat later once the examine has worn off.”

“Where’s Mary? She was there, wasn’t she? She was at my house with you.” Her heart skipped a beat. Her memories of what happened were vague and disjointed, but Mary Jorgenson, one of her first-year students, was somehow involved in this nightmare. She was certain of that.

He rubbed his hands on his camouflage-patterned pants and smirked like he had a big secret. “Our little Mary served her purpose.”

“What have you done with her?” Horror seeped through her confusion, and it was all she could do to breathe. “Did you hurt her?”

“Let’s just say, Mary outlived her usefulness.” His thick lips curled in a smile.

He’d killed Mary! An icy chill settled over her. He was a murderer, a cold-blooded killer.

“Let’s get back to business. If you do exactly what I say, we’ll get along just fine. If not?” He shrugged, making it clear she wouldn’t like the consequences of disobeying him.

His arrogance pierced her brain fog and lit a fire inside of her. She opened her mouth to tell him to go to hell.

He held up his hand stopping her. “That’s another rule. Don’t speak unless I give you permission. Don’t even bat an eyelash.” His brow furrowed and he scowled. Deep lines carved on either side of his wide mouth.

“If you’re a good girl, I’ll release your hands, and you can feed yourself…if I decide to give you food, that is. I might even let you use the bathroom…if you’re really good.” He crossed his arms over his massive chest. “You see, Candy Girl, you’re mine. All mine. No one knows you’re here. No one will ever find you. The sooner you accept your fate, the better.”

His words pelted her like a deadly hail of bullets, striking her dumb, but she wasn’t defeated. Not yet, not by a long shot. She gathered a pool of saliva in her mouth and spit. The gob landed on the scuffed toe of his black, leather combat boot.

He reeled back, his dark eyes glaring. “What the hell?”

“I won’t—” Her tongue didn’t work right. “I won’t do what… you… say.” Each word was an affirmation. She refused to be a victim. No. Damn. Way. And she sure as hell wouldn’t follow his rules.

He smoothed his fingers over his bushy, dark beard. When he removed his hand, he was grinning. “I followed you for months, you know, watched you when you were in your house, at work, out running on the trails and shopping. At first, I wasn’t sure you were worth the effort. Not until the other night when you told me off on the phone.”

“Wha-what are you talking about?” But then she got it. “You’re the one who’s been calling me!”

“Guilty.” He smiled like a proud father whose child had arrived at the correct answer. “I hoped you’d be feisty.” He cackled, the cruel sound filling the small, dank room. Striding toward a dented metal door, he wrenched it open. “You be good now. Don’t go anywhere.” He laughed louder at his joke and stepped through the opening. The door slammed shut behind him with a bang, followed by the metallic thunk of a bolt sliding into place.

She huddled on the floor, knees drawn to her chest, sobs clogging her throat, tears flooding her eyes. The examine lingering in her blood took over, and she closed her eyes and gave in to the pressing darkness.

****

She jolted awake, and a moan of agony ripped from her mouth as a muscle in her right thigh spasmed in an agonizing knot. Stretching her leg, fighting to ease the unrelenting pain, she bit back another groan. As the cramp eased, she lay on the cold, wet floor panting. For the first time, she took in her surroundings.

A single light bulb, lit by what looked to be a hundred watts of power, hung from a twisted, colored wire attached to the water-stained ceiling, illuminating the small, windowless room. The cement walls were patterned with mold stains and long zigzagging cracks. Warped wooden shelves lined the walls. A thin stream of dirty water trickled from the nozzle of an old plastic hose into a rusted drain in the center of the cement floor. A foul stench of decay permeated the tiny room. The only way in or out was a battered metal door She rubbed her throbbing thigh muscle and stilled. Her hands were free! Raw, red lines crusted with dried blood encircled both wrists, but she could move her arms. Sometime while she’d slept, her captor had entered the room and undone the ties binding her hands behind her back. She shuddered at the thought of him touching her while she slept.

Her head throbbed, and her mouth was desert dry, her tongue swollen and furred, her lips cracked and bleeding. A small, plastic water bottle was set on the floor beside where she lay. She grabbed the bottle. Her hands shook as she fought with the twist-off cap. The water slid down her throat like silk, easing the tightness and clearing the cobwebs from her head. She wanted to drain the bottle dry, but she didn’t know when he’d bring more water, and so, after another sip, she replaced the cap and set the water bottle back on the floor.

A three-foot long chain attached to a metal band encased her ankle like a manacle and tethered her to the wall. The chain rattled when she jerked her leg, but the band around her ankle held tight. A large, rust-colored blotch stained the floor.

Blood? She shuddered. Had he kept someone else prisoner here? Amanda Jacobs?

The stark horror of her situation hit like a bomb, and she collapsed onto the unforgiving floor. Her stomach spasmed, and she heaved. She managed to roll onto her side before hot, acrid bile spewed out of her mouth and splashed the floor. The sour stench of vomit added to the room’s revolting miasma. Spent, she lay back and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Tears thickened her throat, and she gave in to despair.

Once again, bone-deep exhaustion took over, and she slept.