Trapped, p.6
TRAPPED, page 6
"AAhhnn," came Bobbie's sudden urgent moan to her right. Dawn spun to look at her friend. "AAhhnn, vvvv otttt nnn iiieeaa," Bobbie mumbled at her, her eyes now wide with excitement.
Uhhh?" Dawn frowned, confused.
"Llllpp mmmm ttttt ttzzzz zztblt fffff," Bobbie jerked her head downwards.
"Uhhh!?"
"II zzddd, lllpp mmmm ttttt ttzzz zztblt fffff!" Bobbie enunciated as well as her gag would allow, frustration on her face now that Dawn couldn't understand her.
"Uhhh!?"
"AAhhnn, zzzeeezz sssskknn oooo oooo kkkk rrrrr zzztblt fffff!" Jackie leaned forward and shouted through her own gag at Dawn, apparently having somehow figured out Bobbie's words. Dawn sighed in frustration, wishing the three of them had been able to get the trio of oversized white cloths off their mouths during the last twelve hours so they'd be able to have an intelligent conversation. And why had their kidnappers even bothered to gag them when clearly no one was around to hear them...?
Then she noticed where both Bobbie and Jackie were jerking with their heads: the buckle to Bobbie's seatbelt, which was holding her to the passenger seat. It wasn't too far away from where Dawn was seated. It all fell into place for her: if she could undo it, Bobbie could get up and do whatever she had in mind to do that could help them. "KKKKK, IIII ggtttt tttt Obbbeeee, Akkkeeee," she mumbled at them, nodding, "Olld tllll, Obbeeee."
Bobbie nodded and stiffened up. Taking a deep breath, Dawn jerked to the right. Buckled firmly to her seat, she didn't have as much leeway as she would have preferred, but another sharp twist maneuvered her legs further sideways, within kicking reach of Bobbie's seatbelt buckle. Steeling herself, she swung a kick at it-and instead accidentally kicked Bobbie in the thigh, making the brunette cry out in pain. "Rrrrreeee, rrrrrreeee," she mumbled an apology to her friend. Her next kick came closer to the buckle, but it was still out of her reach. Dawn twisted further sideways in her seat, almost to the threshold that her own seatbelt would allow. The next kick clanged off the edge of the buckle, very close to the release button. "Lttll kllzzrr, lttll klzzzrr," Jackie mumbled out encouragement, leaning as far forward as her bonds would allow with excitement in her eyes now. Dawn could feel some excitement as well. She readied for another kick...
...and suddenly heard the familiar crunching of footsteps coming closer nearby. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the ranger and another man approaching. Their captors were back to check on them again, she realized. "Rrrrrrr kmmmmnnn bkkkkkkk, rrrrrrrr kmmmmmmnnn bkkkkkkkk!" Dawn shouted a muffled warning to her friends. She quickly swung herself back into a forward-facing position and stared straight ahead, trying to make her expression look neutral and innocent. The footsteps came to a stop right next to the window. Dawn squinted her eyes shut as the flashlight beam shone right in her face again, likely, since the sun was now up, to check on Jackie, who was now rocking back and forth in the back of the van and screaming into her gag loudly, trying to make herself looked panicked. "That one sure doesn't know when to give up," the new man mumbled outside.
"Let her; she's just exhausting her energy," the ranger declared, flicking off the flashlight. "Scared, Miss Gregory?" he leaned towards the window and taunted the struggling Jackie, "You should be scared, Jacqueline; you won't have it easy forever. None of you three will," he turned slightly to address all of his prisoners, "And you're never going to see your homes and families again, so you know. For now, though, ladies, get comfy in there; you have some time until Christina's family gives us the money we asked them for. By now, I'm sure you girls realize you can't get your ropes and gags off no matter how hard you try, so just accept that you'll be wearing them until further notice, if not permanently," he snickered contemptuously at his hostages, "Maybe we'll ask your folks for some money too once Christina's family pays up for her-certainly you're all pretty enough for it. Well, we'll be back again soon, so don't go anywhere, girls-and remember, we'll hurt Christina bad if you try to escape at all."
He saluted his prisoners contemptuously, then turned and walked with his partner out of sight. Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, glad the men were apparently so confident the three of them couldn't get loose that they weren't going to check their prisoners' bonds directly from here on. Perhaps it was better that she hadn't gotten Bobbie's seatbelt unbuckled right away; if they'd found her loose, Bobbie, and, perhaps, all three of them, might have suffered serious consequences. Still, the sooner they were free, the better.
She waited until the men vanished from sight in the rearview mirror before shifting her body back around again towards Bobbie and her seatbelt buckle. Time was starting to be of the essence now, so the sooner they were able to implement whatever plan Bobbie had, the better. It seemed imminently clear from their kidnappers' words that Christy's life was even now in the gravest danger...
*
Christy had by now lost all her self-control. Sobbing loudly and shrieking at the top of her lungs into her gag in utter terror, she threw herself wildly against her bonds in a blind panic. Her chair jerked all over the floor in all directions, somehow still staying under the sheet covering her and briefly becoming airborne from the force of her struggles every few feet. Christy no longer cared; she was too overcome with terror to care. Her muscles burned and ached from the supreme effort, which did not so far seem to be loosening her ropes in the slightest, and her throat was now utterly sore from her continued screaming into her gag, but she forced herself to keep going; she simply had to if she wanted to live...
She abruptly threw herself a little too hard to the right, and the chair jumped off the ground again and kept going. Christy quickly tried to lean backwards, but it was too late; the chair tipped over and landed very hard on its side on the floor. Christy cried out in agony as she landed hard on her shoulder, which now felt like it had been dislocated. She gritted her teeth hard into the wad of cloth stuffed into her mouth behind the gag, trying to fight back the pain. This was all she needed, another injury to go with her sprained ankle and slash wounds. Part of her wouldn't have minded dying at the moment if that meant ending the terrible pain just coursing through her whole body...
On the plus side, though, the fall had dislodged the headphone from her right ear, and sounds could be heard again. Christy jerked her head against the floor until the headphones slipped completely off. Relieved to no longer be deaf, she listened for any clues to her location. Only the sound of the wind rustling through the trees could be heard, though, so Christy was still at a loss as to where she was. So the next step, she knew, was to get out from under the sheet, which still lay partially crumpled over her, and get her blindfold off; if she couldn't get loose, she at least wanted her sight back along with her hearing. Slowly, so as not to further injure her shoulder, Christy tried to roll her chair backwards and out from under the rest of the sheet...
...when sharp footsteps could be heard stomping towards her location from outside. A key could be heard turning in a padlock, and the wooden door creaked open. "Ah, been busy lately have we?" Leo told her coldly, "Well Christina, I thought we had an agreement you wouldn't act up on us? So, that means I've got to teach you a little lesson about misbehaving."
"No, please, don't, don't do anything!" Christy begged him mentally. Her prayers went unheeded; while the sheet was pulled completely off of her, her chair was roughly pulled back upright, and a barrage of slaps and blows delivered to her face, followed by her hair being pulled hard backwards. "MMMMM, MMMM MMMMM, MMMMMFFFF, MMMM MMMMFFF MMMMMMM, MMMMMMMFFFF!" she screamed muffledly for him to stop. Leo's hands closed on her throat instead. She gasped frantically for air as he tightened his grip, her head beginning to spin. "Please, God," she begged the Almighty in her mind for any assistance at all, "don't let it end for me like this, please...!"
"You can't take this!?" he barked at her, nonetheless releasing his grip after she'd started whimpering in terror, "You're a real coward, you know that, Christina, just a weak little coward. Maybe I should just set off this dynamite now and put you out of your misery..."
"MMMMM, MMMFFFF, MMMMMMMM!" Christy screeched fearfully into her gag, trying frantically to jerk her chair backwards away from him. Her heart caught in her throat as she heard ominous beeping sounds rise up on her chest and legs; the explosives had come to life. "MMMMM, MMMMM, MMMMFFF MMMMFFF MMMMMMMM!" she pleaded hysterically for her life.
"They're armed now," he taunted her, hovering right over her, "All it would take is one click of this button here, and you'd be instantly blown apart. I really should just blow you up right now, Christina, for being a pain and a coward all in one. Is that really what you want?"
"MMMMMM, MMMMMM!" she shook her head wildly, whimpering in terror.
"No? I didn't think so. But are you going to behave and sit still from now on, Christina?" he pulled her hair back again, "If you don't sit perfectly still from now on, I'll set the dynamite off. This IS your last and only warning, Christina. So promise you'll be a good girl and won't move a single muscle from this moment forward?"
"MMMMMMMMMMMM!" Christy nodded sharply with a low whimper; anything to make him stop hurting her.
"OK, you'll live...for now," he told her, releasing her hair, "But just to be sure, I'm leaving the dynamite armed on you, so you have extra incentive to behave yourself from here on. And besides," she sensed him leaning close to her ear, where he whispered, "Confidentially, you're going to die anyway, Christina. We're going to blow you up after your parents pay your ransom; no point leaving you behind as a witness, even though we're leaving the country. So enjoy the moment; you have about a half hour left to live at most."
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" a scream of carnal terror that was nonetheless heavily muffled by her gag to barely audible levels escaped Christy. One final slap, harsher than those before, crossed her face, stinging hard. Numb with utter terror, Christy started whimpering sadly as the headphones were pushed back over her ears, once again reducing the world around her to total silence, and the sheet was pulled completely back over her. So it was final now, she realized with terrible fear, she was going to be blown up in no more than thirty minutes-and they had planned to kill her anyway even if her parents had paid the ransom in full! She slumped forward and once again began crying like there was no tomorrow, all while quivering fearfully in her chair. She wanted to be brave, she'd fought hard to stay brave and optimistic all through her ordeal so far, but there was no way to be brave with death about to descend on her, and no way she could be saved from it. She knew it was only a matter of time now before, without warning, the dynamite would go off, and her life would be completely snuffed out at only fifteen, with no chance of preventing it...no chance at all...
CHAPTER NINE
"Team B, report in," buzzed the FBI scanner that had been set up and activated on the main desk inside the ranger's office
"Team B signing on, another unit's spokesman responded, "No sign of missing girls at all, no clues to their whereabouts. Moving in to take up search in Section Four."
"Roger that, execute move to Section Four," the first agent concurred before signing off with a burst of static. Over in the corner with the Bryants, Jonathan stared glumly out the window, not feeling much warmed by the sun shining in. Every minute that went by increased the chance ever so slightly that Christy might already be dead...
The ranger station door swung open. "Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Bryant," another agent greeted them, looking somewhat relieved as he came inside, "I just want you to know, we may have a lead on who might have abducted your daughter."
"You do?" Mr. Bryant leaned completely upright, "Who, then!?"
"We have a pair of suspects known to have operated around this area: Vinnie Corlack and Harvey White. They escaped from Cederquist Maximum Security Prisoner a few days ago, where they were serving life terms for first degree murder, kidnapping, and assault and battery."
"Ouch," Mr. Bryant grimaced hard at the thought of such men holding his daughter hostage, "And you're sure they may have come this way?"
"It's a reasonable theory given much of their crimes took place within a twenty mile radius of this park; we never found their hideout, but we think it may have been deep in the woods around here. They often worked with a third suspect, one Leo Gravelson, whom we never caught; some of us suspect they might have been going to meet up with him after they escaped."
"Only it looks like Christy somehow got in their way, if it is them," Mrs. Bryant shook her head, fear choking her entire face, "The people these men kidnapped, did they...were they returned safely?"
"I'm sorry to say not," the agent shook his own head sadly in turn, "A banker they grabbed to use as a pawn to steal from his bank was never found; the son of a judge that prosecuted White early in his career was found in a ditch without a head. So your daughter's life could be in serious, serious danger if these are indeed the men who kidnapped her, Mrs. Bryant."
Both Bryants lowered their heads in fear and despair. "Well, anyway, we're just about done getting the ransom money together, so if you two can come along with us, we'll put the finishing touches on it," the agent said quickly, trying to sound upbeat.
"And you're sure this is going to work?" Mr. Bryant sounded hesitant.
The tracking device is waterproof and tamper-proof, and we've hidden it where they won't find it," the agent assured him.
"I hope you're right," Mr. Bryant told him firmly, "We just want Christy back, alive and unharmed. Let's go, dear." He turned back before he left the ranger station. "Thank you for being here, Jonathan; you helped make this a little more bearable for us," he told the boy in parting.
"Glad to have helped, sir," Jonathan stared out the window, watching the Bryants get into the agent's car and drive off. He then glanced back up at the mountain. The description of Christy's likely kidnappers chilled his spine; they sounded like the worst kind of men. And that opened the chilling possibility Christy might not survive to the drop-off point...
Deep down in his heart, he made the decision: he'd help the authorities find her before it was too late-albeit without them knowing it. And, he thought to himself as he bustled out the door, he knew a few off-trail shortcuts the authorities might not have tried yet that might lead to Christy...
*
"This time I'll get it," Dawn thought hard mentally, steeling her legs for another kick at the buckle to Bobbie's seatbelt. She'd had to twist so far to the right in her seat by now that her own seatbelt was starting to hurt her ribs, but it had paid off: her last few kicks had clanked off the edge of Bobbie's seatbelt's release button (although Bobbie had unintentionally taken a few more kicks in the process). The next one would probably do it if it were spot-on...
"Concentrate," she told herself firmly, "It's all you, Kersey, you can do this, and..."
She swung a hard kick that connected dead center with the release button. With a loud click, Bobbie's seatbelt popped free, prompting both Bobbie and Jackie to cry out in delight. Dawn nodded in satisfaction; she'd done her job well in the end.
She watched as Bobbie now started jerking her body hard to the right repeatedly. This in turn started flinging her seatbelt back around the passenger seat. Bobbie continued her jerking until the seatbelt had completely unwound itself from around her body and settled back into its usual off position against the side of the van. Bobbie shakily stood up on her bound feet and glanced out the passenger window. Nodding in satisfaction, she stumbled over towards Dawn, wobbling in the process and tumbling into her friend's lap. "Wttt rrrrrr oooooo oooonnn, Obbbbeeeee?" Dawn mumbled through her gag, grimacing a little as her friend climbed halfway over her to peer out the driver's side window.
"Chhsst chhkknnn ttttttt mmmmm kkkkkkssstt zzzzzz kllrrrrrrr, Aaaaahn," Bobbie mumbled back through her own gag at the blonde. Nodding in satisfaction again upon noting that no one was visible outside, she turned back to Dawn and enunciated, "Olllltt tttttttt, Aaaaahn; IIIIII vvvvvv ttttttt gggtttt zzzzz gggggggg ffffffff ffffrrrr nnnneeeenngggg llllzzzz."
"Uuhhh!?" Dawn frowned, still unable to understand a word Bobbie was saying. She watched intently, though, as the brunette dropped to her knees and crawled across the floor towards the passenger side door. Once she reached it, she began maneuvering her head around, trying to get the edge of the window crank underneath her gag, Dawn noted. Minutes passed by agonizingly as Bobbie angled around for the best position, her cap tumbling off her head in the process. Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, she succeeded in hooking the crank underneath the bottom of her gag. Bobbie took a deep breath, then jerked backwards and tilted her head back as far as it would go. With a low swishing sound, the cloth stretched away from her lips, and then slipped down under her chin. Bobbie let out a loud gasp of delight. "Oh thank God, finally, rid of that horrible thing," she breathed happily, her voice a weak croak from screaming into the gag all night long, "OK, now for these ropes..."
She turned her back to the door and grasped hold of the window crank. Dawn watched her friend start rolling the window down. When Bobbie had it about halfway lowered, she climbed up onto the passenger seat, rolled onto her back, and kicked hard at the window, which shattered loudly. Her face now flush with excitement, Bobbie squirmed over to the window and started rubbing the ropes binding her hands over the jagged glass. Dawn's spirits soared; it looked like they were finally about to get out of this mess. "Hurry, Bobbie, hurry, before they come back and check on us again!" she mentally urged her friend on.
