chapter 22

None of his guys would leave the door open, so she had to be in there. He stepped through and was stunned to not find her. He crept over by the kittens and his heart seemed to stop in his chest.He dropped down to his knees and fingered the scarf he knew belonged to his wife. When he examined the drops of blood laying there in the hay, his panic was escalated. What had happened? He ran back up to the house and called the hospital. Maybe she’d injured herself and called an ambulance to pick her up.A few minutes later Mark had zero answers. It was time to call in for some help and send out a search party. His wife never strayed far without telling someone where she was. He picked up the radio and had all his men come in immediately. He then called his father, who would call his brothers.Mark organized the guys and they all took different sections of the ranch. He’d been gone for less than an hour, so she couldn’t have gotten too far. He quickly thanked God he hadn’t gotten on that jet. If he hadn’t come home sooner she could’ve been out there all night before someone noticed her missing.Mark shook his head as he realized he was most likely overreacting. She was probably down by the lake, or reading a book, not far from the house. He seemed to have an irrational fear something was wrong. He couldn’t get the blood spatters from his mind. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be nearly as panicked.After the men searched every inch of the property, they met back at the house. Mary and Scott had returned and made coffee, tea and sandwiches and set them out for everyone. “You all need to eat and keep up your energy to find Emily,” she demanded of the men. They all obeyed, even though no one had an appetite at all.Every person on the ranch had fallen in love with Emily and with her missing there was huge stress among all the hands. Mark’s family arrived while they were making a new game plan and he was relieved to have his father and brothers by his side.“I’ve called search and rescue. They are going to bring out the dogs. We’ll take them to the barn, which is the last place we suspect her being and they will track her,” Lucas said.“I don’t understand where she could’ve possibly gone,” Mark said, with his head in his hands. “It’s been hours and she never leaves without letting someone know. Trevor will be home in a few minutes and she’s always here when he walks in the front doors.”“We’ll find her, Brother. I promise you,” Alex said with conviction. He laid his hand on his brother’s arm in comfort.The three brothers continued to talk about different options, as the women made call after call, trying to see if she’d been seen anywhere.A news crew showed up and Joseph gave them a brief statement and then asked them to put her picture up. When someone disappeared, who was associated with the Anderson’s, it was front page news. Joseph hated he had to take the time away from his sons’ to give a statement, even if it was a short one.Joseph finished and then told them to please stay back from his family. He knew he wasn’t going to get them to leave completely but he could keep them away from the house.“Did they leave, Dad?” Mark asked when Joseph walked back in.“Well, you know they won’t leave completely until she’s found but they’re at the end of the drive and away from the house,” Joseph reassured his son.“We’re going to find her right, Dad?” Mark asked his father. At that moment he felt more like a child, needing his father’s comfort, than a grown man with children of his own.“I guarantee you we will find her and she’ll be okay,” Joseph promised his son. He prayed to God he could keep that promise.Emily woke up with a pounding head. She tried to lift her hand up, to feel what the pounding was and found she was unable to move her hands. She tried to sit up and couldn’t move her body at all. She began to panic and started pulling her arms and legs.She opened her eyes to view her surroundings. She was in some dingy bed, in a tiny room and her arms and legs were tied down. She started to cry as terror filled her. She couldn’t understand what was happening.“Mark,” she cried out with a pain filled voice. There was no answer. “Mark,” she yelled again louder.She heard a noise and at first felt relief, thinking Mark had found her. The door opened and a strange man walked through it. She’d never seen him before but he scared her to her very core.“You finally woke up, I was beginning to worry,” he said to her, as he leered from across the room.“Where am I and why am I tied up?” she asked the man, with a trembling lip.“You’re home,” the deranged man said. Emily didn’t know how to respond to what he’d said. She didn’t want to provoke his anger but she didn’t want him to think she wanted to stay.“I don’t understand.”“It’s really simple to understand,” the man sneered, as he moved closer to her. A shiver of disgust moved down her spine as the man leered over her.“We had a connection and then you chose that stupid rich man instead of me. You accepted my flowers, you read my love letters and you still married him. Well, you’re mine now and you won’t be leaving here,” the man said.Emily looked at him in horror. This was the person who’d been stalking her. She didn’t understand how that was possible. They’d found the pictures of her in Chris’s stuff and he’d been a convicted felon. She stared at the guy in confusion, as the reality was trying to sink in to her befuddled brain.“I really don’t understand, because I’ve never met you before,” she said to him.“We did meet. You helped me pick out some fruit at the supermarket when you were new in town and I told you I’d repay the favor,” he said. For the life of her she couldn’t remember the event.“You said that would be nice and you would see me next time. I kept coming back to the store at the same time but you never showed up, so I sent you the flowers. I watched your face as you accepted them and you were smiling. I then sent you the notes and letters. I knew you wanted to be with me but Mark wasn’t letting you leave. Then you went and married him and cheated on me so I’ve been waiting until I could get you alone,” the creepy man said.He was now sitting on the edge of the bed and Emily was beyond terrified. She was at his complete mercy, with no way to get away. Mark would never be able to find her; she didn’t even know where she was. She was so scared she was going to lose her baby due to this cruel man. She wanted to place her hand protectively over her womb but couldn’t move her arms.“I’m really bad with names, can you tell me yours again?” she asked him, hoping to stall the man until she could figure something out.“It’s Joshua remember?”“Oh yes, now I remember,” she lied to him. She still couldn’t recall him.“See we did have a connection, I knew if I got you away from that place you’d remember me,” he said as he ran his dirty hand down the side of her face.“I’m really uncomfortable Joshua, can you untie me?” she asked him, in what she hoped was a friendly voice.“Not yet,” he said and started to pace. “You could be trying to fool me. My daddy taught me women lie all the time to get what they want,” he spat at her.“Joshua I wouldn’t lie to you,” she said, hoping to gain his trust.“Just shut up,” he yelled at her and lifted his hand in the air, like he was going to hit her. Emily cringed away but luckily he never threw the punch. She lay there silently and cried. She prayed somehow Mark would find her.“I’m going to make us some dinner, like a real family and then I will take you outside to use the bathroom because tonight you’ll finally be mine,” he said, before stepping out of the room.Emily immediately began twisting against her restraints, trying to get at least one limb free. If she could get one hand out, she could undo the rest and perhaps run away. When the struggle was doing nothing but wearing her out, she finally gave up and decided to save her strength. It looked like her only shot would be when he released her to go outside. She’d been a pretty good runner when in high school, so if she could just get lose from him, she may have a shot at getting away.The biggest problem was it was already getting dark out and she had no idea what direction to run in. She didn’t care. She would run until she just couldn’t go any further and then find somewhere to hide. The darkness would at least conceal her from him too. She would wait it out until dawn if that’s what she needed to do. She wouldn’t stay there and let the man violate her.She laid there until finally the pain and exhaustion she was feeling overtook her and she drifted off into a restless sleep.Emily was awakened by dogs barking and men shouting. She felt her hopes start to grow. Maybe Mark had found her and this whole nightmare would be over with. She waited and then heard the sound of her name being called.The search team arrived at the house and Mark led the men to the barn. The dogs smelled the area and then immediately started pulling at their chains to follow her scent. Mark didn’t waste any time in following them.Lucas and Alex were right there at his side and the three of them followed the search team through the woods. Mark couldn’t figure out why she would have possibly come this way unless it was against her will.About a mile through the woods that bordered his property, the search crew leader stopped, pulling everyone in for a talk.“I see a cabin over the rise there and the dogs seem to be leading us straight to it. Now we don’t know if Emily got hurt and sought out refuge, or if she was kidnapped but with the blood and the direct path leading to this place, it looks more like a kidnapping to me,” the search leader said.“Let’s go then,” Mark said with a growl. If some beast had his wife, he was going to get her back right then and rip the man to pieces.“Mark, I know you want to immediately rush in but that’s not the smart thing to do. We need to sneak up on the property. If someone has taken your wife and he’s inside with her and knows we’re there, it will turn into a hostage situation. The best outcome for Emily is if we can catch this guy on the outside. We’re going to come at the cabin from different directions. Let’s do a radio check to make sure your ear pieces are working. No one speaks louder than a whisper,” the leader commanded.It was obvious to all involved the guy was a former military man. Mark was grateful he was the one in charge of the operation.They split up and slowly made their way towards the cabin. Mark was with his brothers and the search leader was coming in from the side. As they crept closer, Mark heard a commotion and the dogs started going crazy.“I’ve got him,” Mark heard someone yell.“Check the cabin,” another voice piped in. Mark didn’t need any more prompting than that. He sprinted the last hundred yards, calling out Emily’s name and threw open the door, not worried about his own safety.