Hearts of Grey Page 15

  “I never said that I didn’t believe, sir,” Father Mathews told him.

  “Then never question how the Lord works. My daughter needed help. Her mother helped her. It’s just that simple. Accept it for what it is, or get a new job, sir,” Grady said as he sat back down.

  “Well, I agree with you, sir. If I didn’t believe, then yes I would be required to seek employment elsewhere, but you all have to understand just one thing. In our little church of God, we have all witnessed something truly unique. And tonight when you lay your head down to go to sleep, each and every one of us will have to decide for themselves just what they saw here today. For me, the answer is clear. And I’m sure that the news of this will travel far and wide before we meet next Sunday. There will be people asking questions that nobody can answer. So we’ll close this sermon with a prayer that asks for guidance through the coming times. Will you all please bow your heads for prayer?”

  The Abduction of Katie

  Susie wouldn’t have to wait that long for her chance at grabbing Katie. Not long at all. It was Monday night when opportunity presented itself. There she was acting just as happy as could be. At twenty years of age, Katie didn’t see anything wrong with her almost-adolescent schoolgirl skipping routine as she made her way toward Mike’s house for a nice quiet dinner with his family. After all, even if Mike and her weren’t married—at least not yet anyways—she was still being treated as a part of their family. And she kind of liked that idea, especially since that would bring her and Melissa that much closer. Not that they could really be any closer, but she would have her last name, and that just suited her just fine.

  But she wasn’t watching her back, not as Grady had warned her to. One minute she was skipping along, and then there was a sharp pain in the back of her head then darkness.

  Susie towered over Katie’s lifeless body as it laid there on the cold sidewalk. “Where’s your mommie’s spirit now, bitch?” she said as she stared down her. Glancing around to make sure that she hadn’t been seen, she lifted Katie’s ninety-pound body up on to her shoulder and carried her over to her father’s car, tossing her into the backseat like a sack of potatoes. But just to play it safe, Susie tied Katie’s arms behind her back. She also threw on a makeshift blindfold and a gag to keep her quiet.

  The dirt roads that ran through out the hills surrounding Savannah were bumpy and rough. Something Susie had failed to take into consideration when she planned Katie’s demise. But it was too late to change her plans now.

  The car slid to a stop outside of the small hole in the hillside. Maybe at one time years ago, the hole was bigger. But one good landslide years ago had reduced it to a mere portion of what it once was. Carrying her body into the cave proved too easy. Once inside, the tunnel opened up into a large room. The lanterns that she had left there, when she had scoped out the site, still burned, giving off a ghostly glow. Susie had pounded four large wooden stakes into the ground on her previous trip, and attached to each stake was a long piece of rope. Dropping Katie’s still-lifeless form in the center of the stakes was easy too. She quickly untied her arms and rolled her onto her back. She pulled her right arm up toward the first wooden stake and tied it as tight as she could to the stake. Then she did the same with left arm. When she had finished, she grabbed both of her ankles and pulled her entire body down, just to make sure that the ropes that held Katie’s arms were indeed tight. Then she pulled each leg out to meet the remaining ropes that would secure her legs to the wooden stakes. When she had finished her appointed tasks, she stood back admiring her handiwork. But something was missing. Something that would make a statement proclaiming Susie as the true victor of this fight. Suddenly, she knew what was missing. She pulled Katie’s dress up, revealing her nearly perfect white satin panties, and then she ripped the top of her dress open, exposing her ample breasts cupped in a white satin bra that matched her cute, little panties.

  Katie finally started to stir. Susie was completely quiet as she watched her little prisoner slowly discover just how much trouble she was really in. At first, Katie just moaned, then she pulled on each of her wrist then her legs. Her moans turned to screams as she thrashed about there all spread out between the stakes. The ropes held her tight. Susie was proud of her work. She didn’t say anything. But her smile said it all.

  Quietly she left her there to wonder about her upcoming appointment with fate. Susie drove away laughing.

  Mike was pacing back and forth, glancing down at his watch then at the clock. Where was she? She was supposed to be here at six. Now it was almost seven. This wasn’t like her. Not at all.

  “Son, relax. Maybe she’s just running late. The meatloaf can wait,” his mother told him.

  “You don’t understand, Mother. She’s never late,” he told her.

  “Michael, let’s get in the car and go get her. But I think you’re overacting a bit,” Melissa told him.

  “Maybe I am. I’m just worried, that’s all,” he told his sister.

  “Fine then, we’ll go get her, and everything will be fine. You’ll see, okay?” she asked.

  Melissa had to insist that she drove. Mike was getting really worked up over Katie being late. It wasn’t as if she was drastically overdue. In truth she was only an hour or so late. There were a million and one things that could have happened, but now she was thinking as Mike was—thinking the very worse things when in fact it would most likely be something silly or stupid.

  Grady was outside on the porch as Melissa pulled through the circular driveway. And while Grady might have been surprised to see Mike fly from the car, even before it came to a stop, his face took on a whole new look when he realized that Katie wasn’t with them.

  “Grady, is Katie here?” Mike asked.

  “Well, no. In fact, she went to your house almost two hours ago,” he replied.

  “Shit! She never showed up. I’ve worried sick—” Mike started to tell him, but Grady cut him off.

  “Relax, son. Getting all worked up ain’t going to make things any better. Where have you looked so far?” he asked.

  “Nowhere. We came straight here. But I didn’t see her on the road either,” he explained.

  “Okay, you and your sister can start by backtracking the road back to your house. Make sure to check the sides of the road. If, and I do mean if, she’s hurt, she might not be able to signal you. I’m going to call the sheriff’s office and report her missing. Then I’ll drive around and meet you back at your place. Okay?” he told him.

  “Okay, I’m really worried. This ain’t like her, not at all,” Mike explained.

  “I know. I taught her better. So get going. I’ll be along shortly,” he told him.

  “Okay. We’ll double-check the road. We’ll see you back at my place,” Mike told him as he climbed back into the car.

  As the car drove away, Grady got a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. And he didn’t like it.

  Susie sat across the table from four of the sickest, foulest guys that she had ever seen. Just the smell of their unwashed bodies and clothes made her stomach turn.

  “Here’s your money and the release form that I promised ya,” she told the guy from the other night as she slid the envelope across the table. As he reached for it, she pulled it back.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re supposed to do?” she asked.

  “Hell yeah! We’re going to fuck this bitch every which way. Are you sure that she’ll be thar?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah, trust me. She’ll be there all right. Just follow the map, and she’ll be there all right. And she has made one more request. No rubbers, she wants to feel you and everything that you give her. Okay?” she asked.

  “What’s a rubber? You mean like a balloon?” he asked.

  Surely nobody could be this fucking stupid, she thought to herself.

  “Yeah, a fucking balloon for your dick, stupid,” she told him.

  “Oh, one of those things. Don’t use them anyways,” he said.

  Tha
t comment gave her an even worse feeling in her stomach. She gave him the envelope. Have fun, guys. But I would suggest that you give her about two hours or so, to work herself up for this. By then, she should be ready for ya.” she told them as she got up to leave.

  “Sure, but it’s really you, ain’t it? You can tell us, come on. It’s you. I know it,” he insisted.

  “Not even in your wildest dreams or my worse nightmare,” she told them as she left the bar.

  Grady had shown up at Mike’s. There was no trace of Katie anywhere. They waited impatiently as the sheriff took down Katie’s description.

  “And you say that this just isn’t like your daughter to disappear like this?” the deputy asked.

  “Never, not in a million years,” Grady told him.

  “Does Katie have any enemies or someone that might want to hurt her?” he asked.

  Mike and Melissa both turned and looked at each other. “Susie,” both of them said at the same time.

  The two of them flew through the screen door before the officer had a chance to finish. This time, Mike drove. In record time, the car was sliding to a stop outside Susie’s house.

  “Wait a second. If Susie did do something to Katie, let’s make her think that we already know. Maybe we can trick her into leading us there,” Melissa told her brother.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Let’s go in there and tell Susie that Katie is in the hospital. And right now, she’s giving her statement to the sheriff. Let’s scare her into believing that whatever it is that she did didn’t work. If she didn’t do anything, then nothing will happen. But if she did, then I’m willing to bet ya that either she’ll run or go and double-check her work. See where I’m going with this?” she asked him.

  “Yeah, and we can follow her. You know, I’m glad that you’re going to college after all,” he told her.

  “Come on. Let’s scare the hell out of her,” she told him as she started walking up to the front door of the house.

  Melissa knocked on the front door. Mr. Barnes answered it. “Well if isn’t Melissa. Just look at how you’ve grown up. How’s college life treating ya?” he asked.

  “Just fine, Mr. Barnes. I was wondering if we could have a word with Susie. Is she home?” she asked.

  “Why, yes, as a matter of fact, she just got home. She’s upstairs in her room. Here, I’ll call her—” Melissa cut him off.

  “No, if you don’t mind, I’ll go up there. Mike, you can wait here. This is best handled as girl on girl. Okay?” she told him.

  He just looked at her with total surprise. But he knew that his kid sister was right.

  Melissa didn’t knock or anything. She just walked right in and slammed the door shut behind her. Susie wasn’t expecting to see anyone, especially Melissa.

  “What are you doing here? Get out of here before I call the sheriff!” Susie yelled at her.

  “The sheriff? You might want to reconsider that one. You see, my little twisted friend, the sheriff is at the hospital right this minute taking Katie’s statement,” she told her.

  Susie’s eyes glanced over at the clock. They couldn’t had finished already, she thought to herself.

  “A statement about what. I didn’t do anything,” she told her.

  “I never said that you did. But they found her wandering down some dark deserted road with blood on her face. And well, I thought that you might want to know about it,” she told her. The bit about the blood might have been too much, but it sounded good at the time. “And when all of the details are out, I wonder who the sheriff will be talking to, then. I hate it to be you, Susie. You went too far this time,” Melissa told her as she turned and left the room, again slamming the bedroom door behind her. Then she opened it again and stuck her head back in the room. “Gee, I wonder if that’s what a jail cell door sounds like?” she said as she slammed the door again. Without stopping for as much as a thank-you, Melissa walked through the living room, grabbing Michael by the shirt sleeve and kept on walking. As they got in the car, Michael didn’t ask. Melissa didn’t say anything until she had moved the car down the street and around the corner. From here, they could still see Susie’s house.

  “Oh, that little bitch knows something all right. She got mud, fresh mud, all over her shoes,” she told him.

  “So now we wait, right?” he asked.

  “It won’t be long. I know it,” she told him.

  Just then, someone opened the two rear doors of the car and climbed in, shutting the doors behind them. Both Mike and Melissa just about jumped out of their skins. In the rearview mirror, Melissa saw the familiar faces of Grady and the deputy.

  “Damn, Grady, you just about made me shit my pants. Don’t do that,” Mike told him.

  “Sorry, wasn’t time for talking. I’ve told the deputy here what I thought you might be doing, and well, I guess that I was right, wasn’t I?” he asked.

  “Only if we were right,” Melissa answered.

  “Do you think Susie will take the bait, miss?” the deputy asked.

  “Look for yourself.” She pointed. Susie was backing the car out of the driveway. Melissa waited for Susie to drive past them before she slowly eased the car in behind her. Not too close but close enough.

  “What about your lights? I can’t see shit,” Grady told her.

  “I grew up in this town, and I know every bump in every street. Don’t need the lights. Just as long as I can see her, I’m fine,” she answered.

  “I could write you a ticket, you know?” the deputy told her while half laughing.

  “I would let you use my pen, but I’m rather busy at the moment,” she fired back at him.

  “Where in the hell is she going?” Mike asked.

  “This takes you out behind Miller’s Pond and around the base of the hills,” the deputy told him.

  Melissa brought the car to a stop about a hundred feet short of where Susie’s car had stopped. They all watched as they saw her ducked into the cave.

  “All right, you guys, all stay here. I’ll go check it out,” the deputy told them.

  “Excuse me, Deputy, this is our party, and we’re going. Don’t even think about trying to stop us,” Melissa told him.

  “Well, I tried. ‘Didn’t think it would work, but I had to try,” he said.

  “You kids, go along. I’ll bring up the rear,” Grady told them. “I’m not too sure that I want to see what we’ll find in there.”

  Without saying so, they all agreed.

  Slowly, without as much as a twig crackling, they approached the entrance to the cave. The deputy had his gun out and ready. Just in case.

  Then Mike motioned all of them to stop as four guys walked up to the entrance of the cave.

  “Who in the hell are those guys, and where did they come from?” Melissa asked in a soft whisper.

  “Hey, it’s your party, remember?” Grady told her in an even softer whisper. Melissa threw him a dirty look over her shoulder.

  They could hear voices coming from inside the cave. Mike couldn’t wait any longer. He jumped up and ran toward the entrance to the cave.

  “Michael, oh shit!” Melissa said as she too started running after Mike.

  The deputy looked at Grady with a questionable look on his face.

  “After you, you’ve got the gun, sonny,” Grady barked.

  Mike could see Katie stretched out on the dirt floor between what looked like some poles. Her twisting and squirming told him that she was alive. Then he saw one of the guys with his pants down around his ankles. He was starting to lower himself down between Katie’s legs.

  Without thinking twice, he ran into the cave and jumped toward the guy. Michael’s boot caught him square in the man’s mouth. A shower of blood and teeth erupted from the man’s mouth as his body flew off of Katie and rolled off across the dirt floor. Another one of the guys tried to come to his friend’s aid. That soon proved to be his first mistake. His second mistake came when he put the crotch of his pants in the path of Michael�
��s foot.

  Susie tried to sneak out of the cave amidst all of the confusion, but Melissa was there to meet her. “And where in the hell do you think you’re going, bitch? You can’t leave yet. The party is just getting started,” she said as she spun around and planted her best punch to the center of Susie’s face. She never made a sound, but instead, she fell to the ground. Blood poured from her nose, and nobody cared.

  Michael just looked at the two other men as they huddled against the wall of the cave with their arms over their heads.

  “Goddamn cowards!” he said as he reached down and pulled the blindfold and the makeshift gag from Katie’s mouth. Melissa untied her ankles as Mike released her arms. He tried to cover her up the best that he could. She sunk into his arms and cried.

  “Katie, sweetheart, are you okay? Did they do anything to you?” Mike asked. “We need to know.”

  “No, but they would have if you hadn’t . . .” She sunk back into his arms again and cried some more.

  Grady came over to his daughter’s side. Mike told him to care of her. He had business to attend to.

  The deputy had everyone stretched out on the floor and was in the process of searching them when Mike walked up and pulled one of the remaining guys to his feet. In a movement that must have seemed like a blur to the guy, Mike spun him around and pounded him into the wall of the cave.

  Mike glanced over at the deputy, but he didn’t say a thing.

  Mike looked at the guy straight in the eye. “Whose idea was this?” he demanded.

  And every one of the guys yelled out in unison, “HERS!” All of them, that is, except for the one Michael had performed dental work on—he was still quiet.

  “But we wasn’t doing anything wrong,” the guy told him. Mike pounded him against the wall again.