Page 88 of Connor

44

CONNOR

This is fucking déjà vu.

Dad grips on to the door handle as I drive like a madman down the gravel road. Not unlike we were a year or so ago, racing to Marie's Place to try to save Victoria and Lacy from the horrific ordeal they endured. Seems like us Whitemans have to suffer for our women before we surrender completely to them. And I promise to God that if Daisy is alive, that’s what I will do. Fall onto my knees for her and do anything she damn well asks me to for the rest of our lives.

Dust, dirt, and stones fly up, hitting the truck. We have our security team behind us, and police cars behind them.

“Who the fuck could ever live out here?” I say, the sun starting to set, the glow of the afternoon hour making it look creepy rather than tranquil. I see nothing but shrubs, overgrowth, and forest. The large escalades we’re surrounded by barely show through the trees as they overhang onto the road, scratching down the paintwork and making us cringe.

“This is what cults do. They segregate,” Daisy’s father says.

“If he has harmed her…” I growl, knowing that if she is hurt in any way, I will lose it.

“He’s her father. A father won’t harm his daughter,” Dad says to try to placate me.

“He’s no father. She has a father, and he’s in the back of this truck,” I spit out, knowing her biological father is going to regret this act, whether he’s harmed her or not.

As I continue to drive, our GPS tells us we’re close. I know why they call it Forest Falls, because there is nothing but forest as far as the eye can see. You would think that it would be beautiful, lush, green, and welcoming. But Whispers is far more beautiful. This is almost like overgrown swamplands.

I see a small clearing up ahead, but I don’t slow down. A few people nearby look up at the approaching vehicle, shocked and startled as we barrel in. At the hum of the engine, a small flock of chickens scatters, and I slam on the brakes, putting it in park, ready to find my girl without any more waiting.

Jumping out of the car, I start looking around. The people are almost frozen solid. They are quiet, wide-eyed, like they’ve never seen anything like us before. I turn and look at my other side, and I notice a cow, the bell around its neck heavier than it should be.

“Get off my land!” a voice barks. I hear the cock of a shotgun and turn to see a man who looks to be about seventy, with long gray hair, weathered skin, and vibrant blue eyes I would know from anywhere.

“I will as soon as you give me my goddamn wife,” I grit out as I step toward him, not afraid of the gun. I didn’t mean to say wife. But that’s exactly what she’ll be the minute I get her away from this shithole. I’m going to put a ring on her finger, and I’m never letting her out of my sight again.

“Wife?” he questions, pulling his head back from the gauge of the shotgun to look at me. I’m still in my suit, having dressed for the day before I realized she was missing, and too preoccupied to bother changing.

“You have exactly five minutes before the federal police surround this place and exactly two minutes until my team shoots you in the head,” I tell him, not afraid. This wiry old man will probably have a heart attack just from pulling the trigger.

I spot my father out of the corner of my eye, looking apprehensive, like he’s about to push me out of the way and take the bullet himself.

“Raymond!” Daisy's mom comes forward, and his attention goes to her. He looks shocked briefly before his face morphs with pure anger.

“Knew you would be back eventually,” he mocks her, still not lowering his gun.

“Take me instead of Daisy.” She starts walking forward, toward him, offering herself up to this idiot.

“He’s not taking anyone,” I mumble to Dad, who has stepped up next to me, and he nods.

“Where is Daisy?!” I shout, grabbing his attention again as I step forward in front of Rainbow. I’m not a small man, and even from a distance, I know I tower over him. He looks at me and Dad, the two of us coming for him, and dare I say he only has the ability to pull the trigger once, meaning he knows he’s fucked. The rest of the people who were here are now gone, stepping back into the shadows and disappearing completely. But another man comes forward to stand beside Raymond, also with a shotgun, aimed right at us.

“Daisy!” I shout once more, needing to see her, hear her, anything that tells me she’s still alive and okay. “Daisy!”

“She can’t hear you. She’s indisposed…” the man next to Raymond says, and my jaw clenches to the point of cramping.

“You fucking asshole,” I grit out, knowing he’s done something. Rainbow screams behind me, looking unhinged herself when he only smiles instead of explaining.

“You are under arrest,” a voice over an amplifier booms as I hear cars coming in by the dozen behind us, enough to distract them, and I make a run for it.

“Connor!” my dad yells. As I tackle the old guy to the ground, a gunshot goes off. Bedlam ensues as I see Dad pounce on the other man, the rest of our security grabbing any men and women who come forward with an array of shovels and pitchforks like we’re from the fucking nineteen twenties. I wrestle the gun from his hand, the burn to my side intensifying, and grip his collar tight, cutting off his air supply.

“I’m going to fucking kill you right here, right now. Tell me where Daisy is,” I scream in his face. He doesn’t respond. He can’t, but he smiles, and it’s pure evil, like the devil himself is inside of him.

“Never.”

---