Page 20 of Dad's Cop Buddy

I step back out into the dying sunlight and reach for my radio. I need to call the cavalry in on this one. I lift the radio to my lips, and as I’m about to press the talk button, I hear the loud hum of an older sedan. It’s the same noise that came from Sanders’ clunker the night that I saw him at the cabin. I look up and see the dirty silver sedan roll by. I rush to my SUV and jump inside.

The engine roars and I peel out onto the road just a few minutes behind him. This time, he’s mine, and if he has Kendal, he may not make it out alive.

I reach for the radio and call for backup, giving a description of the vehicle and the direction we’re traveling. I’ll put every officer on the force on this. My girl is coming home with me, and he’ll never hurt another soul again.

11

TAKEN

KENDAL

“You’re not gonna get away with this you know,” I cry out from the backseat.

“I did the last time. Why should this time be any different?” Sanders chuckles.

“Last time? You mean…you’ve done this before?”

“Yeah, but don’t be jealous, baby. You’re a much better prize than she was. In fact, you’re gonna take her place.”

“Take her place? What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t need her anymore. She’s just a cheap knockoff. You’re the real thing. Now that I have you, I can get rid of her.”

“Do you mean you’re going to hurt someone? A girl you took?”

“More like put her out of her misery. She never really came around to me. She’ll be better off this way.”

“Oh, my God,” I whisper and begin to sob. He’s crazy. I pull at the cords that he used to tie my hands, but the more I tug, the tighter they get. I don’t know how, but I know I have to get away from him fast. If he’s willing to kill this other girl, he’ll probably kill me, too.

“Why are you doing this?” I sob as my mind races. I need to find a way to distract him or at least make him lower his guard a little.

“Because I need you to see that we belong together. Once we spend some time alone, just the two of us, you’ll understand. You’re meant for me.”

“But then, why didn’t you ever ask me out on a date so I could get to know you?”

“You wouldn’t have gone out with me. You think you’re better than me. The first thing that I have to do is break down that ego of yours. After that, you’ll see the truth.”

“That’s crazy. I don’t think that I’m better than you.”

“Shut up! I know what you think. You think you’re special because you’re beautiful. You think you can have any man you want. You just don’t understand that those men, the police chief, are just using you. You don’t know what it’s like to be loved. I’m gonna show you. Just wait.”

“If you loved me, you would let me go. You would let that other girl go, too.”

“See, I told you. You don’t know what love is,” he stares at me in the mirror and shakes his head.

He’s the same man I’ve seen on campus a thousand times, but there’s something different in his eyes. There’s something sinister, an evil I’ve never encountered before. Maybe he’s on drugs or, worse, maybe he’s off them. Could he have stopped taking psych medication and this is what he’s like without them?

“Let me go, Timothy. If you do, I won’t tell anyone about this. I swear. Then maybe you and I can become friends. That’s the best way to get to know someone. You start out as friends.”

“I told you to shut up. If you don’t stop talking, I might have to do something to you. I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will.”

I sink into the seat and begin to cry uncontrollably. Is this how it ends for me? For the first time, I felt like I’d started really living, and now, in a split second, Timothy Sanders has taken it all away from me. I know Kent would cross oceans to save me, but he doesn’t know where Sanders has been hiding out. How will he find me? I don’t want to give up, but right now, I feel pretty defenseless.

We pull off the main road onto a gravel path, spewing dust up into the air. The area is so overgrown that tree branches smack against the car and sound like nails on a chalkboard. If this is where he’s been hiding, it’s no surprise no one has found him. I’ve driven this road forever, and I don’t remember noticing a turn-off here.

After a long, bumpy ascent, we reach the top of a hill. A tattered, old cabin sits among the trees. There’s no sign that anyone lives here. There are no cars, no lights, and the grass hasn’t been cut all year. Sanders pulls the car around behind the cabin and kills the engine.

“You’re about to meet the girl you’ll be replacing. I know this is awkward for you but don’t feel bad. Like I said, it just never clicked between her and me. Trust me, she’ll be happier without me.”

---