Chapter Eighteen
Charli looked up, blinking her eyes furiously to try to clear them of the sweat that dripped from her brow. The nail from which her chain was hung was bent enough that if she hopped away from the post, she might be able to pull it free.
Some time ago, she didn’t know how long, but she’d guess at least three hours, someone had shown up that upset her captors. They’d disposed of one of the women in the basement with her and had the other strapped to the table with a promise they’d be back to take care of her.
Her plan to work on the man had obviously failed because his partner, the woman, had promised Charli that she had a special plan for her, just for trying to make thing difficult for her by telling the dumbass he was the boss.
That sent Charli into a frenzy and she’d tugged, pulled, and jerked until her strength was almost depleted. Now came the moment of truth. With a prayer it would work, she took as big a hop as she could and jerked her arms. The chain released and she fell flat on her face into the dirt. She didn’t care. It took all she had not to cry in relief.
She rolled into a sitting position and frantically pulled at the tape binding her legs. Once they were free, she bolted to her feet. She quickly ran to the table and started loosening the thick straps that secured the woman to the metal table.
The woman’s eyes rolled in terror. Charli didn’t remove the tape from the woman’s mouth. She helped the woman to sit and held her as the woman struggled to get off the table.
Charli put her finger to her own lips and made a shushing sound. “Listen to me,” she whispered. “I’ll remove the tape, but you have to promise to be quiet and not make a sound. We have to come up with a plan for when they come back. Do you understand?”
At the woman’s nod, Charli yanked off the tape. The woman rubbed her mouth, swallowed a couple of times, and then whispered in a rough, dry rasp. “We have to get out of here.”
She slid off the table and looked around in terror. “Oh my God, they—you saw what they did. They’re going to do that to us. They’re going to—“She whirled around and ran to the bottom of the stairs. “We have to get out of here. We have to—“
Charli followed and grabbed the woman by the shoulders. “Listen to me. We have to stay calm. Now, tell me your name.”
“Are you crazy? You saw what they—“
“What’s your name.”
“Debbie.
“Okay, Debbie, I’m Charli.”
“I don’t want to die.“ Debbie started to shake and cry. “Please, I don’t want to die.”
“Shh, listen to me. If we keep our heads and work together, we’ll get out of this. Now listen to me. I’m ex-military so I know how to fight, but we need a plan and I need you to help me.”
“I don’t know how to fight. Oh God, they’re gonna come back and—“
Charli shook Debbie hard. “Stop that. That’s a sure way to get yourself killed. We have to be calm and we have to have a plan. Now, I need you to tell me you can do that. Can you?”
“I— Yes, I’ll try. Yes.”
“Good.” Charli looked around. There was a lot to work with, but she had no clue if Debbie would stand up well in a fight, so she decided the best course of action was for her to do the fighting and Debbie to do the running.
“Okay.” She ran across the room and snatched up one of the bloody knives from the cabinet beside the metal table. “Here.” She handed it to Debbie upon her return. “Now come with me.”
Charli led Debbie across the room to several tall crates at the end of the stairs. “There’s room between these two crates for you and it’s dark, so I want you to hide here. When they come, I’m going to engage them and that’ll be your cue to run. I want you to run up those stairs, outside, and do not stop. Find the main road and run until you can flag someone down and get them to call the police. Are you listening?”
“Yes, yes. I am. Run, find a road, stop a car and get someone to call the police.”
“Right. Now, get in there and don’t make a sound.”
“Wait.” Debbie said as Charli tried to steer her between the boxes. “What about you? You saw what they did.” Her hand went to her mouth and tears sprang from her eyes. “Oh my God, they’re going to do that to us. They’re going to—“
“No, they’re not. You’re going to be quiet, and once I engage them you’re going to run and you will get away.”
“And leave you to—“
“I’ll be okay. I promise.”
“How can you know that?”
“I just do. Now please get in there.”
Debbie did as she was told. Charli returned to the cabinet, took another knife from it, and positioned herself in front of the pole where she’d previously been hung. All that was left to do was wait and prepare herself.
And hope like hell this plan had half a chance.
*****
One shove and the trunk popped open. Zeb shined his light inside and Grady’s blood turned to ice. Charli’s shoulder bag was inside. He nodded and together they continued their sweep.
Less than five minutes later they’d searched the house. There was no one there and no sign of Charli or that anything untoward had happened there.
“This has to be the place.” Zeb’s voice was barely a whisper in Grady’s ear from the tiny earpiece.
“A cellar or basement?”
“Let’s check the back again.”
They exited the house and checked around back. Sure enough, there was what appeared to be the entrance to a storm cellar at the back of the house. “If this is the only way in or out, they’ll hear us coming,” Zeb said softly.
Just then, there was the sound of voices screaming, a man and a woman. A second later, the door opened at their feet and a young woman clambered out on hands and feet.
Zeb caught her and clamped his hand over her mouth. “Texas Ranger,” he whispered. “Is there another woman down there?”
She nodded, and he uncovered her mouth. “Charli. She’s down there. Help her. Help her.”
Grady was halfway down the stairs by the time Charli’s name spilled from the woman’s lips. He hit the bottom step and swung his weapon around toward the interior of the room.
What he saw both relieved and scared him. Charli was going at it with a man nearly as tall as Grady, but a good fifty pounds heavier. A woman, not as tall as Charli, but carrying more weight was getting up off the floor.
The big man struck at Charli with a long-bladed knife. She dodged and kicked, catching him in the gut. He stumbled back. Right in Grady’s range.
And at that moment Charli saw him.
For a moment, Charli thought she was dreaming. Grady swung his weapon and clobbered the man in the side of the head, sending him careening sideways, holding his head and moaning.
”Grady?” She’d never seen a sight so welcome, or a face wearing a more beautiful and lethal smile.
“What’cha doing, gorgeous?” He grinned and kicked at the man who stumbled at him, sending him flailing and staggering backward.
“Just holding on for a hero,” she quipped and kicked the woman who was trying to get up from the floor.
“Well, hell, sugar, why didn’t you say so?” With that, Grady flew into motion, delivered two fast punches and a spinning kick that had her captor literally sailing across the room to crash into the metal table and topple over onto the floor.
With one swift punch, Grady rendered him unconscious, turned and gave the woman the same treatment, then marched over to Charli and grabbed her with one arm to yank her up against him.
“How was that?”
“Perfect.” He’d never know how much she meant that. Seeing him standing there had been like the answer to a prayer. She had prayed for a hero and he had come.
“You came for me,” she said and put her hand on the side of his face.
“I’ll always come for you, Charli.”
There were so many things he could have said that she could have let slide, but that? That slayed her and suddenly it all caught up with her. “I’m about to be a real girl.” She threw her arms around him.
“My girl,” he whispered against her hair and held her.
“Thank God.” Zeb’s voice had her pulling back. He crossed the room to her and Grady. “It’s good to see you, Charli.”
“So, you came to rescue me, too?”
“It’s the least a partner could do.”
Charli smiled and swiped at the tears on her face. “Can we please get the hell out of here?”
“Absolutely.” Grady gestured toward the stairs. A split second later, sirens wailed in the distance.
“That’d be the cavalry,” Zeb announced. “You two go on. I’ll watch over these folks until we get them cuffed.”
Grady nodded and headed for the stairs. Charli paused long enough to give Zeb a hug. “Thanks.”
“You bet.”
Charli then followed Grady up the stairs and stepped outside. It hit her at that moment that for the past however long it had been, she hadn’t known if she would ever leave that basement.
That thought was immediately followed by a worse one. She grabbed Grady’s arm. “Hogs. She told him to take the body of a woman they killed and feed the hogs.”
Grady yelled to a Ranger who hurried over, listened to what Charli had to say, and then immediately issued orders to search for the remains.
Charli watched the hubbub for a moment, then turned to Grady. “This isn’t their first time. They’ve done this a lot.”
“Did you witness—“
“I did.”
“It was bad.”
She appreciated that he stated rather than asked. “Yeah, it was.”
“They’ll get the chair for this.”
“The chair is too good.” She turned as Zeb emerged from the cellar, with the man and woman in cuffs behind him, escorted by Rangers. “They deserve that fucking table down there.”
A touch on her arm had her turning back to look at Grady. “You’ll need to give a statement.”
“I know. Let’s go and get this done.”
“You sure you’re okay to do it?”
“No, but I have to.”
“I’ll stay with you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Yeah?”
Charli nodded, suddenly overcome with emotion that had been pent up. “I don’t want to do this alone.”
He held out his hand and she placed hers in it. Tears threatened, but she blinked them back. Later, when the statements were done and she was clean and alone, then she’d let it out. She’d scream and cry and puke over what she’d seen and then she’d try like hell to put it behind her and hope that Grady would stay.
Not for today, but for good.