It had gone off without a hitch. The girls hadn’t even stirred when he’d taken them out of his small motorboat. He’d parked the van in a way that he’d been able to carry the girls into the boat wrapped in tablecloths without any worry of being seen. At the fish camp, he didn’t need to worry. No one was in sight.
Once he had them locked away in one of the two rooms of the fish camp, he went to cover the boat in old nets that had been in the cabin when he found it. Anyone within sight distance wouldn’t even see the boat hidden beneath the old cabin on stilts.
But now it was time for some fun. And the pretty one with the long hair was going to be first.
“Hello, girls,” he chirped happily. He saw the three bodies prone on the floor and hoped he hadn’t given them too much chloroform. But when he heard Fiona groan softly he knew everything was okay.
“Perfect,” he murmured. “You were going to be first anyway.”
Monica sat up. She couldn’t let him hurt her friends. Her hands were still tied behind her back. The rope felt looser but Julie hadn’t had time to finish. “Leave them alone. You came for me.” It came off as a challenge.
“I know. I came for you,” Burt laughed evilly at the woman who had made him this way. “And I’m glad you’re awake to watch. Because I want you to see the monster you created.”
“You always were a monster, Burt. Don’t blame me for that.”
Monica was trying to distract him. Anything to buy them time, but he was ignoring her and still heading in Fiona’s direction. He stood over her and began to reach for her legs. She tried to kick him away.
He grabbed ahold of her legs just as a loud screaming banshee tore across the cabin. Julie picked up a broken chair that had been lying in the corner and smashed it across Burt’s back. It stunned him long enough for him to let go while Fiona dealt him a solid blow to the groin that had him incapacitated and on his knees.
Monica took that as her cue and quickly got up using the wall to aid her. She ran towards the moaning Burt and begin to kick him while he was down. She landed one to his back that had him fall face first onto the floor. Fiona scrambled back and pushed herself up and joined in on the kicking.
Burt was dazed, but was seeing stars when the next kick landed on his temple. The pain was excruciating. He tried to protect himself from the three women, but foot after foot kept him squirming on the floor as each hit made contact in vulnerable places. The one named Julie got him in the groin again and all heard his scream of pain. It was Fiona’s second kick to the head that stopped him cold. He passed out from the sheer force of it.
“Quick, he’s unconscious. Untie us, Julie.” Fiona was breathless. She couldn’t believe the three of them had overpowered him. Together.
Julie acted. She finished untying Monica and then set to work on the rope that still bound Fiona’s wrists together.
“Thank you, Julie. For staying,” she smiled at the smaller woman. Julie dropped the cords that had been around Fiona’s wrists as the woman turned.
“You’re welcome,” Julie gave her a smile. One filled with tears.
Fiona pulled her into a bear hug, and Julie hugged back. The past was behind them now. They both knew it in that moment. Both had survived, and both had worked together to do it.
Seeing Monica across the room beaming at them, made them separate enough to allow her entrance into their circle. All three women hugged and laughed. They had done it. Together.
When the moment passed, Julie took charge. “Okay, ladies, let’s start tying him up in case he wakes up.” Monica immediately set to that task. She was breathing hard and didn’t know what would have happened if the other two women hadn’t been there with her. All three were acting on adrenaline.
Fiona and Julie joined Monica on the floor in tying up their captor. They bound him with the three chords that had been used to tie them.
“What next?” Julie asked as she got up from the floor, dusting off her hands.
Fiona used the back of her arm to mop the sweat from her brow. “Now we lock him up in this room and we get the hell out of here. Wherever here is?”
They were safe for now, but they weren’t completely out of the woods.
The three girls together retreated to the door that Burt had come through just minutes earlier. Julie slammed the door closed and Fiona picked up the large piece of wood that he must have used to lock them in. With Monica’s help, they slid it into place and felt confident that when he woke up, and if he managed to untie himself, he wouldn’t be able to open that door for some time. And hopefully, by then they would have the authorities there to arrest him.
They walked outside another set of doors and found themselves on a deck surrounding a cabin on stilts in the water.
“We’re in a fish camp. I saw a show on it on The History Channel. It’s one of those old ones that were used by fishermen fifty years ago.” Julie spoke those words.
“Look, I see a boat down there,” Monica stated peering down the stairs.
“Yeah, but I don’t think we’re going to need it. Look!” Fiona pointed across the sound. In the distance, a speedboat was racing towards them, and in the sky, a helicopter could be seen to the east.
“Who do you think that is?” Monica asked in confusion.
Julie and Fiona gave each other a quick smile of relief. They knew who it was. “Patrick and Cookie. Probably Victor, too.”
“How did they know we were here?” she asked.
At Monica’s perplexed expression Julie and Fiona smiled again at one another. “We’ll explain later. For now, just wave, so they know we’re safe.”
And that’s what they did. With one arm hooked around Julie’s back, Fiona waved at Cookie who stood at the helm of the speedboat. The anxiety on his face faded as his boat roared up to the old cabin.
Patrick and Victor had that same expression as the chopper they were in circled above the cabin. Relief. All three girls were alive and well.