Links to Parts 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

He could hear her sobs ring throughout the building but once again could not find her.  Johnny could feel his frustration mounting as he moved down the darkened hallways in search of her.  Shouting her name but getting no response angered him even more.  Ethan’s laughter rang out loudly over Bree’s sobs.

“Show yourself, you coward!” Johnny shouted as he ran into the living room.

As abruptly as the laughter started, it stopped.  The room was no longer dark but dimly lit.  Hearing the slight noise behind him, he turned and came face-to-face with the one person he feared the most…Ethan.

The two adversaries faced each other.  No movement was made but the threat of violence permeated the air.

Johnny sat up, trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.  He ran his fingers through his sleep tousled hair, trying to understand just what this latest nightmare meant.  He had no clue where exactly he thought this nightmare might be located…all he knew was hearing Bree’s cries and not being able to help her was not helping him feel any better about this situation they were all in.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and reached for the lamp on the nightstand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” stated an eerie male voice from the darkened room.

Johnny froze at the sound of that voice.  The cold demeanor of that voice had been drilled into his mind the first time he encountered it…shortly after his return from the hospital.  He knew he didn’t dare move because if he did, he probably wouldn’t be alive.

“That’s a good fireboy,” said the voice in a sarcastic tone.  “You are a very restless sleeper, Gage.  I thought for a minute I was gonna have to resort to plan B and tie you up again.”

“What the hell do you want, Ethan?” retorted Johnny.

“Why absolutely nothing,” replied Ethan in a deceptively innocent tone.  “I just figured I’d see how you were faring.  I see you were reunited with your daughter.”

“If you’ve touched her at all…” began Johnny.

“Don’t worry.  Your little angel is safe.  On the other hand, the little angel’s mother is doing quite well.  I left you a little gift but I recommend that you wait until I am gone before you look for them.”

Ethan stood up and glanced at Johnny who was still sitting on the edge of the bed.  He knew the firefighter was waging a war within himself, wanting to get up and take him on but at the same time concerned about what might happen to the child in the other room.

“Once again, do not try to follow me.  If you do, she might not survive.  I’m gonna leave you with a piece of advice…the mother of your child is not as innocent as you think she is.  That girl likes to play and she likes her pleasures.  Don’t believe everything she has told you…the child might not be yours, you know.”

While Ethan’s parting words began to sink into Johnny’s mind, he snuck out the patio door of the master bedroom.  Johnny jumped when he heard the snick of the door handle.  The paralysis that had gripped him when he heard Ethan’s voice dissipated.  He immediately checked on Sierra and when he saw she was safely asleep in her bed, he ran for the door knowing that Ethan was already in the wind.  Standing in the doorway, he looked up to the sky and saw a shooting star.  He closed his eyes and wished up on it, hoping for Bree’s safety and eventual to return to him.

***********************************

 Roy wandered out to the back of the station, hoping to see his errant partner in his favorite thinking spot.  When Johnny arrived that morning, he had been way too quiet.  Glancing at the top of the hose tower, Johnny was nowhere to be seen.  No such luck, he thought, as he turned back towards the engine bay.

On a hunch, he walked into the locker room and found Johnny sitting on the bench staring down at his feet.

“Care to talk about it?” asked Roy.  When Johnny didn’t acknowledge his presence, Roy sat quietly knowing that his partner would find the words…eventually.

Ever since his return to work, Johnny had done his job efficiently but wasn’t his usual boisterous, annoying self.  He was just way too quiet.  The whole crew was worried about him and when Captain Stanley asked him to keep a close eye on his partner, Roy decided it was time to find out just what was wrong.

“Johnny, you can’t keep it bottled up.  Even the guys are starting to notice something is not right,” stated Roy.

Taking a deep breath, Johnny kept thinking silently to himself that this wasn’t gonna be as easy as he thought.  His partner had been put through enough already.  In fact, not one of his coworkers, with the exception of Captain Stanley, had come through this escapade unscathed.  Catching the concerned look on Roy’s face from the corner of his eye, Johnny wondered just how he could burden anyone especially Roy with anymore of his problems.

He pulled the manila envelope out from underneath his leg.  Flipping it over and over in his hands, he finally dug up the courage and all but shoved it under Roy’s nose.  Roy was hesitant in taking the item from Johnny’s hand.  He could tell from the way Johnny’s hand was shaking that whatever was inside that envelope he would not find very pleasant.

Tipping the envelope, Roy watched as a bunch of snapshots slid out into his hand.  He stared at the pictures that captured Bree doing various things…reading a book, sleeping…and in various stages of undress.  Roy glanced up at Johnny and could tell that his partner was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check.

“Johnny…um…,” he started to say.      

“I know.  It’s hard to digest,” stated Johnny.  “These were left behind after my latest visit from Bree’s not so friendly admirer, Ethan.”

Roy’s head popped up at the name Johnny mentioned.  Forgetting the pictures in his hand, he asked “When did this occur?”

“Around two o’clock this morning.  As usual, I bolted awake from a stupid nightmare and when I reached for the bedside lamp, a voice reached out of the darkness and made me freeze in place.”

“You called the police, I hope?” asked Roy.

“No,” replied Johnny.  “He stated in no uncertain terms that he would hurt Bree if I or anyone else came after him…I believe he would do it.”  Gesturing towards the pictures in Roy’s hands, he continued.  “The pictures themselves are disturbing enough but you need to read the little scribbles he wrote on the bottom of each one.”

“Notes?” queried Roy as he looked once again at the pictures he had already set aside and found little anecdotes on the bottom of each Polaroid.  “What the heck?”

“Yeah, they are more like little digs actually,” chuckled Johnny rather morosely.  “According to Ethan, it seems that Bree is quite adventurous and enjoys “displaying” herself.”

From the tone of his voice, Roy knew that these pictures and their little messages, along with the visit from Ethan, were getting under Johnny’s skin.  He listened as Johnny jabbered on about the pictures and how he was not too sure what to make of them.  It seems that Bree’s stalker knew just what buttons to push when it came to Johnny’s insecurities.

Roy let Johnny rant on about the pictures, about the fact that this guy was still roaming around free with the police still scratching their heads as to where he just might be hiding at.  He had to agree with Johnny to a point that it seemed like the police were doing absolutely nothing in trying to locate Bree and/or capture Ethan, but he also believed that if Ethan is as good as hiding as Mandy said he is then he knows it will take the police a long time to find him.

As he stared at the picture in his hand, a thought burst into his head as he wondered at the fuzziness of the photos.  Johnny was just beginning to start another rant about the ineffectiveness of the LA County police when Roy decided to interrupt him.

“Johnny!” shouted Roy to be heard above Johnny’s ranting.  “Have you taken a close look at these pictures?  Bree might not have known they were being taken.”

“Huh?” said Johnny as he looked confusedly towards Roy.

“I said Bree might not have known he was taking these pictures,” stated Roy.  He shoved a couple of pictures at Johnny.  “Look closely at the pics.  Can’t you see the slightly blurring or soft reflection in the photos?  Those look like they were taken through a screen or a window.  She might not have known she was being photographed.”

Johnny studied the pictures more closely and he could see what Roy was talking about…a slight blurring of the photos as if it was taken from the outside looking in.  He even noticed in one that he could almost see an outline of a lens that was part of the camera.  Why hadn’t I seen this before, he thought, as he stared intently at the pictures.

As if he knew what Johnny was thinking, Roy said “You probably didn’t see the subtle differences as you were so focused on Bree in the pictures and the fact that she is alright.”

The pair went over the pictures once again, a little more closely paying attention to any differences that Johnny might have missed the first time.

“Have you thought of taking these to the detectives?” asked Roy.

“No.  I figured I’d been pestering them so much lately that if I called or even walked into the precinct one more time, they would have me thrown in jail for being an obnoxious pest,” replied Johnny.

Chet popped his head through the door of the locker room, startling the pair sitting there in deep concentration.  The smile on his face was as wide as the Cheshire cat’s.  “Now isn’t that unusual, Gage, you actually admitted you are obnoxious.”

“Stuff it, Kelly,” retorted Johnny with some of the usual sassiness in the tone of voice he used when he and Chet exchanged insults.  “Can’t you see we are having a private conversation?  What do you want?”

“Well, if that’s the way you are going to be, maybe I just won’t say anything,” Chet flung back at his favorite pigeon.

“That would be a first,” returned Johnny with a grin.

“That’s enough, you two,” interjected Roy to put an end to it.  “Just what did you want to tell us, Chet?”

Chuckling, Chet replied, “Just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready.  I’m surprised you can’t smell it…Mike’s fried chicken.  Yummy.”

Chet backed out of the locker room quickly with Johnny hot on his heels.  The pair slid into the dayroom/kitchen, just about knocking each other down in their haste to get to the plate of fried chicken that Mike was getting ready to place on the table.

Roy couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Mike’s face as he raised the hand holding the plate above his head and out of reach of the two goofballs.  Instead he walked around the table, placing the plate in front of Captain Stanley, effectively stopping the two juvenile delinquents from fighting over who got the first piece.

The captain and Roy made eye contact and in that one glance, Roy let the captain know that everything was going to be alright.  Both men knew it was only a matter of time before all hell would break loose and chaos would rain down upon them.  Until then, they were going to do all they could to keep a semblance of normalcy around Johnny, the station and their own lives.

************************************

The face that stared back at her from the mirror was not her own.  Bree cringed as her reflection in the mirror once again caught her eye as she paced back and forth across the floor of her prison.  Disheveled hair, dark circles crowding her eyes, she didn’t even recognize herself…not that she would want to know the person in that mirror.

The wind outside was much cooler and the cabin didn’t seem to retain heat very well in the cold.  A wave of intense grief rolled over her as the thought of not knowing what Ethan had done with her daughter was driving her to the brink of madness.  He told her she was in a safe place but that could mean anything to him.  Her thoughts then turned to Johnny and what he might be doing to find her.

Bree stopped her pacing for a moment.  As she tried to count the days since her abduction, the realization that it has been almost three months since Ethan took her from the ranch.  By her reckoning, it was close to Thanksgiving.  Tears filled her eyes as she thought about the plans she had for their first Thanksgiving holiday as a family.  Was Johnny thinking the same thing as me, she wondered.  Was he searching for her and Sierra or did Ethan make it look bad enough that he thought she was lost for good.

Turning her attention to the view outside the cabin window, Bree stared up towards the treetops and worried about the greyness of the skies above them.  She shivered at the thought of being stuck in the cabin alone when the snow begins to fly…or worse…being stuck in the cabin with Ethan.   Just thinking of Ethan made Bree’s skin crawl.  She wondered if he was on his way back or if he was just going to leave her to fend for herself.

In a way, she liked the solitude from Ethan.  His fast twisting emotions and moods left her drained.  Each time he lost his grip with reality, she suffered…whether it was mentally, verbally, emotionally or physically, she paid for it.  She couldn’t bear to look at herself unclothed in the mirror for fear of what she would see when she did.  Seeing her face in the mirror was bad enough.  With every return to the cabin, Ethan would be nice and lighthearted but with the quick beat of her heart he would change from the person she knew as a young girl to a raging madman who abused her any way he could.

   He could see her silhouette in the window of the cabin from where he was standing on the trail.  Reaching down for the rope he dropped, he gave it a tug to move the cart behind him loaded with winter supplies.  Ethan smiled at the picture she was making in the window as if she knew he was returning home.

The crisp fall air swirled around him as he approached the front porch steps. This was his favorite time of the year. The air was charged with a cold energy that had him anticipating the coming winter months.  He grinned inwardly to himself as he daydreamed of how cozy the cabin would be with just the two of them.  Grabbing one of the many boxes on the cart, he ascended the steps quickly and quietly, slipping the key into the lock at the top of the door.

Hearing the key slip into the lock sent shivers up Bree’s spine.  He’s back, she thought, trying to control her nerves and inner fear of what mood he might be in.  She backed away from the window, nervous eyes frantically searching the room for a place to escape to.

Ethan pushed the door open with his foot.  He was astonished to see Bree backed up against the wall looking like a scared rabbit.  He couldn’t understand what had her so terrified of him.  Setting the box on the floor just inside the door, Ethan walked towards Bree.  He could see her trying to push herself into the wall behind as if to make herself invisible to him.

“What is wrong, girl?” he asked feeling just a bit annoyed at this reaction.  When he received no answer to his question, he reached for her.  The suddenness of his movement sent Bree over the edge.  Without a conscious thought to her actions, she grabbed a piece of firewood and when his hand stretched towards her, she swung as hard as she could

He heard the guttural scream come from Bree, but never saw the missile she flung at his head.  The stars danced before his eyes as he felt his knees buckle. 

Bree watched in horror as Ethan slowly dropped to the floor.  The log slid from her hand and followed Ethan’s descent.  The sound of the wood striking the floor broke Bree from her dazed stupor.  She didn’t think twice but turned and ran through the door that Ethan hadn’t shut behind him.

Panic spurred her flight, especially when she saw the cart full of supplies that she knew he brought back with him for the winter.  Bree shuddered once more thinking of being stuck with Ethan for the entire winter in the little cabin.  Not sure which direction she should head in, Bree just ran.  She knew that she had only stunned Ethan and that alone scared her as she knew he would make her pay for what she did.

He got to his knees slowly, pressing his hand to the knot on the side of his head.  Ethan couldn’t believe that she had actually hit him.  As he rose to his feet, the anger surfaced rapidly to the forefront of his conscious mind.  Smiling evilly, Ethan slowly walked onto the deck his eyes scanning the surrounding area looking for any sign that told him what direction she had headed in.

Spotting some broken leaves and twigs, he picked up the pace as he knew Bree had no idea where she was going and the direction she chose to flee in led straight to a steep ravine.  He shouted her name repeatedly, each time a little more forceful as his anger reached the forefront of his consciousness and he knew exactly what he had in mind for the little escape artist.

  Bree stopped a distance away from the cabin as she tried to get her bearings.  She knew when it came to a sense of direction, she didn’t know south from north.  A wry smile crossed her face as she remembered her parents laughing at her when she got her directions mixed up on a hike at Yellowstone National Park one time, getting the whole family lost.  Without a compass, she was definitely a lost cause.

She could hear Ethan yelling her name not far from the edge of the woods and felt a real sense of urgency to get moving.  Endurance was not her strong suit and she knew that Ethan definitely could outlast her in a long distance run and more than likely knew these woods better than she did.  That thought spurred her to change her course and she sped deeper into the brush hoping he would head in a different direction.

Ethan laughed as he could clearly hear Bree’s thrashing around in the forest.  He felt relieved when he heard her changing directions that would lead her away from the ravine but instead of taking herself deeper into the woods.  He kept himself adjacent to the direction Bree was heading and knew that in the short distance ahead he would be able to cut off her escape and get her back to the cabin.

Bree burst out of the woods into an area filled with a wonderful brightness she forgot existed.  Sliding to a stop, she took in the warm sunlight that covered the area.  It had been so long since she had felt the warmth of that bright orb upon her skin.  She blocked out the world and just focused her attention on the brightness surrounding her.

Ethan walked out of those same woods a short distance from where Bree stood.  It amazed him that she found the simple pleasure of the sun’s warmth on her skin.  She stood motionless in the middle of the glade with her face raised up towards the sun.  He took one step forward and…CRACK!

Bree jumped.  Her head whipped in the direction of the sound and was stunned to see that Ethan had already found her.  A small scream emitted from her lips as she tried to make a break for the shelter of the forest, but Ethan had anticipated her bolting for the safety of the forest.  He had already broken into a run and by the time she had reached the forest’s edge, he was right behind her.

Effortlessly, Ethan caught up to Bree and was almost running at her side.  He reached out to grab her flying hair but missed when Bree switched directions.  He laughed maniacally at her, and instead let her get a little farther ahead of him before he sprinted towards her at breakneck speed.

She could almost feel his breath upon her neck and knew she was losing the battle in her attempt to escape, but she just couldn’t stop.   She was afraid at what would be waiting for her in retaliation for hitting him.  She never realized how far he would go to keep her with him.

With perfect timing, Ethan launched himself at Bree’s feet, tangling his hands around her legs.

Bree felt her legs go out from underneath as the realization hit her that once more Ethan had her within his grasp.  She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind right out of her lungs.  As she tried to catch her breath, Ethan rolled her onto her back and stood over her with a look upon his face that said it all…he was not done with her yet.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?” he shouted at her.

Finding it hard to breathe, much less say anything, Bree just looked up at him in disbelief.  All she could do was gasp feebly.  Every horrible thing he could do to her raced through her mind and she waited for the first of them to fall upon her out in the woods.

“I should just end you right here, leave you for the animals and no one would ever find you!” he yelled.  “For all the trouble you have caused me, I should just do it.”

She cringed at the thought that he could kill her, leave her in the forest and no one would ever know where she was.  That thought alone caused her eyes to fill up with tears and they spilled over onto her cheeks.  She knew in that one sentence he would never let her go, that he would kill her before he would give her back to Johnny and she felt lost and broken.

Ethan growled his displeasure at her.  In one swift movement, he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up off the ground, throwing her over his shoulder effectively knocking the wind of out of her once again.  That will keep her from shouting at him, he thought, as he began the walk back to the cabin.

She gasped as the pain from losing her breath again rocketed through her body.  She didn’t put up a fight, she couldn’t.  She had no fight left in her.  Deep within her soul, she knew Ethan was never going to let her go alive.  Her only hope was that her daughter was safe and had not been harmed by him.

A short time later, Ethan could see the thinning of the trees and knew that the cabin was close at hand.  Quickening his pace, he reached the cabin and entered the open door.  Placing Bree on her feet, he pinned her to his side to hamper any renewed effort to escape.   He then reached for the chain and once more locked it around her ankle.   He shoved her onto the small bed in the living room and went back to get the rest of the supplies he had brought back with him.

She watched with much trepidation as Ethan came back and forth from the front porch with supplies that would get them through the winter months.  Bree was watching her worst fear had come to fruition…the small cabin and just the two of them.  He was smiling as he brought the last of the supplies into the living room.  Deliberately slow in his movements, Ethan turned and slammed the lock at the top of the door into the place, turning it to make sure it was firmly in place, pocketing the key.

When he turned back to face Bree, her skin crawled at the maniacal look in his eyes and knew he hadn’t forgotten what she did.  Standing by the bed, he shouted “Just what in the hell did you think you were going to get away with?”  She screamed in fear as he began to lower himself upon the bed…

**************************

Dusk had fallen up on Station 51.  Johnny leaned against the open door frame of the engine bay and stared silently up at the darkening sky.  The guys had been talking about the upcoming Christmas events and he just couldn’t take listening to them anymore.  He felt their eyes follow him as he walked out the door but didn’t care anymore what they thought.  The holidays held no joy for him right now.

He was dreading Christmas this year.  Already he had numerous invitations to spend the holiday with friends and family including from his aunt to spend it in Malibu.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to do.  Personally, he thought, I’d rather spend it locked up at the ranch with the phone disconnected.  He chuckled as he knew that was never gonna happen.  Roy’s wife, Joanne, had already told him that he was spending it with them, no ifs, ands or buts.

Watching the flickering lights of the vehicles racing down the 405, Johnny wrestled with a jumble of emotions that were barely under control.  He knew he was having trouble shaking off the words that Ethan has quietly placed in his mind.  When he disappeared from the ranch, he had left Johnny with conflicting thoughts on Bree’s trustworthiness and placed doubts on his daughter’s parentage.  Johnny knew he was being irrational for even courting that thought, yet he couldn’t help but notice that amber colored eyes ran in Bree’s family as well as his own.  He shook his head to try and clear Ethan’s voice but it just kept hounding him from the recesses of his consciousness. 

From the entrance to the dayroom, Roy watched his partner fight the demons that had been plaguing him since Bree’s abduction.  Roy was torn between leaving his partner alone to wrestle those demons or if he should join him in a silent vigil.  Deciding the time was not right for interrupting Johnny’s thoughts, Roy returned to the dayroom.  Oblivious to the looks from his coworkers, he sat down and stared into his coffee cup.

Marco and Mike exchanged puzzled looks, shrugged their shoulders and returned to the game of checkers in front of them.  Chet had buried his nose in the paper with only an occasional scowl seen above the edge of the page.  Even Captain Stanley was keeping quiet and was hiding in his office buried under a mountain of paperwork.

The guys were startled when Henry, the lazy Bassett Hound, all but flew off the couch when Chet growled at something he was reading.  The dog skittered across the linoleum floor, nails clicking furiously as he tried to gain a grip on the slippery floor while at the same time trying to hide under the chair Mike was sitting on.  Unfortunately (for Mike) Henry didn’t quite fit underneath, causing it to teeter vicariously before finally dumping Mike to the floor.

Marco forced his glance back to the checkerboard to keep Mike from seeing the grin that was spreading across his face but failed miserably in keeping his laughter under control.  Unable to contain his mirth, Marco looked back up, catching the disgruntled look on Mike’s face and howled in laughter even louder.

Roy found himself with a mouth full of coffee when Henry dumped Mike on the floor.  He had a choice of choking on the liquid while trying to stifle his laughter or letting it fly.  It didn’t even take him a second to make up his mind.  The coffee flew from his mouth as he gave into the same mirth that had Marco within its grip. 

Hearing the commotion from the dayroom, Hank raised his head up from the paperwork that had been holding his attention for the past two hours.  Unable to keep his concentration on the work in front of him, he decided to investigate the racket permeating from the dayroom.  Hank met Johnny in the engine bay.  He indicated silence to the young paramedic who was looking as about as curious as Hank himself felt.

The pair was stopped in their tracks at the sight that greeted them from the common room of the station.  Mike was still lying on the floor, looking at Henry with contempt while the dog was now underneath the table quivering.  Chet was standing in the middle of the room with a confused expression on his face as he tried to figure out what just happened.

When Hank turned his attention to the other two firefighters at the table, the chaos got even better.  Marco stopped laughing long enough to exchange a glance with Roy before he started all over again.  Still sitting in his chair, he had been leaning on the table, weak from laughter. 

Seeing the captain enter the room, he tried to regain his composure but failed when he looked at Roy.  As he sat back into his chair, Marco pushed back with a little too much force causing the chair to tip backwards.

The sight of Marco still sitting in the chair but lying flat on his back helped Mike find the humor in the whole silly situation.  From his spot on the floor, he let loose with a good belly laugh at the position his coworker now found himself in.

“Would someone tell me what the heck is going on in here?” asked Hank as he reached down to help Mike up.

“You okay, Marco?” asked Johnny as he leaned over to check him out.  Marco nodded as he was still chuckling and couldn’t give him a straight answer.

“Once again, would someone tell me what just happened?” repeated the captain.

Four voices started talking at once, prompting Hank to put his hands up and demand that only one at a time talk.  Chaos still ensued which forced the captain to put two fingers to his mouth and whistle rather loudly.  Finally silence reigned throughout the dayroom.

“Now that I have your attention, please explain to me EXACTLY what happened to cause this,” stated Hank.

In unison, Roy and Marco pointed towards Chet and said, “It’s his fault!  He growled at Henry.”

Hank turned his gaze towards the stocky fireman, piercing him with a no-nonsense gaze that said more than his voice could.

Chet swallowed hard before he spoke in reply to the captain’s unasked question.   “I didn’t mean to scare him.  Heck, I didn’t think that dog could even move that fast.”

“What prompted you to growl at him in the first place?” questioned the captain.

“Um…well…um…,” stammered Chet.

“Having problems talking, Kelly?” asked Johnny.  “I thought you and Henry were buddies…or you mad at him for taking up your side of the couch.”

Chet’s eyes darted back and forth between Roy, Johnny and Captain Stanley.  He wasn’t sure what he dare say about the article in the paper.  What he read and then saw on the next page shocked him and he couldn’t help but vocalize his displeasure…but that would be nothing in comparison to what Johnny’s reaction would be when he learned about the article.

“Um…nothing like that,” replied Chet as unconsciously he twisted the paper in his hands.  “Just didn’t like what I was reading.”

Johnny’s eyebrow rose up as he noted the uncharacteristic mannerisms that Chet was displaying.  It was not like the stocky fireman to keep quiet when the two of them exchanged smart aleck remarks.  He couldn’t help notice also that Chet was making mincemeat out of the newspaper he had been reading.

“Give me that before you had it totally shredded,” stated Johnny as he reached for the paper.

“No!” shouted Chet as he hurriedly backed away from Johnny.

‘What the heck…’ thought Johnny as he clearly read the panic in Chet’s eyes.  “Come on, Chet.  What’s in there that you don’t want us to see…your latest squeeze been arrested and is now on her way to San Quentin?”

Forgetting the captain was not that far behind him, Chet turned to run from the room when he felt Hank’s hand on his shoulder.  Hank extended his hand over Chet’s shoulder and he grudgingly handed the wrinkled paper over to his superior.  He could feel the lump in his throat lodge against his neck as he tried to swallow.  As much as he loved to pick on Gage, he didn’t want to see him hurt.

After smoothing out the section of paper he took from Chet, Hank glanced at what had his lineman rattled and found it hard not to growl like he had.  Knowing he couldn’t keep this hidden from the paramedic, he handed the paper over to Johnny and left the room.

Johnny looked down at the paper the captain just handed him.  He watched as Hank left the room and wondered just what in this paper got him rattled as well.  Ignoring Chet and the others as well, he sat back down at the table and turned his attention to the paper.  The headline immediately grabbed his attention, just as the writer’s name jumped out at him.  “She’s Not All She Seems to Be,” by Dana Reese.  A heavy sigh escaped from his lips as he settled in to read another article about his missing girlfriend.

A cup of coffee found its way to his side.  As he began reading, the color in his face drained from his face.  Slowly the redness crept up his neck and into his cheeks as he read further into the article.  ‘That writer has a lot of explaining to do’ he thought as he reached to turn the page…but when he located the rest of the article, it wasn’t the words that made him explode…it was the accompanying picture that made him lose control.  The coffee cup that his partner had so thoughtfully placed beside him found its way to the brick wall and shattered loudly as it made contact.

“Damn it!” he shouted as he crumpled the newspaper in his hands.  Without another word, he abruptly left the room.

Silence reigned throughout the dayroom as the guys glanced at each other trying to make sense of what just occurred.  Chet stood next to the table, eyes downcast as he traced a circle with his finger on the tabletop. His mind raced as he tried to figure out if there could have been a better way to handle the whole situation.

**********************************

  Johnny leaned against the fence, watching the horses in the pasture as he contemplated the events of the past three months.  The last straw of his patience disintegrated when he read the article in the LA Times last week.  He knew that the picture accompanying the article had come from the same collection he had been given by Ethan. 

‘But why,’ he asked himself, ‘Why is Ethan trying to ruin Bree’s career?’

Roy could see Johnny was still struggling with the revealing article about Bree from last week.  His posture gave away the conflicting emotions he was fighting to hide from others. 

Joanne finally convinced him to come out check on their friend.  Johnny hadn’t been answering his phone all weekend during their four day break, and when Mandy called to see if Johnny was in town, Roy finally gave into Joanne’s request.

Stepping up to the fence, Roy rested his arms on the top rail before he spoke.  “Morning, Junior.”

“Hi, Roy,” replied Johnny.  “Joanne send you out here?”

“Yep.  When you wouldn’t answer the phone for the last three days, she got worried and began houndin’ me to come out here.  So why are you playing the hermit?”

“As if you don’t know the answer to that question,” stated Johnny with just a hint of sarcasm.

“Hey, just had to ask,” retorted Roy.  “So you gonna give me an answer or not.”

Johnny pushed himself away from the fence and turned to face his friend.  “I just needed time to think.  It’s just hard to believe what I read in that article much less see the picture that accompanied it.  What I can’t wrap my thoughts around is why he would want to destroy Bree’s career.”

“Like Mandy said…he wants her all to himself,” stated Roy.  “He is doing all he can to bind her to him…kidnapping, separating her from her child, planting doubt in those that love her and destroying her career.  If he can make the public think she is not who they think she is, he has won.”

“I think with the latest article he already has,” commented Johnny as he turned back to gaze at the horses.  “The picture basically told the whole story.  It makes me wonder what other things she hasn’t told me about her life.”

Silence filled the space between the two as Roy digested what Johnny just said.

“I also wonder what about her is really true, Roy.  I mean she came into my life like a whirlwind, stole my heart and spit it back out when she left the first time.  Then she returns just as mysteriously as she left…only this time she comes with a child, telling me this little girl is mine.”

Roy could hear the shakiness of Johnny’s voice and knew that his friend was on the edge.  “Johnny…”

“Let me finish, Roy.  If I stop now, it’s gonna eat me alive,” demanded Johnny of his friend.  “The kidnapping, the articles and pictures, I can’t handle it anymore.  I want answers but I want them from Bree.  I want her back but the thing is…I don’t know if I want her in my arms when she does return.”

Johnny ran his hands through his hair as he exhaled loudly.  The exasperation he was feeling was evident in his body language.  When he caught the expression on Roy’s face, he couldn’t help but chuckle.  They were wide open with the deer-in-the-headlight look within them.

“Don’t worry…I’m not gonna lose it.  I’m just frustrated…that’s all.”

“Sorry, junior, but the vehemence in your voice took me by surprise,” stated Roy.  “I guess my other question is…where does Sierra figure in all of this?”

“Right where she is…with me,” stated Johnny firmly.  “That little girl has managed to steal my heart for good.  Even if she is not really mine, I love her and nothing is going to change that.”

“Glad to hear that, “dad”,” replied Roy as he clapped his hand on Johnny’s shoulder.  “Joanne also wanted me to haul your backside and your daughter into town for a barbeque.  So we had better get going or she’s gonna be mad if it gets late.”

The pair headed back to the house as Johnny told Roy that Sierra was at Mandy’s house for the weekend.  He chuckled as he related to his friend that more than likely she was trying to let him know he needed to pick up his child.

As he followed Johnny’s vehicle down the driveway, Roy knew the last of this problem has yet to be seen.  A lot of ‘if only’ or ‘what if’s’ were left hanging in the balance and many more questions needed to be answered.  He dreaded what was waiting for them.

***********************

 Bree stared out the window at the snow falling outside her prison.  Ethan was still sleeping and she was taking advantage of the peace.  She could feel her body shaking but was unsure if it was from the view outside the window or if it was really getting cold in the cabin.

She tossed another log into the small stove in the corner of the living area in hopes of bringing the temperature of the room up to a comfortable level.  Wrapping the blanket tighter around her, she sat back down and continued to stare out the window.  A tear slowly slid down her cheek as she thought of her daughter and wondered if whoever was taking care of her was doing a good job.

Bree had no idea what day it was.  She had a good guess that it was the latter part of November or early December but that was it.  Her mind kept wandering back to Sierra…and Johnny.  ‘Oh my god,’ she thought, ‘how is he ever going to forgive me for what I have done?’  That thought made the tears flow even harder.  It seemed like all she did was cry lately.

As Bree sat and cried silently, the other object of her thoughts was slowly waking up in the next room.  Ethan swung his legs over the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.  Glancing at the wind-up clock next to the bed, he sprang to his feet, slipping on his jeans as he walked out of the bedroom.

He reached into the little fridge for some orange juice.  Pouring a glass for himself and for Bree, he took a little package out of his pocket, mixing into Bree’s glass.  Smiling as he walked from the tiny kitchen to the living area, he was surprised to see Bree swiftly run her hands across her eyes.

“Hey, what’s with the waterworks?” he asked as he handed the glass to her.

“Sorry, just one of those mornings,” replied Bree.  “I’ll try and do better.”

“Drink your orange juice like a good little girl.  Don’t want you gettin’ sick,” stated Ethan as he sat down.  He watched as Bree drank down the orange juice, smiling to himself as he finally figured out how to keep her calm and pliable.

It took him awhile to remember what happened the year before she became a country singing star.  He chuckled to himself as he remembered just how he caught up with her after that party at his dad’s place and what almost took place.

He stormed away from the party.  Her rejection hurt more than he imagined.  The family dog got in his way and paid the price for that mistake.  He could hear the gasps of horror behind him and knew that it was just one more disgraceful thing to chalk up to the miscreant his father thought he had become.

Upon reaching the end of the driveway, Ethan jumped on his cycle and roared into the darkness.  He didn’t know where to go anymore.  No matter where he wound up, his nightmares would always find him.  Coasting to a stop near the entrance to the Montgomery ranch, he smiled as he remembered the hidden grove way behind the ranch, off the beaten path.  Bree had shown it to him once just before he left for his second tour of duty.

He remembered discovering another way to get to that grove without being seen or leaving a track.  Heading in that direction, he was thankful he had grabbed his tent and gear as it now looked like he no longer had a place to live.  It was good thing the Army taught him how to survive in the wild as he knew he could never go back home.

The following morning, Ethan awoke, pleasantly surprised that he had actually slept through the night.  The sky looked a beautiful blue as he stepped out of the tent.  The nearby creek served as a place for him to wash up before he faced the day.  Kneeling down, he cupped his hands and splashed water onto his face.  He gasped as the cold water had the effect he was hoping for.  As he repeated the process, another gasp joined his.

Slowly, Ethan raised his head and locked eyes with the woman who rejected his proposal the night before.  Neither of them moved, afraid to startle the other.  Ethan raised his hands in supplication to show Bree that he meant her no harm.  Bree looked at Ethan with fear written on her face.  He could see she was ready to bolt in an instance.  As she turned to run, he spoke.

“Please don’t go, Bree,” he pleaded.

“Why?” she cried.  “You killed your dog last night as you left.  I don’t know who you are anymore.   Why should I stay?”

“Because I have no one,” he softly replied.

“You only have yourself to blame, Ethan.”

“Please, Bree.  I only want to talk.  Is that too much to ask?”

Bree slowly nodded and took the hand he offered her to help cross the creek.  He reached inside the tent and grabbed the blanket for her to sit on.

“I have nothing to offer you for a drink but water from the creek.”

“I’m alright.  What is it you want to talk about?” she asked with trepidation in her voice.

“You,” he stated.  “I guess I just want to know what you are up to.”

That statement took her by surprise.  Last night he was intense and aggressive, now he was like the man she had known before.  Bree wasn’t sure what she should do.  Common sense told her that she should have just turned around and run the minute she realized it was Ethan in the grove, but Mandy always said she was a little short in the common sense department.

“It’s just talking, Bree, just words.  I promise I won’t move from this side of the fire pit,” Ethan said as he watched the emotions race across her face.

‘Common sense, be damned,’ she thought.  Smiling, she began talking, answering any question that Ethan asked of her.  She found herself laughing at Ethan’s account of the first time he met her and Mandy.  He knew that Mandy was using him to test her feminine wiles on, which he found amusing.

Neither realized how long they had been talking until Bree looked up at the sky.  She knew it was past noon but not sure how far past.

“Ethan, I’ve got to go.  I’ve gone far longer than I had planned,” Bree said with a nervous catch in her voice.

“What are you worried about?” he asked.  “They know how much you like to walk alone on the trails behind the house.”

“I know but after last night, they would be more inclined to search for me.”

Ethan could see the logic in that.  He reached his hand out to help Bree to her feet.  As she turned to leave, she caught her foot on the edge of the blanket and pitched forward.  Ethan moved quickly and scooped her up in his arms.  Bree gasped as she placed her hands on his shoulders and caught his gaze.

He slowly placed Bree back on her feet but didn’t let go.  She wasn’t complaining.  She kept thinking she never knew just how blue his eyes really were.  Not wanting to break the contact, Ethan couldn’t help himself as he lowered his head towards hers and caught her lips in a soft, sweet kiss.  He felt her resistance at first and then her surrender as she leaned into the kiss.

“Bree!!!” shouted Mandy as she entered the grove.  She stood in shock as the pair broke apart.

With one last look at Ethan, Bree turned and glared at her cousin before exiting the grove.  Mandy turned her glare into a look of disgust aimed at Ethan who returned her look with one of his own…triumph.

She watched as the expressions on Ethan’s face slowly changed from totally relaxed to the look she had come to know all too well…cold and unfeeling.  She shuddered as to how he would be when he came out of his daydream.  Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to reign in her racing emotions.  As she opened her eyes, the smile on Ethan’s face confused her.  He seemed calm and in total control.

Chuckling at the puzzled look in her eyes, Ethan reached over and ruffled her already disheveled hair.  He couldn’t resist picking on her…he never could.  She swatted his hand away from her head, smoothing the ruffled hair.  The scowl she shot at him set him laughing, which frustrated her all the more.

“Are you done?” she snapped at him.  “I know my hair is a mess and it’s been ages since I have had a proper bath.  But of course, that doesn’t bother you in the least does it?”

“Not really,” he replied.  “I’m sorry if the accommodations are not up to your lofty standards but at least you have a roof over your head.”

“If you want to call it that,” Bree returned sarcastically.  Seeing the aggravated look on Ethan’s face, she quickly recanted her statement.  “I’m sorry.  You’re right.  At least I’m not in the cold.  I suppose I should be grateful you haven’t placed me in the doghouse or something worse.”

“Don’t tempt me, woman.  I could easily construct an “outdoor living space” for you in the snow.”

Bree hung her head in quiet shame.  She had so many questions that she wanted answers to but just didn’t dare ask him for the fear of him losing his temper and what he  could do to her.  Smiling to himself as he noticed her acquiesce to his dominance, he reached into the drawer of the small stand next to the chair.

“Bree?” he asked.

“What?” she asked in return without glancing up.

“Come on, girl.  I’ve got a surprise for you.”

When she raised her head to see what Ethan had waiting for her, Bree gasped at the small gold cylinder in his hand.  Next to the cylinder was a small bag of a green herb that she remembered quite well.

“Where have you been hiding that?” she questioned.

“In the one place I know you wouldn’t be able to reach,” he replied.

“I haven’t touched that stuff in a long time. Please put it out of my sight.”

“No.  You never turned it down before…why now,” said Ethan as he opened the bag.  He could feel her watching him fill the one-hitter and knew it wouldn’t be too hard to coax her into taking it from him.  Instead, once the pipe was filled he lifted it to his lips, struck the match and slowly puffed.

She watched with dread as she knew what would happen next.  As his eyes locked with hers, he slowly exhaled, letting the smoke wrap its way around Bree.  Her body shuddered as the familiar scent enveloped her bringing back unwanted memories. Not breaking eye contact with her, Ethan once more filled up the pipe and extended his hand towards Bree.

“Damn you to hell, Ethan,” stated Bree as she reached out for the “surprise” he was offering her.

All he did was chuckle as he lit another match and held it out.  She leaned in, following the same procedure and let the familiar taste enter her mouth sending her down a path she had walked before.  She held it within her for a few seconds before exhaling.  The rush was comforting but at the same time damning.  She extended the pipe back to Ethan, the unspoken look bringing a smile to his face and remorse to hers.

*******************

 New Year’s Eve – 1976

Johnny leaned against the railing of the pier, wondering what possessed him come to Santa Monica on New Year’s Eve.  He was now wishing he hadn’t caved into the feeling of being closed in at the ranch as he could feel the memories straining at the edge of his consciousness trying to break free. A night out is not what he really wanted…he wanted her back with all the answers to the questions that were keeping him up at night.

Turning his back on the beach view below him, Johnny scanned the crowd of meandering people on the pier hoping to find a familiar face.  He had to admit that he did enjoy watching the happenings on the pier…kids running to and fro, couples holding hands oblivious to the world around them. 

Suddenly the vision of small blonde entered his eyesight, snapping him to attention.  He straightened up as he tried to locate the petite girl that somehow intruded on his thinking.  Stretching to the top of his toes, he could see the object of his attention just a short distance away.  Johnny quickly moved through the crowd, his heart trying to escape from his chest as he approached the girl.

As he reached out to touch her shoulder, the girl turned around.  His heart dropped as he realized this was not Bree.  The young woman smiled up at him.

“Do I know you?” she asked with a hint of curiosity.

“I’m afraid not,” he replied with a smile.  “I thought you were someone else.  Sorry to have bothered you.”

“My loss,” she said.  “But if you change your mind, I will be here at the pier all night.”

Johnny quickly walked back to the railing he had been leaning against earlier.  ‘Get a grip, Gage,’ he said under his breath to himself.  ‘Keep this up and they will definitely have you in the psych ward.’  Still muttering to himself, Johnny turned back to the beach and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Roy and Joanne frantically waving up at him.  He waved back in acknowledgment and nodded when he realized Roy was pointing towards the way up to the pier.  He pointed in the same direction to let Roy know he understood and that he would wait where he was at.

Feeling a little better about not having to spending New Year’s by himself, he smiled as he leaned back against the railing once more.  This time he set his memories loose and smiled inwardly as he saw Bree’s twinkling eyes enter his mind and tease him with memories of that New Year’s Eve two years ago.

“Are you sure you don’t want to spend New Year’s Eve here at my place”? Johnny asked Bree.

Smiling up at him with laughter in her eyes, she replied “No.  Your friends invited us and I will not be the cause for their ire when we don’t show up.”  She gave him a light push towards his bedroom with the ‘get ready to go’ look.

As the memory took hold, Johnny relaxed against the railing, his eyes glazing as he was pulled further into it.  But this time, the memory took a different turn and no longer was what he recalled.

Johnny could hear Bree’s laughter drifting down the hallway, but this time there was something different about it.  It sounded almost seductive.  As he shook the fogginess from his mind, he realized this was no longer his apartment.  ‘Where am I?’ he thought.

Following the sound of Bree’s voice, he entered an area that was totally unfamiliar to him and shrouded in darkness.  Exasperated with the dark, he slowly stumbled down what he determined was some type of pathway.  Johnny could see a small beacon of light ahead of him and hoped it was going to shed some ‘light’ on what nonsense this really was.

The laughter and voices got louder the closer he got to the light.  He was almost there. 

Johnny reached out and felt a curtain-like object right in front of him.  Pulling back on the object, he stepped into the bright room.  The tableau that greeted him almost rocked him back on his heels.  Bree…

He jumped when he felt the hand on his arm.  His eyes flew open to see Roy and Joanne standing next to him.

“Welcome back to earth, Johnny.  Where were you?” asked Roy.  “You seemed like you were a million miles away.”

“No place in particular, just remembering a special New Year’s from a couple of years ago,” he replied with a wistful smile on his face.

Joanne linked her arm with Johnny’s, commented on finding him there.  “I’m surprised you came here tonight of all nights.”

“It’s alright, Jo.  They’re happy memories.  I just couldn’t take the silence out at the ranch any longer.”

“You gonna stick around for the fireworks?”

“Probably,” Johnny said.  “Say what you do with the kids?”

“Grandma’s,” stated Roy.  “So we decided to take advantage of the alone time.”

“By coming out here?” questioned Johnny raising his eyebrow in disbelief.

Roy laughed at Johnny’s expression.  Being the bachelor that Johnny is, Roy knew that he would automatically think that being alone with a beautiful lady on New Year’s Eve would be better than being in the crowd at the pier.  The trio wandered towards the end of the pier, discussing what would be good for a late night meal.

Opting for a meal at the pier, they settled on a small burger place that boasted the best burgers at the end of Route 66.  As they began to enjoy their meal, the fireworks commenced out beyond the pier.  No one could argue that they did have some of the best seats in the house.

***********************

 The skies were still gray but the evidence was there that spring was right around the corner.  The melting snow was one of the visible promises that spring was trying to make an appearance but Mother Nature always had one more trick up her sleeve.

Bree stretched out on the bed in the living room, listening to dripping sound of the icicles in the mid-day sun.  Usually she loved this time of year with the renewal of life all around but she wasn’t finding much joy in it this time.  Her one attempt at escape had been foiled by her own inadequacies.

Winter had settled in with a vengeance and along with it, Ethan was now holed up in the cabin with her.  Slowly the bruises from that escapade faded and along with that, her defiance.  She found herself so afraid of what mood he would be in when he woke up or came in from outside that she did just about anything he asked of her.  The final straw was when he pulled out the joint.

The remorse that pulsed through her was almost too much to bear.  She gave in way too easy to the pull of the marijuana.  When Ethan extended his hand all those months ago, she regretfully took it from him.  She was beaten down and felt it was hopeless to resist anymore.  He was never going to let her go so she saw no reason as to why she should defy her circumstances.  Instead she embraced the drug and gave into the underlying depravity that Ethan offered.

By her best guess she was thinking it had to be around the middle to the end of March, putting her captivity at eight to nine months.  Hearing movement from the other room, Bree stood up.  Blackness crossed her vision for a second causing her to reach out to the wall.

Ethan entered the living area and was surprised to see Bree standing very still with her eyes closed tightly.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled rather testily.  “Just stood up too fast.  Give me a minute and I’ll find you something to eat.”

“No, sit down.  I’ll get my own food,” he replied in a testy tone right back.

‘It’s gonna be a banner day,’ she thought sarcastically as she slowly opened her eyes back up.  She watched as Ethan set about the kitchen to make something to eat.  As he set the pan on the stove, she remembered back to when she first found out that the cabin was actually set up for electricity.

It was dark in the cabin when she finally woke up.  The beating she had endured the previous day due to her escape attempt had left her stiff and sore.  The rape she pushed from her mind as the brutality of it still put her into a state of panic.  Slipping quietly out of the bed, she slid her hand along the edge of the bed hoping to avoid stumbling into the footboard or something else.  She stretched her arm out in front of her to make contact with the door before her body did.

She found the doorknob without problem and slipped from the room.  The moonlight lay palely across the bed near the window.  She sat down and let the tears flow silently down her cheeks.  The betrayal she felt that she had made towards Johnny with the acceptance of her captivity and submission to Ethan’s advances squeezed every emotion out of her.  Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rocked back and forth as the tears kept flowing.  She never heard the door to the bedroom open.

“Bree?” asked Ethan.  “You out here?”

Suddenly the room brightened up scaring Bree into reality.  She jumped up when she realized that the room was lit up by electricity and not the kerosene lamps he had left for her.

“How long has this place had electricity?” she shouted in a hoarse voice.

“For almost the past thirty years,” he replied with a chuckle.

“And you were going to clue me on this when?” she stated in a loud voice.  “You led me to believe that this place was primitive and that there was no electricity whatsoever!”

“Why would I want to give you all the comforts of home when you were being an ungrateful brat?” he retorted.

Bree took a deep breath as she knew this could head down an even uglier path if she continued to argue with him.  “How did you manage to keep this hidden?  I will admit that I don’t see where any light switches are.”

“If you had moved any of the pictures on the walls, you would have found a light switch for each room.  Then again, Bree, you never have been very observant when it comes to your surroundings.”

Her memory of the one and only time she tried to escape was etched forever in her consciousness.  She knew that there was no way she could forget Ethan’s brutality.  She never dreamed he was capable of that much violence.  Sure he had shown just how nasty he could be as far as verbally and yes he had shown he was very capable of raping…but it still took her breath away as she remember each blow that rained upon her body.

The sound of bacon hitting the hot frying pan swiftly brought her back to the present.  She wasn’t sure if she dared move to fast as her head was still swimming with fogginess and she still felt like she could faint.  Tentatively she took a couple of small steps towards the kitchen…and when she found herself still in an upright position, she kept on going.

Ethan could hear Bree moving slowly behind him.  The creaking floorboards always let him know when she roaming around in the middle of the night.  It seemed that her restlessness was increasing as the weather began to change and he wondered if it was only a matter of time before she would try to take off again.

Flipping the bacon onto its other side, his thinking led him down the path of Bree’s first escape attempt.  It had totally taken him by surprise that she had the gumption to even do such a thing.   The bruises he had seen on her the next day left him puzzled as to how she received them but justified it as happening when he had flung her over his shoulder in the woods and then dumping her on the bed upon return to the cabin.

Chuckling as he heard her come closer, he speared a slice of bacon with the fork in his hand and held it out the side.  It startled Bree when she saw the fork come around…until she saw the bacon on it.  She giggled as she took the slice off the fork and bit into it.

“How do you want your eggs?” asked Ethan as he watched the satisfied smile cross her face when she bit into the bacon.

“Scrambled,” she replied.  “This tastes so good.”  She closed her eyes as she slipped the last bite into her mouth.

“Never would have guessed that by the look on your face,” he chuckled.  “Not to mention the sigh of pleasure I heard as you at that slice.”

Raising her eyebrow, she looked at him through one half-opened eye, muttering something to the extent of him being a smart aleck.  Ethan chuckled as he reached for the powered egg container.   Quickly measuring out what he needed, he added extra ingredients to make an omelet.  As he whisked the eggs, he checked the pan to make sure it was heating up but not burning the butter he placed in it.  Seeing that it was sufficiently melted, he poured the eggs into the pan and began to scramble them.

Watching Ethan pour the eggs into the pan, she could feel her stomach rumble in anticipation of breakfast.  But what happened next took her completely by surprise.  She wasn’t sure if it was the bacon she had just eaten or if it was the smell of the eggs hitting the hot pan but she knew that her stomach wasn’t rumbling out of hunger.

“Oh dear!” she cried as she turn and ran as fast as she could to the bathroom.  Dropping to her knees, she hunched over the toilet as what little contents of her stomach had in it came back to the forefront.   As wave after wave of dry heaves attacked her, one thought keep coming back to her.  Her body shook with fear, not weakness, as her worst fear from captivity came to fruition.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he reached to pull her hair back from her face.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she told him as she tried to control her fear.  “It just hit me.”

“Well, the bacon wasn’t exactly cooked all the way through when I handed it to you.  That could be part of it.”

She nodded her agreement with his statement but deep inside she knew that wasn’t true. 

Bree felt she needed to compose herself before she told Ethan her discovery but it scared her to think of what his reaction might be.

Sensing she wanted to get up, Ethan placed his hand under her elbow and helped her to her feet.  He had her sit on the edge of the tub while he moistened a cloth to wipe her face with. 

She took the cloth from him and covered her face.  Ethan could tell something was not quite right but was having trouble figuring out what it was.  When she started shaking, he had no doubt something was definitely wrong.

“Bree, don’t hide anything from me.  I know something is wrong,” he stated firmly as he placed his hand under her chin.  “Look at me, woman!”

Her head shot up and the glare she aimed at him rocked him back upon his heels.  “Don’t hide anything, you say!  Something is wrong, you think!” she shouted.  “You’re damn right something is wrong and I will never, ever forgive you for it!”

He backed up as the diminutive firebrand in front of him found her voice and courage to confront him about the past nine months.

“It’s bad enough that you took me from my home, ripped my child from my arms and did God only knows what with her…but this is the final straw!  I could have dealt with almost anything you handed out to me…the beatings, the rape…but this is more than I can bear!”

Bree forcefully kept shoving her finger into Ethan’s chest.  He kept backing up out of the bathroom, past the kitchenette and into the living area.  He heard her say ‘beatings,’ ‘rape,’ but couldn’t comprehend what she meant by that.

He could hear her shouting at him, babbling about betrayal and loss but still couldn’t understand what had her so riled.  The finger poking soon gave way to her closed fist hitting him square in the chest.  Ethan finally had enough and grabbed both of her wrists.

“What the hell are you so upset about?  So you threw up because the bacon was a little undercooked and didn’t sit well with your stomach.  That is no reason to take it out on me.”

Bree looked at Ethan, totally amazed that he still didn’t get what she just said.  “Are you that dense?” she all but screamed at him.  “I’m not ill from the bacon.  I just told you I think I’m pregnant!”

Stunned silence to her announcement greeted her.  Bree watched as the color drained from Ethan’s face as he backed against the wall.  She wasn’t sure if she should reach out and shake him or just throw a cup of water into his face.

Her statement astounded him.  Not able to look into her eyes, Ethan turned away. His mind raced as he searched within himself to understand what she just told him.  As he strained to make sense of everything, he stumbled against the wall as the memories rushed from his subconscious, forcing him to remember the events from the past nine months and beyond. 

Ethan’s knees buckled as he sunk to floor in disbelief.  One memory after the other flooded his consciousness, showering his psyche with unmitigated horrors.

Bree stared at Ethan’s shaking back, wondering what had him so shook up.  She heard the long, soft moan escape from his clenched lips as he rocked back and forth.  She was torn between reaching out to comfort him and hiding should his demeanor change to rage. 

Empathy won out.  He turned his head as her soft touch reached him causing her to gasp as she saw the horror and dismay displayed in his eyes.  She knelt down in front of her childhood friend, all fears erased as she encompassed him within her arms.

She held Ethan as he tried to deal with the demons in his mind, as he tried to face what he remembered doing.  She could hear him muttering “Not again” over and over.  She knew he didn’t realize she was still there or that she was holding him.  Bree knew she needed to try and pull him back from the edge of the precipice that he was standing in front of in his mind.

“Ethan, look at me,” she said softly.  “Talk to me.  Don’t shut yourself away.  Keeping this to yourself is no good.”

“I can’t talk about it, Bree,” he said through clenched teeth.  “It’s too awful.  I have done so many awful things…I don’t even want to think about it.”

Swallowing back her fear, she stated, “It doesn’t matter.  This is eating you up inside and you need to let it out.”

“I can’t!” he shouted as he shoved away from her as the words tumbled from him.  “I just can’t talk about what I’ve done.  I don’t want to believe it is real.”

She could visibly see the change in Ethan the minute he shoved her from him.  The frantic pacing, the mumbling under his breath, the man she didn’t recognize had returned.

The pacing came to a sudden halt.  Ethan turned to Bree and fear replaced the bravado she had been feeling earlier.  She cringed as he reached for her, yanking her off her feet.  The first blow glanced across her shoulder sending her to her knees.  She never saw the next one as his foot swung out and caught her in the abdomen.  As she lay grasping for air, he picked her up off the floor and tossed her like a rag doll at the door.   Mercifully she lost consciousness, never feeling the other blows that rained upon her.

*******************************

  Spring was in the air but Johnny didn’t feel like enjoying it.  No news is good news is what the detectives kept telling him every time he called to see how things were going in Bree’s kidnapping case.  As far as he was concerned, they were just stringing him along as they really had no clue what was going on.  The FBI had even been asked to consult on the case but they were just as clueless as the LA Police Department.  Somehow Ethan made good on his threat and had disappeared completely with Bree.

He saddled up the gelding with the intent of taking a long relaxing ride on the trails to help clear his mind.  Even though things were starting to pile up, Johnny found it impossible to still his mind.  Instead of following the trails, he found himself guiding the pinto down the road in the opposite direction towards the McNamara ranch.  The police tape roping off the road into the ranch was gone.  Clicking his tongue, he slowly encouraged the animal down the lane towards the ranch.

The sight that greeted him took him by surprise.  The whole place was a mess.  A portion of the yard has been torn up by the vehicles entering and leaving the ranch.  The investigators obviously weren’t going to leave any stone unturned but didn’t care how the place looked afterwards.  He knew that they weren’t going to leave anything to chance, making sure they had every clue in this case especially in the murder of Henry McNamara.  He just couldn’t believe that they could destroy the place like this.

Shaking his head in disgust, Johnny dismounted and led the pinto towards the back where he would be out of sight should someone head down the lane and into the yard.  As he stepped through the backdoor into the laundry area, it amazed him that even that room hadn’t escaped being tossed.

Taking care not to disturb anything, he gingerly stepped around overturned baskets and walked down the hall to the main room of the house.  Drawers of the hutch were left hanging open along with the doors.  End tables nestled next to the couch and recliner were tilted as if someone was expecting to see something slide out from underneath.  The more he glanced around the room, the more it seemed to him that this was not the work of the police but of someone intent of finding something specific.

With his curiosity in full swing, Johnny weaved his way through the mess.  He wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for but he knew that somehow Ethan had something to do with the chaos he was witnessing inside his former neighbor’s home.  Room after room he found nothing undisturbed.  As he stood in the middle of what he could only assume was the bedroom, Johnny stood quietly next to the upended mattress staring at the floor.

Something about the corner of the floor looked rather odd to him.  Kneeling down for a closer look, Johnny noticed that the edge of the board was not quite flush with the rest of the floorboards.  He pulled his pocketknife out and pried at the edge until it loosened up enough for him to grasp with his fingertips.  Peering into the opening, he could see a small metal box just off to the side.  Johnny said a silent prayer that something wouldn’t bite him as he placed his hand into the opening, grasping the box.

‘What are you doing, Gage?’ he silently asked himself as he sat down on the edge of the bedframe.  ‘You should be calling the cops on this.’  Ignoring his own thoughts, Johnny opened up the box.  Inside were many papers and from what he could see, most of them legal papers.   The first was an envelope that was addressed as “To Whom It May Concern”. 

As he read the first sentence, the realization of what was in front of him slowly sunk in.  Shock crept across his face and encompassed him as he continued reading, finding it hard to keep his grip on the pages in his hands.  The envelope slid to the floor as the scope of the letter penetrated his numbed brain.  ‘Oh my God,’ he thought as he slipped off the bedframe to the floor.

******************************

  The groaning she could hear was her own.  With each movement she attempted, her muscles cried in protest.  She struggled to open her eyes, not wanting to succumb to the darkness that was threatening her from the edge.  As much as she didn’t want to, she cried out to Ethan.

“Ethan!”

She couldn’t tell if he replied as the ringing in her ears intensified when she called out his name.  She tried shouting his name again but heard nothing in reply.  When she realized that she was more than likely on her own, Bree knew that she needed to dig down deep and find the strength to get up.

Pushing up onto her hands and knees, she gasped for air as the pain was almost overwhelming.  The pain slowly subsided as she got her breathing under control.  She used the edge of the chair to pull herself up.  Sitting cautiously, she surveyed the room knowing that she was truly alone as Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

Bree could feel the cramping of her abdomen but it barely registered in her mind.  Her first thought was to get out.  Standing up, her eyes scanned the room in hopes that Ethan might have left his keys somewhere in the cabin.  She couldn’t believe her luck when she spotted them lying on the bed in the living room.  Forgetting the pain for a moment, she lunged at the keys, scooping them into her hand.  She ignored the throbbing of her head as she bent down to unlock the manacle around her ankle.

Steadying herself by leaning against the wall, Bree made her way to the bedroom.  Grabbing her oversized purse, she crammed two notebooks into it.  She slipped her feet into a pair of flip flops and walked onto the cabin’s front porch.  Breathing in the fresh mountain air, she felt a renewed hope that she might make it home.

Perusing the grounds around the cabin, Bree recognized the way she had tried to escape by before and decided to pursue a different direction.  Instead she followed what she thought might be a small path heading in the opposite direction.  With each step, her muscles screamed and the cramping in her abdomen increased.  As much as she wanted to just lie down and give into the darkness pushing from the edges of her consciousness, the fear of Ethan finding her again kept her going beyond the limits of her endurance.

She wandered in a crisscross pattern, wishing she had something to hang onto while walking.  Stopping to catch her breath every so often, she strained to hear if anything or anyone was coming in her direction.  Fear clung to every fiber of her being as she made her trek.

The sun was now behind her and she could feel the temperature slowly dropping.  The path weaved a downward slope.  The shadows danced around the path in front of her feet.  Above the trees, an eagle soared upon the wind.  Squirrels scolded her as she disturbed their foraging.

The shadow of the eagle crossed her vision causing her fevered brain to panic.  In the delusion her mind was playing Ethan had caught up with her and was reaching down from the treetops.  She screamed and tried to run.  Stumbling over a tree root, she fell to ground landing on her already bruised abdomen.   Another scream tore from her throat before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

It was dark when she regained consciousness.  Her body shivered in the cool, damp air but her fevered mind did not feel the cold.  She summoned the strength to get back to her feet and continue on in the dark.  Humming a favorite childhood song, she meandered down the path, giggling out loud as she thought about the itsy bitsy spider.  Halfway through her humming of ‘starlight star bright’, Bree realized she was standing in the middle of a glen.  The moon lit up the area and in the distance she thought she could see a cabin.   Fear held her back as in her mind she was seeing the cabin that she had spent the last nine months in, but the pull of rescue and civilization being close at hand was stronger than her fear.  With a renewed surge of energy, she continued going forward with hopes of a kind human being inside. 

She staggered towards the path that led to the cabin but the slight incline proved to be too much for her weakened state.  Stumbling to put one foot in front of the other, Bree sank to her knees, crying.  She tried to call out to the occupants of the cabin but had no strength to shout.  The cramping had started anew in her abdomen and as she slowly sank to the ground, a warm feeling spread throughout her lower body.

*********************************

  Inside the cabin, the park ranger had just settled down for a long evening.  The book he had brought with him just wasn’t holding his interest.  He had come up that afternoon to check on the equipment and ready the cabin for the upcoming spring hiking season.  By the time he had finished with his inspection of the roof, dusk had fallen.  He radioed back to base and said he was going to spend the night up there and return in the morning.

His restlessness even surprised him.  Setting his book down, he walked over to the window to check out the bright moon.  The moon wasn’t the only thing that greeted his eyesight.  In the distance, he thought he glimpsed a white object lying on the path that led to the cabin.  His restlessness forgotten, he grabbed his jacket and hurried down the path.

To his astonishment, the object was actually a human dressed in a long, white gown.  He knelt beside the body and gently rolled it over.  In the dim beam from his flashlight, he could see the bruised face of a young woman.  A groan escaped the woman’s chapped lips. 

Brushing the hair from her face, he could feel the heat rising from her forehead.

He slowly swept the flashlight’s beam down her body and was horrified to see the blood that stained the lower half of the gown she was wearing.  Not wanting to move her for fear of injuring her further, he took of his jacket and draped it across her body.  He ran quickly back to the cabin, grabbing the radio.

“Base, this is station 132.  Repeat, this is station 132.  I need help up here ASAP!”

“132, this is Base.  Can you repeat your request?”

“Base, station 132.  I need help…medics, anything.  I found a young woman lying on the path a few feet from the cabin.  She’s in bad shape, covered in blood.”

The ranger at the base station turned to his coworker motioning for them to call for help.

“Jesus.  Ron, what the heck is going on up there?”

“I have no clue.  All I know is the girl is in bad shape.  I don’t know where she is bleeding from, how bad she is hurt.  It’s too damn dark to see outside and I don’t know if I dare move her.”

“Get back out to her.  Greg is on the phone right now calling for help.  We’ll get up there as soon as we can.”

The ranger dropped the radio mike and ran back out to the girl.  She hadn’t regained consciousness and that scared him.  He knew she was burning up with a fever but at the same time was losing body heat with nothing but that nightgown on.  Running back up to the cabin, he grabbed the quilt off the bed and took it back to her.

Gently covering her with the quilt, the ranger sat down beside her and softly lifted her head to cushion it from the hard ground to wait for help to arrive.  As he tucked the quilt in around her, another soft moan escaped her lips.  He leaned his head closer to her and whispered softly in her ear that help was coming and that she was safe.  Before she lapsed back into unconsciousness, the ranger thought he heard her mutter someone’s name…Johnny.

To be continued

Links to Parts 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.