Chapter 4

Abby climbed into the backseat of the car and locked all the doors. She didn't have any weapon, any way to protect herself. If he had a gun, he could break the windows and kill her, and no one would ever know.

"Carter!" Abby whispered his name. She wanted him to be here, to do something to save her from Brian. Why had she come out here by herself? Why hadn't she stayed at Susan's house? She would give anything to be there right now.

The car slowly pulled up behind her.

For a moment, just a moment, Abby imagined that Carter would get out of that car instead of Brian. She would run into his arms, apologize for being such a fool, and beg him to take her back to Chicago.

The car door opened.

Was there any point in trying to run? Wouldn't it be worse to be shot in the back? Or what if he didn't have a gun? Then it might be better to stay in the car.

A man approached the car.

Should she run? Stay? What if it was him? What if it wasn't?

A flashlight shined in the window.

"You need some help?"

Abby opened her eyes, which had been squeezed shut. A large man in overalls stood outside her car. Her body flooded with relief. It wasn't Brian! But what if it was his accomplice?

"I'm...I'm out of gas," she stammered, fear freezing her lips.

"I got me a gas can right here in the back a my pickup." When he noticed that Abby was making no move towards the door, he said, "That's right. I always teached my girls: if you're ever on the road alone, don't be opening the doors to no strange man. Nope!" He chuckled to himself. "I'll go get the gas can," he said, still laughing.

Abby never even thanked the man. As she watched him drive away, she was shocked to be alive. Numbly, she climbed into the driver's seat and pulled back onto the road.

_________________________________________________________________

By the time she got back to the motel, she was almost laughing at herself. How could she have thought that Brian followed her all the way to Virginia? It was crazy. Must be because she was sleep deprived.

As she unlocked the door to her motel room, she promised herself a nice, long bath. She walked towards the bathroom and noticed that something was wrong.

The door was cracked.

Had she left it cracked? Hadn't she closed it? She felt her heart beating in her chest. What if there was someone waiting for her in the bathroom?

In that split second, she knew that she should have closed the door-

Brain burst out, his eyes flaming. "Tell me were she is!" he yelled in her face.

His fist smashed into her jaw.

"I don't know, I don't-" Another punch silenced her. She fell to the ground, blood streaming from the cut in her face.

Why was she still protecting Joyce? Was Joyce's life more important that her own?

"You liar! Tell me where she is!" His foot slammed into her ribcage. She curled into a ball, trying to protect herself.

"TELL ME!" He moved towards her again, fists clenched.

"NO!" she screamed. Her eyes flew open.

She was laying on the floor in her motel room. She was alone.

Grabbing the bedspread, she pulled herself up off the floor. The bathroom door was cracked, just as it had been when she came in. She touched her face, and felt the stitches Susan had put it yesterday.

Brian wasn't here.

What was wrong with her? Why did she keep reliving this? She couldn't do it any more. She didn't want to be alone in this.

Crawling over to the night table, she picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

______________________________________________________

"Think she'll call again?"

Carter shrugged. "I really don't know. She sounded really upset when I talked to her on the phone. I just wish I could see her, maybe then I could get her to talk about this. She can't keep everything bottled up this time, or it's all going to come spewing out."

Susan stood up from the couch. "It's midnight; I better go."

"Graveyard shift again?" he asked.

"Yeah, but at least I'm off tomorrow. Call me if you hear anything, okay?" Carter nodded his assent.

Susan had been gone five minutes when the phone rang. Carter picked it up immediately. "Hello?"

"Carter?"

He bolted upright in his seat. He could hear the fear it her voice. "Abby? What's wrong?"

"I keep thinking I see him, I keep having flashbacks. I can't- I can't stop thinking about it."

Carter wished he were there with her right now. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm in my motel room."

"Where?" Carter already had his pencil out, ready to scribble down the address.

"I...I don't know." Her voice had a desperate edge to it. Carter wondered, What had driven her to call him? And whatever it was, would she be okay until he could get to her?

"Abby, I'm gonna come, okay? I promise, everything's going to be okay. Just hang in there. You have to find the address. Call the front desk, get the address, then call me right back."

"Okay. I'll call right back." She hung up the phone before he could say anything else.

Carter waited anxiously for her to call back. After five minutes had passed, he knew something was wrong.

He pushed callback, but only got a busy signal. Could it really be taking her that long to get the address?

Finally, he looked at the caller ID. He was shocked when he saw the area code, and immediately realized that she hadn't called him from Chicago. She wasn't even in Illinois. So where was she?

Grabbing his cell phone, Carter dialed information. "Yes, I need to get an address for a phone number." As the woman rattled off the address, he prayed that he wouldn't be too late.