Chapter Ten!
Ronnie's heart was racing as the sun began to set in the distance. It felt like they had been driving for almost an hour, as houses had begun to disappear. They were in the country now, very far from home. Luke was mumbling to himself for the whole drive, as he occasionally shot a glance at Ronnie through the rear-view mirror.
"Comfy baby?" He would ask, with a rough laugh. Ronnie had tried to struggle out of the duct tape binding her wrists together, but they were too tight. She could feel her hands growing numb, as the tape was beginning to cut off her circulation. Even if she could get the tape off, she knew there was no chance of escaping. She couldn't jump out of the car; Luke was driving much too fast, already over the speed limit. Even if he stopped the car, she knew she wouldn't be able to outrun him, or overpower him; he was too strong.
And he has a gun.
Ronnie felt herself growing more and more frightened as Luke pulled into a stone driveway, leading up to a very rundown old farmhouse. Ronnie began to struggle fiercely again, even though she knew her odds.
"Hey don't get too excited R-R-Ronnie." He rolled his tongue as he turned in his seat. "It's just my dad's old place. He left it to me when he died. I never come here, but since nobody knows about it, I figured it's the perfect place to hide your pretty face." He got out of the car and opened the back door, unbuckling Ronnie's seatbelt. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out, slamming the door behind him. He began to pull her toward the house, and Ronnie tried to struggle away from him, but he overpowered her.
"Stop it baby." Luke said as he pulled her harder. Ronnie didn't, she tried to put up a fight, but Luke took his free hand and slapped her hard across the face. Ronnie felt hot tears in her eyes as Luke stared hard at her.
"When I tell you to do something, you do it, got it? Remember baby, I've got a gun." Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gun, showing it to Ronnie. Ronnie stopped struggling as she had vivid flashbacks of her own father pulling out a similar looking gun no more than six months ago.
"That's better. See? I'm not going to hurt you baby, but you gotta do everything I tell you. Do you understand?" Luke was waving his gun back and forth, eyebrows raised as Ronnie swallowed hard and nodded. She was aware that every part of her body was shaking. Luke stared at her for a minute, as if considering whether or not her answer was sincere. Ronnie hated how he looked at her, up and down, as if he could see right through her.
"Good girl, now let's go. I have a little job for you."
Annie's hands shook as she tried to drink some tea, but her nerves were shot. She sat at a table across from Eric and Officer Matthews, who was writing up a report. Mary, Lucy and Simon stood by the door. Nobody said a word while Officer Matthews took notes. Annie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was past 7:00p.m. now and Ronnie hadn't come home or called. Eric had asked Ruthie to play with Sam and David for a while upstairs; he didn't want the younger children to be privy to this.
"You said she was at basketball practice?" Matthews spoke up, breaking the silence. Annie only nodded, clutching her warm mug tightly. Officer Matthews made more note as the family watched worriedly. Mary, Lucy and Simon all felt sick to their stomachs as they wondered where Ronnie could be. Did she get lost? Simon thought. Was she kidnapped? Lucy wondered. Was she…killed? Mary shuddered as she heard the doorbell. Annie jumped up but Lucy said she would answer it. She already knew it was Matt, whom she had called about twenty minutes ago. Lucy had told him all about Ronnie's disappearance and Matt had wasted no time, getting in his car and driving over right away.
"Hey Matt." Lucy said with a faint smile as she answered the door. Matt could tell by the look of worry on Lucy's face that Ronnie had not been found.
He followed Lucy into the kitchen where Annie stood to give him a hug.
"Have they found anything mom?" Matt asked as he squeezed his mom tightly. Annie shook her head.
"Mary found her backpack on the side of the road, but Ronnie wasn't around." She replied. Matt nodded and the phone rang! Everybody jumped from their seat and Annie was the first to answer the phone.
"Ronnie?" She answered as her voice shook. Everyone stared hard at her as a look of disappointment crossed her face. She held the phone out to Eric.
"It's for you." She sighed and sat down again. Eric felt disappointed too but he took the phone and answered it.
"Is this Reverend Camden?" The voice asked. There was something oddly familiar about this voice, Eric thought.
"Yes it is. Can I help you?" He asked. Silence followed for about ten seconds before the voice on the other line began to laugh.
"Sucks having your kid taken away from you, doesn't it Eric?" The voice said and Eric's heart skipped a beat. How did this person know?
"Who is this?" Eric asked after a minute.
"I think you know. I'm just paying back the favour. You took my kid away from me, and you know the old saying, 'an eye for an eye." The man replied and Eric knew right away that this was Chad's father, Luke Delano.
"You took Ronnie?" Eric asked nervously, and he could hear the shuffling of chairs behind him as his family and Officer Matthews crowded around him. There was more laughter on the other end of the phone.
"She's a pretty girl, Reverend. Her real parents must have been a good-looking pair." Luke said. Eric felt every part of his body shaking as he took deep breaths and tried to remain calm as he talked to the kidnapper of his daughter.
"What do you want Luke?" Eric asked angrily as his wife stared at him desperately, as well as his children.
"You know Eric, you're a smart man, so this shouldn't be hard for you to figure out. You took my kid away from me, so I repaid the favour. So it's fairly simple; you give me my kid back, and you get yours back. Easy enough, isn't it?" Luke asked. Eric's stomach sank; he had no idea where Chad was now, and even if he did, how could he send him back to this madman?
"Luke, Chad is with social services. You've hurt him too much." Eric tried to be reasonable and calm but Luke wasn't buying any of it.
"Either you get me my kid back, or you'll never see your precious little girl again. I have no problem keeping her here with me, Reverend. She could keep me pretty good company, if you know what I mean. Now I know you're a big family man, so I know you want her back, so I want you to get Chad by tomorrow night. I'll call you then to make sure he's really there, and if he is, then we'll arrange something. I mean it Eric, your daughter is mighty scared over here, and I think she wants to come home, so you'd better do your part." Luke grinned to himself.
"Let me talk to her." Eric demanded. Luke was taken aback. He turned and stared at Ronnie, who was sitting in an old armchair, still bound, with a red mark over her mouth where Luke had ripped the duct tape off to ask for her phone number.
"Why?" Luke asked Eric.
"Because I want to make sure she's okay. How do I know you haven't already killed her?" Eric replied, all too familiar with hostage situations. Luke sighed and glared at his victim.
"Fine." Luke brought the telephone over to Ronnie and pulled out his gun.
"Your daddy wants to talk to you; make sure you're all fine. Listen baby, if you say one word about where we are, I'll put a bullet through your head." Luke hissed as he held the gun against her head, using his free hand to hold the phone to her ear.
"Ronnie?" Eric asked after a moment of silence. Ronnie began to cry as she listened to his voice.
"Eric." She managed to say through her tears, as she could feel the pistol against her temple. Eric's heart sank as he heard his daughter's voice.
"Did he hurt you Ronnie?" Eric asked.
"Yes, but I'm okay. But I want to come home." Ronnie cried.
"Where are you sweetie?" Eric asked, feeling so nervous, with Annie's hand clutching his arm tightly, wanting to talk to Ronnie herself.
"I-I can't say Eric. He'll…kill me if I say anything." Ronnie felt the phone pull away from her ear as Luke put the gun back in his pocket.
"See? Your little girl is just fine. I'll take good care of her, Rev. You just make sure you have Chad by tomorrow night." Luke hung up the phone.
Eric heard the click and knew he had been disconnected. Eric pulled the phone away from his ear slowly, feeling a lump in his throat as he hung up.
"Eric! Is Ronnie okay?" Annie asked desperately, with the kids staring at him just as curiously. Eric lowered himself into the nearest seat, still shocked from the conversation. He had just spoken to the monster who had taken his daughter away from them, and also to Ronnie, who had never sounded more terrified in her life.
He didn't know what he was going to do, but somehow, he had to figure it out before the next day.