Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Had she been with Emily? Had Emily given her the locket? Was she on my land specifically because she’d been coming to get me…to help Emily?
“Thank you again for bringing me here. To your house,” she said, slipping onto a stool at the island. It was clear her mind was racing.
“Do you like eggs, Mallory?”
When she lifted her eyes, I got a better look at them—hazel with gold sunbursts. Even her eyes were stunning.
“I don’t know.”
Frowning, I asked, “You don’t know?” Was she pretending to not remember anything or was she truly suffering from amnesia? I couldn’t tell, but my instincts told me she wasn’t pretending.
Tears pooled in her eyes once again, and she reached back and touched a spot on her head. “I think I was hit over the head.”
Quickly turning off the stove, I made my way over to stand behind her. “Point to where it hurts.”
She did so and said, “There was a lot of blood in my hair, and I have a knot right here.”
I gently moved her hair and saw a small bump and an injury that was starting to heal. I felt it, and she sucked in a quick breath.
“I’m so sorry that hurt. It looks like you had a gash in your head. Did you fall?”
She slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think he did it.”
My heart started to pound so loudly that I could hardly think.
I returned to the stove, grabbed the pan, and put the eggs on two plates. Grabbing some bacon, I didn’t even bother to ask her if she liked it. It was clear she couldn’t remember anything, and by the injury on her head, that was likely the reason why.
Adding a biscuit, I slid the plate across the large island. “Orange juice?”
“Um, sure. Thank you.”
I poured us each a glass. Moving slowly, Mallory buttered her biscuit but didn’t add jam. By her own admission she was starving, but I could tell she was trying to be polite.
“When did you last eat, Mallory?”
She put a large forkful of eggs into her mouth and shrugged. She chewed it and swallowed. “Maybe four days ago, if I was here for two.”
Frowning, I tried not to let my anger show. It was clear she was still afraid.
Then she suddenly blurted, “I hit him over the head with a brick and ran. I ran as fast as I could, for as long as I could.”
“Who?”
Shaking her head, she wiped a tear away. “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything but that. All I know is, I was in this basement, a dungeon of some kind, underneath a barn. I’d been there for a few days, two…maybe three. I could see the sunlight shining through one of the floorboards above me. The floors creaked when he walked on them, so I figured it was old. An old barn. I didn’t look back to see once I was outside, but when I was running through it, I saw old stalls.”
My fork fell as I listened to her.
“The walls in the basement were brick. I worked for hours to get one of them free. Whenever he entered the room, I would crawl to the same corner. He would tell me all the things…”
A sob slipped free before she went on.
“All the things he was going to do to me. I knew it could be any day before he did everything he threatened, so I had to get out. He always kept the door open when he came in. I figured I just needed a few minutes to get away from him, out of that basement. Then I could run.”
“You were…kidnapped, Mallory?”
She nodded. “I think so. I woke up in the basement, and I had no memory of who I was or where I was. I was so scared.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat before I asked, “So you hit him and got free?”
“Yes. With every ounce of strength I had, I hit him with the brick, and I ran. I ran so fast, and I didn’t stop. It stormed the first night, but I knew I had to keep going. I didn’t have shoes, and my feet were cold, and I kept stepping on things and cutting my feet, but I had to get away.” More tears fell as she continued. “I ran through some small creeks and across huge fields. I climbed under and over fences. I was exhausted…but so afraid if I stopped, he’d find me. Some of the hills were steep and I was terrified I’d slip and tumble down.”
Holy. Shit.
“I tried to pay attention to where the sun was, you know, so I knew which direction I was running. I didn’t want to run in circles. But there were so many trees, and then then storms blew in, and ultimately…I had no idea. I just ran until I couldn’t physically run anymore. Then the second storm came, and I collapsed. I kind of remember you lifting me up.”