Chasing Shadows (complete)

Chapter 18

WARNING: This chapter contains material with mature themes not suited for a younger audience. Reader discretion is advised.

"Marianne!" Jenny cried out and rushed to her friend's side.

Marianne had been beaten and there were bruises and dried blood covering her face, but there was no question in Jenny's mind it was her. Why had he taken her co-worker? Jenny thought he was after her because she could ID him as Chrissy's abductor, but why add to the list, then?

"What happened to you?" she asked, fruitlessly trying to get the chains off of Marianne's wrists.

Marianne stared wide-eyed at the man behind Jenny, not responding to her question. In a matter of seconds, a large hand was gripping Jenny's hair and pulling her up by the roots, away from Marianne. She struggled, grasping at his hand with both of hers, but he was relentless. She was shoved against a wall and pushed down to the floor where shackles like Marianne's were waiting for her.

"Put them on," he commanded, his gun trained on her again. "All of them."

There were four pieces that could lock around something small, like a wrist or ankle. Jenny hesitated. If she did as he told her, she was stuck with no hope of escape. He hadn't shot her yet, so maybe he didn't want to -not until the timing was right, at least. Could she attempt to run? Soft sobs drew her attention to the corner Marianne was huddled in. No, she couldn't run. She couldn't abandon her friend.

"I'm not going to tell you twice," he warned and cocked his gun for emphasis.

With her eyes back on the barrel, Jenny obeyed, clicking each piece in place.

"Stand up," he commanded and Jenny struggled to do so. The chains around her feet allowed for some movement, but the shackles around her wrists were too short to stand up fully.

"I can't," she said, her back bent with the chains pulled tight.

"I said, stand up," he repeated and Marianne whimpered from across the room.

Jenny pulled harder on her restraints and cried with the stretch of her arms and the metal breaking her skin. She couldn't stand up straight without tearing off her extremities. Surely he had to see that.

"Good enough," he muttered and walked away. Jenny slumped to the floor.

Their captor left the cottage a few minutes later and Jenny immediately addressed Marianne, still whimpering in the corner.

"How long have you been here?"

"Friday night. He... he said he was taking me away for the weekend." Marianne's voice was raw from crying, and Jenny strained her ears to hear.

"Did he kidnap you from the mall?" From the parking lot outside her bookstore as Jenny had always feared?

"No. He picked me up after work. Said it was a surprise."

"You know him?" Jenny's eyes widened. How could she have missed Chrissy's abductor being involved in her co-worker's life? Was she that self-absorbed? Jenny felt guilt wash over her.

"It's Jimmy," Marianne sniffled. "Jimmy Kane."

2003

"You know, this could have gone a completely different way," Jarrod tsked as Chrissy came to, finding herself tied to a chair in a dingy room with hunting trophies mounted on every wall. A hunting cabin. "I thought we could have some fun today, get a little buzzed, have a little sex... then you had to go and ruin it with your smart mouth. Now, we're back to Kane's plan. Personally, I prefer my plan, but whatcha gonna do, huh?"