In the Blink of An Eye by Jerry Baggett (ebook reader for surface pro TXT) 📕

in hell for this fiasco. It could kill my medical practice.” He listened to her breathing for a moment. “I’m not blaming you, Samantha. I really need you here to look after my elderly patients. Angel can’t carry the load, even if she could work six days every week. I also want you back in my personal life. Can we talk about that some more? Just meet me someplace for a private conversation. I’ll look after you. We can end those threats on your life.”

“Steven! How could you possibly do that? You’re not involved in that, somehow, are you?”

“You know I wouldn’t hurt you. I’m not without influence in our community, however.”

“I’ve never seen this side of you. This is a serious problem. People have already died, and I’m frightened.”

“Just leave that fly-by-night guy and come back to where we were. We can travel the world and never work again. I told you that before. I can give you so much more. We’ll retire together on that small island I own in the Caribbean. We were meant for each other, Samantha.”

“Don’t talk that way, Steven. You know it’s meaningless. Besides, there’s a lot you don’t know about me, and now, you’ll never know. Please don’t make me regret our once close relationship.”

“So that’s how you feel,” he said. “When things start to fall apart with that guy, just remember I told you it would end badly.” He felt the line go dead. She hung up on me. That’s spitting in my face. She shouldn’t have done that.

He felt stressed. The dead hog in his office. He knew what it meant. Something serious is going on. There’s no way in hell that could be a simple prank. Someone’s sending me a message and I’m taking it seriously. My lifelong partners have to be involved in this.

He decided it prudent to remove all personal valuables from the safe in his office and visit his safety deposit box at the bank. He cancelled plans with the kids and called his ex-wife. There was only one place he could find answers to what was going on. A quick visit to the ranch was long overdue.

Chapter 35

Maria pressed her back against a huge pine tree, hugging the bag of food tightly against her body to hold some of her body’s warmth. She shivered from the dampness at first, now, she shook violently from head to toe. She craved sustenance and attempted to eat. Light rain fell around her, not on her, then one large drop found its way through the thick foliage above to plop into the jar of peanut butter she struggled to consume. She continued to scoop peanut butter out of the jar with three long thin fingers. She dropped her head and closed her eyes.

Oh Lord, our God above. I know I am a sinner. I ask for your help again. Not for myself, this time, Lord, but for my son and my mother who depend on me. Please lead me out of this situation of my own making so I can care for them. I ask not for my forgiveness, but for their wellbeing, amen.

She knew she had to find shelter. The darkness gave way to weak moonlight momentarily as clouds thinned, allowing reflection off a wet road. She heard a vehicle, no, two vehicles drive past going to the old house she had set on fire. She remained down behind the tree. Why didn’t the fire department come? Mr. Marino and Hans have another car now. What’s going on? They may leave after finding the house burned. There’s smoke, it’s still burning.

They didn’t stay long enough to search for me. She heard them leave, driving dangerously fast. She waited another half hour before moving away from protection of the tree. She cautiously worked her way along in the dark, prepared to flee into the heavy growth again if they came back.

She stood in light rain and stared at dark shapes taking place against a slowly lightening sky line. Some kind of old buildings. She walked closer to the nearest structure. An old Barn. Grass is growing all around, no sign of people here.

Maria screamed herself awake. She awakened inside a silk lined casket. No! A family of racoons scampered out the doorway. They had awakened her from her nightmare. She knew it was more than just a nightmare. She had lived the terrifying ordeal. She had asked God for a quick death.

She looked around. It must be near midday. The racoons had scavenged her food. Light rain still rattled the tin roof of the barn. She was wrapped in rough burlap sacks she’d found in the barn. They smelled of mildew and other strange smells. That had not kept her from wrapping herself in one bag and pulling another up from her feet to her chin. She had fallen asleep quickly, before her body had warmed enough to stop the shaking. Maybe God does hear my prayers.

Her mind wouldn’t let go of the dream. She kept on waking up inside the casket. She knew they were injecting her with drugs. She had never cared for the feeling. She felt she could survive the physical attack and sexual abuse of her body, maybe not the mental trauma. Waking up sick inside the small, dark enclosure had turned her mind to jelly within minutes. She’d screamed herself hoarse and scratched the lining out of the overhead the first time. Her fingernails were worn away, and the tips of her fingers scraped raw.

She had very little memory of things happening outside the casket. She would wake up enough to eat, use the toilet with one of them helping her, and go back to sleep. Hans was always brutal. He slapped her across the face whenever he wanted her awake. She didn’t want to wake up and fought to sleep,