Her Cowboy (Book One Of The Brave Series)

Chapter Thirty

Chapter 30

M.

"That bastard!" I screamed as I slammed on the gas. Rage flooded me, and it took all I had to keep the calm I barely had. Once I had hung up the phone with Mrs. Tyler, Asher and I had hurriedly put the top back on the truck and I hit the driver's seat.

"We need to get back to my house, Mom said there are cops there they may be able to help." Asher said as he hung up his own phone. I nodded sharply, not wanting to. I wanted to find my mom, but I also knew that the police would be able to put out a wider search than I could and faster.

We took turns on nearly two wheels, the bumps on the road jostling us around. That didn't slow me down though. We got to his house in minutes with Asher's directions and thankfully the police were there before us. I burst through the front door and met up with everyone in the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Tyler stood in the corner, his arm around her shoulders while they talked to one officer. Everyone else spoke with three more officers.

One officer, a tall, lanky man with ginger hair and freckles came up to us.

"Hello, I'm Officer Hawps, are you the daughter?" he asked.

"Yes, what happened?"

"It seems like your father has taken your mother."

"How?" I asked. He sighed and motioned for us to follow him. He lead us to the back where my mother's temporary room was and opened the door. I gasped at what I saw. I saw the bed first. The sheets were hanging in tangled heaps around the mattress and floor. Items from the night stand were either strewn or shattered on the floor. My eyes landed on the window next. It was shattered and plastered with caution tape. Shards spread across the carpeted floor and I saw a color I didn't want to see. Now dark, the red blood was splattered around the shards and looking closer I could see it on the shards that still stuck in the window sill.

"The trails lead to the woods but once we hit the tree line, there were too many paths and no more blood to follow." My heart pounded in my ears, my vision became blurry, focusing in and out. My blood boiled as I zoned everything else out around me. Asher spoke to the officer while I slipped out of the room and through the back door. I walked around the house to the broken window and followed the trail of blood and scuffle marks through the snow. The police were right, he covered his tracks well and it was impossible to tell which path he had taken her in.

Well, it would've been impossible, had I not known who had taken her. I had a feeling, and I was going to follow it. I kept walking through the woods following one trail that didn't look exactly like the others. The steps were slightly deeper. Probably from the added weight of carry my mother, whereas the other ones were just him making a distraction.

The path weaved around the trees in a confusing knot. The path was slowly getting covered by the falling snow but when I came to a tree I had marked on my midnight walks through the woods when I first got here, I knew. I came up to the border of the woods and saw the lights on in the house when my phone vibrated viciously in my pocket. I lifted it to my ear and answered.

"Hello?"

"Madeline where the hell are you? The officers needed to speak with you more." Asher scolded me.

"I know where he is, I'm here now."

"Where? Madeline, don't go near him, he's crazy!"

"He has my mother." I retorted.

"Madeline, where are you? Wait for us to get there!"

"He brought her back to my house, bring the cops." I said.

"Wait, Madeli-" but I hung up and put the phone back in my pocket. Looking around I slowly made my way across the snow to the kitchen window. I peeked my head over the ledge only to duck back down when he walked across the kitchen.

Slowly peaking back over it I watched his back walk through the hallway, leading to the living room. Quickly I made my way to the back door and slipped silently inside. I could hear his voice, and stifled steps.

"We're going to be much happier now Honey. She doesn't have to be with us anymore, it can just be us. We can love each other, like before. Right?" there was a crashing sound, then more movement.

"We're gunna go far away, somewhere no one can bother us, no one can find us. Not even her."

What was he talking about? I wondered. I made my way around the end tables and book shelves, making sure to be careful with my steps.

Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough. My foot landed on a loose floor board and it squeaked loudly. The first sound I heard was my mom's muffled voice calling out, but that wasn't what got me to get up and find a place to hide. It was the footsteps I heard coming my way that made me run into the kitchen and hide in the pantry. I grabbed the closest item that would have the most effect. To my disappointment it was a can of beans.

I'm so dead. I knew he would find me. It was just a matter of whether I could do what needed to be done. He may have been a bad parent but...he was still my father, and the fact that that made me hesitate pissed me off. He had my mother gagged, I could tell by the muffled sound of her scream. And she was injured. I held my breath as I heard his footsteps enter the kitchen. He looked around, under the table, the kitchen counters.

"I know you're in here daughter. I knew you wouldn't just leave it alone. You just had to ruin it, just like you ruined everything." His voice was right outside the door. I closed my eyes, my heart pounding in my ears and without taking a second to regret what I was about to do, I slammed out of the pantry directly into him. We both fell to the floor with a hard thump. I blindly reached my hand up and slammed the can of beans down. It collided with something and I heard an 'oomph' sound. I looked up and my eyes widened. He was out cold, blood coming from the beginning of his hairline. My breath escaped in panicked gasps as I hurriedly pushed off him and headed to the living room where I knew my mom was.

I entered the living room to find Mom tied to one of the kitchen table chairs, a sock in her mouth, eyes wide with fear and tears pouring down her face.

"Mom!" I screamed running to her and pulling the sock out of her mouth.

"Madeline, oh my God, Madeline, you need to get out of here. He's going to kill you! He said if you couldn't leave us alone he'd kill you. Get out of here now!"

"I'm not leaving you here with him, we're getting you out of here." I said untying her hands.

"Look out!" I looked up just as something hard contacted my head. Tunnels flooded my vision as I hit the floor trying my hardest not to black out. I looked up and saw the crazed look on my father's face as he held a shovel. His eyes were wide, reddened with anger and his smile made shivers run down my spine.

"Why are you doing this Dad?" There was a harsh laugh as I forced myself to focus on him the best I could. He looked down at me with a sinister sneer as he spoke.

"Because I'm not you father."

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EDITED VERSION

J Vas