Private Lies Part 53
Cal yanked Hailey’s wrist and squinted at her watch. “Almost seven—we’ll wait a quarter hour to be sure.”
“Be sure of what?” she croaked, surveying her surroundings, looking for a possible means of escape.
“That won’t do.” Cal spoke more to himself than her—he had noted the furtive look in her eyes.
He undid his belt, used it to secure her hands behind her back and then pushed her back roughly onto the ground. “That should hold you.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know. No one will think my death was an accident.”
“What, with your record of depression and a failed suicide attempt? Don’t be naïve. Besides, even if they were to figure otherwise, what would it matter? They’d never trace me to you.”
“I haven’t done anything to you,” she wailed.
“Your sins have been adding up, milady.”
“What sins?”
“The sins of the McAdams, the sins of your father—don’t you know? —Alas, they shall be visited on the children to the seventh generation.” He stared hard at her “—In other words, forever Whore.”
“I have committed no sin against you or your father.”
“No sin? –You and your family are the spawn of Lucifer—worse than the False Prophet and his followers.”
“What are you talking about?” Hailey shouted in exasperation.
“Lies of the Grand Equivocator—the face behind the mask—Godfrey Ainsworth.”
“But I don’t believe what he believed.”
“No matter—willingly or not, you’re still part of his sin—you’re his offspring and part of his plot.”
“I’m innocent.”
“Really? You’ve been groomed since childhood to assume this role—Mistress of the Manse,” he spat out the term. “It was written in your mother’s will and you now enjoy the fruits of it.”
“But that was before I knew what I know now. There’s no need to kill me—I’ll gladly give you what you want.”
“Will you now? —Will you give me back my father, my family, or even the dignity of my name? Better yet, perhaps, you can repair my childhood—send me to your schools and give me your education, your degrees—your job?”
Hailey looked at him helplessly.
He smiled bitterly. “I didn’t think so.”
On the same ridge a quarter mile away Star picked up a scent and headed back into the woods. Brad followed close behind.
He was continually scanning for traces of Hailey or her belongings. Almost immediately though, he began to sense something amiss—the trail led directly into the tangled thicket instead of following the natural contours of the terrain—a hiker would not choose such a laborious route. It was hard going and he had to struggle to keep up with Star.
About thirty yards further on, Star stopped in a small clearing and circled—he seemed to detect several trails. Brad allowed him to take his time unraveling the scents, while he took a break to survey the terrain.
The clearing was completely surrounded by trees and the only natural resting place would be beneath a stand of willows directly opposite where he stood. In the meantime, Star, having sorted through layers of confusing scent trails had also focused in on the willows.
As Brad crossed the grassy glade, he began to panic—the sun was waning and turning to a red disc behind the pines.
He approached the stand of trees and saw flattened grass beneath the willows —someone had been sitting recently and the tips of the grass were just beginning to straighten up again. There were two distinct compressed areas indicating that Hailey was not alone.
Star had been exploring the boundaries of the glade and now looped around, backtracking to where they had just been.
He’s confused or there are several conflicting trails.
His stomach felt queasy and there was a bitter taste in his mouth. Suddenly, several yards ahead, Star stopped and began pawing the grass.
Brad ran over and saw a glint off the display window of Halley’s cell, lying discarded in the tangled grass. He picked it up and saw it had died.
He examined the ground for other clues, but the trampled grass concealed any footprints. The evidence seemed to indicate that some sort of struggle took place—the scene was not clearly defined into two separate compressed areas as it was by the willows, instead, it looked like a huge swath of grass had been trampled as if a tussle took place or someone had rolled around on the grass.
Star had been sitting patiently waiting for him as he crouched down and sifted through the clues.
When he got back up onto his feet, Star gave a soft whine indicating he was eager to press on and continue the search.
“Find her, boy,” he shouted and Star turned scampered back towards the willows again.
We’re going in circles, he groaned inwardly, but continued to follow Star’s lead.
Parts 1 -46
Part 47
Part 48
Part 49
Part 50
Part 51
Part 52
To be continued...
really i like it
As he gets closer will it be rescue, or witness.
This post has received a 20.46 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @johnjgeddes.
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