Soul Bonded

chapter SIX



She had to leave.

When it came down to it, that was her only option. Katie wasn’t sure how she would sneak away or where she would go, but that wouldn’t dissuade her from the only course of action that made sense. Remaining here meant willingly putting her life in Rafe’s hands. Better to take her chances on her own. The bad weather and their isolated location meant escape could very well be a suicide mission, but according to Rafe’s friend, she was as good as dead if she stayed. She didn’t know what to believe anymore. In her heart she somehow couldn’t imagine Rafe hurting her, but there was no real reason to trust him. Not after what she’d heard. Maybe he was just a really good actor—sociopaths usually were, right? Given the choice between that and being raped, murdered, and/or tortured, she’d take the cold any day.

Shilah sat on the bed at her side, ears pricked. He seemed to sense her unease, whining low in his throat and nudging her with his nose. She stroked his head to shush him, not wanting Rafe to have any reason to come back. Outside, the sky had gone dark. Rafe had indicated that he was going to sleep soon…she hoped he was at least being honest about that. Once he was asleep, she would investigate the cabin to see if he’d been lying about not having a telephone. If she could call for help, maybe she wouldn’t need to venture into the night by herself. She could just blockade herself in the bedroom until help arrived.

Of course, she had no idea how she would direct the police to her location. Katie sighed deeply. “This just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?”

Shilah lay his head on her thigh and matched her exhalation. Laughing despite her fear, Katie flopped back onto the mattress and closed her eyes. She had some time to kill before Rafe went to bed, no doubt, and conserving her energy was probably the best way to do it. Careful not to get too comfortable, she allowed herself to doze lightly.

Jerking awake some time later, Katie blinked in confusion, then craned her neck to glance out the window. Inky blackness stared back at her. She sat up in a rush, heart pounding as she tried to decide how long she’d been out. Shilah picked up his head and blinked, looking at her expectantly.

“What do you think?” she whispered. “Is your daddy asleep?”

Shilah thumped his tail against the mattress, clearly pleased by the sound of her voice. She stroked his head—he really was a very nice dog—then stood slowly, not wanting him to follow. She held out her hand. “Stay here.”

Shilah immediately leapt off the bed and stretched with exaggerated languor. Katie rolled her eyes and stepped between him and the door, hands on her hips. “I said stay.” She gestured. “Sit.” She was relieved when he obeyed without hesitation. “Now stay.”

She walked to the door and, when Shilah didn’t move, pressed her ear to the cool wood. Silence. She couldn’t hear anyone walking around, which could mean he’d gone to bed, or else he was just sitting quietly somewhere in the cabin. Unfortunately, the only way to know was to look.

“Okay.” Katie took a deep breath, resting her forehead against the door. “If he’s awake, I’m going to tell him that I think you have to go outside to potty. Deal?”

Shilah’s tail smacked against the ground a couple times, then stilled. When she glanced over her shoulder at him, he stared back eagerly as though waiting to see what she would do. With a quick plea to the universe, she gripped the doorknob and twisted it open. A nightlight plugged into a socket near the floor illuminated a dim path to the end of the short hallway, leaving her to wonder what lay beyond. She closed the door behind her, not wanting Shilah to follow. Before venturing any farther, she waited to see if Shilah would bark and alert Rafe to her movement.

The bark never came. Katie stood completely still and strained to catch any noise that would signal that Rafe was awake. Nothing. All she could hear was the sound of her pulse racing, and the rush of adrenaline through her veins. The silence quickly turned oppressive, startling her into action. Frightened or not, somehow the thought of doing something seemed so much less terrifying than continuing to stand there dumbly.

Her legs quivered as she crept down the hall and turned left to find another hallway, this one with two doors, one open, one closed. The open door was a bathroom, which she was sorely tempted to use. She hadn’t peed in a long time, as far as she knew, and the very thought made her bladder burn. Unfortunately, she would have to wait just a little longer. If she wanted the freedom to explore the cabin without attracting Rafe’s attention, making a pit stop wasn’t exactly the height of stealth.

Pushing aside her biological needs, Katie moved past the closed door on tiptoes. There was a good chance that was Rafe’s bedroom. The thought stirred an unwelcome tug of arousal that she couldn’t begin to explain. Surely the fact that Rafe was definitely a liar and probably a crazy person should mitigate her inexplicable attraction to him. Right? So the fact that one part of her wanted to push open his bedroom door and crawl into bed with him had to mean that she was crazy, too. Or that he really had drugged her.

Sickened by the thought, she made her way to the end of the hallway and found herself in a large room that had been sectioned off into a kitchen, a dining area, and, separated by a long bar complete with stools, a sitting room with a couch and fireplace. The light from the nearly full moon shone in through the room’s windows, allowing her to make out the dim shape of the furniture, though not the details of the pictures she could see hanging on the walls. What struck her was that everything looked so normal. Nothing about this man’s home suggested that he was insane or murderous—though, she wasn’t exactly sure what she’d expected to find. A pile of bodies? Guns and knives? A sex dungeon?

Did it really matter that Rafe’s cabin wasn’t littered with evidence of evil intent? She knew what she’d heard. Determined not to linger in the common area any longer than absolutely necessary, she made a slow circuit around the room, starting in the kitchen. She searched the counters for a telephone, dismayed when she couldn’t find one. She’d nearly convinced herself that Rafe had been lying about not having any way for her to contact her parents or her sister, but maybe he was telling the truth. She found a flashlight in a drawer next to the pantry, which she took. Then she raided the pantry, taking some beef jerky that looked homemade, a package of crackers, and a banana. It wasn’t much, but she wouldn’t last in the elements for very long, anyway. If she didn’t find shelter before running out of food, she was as good as dead.

More and more, that seemed like the most likely outcome to this situation. Stay or go, she would be lucky to make it home alive.

She performed the rest of her search in efficient silence. From what she could see in the low light, Rafe was a man who enjoyed reading, photography, and music. His bookcase overflowed with fiction and non-fiction, still more framed nature photos lined the walls, and he had an expensive-looking sound system—by far the most modern piece of technology she’d seen in the place. The fact that he liked such human diversions made him only slightly less ominous. There were probably plenty of serial killers and rapists with good taste in music. The fact that their music collections were nearly parallel—plenty of classic rock, with a smattering of 80’s gothic rock favorites—meant nothing. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill her if that’s what pleased him.

Her next big find was a closet where she found a heavy fleece jacket. She snatched it off the hanger and tucked it under her arm. It looked a lot warmer than her own winter coat, and big enough to layer over the rest of her clothing. If she was really going to make a break for it, she would need the extra protection.

She saw the two-way radio just as she was about to leave the sitting area. It sat on a desk in the corner farthest from the window, cloaked in shadow. At first she didn’t recognize what it was, but the distinctive shape gave it away. Her skin prickled as she crossed the room to examine it. Rafe had said there was no way to contact the police or her family. If the radio worked, and she had no reason to assume it didn’t, then this was evidence of another lie.

She hesitated. If she could use the radio to call for help, she wouldn’t have to actually step out that door into the cold night. She could just sit and wait for rescue. Again. Katie frowned. Last time, that hadn’t exactly worked out. Even if she could figure out how to use the radio to call for help, Rafe might catch her. It could be loud enough to wake him up, and what then? She’d be dead long before help arrived. But going outside…the closer she got to having to really make a decision about what to do, the scarier the thought of fleeing into the woods became. She would almost certainly get lost. She had no sense of direction in the best of times, and the flurries that continued to fall outside would only further disorient her. Not to mention the fact that she had no idea where she was. Rafe said they were three miles from her car, but in what direction? Besides, that could also be a lie. She could be miles and miles from civilization—too far to walk.

After a lengthy hesitation, she picked up the two-way radio and ran her hands over unfamiliar buttons and dials. She had no idea how to use the stupid thing, but she found herself twisting a knob next to the antenna anyway.

Beep.

Katie startled and nearly dropped the radio, bobbling it between her hands frantically before finally regaining her grip. Her finger pushed another button, causing another loud beep. The front display glowed green, intensely bright in the darkened room. Shaking, she turned the knob to power it down, then stayed statue-still as she waited for Rafe to emerge from his bedroom. But there was only silence.

She looked at the radio in her hand, tempted to put it back where she’d found it. But she knew the better move would be to just take it with her. Away from the cabin, she could try to call for help without worrying about being overheard. Leaving her only way to communicate behind would be a dumb move, one she would surely regret if she wound up lost and alone in a blizzard.

Katie swallowed. She supposed this meant she’d made up her mind.

She had to leave.