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Chapter 9: The Dark Before
Part 4: Sophie
Sophie heard them: footsteps, more than one pair, moving at a steady clip through the woods. Not much talking, just walking.
Her kidnapper also wasn’t talking, but she knew he was there. She would have heard him leaving the clearing- right?
She felt like she had been curled up in this bush for days. She had risked pulling her phone out after the most recent buzz, and she was so thankful she had looked. Sam was sending help. Okay, his boss was sending help, but same difference. She could stay in this bush as long as it took them to get here.
As long as the creep who had taken her didn’t decide to look for her first. Why didn’t he move? He hadn’t said anything in long minutes either. He probably heard the footsteps, too.
She was suddenly unsure what to do when help arrived. Did she stay hidden and wait until they found the kidnapper? What if he was hidden, too? Should she jump up and announce her presence?
She was so tired. Her legs were cramping from being bent and still after her long hike. Her head hurt. Her feet were probably bleeding. Misery had long since sunk into her mind with heartbreaking finality. She wished she could sing out loud. Singing in her head just wasn’t helping any more. She couldn’t focus on the words long enough, so it just frustrated her.
Jesus… She didn’t even know what to pray for. She remembered a verse about the Holy Spirit interceding on her behalf. Was he doing so even now? She needed all the help she could get but had no clue how to ask for it. She let tears fall down her cheeks for the umpteenth time that night, dropping her forehead onto her bent knees. She was just so very tired…
Those footsteps grew noticeably louder. Closer? She hoped so. What should she do? She wasn’t sure how, but an idea occurred to her that she wished she had thought of earlier. Moving very, very slowly so as not to make a sound, she lifted the neck of the sweatshirt until she could tuck her face into it. Then she quietly shoved her phone under the hem. She hoped the neckline was tight enough to her face to block the light, then unlocked her phone and messaged the dispatch number.
I hear footsteps.
Officers are nearing your location. Is the man still there?
Didn’t hear him leave.
Stay hidden and quiet.
She could do that. She’d been doing it, and just had to keep on. She darkened the phone screen and lifted her face out of the sweatshirt, listening as she could now hear the murmur of voices along with the footsteps.
It sounded like a small army. How many people had come? Also, she felt like she had hiked such a long way from anywhere a vehicle could drive. Those officers had hiked all this way for her? She felt small and insignificant, but so loved in that moment. Jesus might not have come incarnate to save her bodily himself, but he had sent those men and women for her. She knew that down to her soul.
The voices grew a little louder, then ceased. The footsteps slowed, then one set took off at a run.
Chaos exploded around her. Men shouted, more footsteps pounded. Sophie instinctively covered her head with her hands. She felt her phone buzz in her lap, but ignored it. She had to physically bite her tongue to keep from screaming as fear tensed every muscle in her body. She couldn’t see in the darkness beyond the bush that shrouded her.
And then, as suddenly as the chaos erupted, it tapered into almost nothing. There were still people moving and speaking quietly, but the one sound she heard above everything else was that of a grown man whimpering and crying. It sounded so pitiful that her heart wrenched in compassion, even as her mind registered that it was her kidnapper crying.
“Sophie Lane!” A loud voice boomed, causing her to flinch. She wasn’t sure if she should respond yet. She pulled her phone out, ignoring the risk of the light, and sent a text directly to Sam.
They’re yelling my name. Can I come out?
It took so long to send that her name was called out several more times. Still, fear kept her from moving.
Officers have secured the suspect. Do you hear them?
That was the dispatcher, of course. Why couldn’t Sam answer? Ugh, she was being silly.
Yes. Ok to leave hiding?
Yes. Detective Breitung is there.
“Sophie Lane! It’s Sgt. Vic Breitung,” the stocky man’s voice was bigger than him. “You’re safe to come out. Can you hear me?”
She started moving her legs, then yelped as that horrible pins-and-needles sensation pricked her long-numb limbs.
“Sophie?” Vic called again.
“Here,” she tried, her voice catching and rasping. She tried again, this time gaining some strength. “Down here!”
Footsteps sounded, the bush rustled, and then a bunch of hands appeared and three sets of eyes peered down at her.
“How’d you get down there?” Vic muttered. “Need a hand?”
Sophie nodded, fresh tears coursing down her face. She couldn’t stop them if she wanted to. “My legs fell asleep.”
Vic snorted. “Course they did. Poor kid,” he shook his head. “Grab on to us,” he instructed. She reached for their hands, and in short order they had hauled her out from underneath the overgrown bush.
A dozen people stared at her, and it was a horribly embarrassing feeling. She couldn’t hold herself upright at that moment, either. Vic had her sit down, anyway, gesturing over a man wearing a slightly different uniform, no weapons, and carrying a big orange backpack.
“Hi, Sophie,” he greeted. It was unnerving to have all these people know who she was… “My name is Jack. I’m an EMT.” He gestured to the logo on his uniform, now visible in the bright light one of the officers had set up.
“I’d like to take some vitals and make sure you’re safe to move before we head back to the vehicles,” Jack explained.
“Sure,” Sophie nodded. Jack got to work listening to her heart, taking her blood pressure, and asking her to catalog every little thing that hurt. Mostly, it was her feet. Her wrists were a little sore from the rope. That was it, though.
While he worked, she watched two men dressed in head-to-toe black bodily haul her kidnapper off the ground. Several other men filed in behind as they started to leave the clearing. Sophie caught her first glimpse of the man unmasked.
“Oliver?” she whispered. Vic looked at her sharply, but didn’t say anything. She just stared as a man she would have called her friend was dragged in handcuffs away from her.
“We ready to head back?” Vic asked as Jack packed up his bulky backpack.
“Yes, but without shoes I don’t want her walking,” Jack replied. He had cleaned and bandaged the little cuts quite neatly.
“Sanderson!” Vic barked. A bear of a man approached, and Sophie couldn’t help but be a little terrified. She was sitting, making him seem even bigger than normal, but still – he had to be at least 6’4″.
Vic crouched down in front of her. “Sorry, squirt, but I’m too short to give you a piggy-back. Sanderson will, though. You okay with that? We can’t get any kind of vehicle or even a four-wheeler up here reasonably.”
Sophie swallowed and glanced up at the big man before nodding. What choice did she have, really? Hike miles in her useless socks, or accept help even if it was uncomfortable?
Turns out, the massive Officer Sanderson was a kind man with a tiny toddler daughter whom he adored. He regaled Sophie with stories of the little one’s sassy attitude all the way down the hill and back to where they had all parked. Sophie easily forgot the discomfort and was able to just enjoy their company.
As they came into the light shining from the garage of a farmhouse, Sophie caught sight of a familiar golden-haired man.
“Sam!” she shrieked, causing Officer Sanderson to almost drop her on the hard gravel. Sam’s head whipped up, then he ate up the ground between them at a sprint. He caught her just as she squirmed off of Sanderson’s back and wrapped her in a tight hug.
“Oh, Sophie, honey, are you okay?” he whispered as he stroked her hair.
“I am now,” she sighed, finally feeling at peace.