Lucky turned and watched as Tom stepped out from the shadows behind him. He felt his heart pounding as he watched Tom approach him, a maniacal grin on his face.
"Ready to go see your pretty little girlfriend?"
"I want to see her now."
"My, aren't you pushy. But one thing....Lucky.... "
Lucky glared at him. "What?"
Tom stepped closer to him and said, "You better do exactly as I say...every single thing I say you better do...the harder you make it on me, the harder I'll make it on her....got it?"
"Look, I've got it, okay? I just want to see Elizabeth, so stop wasting time and just take me to her."
Tom grabbed one of Lucky's arms and shoved him ahead of him. Lucky tried to yank his arm away from him. "What….?"
"Shut up and walk. You want to see her or not?" They walked to Tom's car and he opened the back door. "Turn around."
Lucky turned around reluctantly. He didn't like the way things were going. With his back to him, he wasn't sure what Tom was doing. Suddenly he felt the material over his eyes and felt Tom tying it at the back of his head.
"What the hell are you doing, man?"
Tom shoved him into the back seat of the car and laughed bitterly. "You really think I'm going to let you know exactly where you're going? I thought you were supposed to be smart." He slammed the back car door and slid into the driver's seat. As he started the car, Lucky kicked the back of Tom's seat in frustration and ran his hands through his hair as he leaned his head against the back of his seat. He wished he had called Detective Taggert or Luke. He knew he was entering dangerous ground by deciding to meet Tom alone. Luke would not be happy with him. After all, his father was the one who had taught him to never back yourself into a corner, the one who had taught him to always, no matter what the circumstances, have back up. It was a Spencer family rule, and he was breaking it, possibly risking Elizabeth's life and his own life further.
Tom drove in silence for nearly two hours. Lucky wished he knew where he was going, but it was impossible to tell or get his bearings with the blindfold over his eyes. He felt the car turn and slow and drive for some time on a winding gravel road, or driveway. When he stopped the car, Tom got out and pulled Lucky from the back seat. Lucky could smell the trees and greenery. They were obviously in a deeply wooded area. As Tom started to push him forward, Lucky stopped. "Wait, I need my backpack."
Tom grabbed it from the back seat and Lucky could hear him as he began to open it. "Well, let's see what we have here." Lucky could do nothing since he was still blindfolded. He had carefully prepared food for Elizabeth. She had told him she was hungry so he had prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and nuts and brownies for her. Tom started laughing. "What is this? Do you think I'm starving her or something?"
"Come on, she told me she was hungry. You have to let her eat."
"Whatever, I don't have time to argue with you." He shoved the backpack at Lucky. Once inside, Tom removed the blindfold and Lucky blinked his eyes to adjust to the dim light in the room. He was inside a small, rundown, dirty cabin. He looked around.
"Where is she? I want to see her now!"
Tom took his arm and pulled him over to a closed door. "RIght in here." He opened the door and shoved him into a dark room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Tom had shoved him so hard he landed on the floor. He was unable to see anything in the room, it was so dark. He whispered, "Elizabeth?"
There was a slight rustling against the far wall and he thought he heard a gasp, but there was no response. He stood up and tried to find a light switch, with no luck. It was too dark in the room to find his bearings. "Elizabeth? Where are you?"
Still there was silence. He moved toward the rustling sound as he heard it again. He felt the blankets on the floor and could hear her breathing. He reached toward the sound and his hand finally found her arm. She pulled it away from him quickly. There was fear in her voice. "Leave me alone!"
"Elizabeth, it's me, it's Lucky, it's okay. I'm here."
He could tell she was sitting up, slowly. Her voice was so low he could barely hear her. "Lucky?"
"Yes, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you."
Her voice was hesitant, but hopeful. "Are you...are you real?"
"I'm real, sweetie. I'm right here. Here, take my hand."
She let him take her hand and then started to cry, and threw her arms around his neck. They held each other for a long minute, then finally pulled away from each other, just enough for him to put his hands on the sides of her face. "Are you okay, Elizabeth? Has he hurt you anymore?"
She shook her head. "No. Lucky...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Why are you sorry? Did you really think I wouldn't come?"
"I knew you would. That's the problem. I shouldn't have called you. He's going to kill you and it will be because of me."
"He's not going to kill me, Elizabeth. And I won't let him hurt you anymore." She could not stop crying. "Lucky, you're not God."
He laughed slightly, "No, but I am a Spencer. That's the next best thing."
Elizabeth pulled away from him, not laughing. "But he's bigger and stronger and he has a knife and I don't know what else "
"Elizabeth, you just have to trust me. Is there a light switch in here?" "Yes but there's no bulb in here."
"Is there a light anywhere? I need to see you. I need to see what he's done to you."
Finally she spoke again, sounding miserable, listless. "In the bathroom. Against this wall."
Lucky stood up and found the door to the bathroom then went back to her and took both of her hands in his. He could feel her shaking. "Can you stand up?"
"I think so." She carefully got to her feet, clutching his arm as he circled her waist with his arms. He helped her into the bathroom and sat her on the toilet seat. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and looked into her eyes. The sight of her left him shaken...she was dirty and there was a nasty cut on her forehead. Her shirt was covered with blood. He took her hands in his again and for the first time he felt the cuts on the palms of her hands.
"Ouch!" She jerked her hands away from him in pain.
"Let me see." He gently took her hands again and turned them over so he could look at them and saw the cuts. He knew they were the cause of the bloody hand prints she had left behind. "What else did he do to you?" He touched her forehead and pushed her hair back off her face, looking at her tenderly.
"I look that bad, huh?" She tried to smile but wasn't very successful.
He whispered. "No, never. You look beautiful, Elizabeth. You always look beautiful to me." He could see that her hair was matted against some blood on her shoulder so he pushed her shirt off her shoulder a little so he could see the wound better. She winced and closed her eyes. He saw the cut above her breast and felt the tears welling in his eyes. He could not bare to think of the pain she had endured when Tom had done this to her.
"Jesus, what did he do to you? Why did he do this?"
"He just cut me a little bit. I'm okay, Lucky." She tried to sound convincing as she took his hand in her two.
"You're not okay. You're cut and it's probably infected. I'm going to try to clean it up a little." He looked toward the sink and saw a small bar of soap, but no clean towels, so he took his shirt off and tore it so he would have a clean rag to use. He began to gently clean the wounds, first her forehead and then the one above her breast. Elizabeth gritted her teeth and wiped her nose. She was crying again, partly from the pain and partly because she was so afraid.
" I wish you didn't have to see me this way."
"Shhh, it's okay. Tell me if I'm hurting you."
"It hurts but I can't really feel it, if that makes any sense. I feel like when..." She stopped.
"Like when? Tell me."
Her voice was quiet. "Like when....like when Bobbie was cleaning me up after the...after the rape... "
"You mean like you've shut down emotionally?"
She nodded. "Numb. There's pain but I almost don't care. All I really care about is you, and now you're going to..." She started to cry harder and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Listen to me. I'm going to be fine. And so are you. You can't let him get to you like this. You have to feel, Elizabeth. Otherwise he wins. You have to show him how strong you are. I know you can do it."
She wilted and slumped against him. "It's not like it was before. I don't have a chance anymore. He has won, Lucky. There's nothing I can do this time."
He gently put his hands on her arms and forced her to look at him. "He has not won, Elizabeth. You have to fight back. Don't you see, he wants you to be weak and vulnerable. That's what gives him his sense of power."
"I'm tired of fighting him. I can't do it anymore. I just don't want him to hurt you."
"Listen to me, I think I know what's wrong. Come back out in the other room with me." He left the light on as he helped her to her feet. They went back to the other room and sat down on the blankets. First he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders because she was shivering, then he opened his backpack and pulled out several bags. "I know he hasn't been feeding you and I think you're too weak to fight. You need to eat. Look, I brought you food. Peanut butter and jelly..."
She swayed a little as she looked at the sandwich. "I feel too sick to be hungry anymore..."
He spoke softly, knowing that if she would just eat she would have more strength and have more will to fight. "You have to eat, Elizabeth. You need your strength. Please just try to eat a little. For me? I have fruit and brownies in here, too. But the peanut butter will give you energy."
Her hand was shaking as she suddenly took the sandwich from his hand. She lifted it to her lips and took a bite...and suddenly, when she tasted the peanut butter, she realized just how hungry she was, and she started trying to cram the sandwich into her mouth.
He laughed a little and put his hand on the side of her face, caressing it softly as he pulled her other hand from her mouth. "Whoa, slow down sweetie, you're going to make yourself sick if you eat it too fast."
"I guess I am still hungry."
He watched as she began to take slower bites and chewed for longer before swallowing. Lucky pulled out a small bottle of juice and removed the lid before giving it to her. She took a long drink and then took a deep breath.
He could see her getting some of her strength back and her hands weren't shaking as much. "That's my girl."
He watched as the tears started to slip down her face again as she ate. He moved closer to her, so he was sitting beside her, and put his arms around her, pulling her close. He whispered. "It's going to be okay, Elizabeth. I promise." Suddenly she dropped the rest of the sandwich and put her arms around his neck again, crying quietly into his neck. He held her, gently stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, then her cheek. She lifted her face to his and whispered, "I love you, Lucky."
"I love you, too, Elizabeth. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
She kissed him on the lips then, more desperately than usual, as if this were their last kiss. He pulled her closer, kissing her back, wanting only to block out reality, to help her forget for at least a little while.
The main door opened and they turned to see Tom standing in the doorway. Lucky pulled Elizabeth closer in an effort to protect her and keep her safe.
"Well isn't this just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen?"