“Nope,” bothBenand Adam reached for a weapon and waited until the person got out of the driver seat. Both men relaxed when they saw it was Sheriff Little. They released their hold on their weapons and stood up.
“Sheriff Little,”Bensaid extending a hand when the Sheriff was closer.
“Ben, good to see you, son.” The Sheriff smiled warmly at him and shook his head.
“I didn’t think I’d see you. Adam told me you had stuff you had to do in town.”Benhadn’t seen the Sheriff in years. His hair had greatly thinned out over the years and was more white than gray now.
“I heard you found the long-lost daughter of Margaret and Charles O’Connell. I just wanted to come by and check on how things are.”
Benlooked over at Adam who was eyeing the Sheriff oddly butdidn’t say anything.Bensupposed having such a high-profile person like Hannah back in town, the Sheriff wanted to keep an eye on things. “They're fine. We’re taking Hannah to see her parents in the morning.”
“Excellent, I know her parents will be thrilled. I’ll just go check on her and see you boys in a moment.” Sheriff Little excused himself and let himself in the cabin.
Bensat back down in the rocker and looked out at the night sky. “I see the Sheriff hasn’t changed much over the years.”
“No, same guy. The town people love him, and I swear he’ll never retire.” Adam chuckled. “What about you?”
“What about me?”Benasked puzzled.
“You don’t look like you’ve changed much over the years.”
Benshrugged and settled deeper into the rocker. “In some ways, I have. I’m a better soldier now than when we went through together.”
“I don’t doubt it. If your name is anything to go by.”
“It’s a name I’ve earned, but after a while everyone expects you to be perfect all the time. I’m hardly perfect.”
“No,” Adam gave him a droll look. “You don’t say.”
“Why did you look at the Sheriff odd when he arrived?”
“You don’t let anything get passed you do you?” Adam chuckled.
“I try not to. Lives depend on me to be observant.”
“It occurred to me that I never told the Sheriff where we were. You asked me when we were on the road to stop here. So, how did he know where we were?”
Benwas about to comment when they heard a scream from inside. A feminine scream.
“Hannah,”Benwhispered in horror as he pushed out of the rocker and raced to the front door. He turned the knob, but it was locked.
“Son of a bitch,” Adam said as they both heaved into the door. They opened it, but the cabin was empty. The bedroom window was open. “He took her through the back.” Adam raced out the front door and ran around back,Benwas hot on his trail.
~
After Hannah got out of the bathroom, she saw that Ben was gone. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, feeling parched. Where could Ben be? She walked towards the front door thinking he was outside and as she passed the window she could hear two voices coming from the porch. He was outside talking to Adam. Hannah was glad Ben was getting time to bond with his friend. She could see the connection between them and could see why they were still such good friends. Adam was easy going but dedicated to his job and friends. Just like Ben. She was wondering about dinner and if they needed to go into town when she heard Ben’s loud voice.
"But what if her family asks her to stay? I can’t stay here forever with her until she’s ready to go.” Hannah froze at hearing Ben. Did he think that little of her she would stay here when she already told him she wanted to leave with him? She understood his fear, but she still wished he trusted her more. She trusted him, obviously, the feeling was not reciprocated. She couldn’t lie though and say she hadn’t wondered the same thing. She had never been close to her family, but they would still want her to stay with them for a while. She promised herself that if her family accepted her, she would stay a few days but no more. And absolutely no cameras.
Hannah stepped away, so she was no longer eavesdropping and finished her water and was putting her cup away when the door opened and closed. She turned around thinking it was Ben and froze when she saw an older gentleman in a uniform like Adam. Who was he? There was something oddly familiar about him. Then it clicked in her head. Sherriff Little. He was also in Paris a year and a half ago trying to buy her. Pierre was the higher bidder. This man approached Pierre after the auction when they were leaving. Pierre’s men beat him when he wouldn’t leave them alone. This man had contacted her buyers several times trying to buy her, but no one would release her. How could she have forgotten that?
“Ah, I see you recognize me, my dear.”
Oh, she recognized him alright. She didn’t put it all together until now. She knew him from her childhood but hadn’t seen him in years. When she saw him a year ago it was briefly and always in a low-lit room. Sometimes she didn’t see any of the bidders. They liked to remain anonymous. “You’ve tried buying me, several times,” Hannah stated trying to inch her way back towards the bedroom to lock him out and retrieve her knife that Ben had given back to her when he first rescued her. She had become complacent living with Ben and when the commander attacked her, and she smashed all his awards and trophies, he insisted she carries the weapon withher always, sadly she had left it in the other room. Could she get to it before the Sheriff got to her.? Being with Ben, and Adam she didn’t think literally every moment but was quickly seeing it would become a necessity.
“Sheriff Little. You remember me from your childhood, don’t you Hannah?” He asked with a sinister grin. “Ever since I saw you growing up here, I knew I had to have you. When you were going on vacation to Paris, I knew the time was right. I could never get away with taking you from town. Your parents never let you out of their sight or that of a guard. Your vacation was the first time you were free. I arranged for some men to intercept you until I got there.”
“Then you got out-bided.” Hannah tried to stamp down her rising panic and the bile churning in her stomach. She always avoided the Sheriff, and now she was glad for it, and her parent’s over-protectiveness of her. If not, she might havealreadybeen raped if not worse by this man.
