“What’s your name?” I asked, thinking I had heard it but wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not.
“Sorry,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Liam Sanders. I own the ranch you were on—or where I found you. I mean, you’re stillonthe ranch.”
I chewed nervously on my lip.
“Take your time. I’ll get us some breakfast going. Piper, come.”
Piper stayed where she was, looking at me and then at her daddy. “Do you mind if she stays with me?” I asked.
Liam looked surprised but said, “Of course not. When you’re ready to come downstairs, turn left out of the bathroom, follow the stairs down, and you’ll see the kitchen. It’s one big open area, the living room and the kitchen.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to leave, and I asked, “Liam, how long have I been here? With you, I mean?”
“I found you two days ago. You’ve been sleeping since I took you in from the storm.”
My eyes went wide. “I’ve been sleeping for two days?”
He nodded.
With a swallow, I said, “Thank you for helping me.”
A small crease appeared between his brows, but then his face softened. “Of course.”
Turning again, he walked out of the bedroom, softly shutting the door.
Pushing the covers off of me, I swung my legs around and hung them off the bed. Piper jumped into the bed and sat beside me. She was so sweet as she gave me a little nudge of encouragement.
“I’m trying, girl, but my body hurts from running for days.”
She let out a soft bark, which made me laugh.
“Okay, I’m getting up.” I stood—and instantly felt the pain in my feet shoot up through my entire body. After a minute or two, I forced myself to walk toward the bathroom—and the second I stepped inside, I gasped. It was beautiful. I’d neverseena bathroom so lovely. The walls were finished, unlike the exposed wooden beams in the bedroom. A giant copper tub sat under another beautiful window with views that looked too stunning to be real. To the left was a walk-in shower. My gaze went from the tub to the shower. I wanted to soak in the tub, but Liam had mentioned making breakfast, so I didn’t want him to wait on me.
“Shower, it is.”
I stripped out of the oversized clothes and grabbed one of the folded towels on the counter. I turned the water on in the shower and stepped inside. The hot water on my hurting body felt heavenly, even with my feet stinging from the heat. There was a fresh bar of soap and shampoo. Well, it was one of those shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one shampoos, but I didn’t care. Iwashed my hair twice and soaped up three times. I needed to get the feeling of that place, ofhim, off of me.
He’d toyed with me, describing in detail everything he was going to do to me…but, thankfully, he hadn’t done any of it yet. I was pretty sure that was his MO. Scare his victims before he raped them.
I knew other women had been in that room before me. What had happened to them? Had he killed them? I prayed daily that he would just do what he wanted and then let me go. But I had a feeling the stains on the mattress were blood…
No. Iknewthey were blood.
Burying my face in my hands, I cried. I needed to get out of here. What if he found me and took me again? I couldn’t bethatfar from where he’d kept me. Two days of running wouldn’t have let me cover much distance. Not when I was running without shoes, through hills that were like mountains at times.
Sinking to the floor of the shower, I sobbed until I had no more tears left to give. Piper pawed at the glass door and pulled me back to the present.
“Right, girl. I need to get it together.”
I shut off the now-cold water and wrapped the towel around me. I thought once more that I should have been mortified or embarrassed that Liam had seen me naked, but I honestly didn’t care. I was just so thankful he’d found me. He might have even saved my life.
I slipped into my clean panties, then my bra, thankful for always following Granny’s advice of wearing decent-looking underwear. There was another Montana State shirt—this one a T-shirt—and another pair of sweats. They hung off me but, thankfully, had a drawstring so I could tie them tightly.
Looking in the mirror, I studied myself. I wasn’t bad looking, but I wasn’t a beauty either. I looked pale and thin. My plain brown hair was down to my shoulders, and I had hazel eyesthat were a combination of brown, green, and gold. Frowning, I sighed.
“Who are you? Why can’t you remember anything?” I asked as I touched the mirror in front of me.
