CaughtInTheTrap Read Free

wanting to cry but thanking God at the same time that she lived alone.  If the man went to her apartment looking for her, no one would be in harm’s way.  She heard twigs snapping under heavy footsteps in the distance.  Was it the tattooed man looking for her or the well-groomed goon?  She stood behind the girth of the tree perfectly still holding her breath until the footsteps faded away from her.  She was stuck in the middle of running or staying put.  She chose to stay put since running was not an option with her injured hip.
    Hip and leg injuries were nothing new to her.  She was athletic. She was a track and field athlete that trained hard and competed for many years to gain a spot on the 2008 Summer Olympics.  At age 19, Carla traveled to China as a member of team USA’s Women’s Track and Field. During a training exercise for the 400m quarterfinals, she suffered a stress fracture in her foot and had to sit out the event. She had expected to win a gold medal. She had achieved her biggest accomplishment and also the worst letdown of her life.  While, all wasn’t lost, she left China with a host of new friends and lots of memories.
    Carla wiggled her toes; she had feeling returning to her leg.  She would rest it for a while longer before trying to walk on it.  She wiped sweat from her forehead.  It was humid with no wind blowing to create a breeze. Checking her watch, it was almost 9:00 o’clock.  She could only hope her sister Paula would call the police if she didn’t get an answer from Carla by morning.  It was not her routine to stay away from home all night and not let someone know where she was.  Paula always called to make sure she made it to and from work in one piece. The connecting buses she had to catch to Cleveland Heights took her through some rough areas of town. And when Paula married and moved to Michigan with their disabled mother, the calls gave their mother a piece of mind.
    “ Who are you fooling?” she asked looking up at the sliver of moon peeking between the trees and puffy clouds. “Paula wouldn’t know where to begin to tell the police where to look for me.  I have to get myself out of this mess.”  
    Carla took off her jacket and tied it around her waist.  She decided to walk back in the direction they came from instead of getting lost in the dark woods.  If she could make it back to the main road, she would cross the street and take the horse trail to avoid detection in case the gunman or the tattooed guy, were still looking for her.  She had to assume both men had given up looking for her by now.  She hadn’t heard another sound, other than her own breathing, since the footsteps.
    She made it to the main road and limped quickly across the street and onto the horse trail. Carla had to find her bearings.  The trail was familiar to her during the day but at night, nothing was visible, and she had to feel her way along the path. God, how did this day end like this?  I really need to rewind it and start over for a better ending . She talked to herself to keep her mind off the eeriness of the dark path. She was a city girl and not into camping or trekking through pitch-black woods. 
    As she made her way down the trail, she remembered what ended her relationship with Greg.  He was an outdoors type of guy and she knew that before getting involved with him.  It was fun in the beginning, and she was fine doing the hiking and biking in daylight hours but when it came to nightfall, she chose to be home. That was always her rule.  As the years went by, she learned he was an uncompromising person.  When she suggested, they do something different other than play in the woods he would shut her down.  If their vacations didn’t include exploring national parks and forests, he wanted no part of it.
    After four years together, Carla decided she was tired of giving in to his demands and broke it off.  Her signature perfume was not insect repellant, and she fancied to go