CaughtInTheTrap Read Free Page A

out on the town with her friends dressed nicely once in a while. Since walking away from Greg, she had yet to find another relationship.
    Now 28-years old, Carla seemed to attract men that felt they didn’t need to wine and dine her. Because she was athletic, the majority of the men she met were gym rats. She hated they assumed she didn’t eat to keep her figure or that she hated being girly because she was comfortable wearing sports gear.  None of that was true.
    Carla stopped walking to rest against a wood railing.  The smell of horse manure surrounded her. She flexed her leg; the pain in her hip was giving way to a dull throbbing ache.  It was too dark to tell if the wound was bleeding, but her jacket wasn’t any damper when she touched it with her hand. “I want to get home and pretend this day never happened,” she whined softly.
    Tired, hungry, sweaty, and dirty, she pushed herself off the fence to continue down the path. She slowed after hearing a noise behind her. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Animals are out looking for food; don’t freak out at every sound you hear.”  She kept her feet moving.  They hit the dirt trail with a thud even though she felt she was walking normally.
    Carla came upon a sign indicating that the bridle path was closed 100 feet ahead, and a makeshift detour was available.  Feeling defeated, she slumped against a tree.  She couldn’t take the detour path since it was unfamiliar to her. She had no choice but to turn back.
    Tears threatened to fill her eyes, but she pushed them away.  She was not a quitter.  Somehow, this test was put to her for a reason, and she was determined to pass it.  She traveled to China alone and back without a scratch, she could definitely find her way out of a suburb of her hometown.  She straightened her shoulders and turned around to walk the distance to the main road for a second time.  Large drops of water hit her on the forehead before a crack of thunder roared, and the clouds burst open in a downpour. “Great! Now it’s raining to top off my jacked up night.”
    The rain would act as her tears as gloom consumed her. Her stride slowed as exhaustion began to take over. She’d been up since 5:30 in the morning and wondered how much longer this torture would last.
    Not paying attention to her surrounding any longer, Carla let her guard down and it was too late to react to the hand that grabbed her shoulder and yanked her around.  Her eyes widened with fear, but her voice held contempt as she said, “If you want to kill me, I won’t make it easy for you; I’ll fight you.”
    The rain had drenched him too.  His hair was slicked to his head. “I told you to stay put.  Why did you take off?”
    “ Do I come across as a fool to you? I’m not an idiot who waits for the killer to come back to finish the job.”  
    “ I’m not the one you should be worried about,” he said slowly.  
    Carla wiped the rain away from her face.  She was soaked to the bone.  The thin t-shirt she wore underneath her smock fused to her skin. “Then let me go. Let me go home and forget about this night.”
    “ I can’t do that and we can’t stay here and argue about it. Now let’s go,” he demanded.  
    He reached for her, and she drew her arm away from his grasp. “Screw you! I’m getting the hell out of here by myself.  I don’t need or want your help.  You’ve done enough for me tonight.”
    “ Lady, you’re making a big mistake.  He will find you and kill you.”  
    “ Who is HE and why me? I don’t know anything about what was going on in that bus shelter.”  
    “ You’re in danger and I’m the only one who can protect you. I will do that if you will stop fighting me and cooperate.”  
    Wordlessly she backed away from him.  The flash of lightning gave a brief glimpse of his face.  He did not have friendly eyes and wasn’t a young adult as she first suspected. “This is bullshit.  I’m not going anywhere