Innocent Prey

FRIDAY

There were two thousand miles between Heaven and Hell. No matter how many times Heather Jaiden replayed the events of the past few days in her mind, the reality of the situation never sank in. It felt surreal, dreamlike and unfortunately, unchangeable. Struggling to keep her composure, Heather was at the tail end of a thirty two hour drive to her private haven. She had fled Chicago late Wednesday night with bruises and scratches, but soon she would be safe in Lake Tahoe. A flight had been out of the question, Heather couldn’t afford to leave a paper trail.

She will never forget his face, the anger, the vile words, the pain. Heather was glad of only one thing right now. The family cabin in Tahoe was a very private place. She had never told him about it. He knew everything else but that one thing and she wanted to weep with gratitude that she had never let it slip. 

His words still haunted her. When you don’t follow the rules, you get punished.

Heather had driven for several hundreds of miles on Wednesday night, after she escaped. She had allowed herself a few hours sleep in her car sometime during that night. The mental exhaustion had caught up to her and threatened to choke her soul. How did this happen? How did her life take this turn?

It was only a few days ago when Heather, a thirty-two year old successful marketing executive for a very prominent marketing and public relations firm in Chicago, had thought everything had fallen into place. At five foot eight inches, she was fit and attractive with long, wavy red hair. Her striking green eyes would halt men in their tracks, which she always found equally amusing and baffling. She had never considered herself beautiful and didn’t know what the fuss was about, however Heather was gracious enough to accept a compliment. 

She thought about her apartment overlooking Lake Michigan which always reminded her of the steely blue waters of Lake Tahoe, always making her feel at home. But nothing could obliterate the horror of Wednesday night and she knew she had to escape. The final words she heard as she fled reverberated like a scratched record. "You’d can’t hide, Heather. I’m always going to find you."

The late afternoon sunlight was threatening to disappear as the cold January weather closed in around her. In the distance, she could see the mountain peaks she loved and the need for solace multiplied. So close. So close to home.

The Jaiden cabin had always been her favorite place, filled with warm family memories of many Christmases gone by, endless ski weekends and summer hiking trips. Heather and her five siblings had always caused mayhem for their parents but she was hard pressed to remember a better place in the world. The comfort, the familiarity of Lake Tahoe was exactly what she needed right now given that her world had turned upside down.

Beginning her ascent of the mountain roads, Heather felt like she might finally be able to breathe. Her shoulders and neck felt harder than cement and the never ending headache seemed to be easing slightly. For just a moment, she forgot. Forgot the hurt, forgot the pain and allowed herself to once more soak up the beauty of Nevada. Then, she heard a huge bang.