Under His Spell Ch.05

"So call him," he harshly uttered.

"My phone doesn't work. Can I use yours?"

David scanned the space around the drink holders, and as he saw that his phone wasn't there he released a sound of exasperation.

"I must have left it back at the bar. Damn it!"

Overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions, Lynn felt as if she were a chicken who'd just had its head cut off. She didn't know what to do next and wasn't even aware of where they were going. She felt terrible about David being injured, but she was also worried about Takoda.

She knew he'd be very worried once he showed up at the bar and saw that she wasn't there. She had no way of getting in contact with him, and she couldn't even call a tow truck to have her car taken out of the ditch.

Her head was spinning from everything that was going on, and it didn't help matters that David was driving like a madman. She knew he was caught up in the craziness of the situation, but the last thing she wanted was to get into another accident.

Reaching out to lightly touch his arm she said, "I think you should slow down, David. We don't want to get into a crash, do we?"

"Yeah, okay," he responded as he reluctantly eased up on the gas.

Glancing at her watch, Lynn realized that Takoda would be arriving at the bar within the span of five minutes. Giving a nervous swallow she lay her head back against the headrest and focused upon Takoda. She wasn't sure of much at all right now, but one thing she was certain of was that she had long night ahead of her.

* * * *

Takoda's pickup truck came to an abrupt stop in front of Joe's Place. He'd passed by the bar numerous times as he drove along the highway, yet never dared to venture inside. It seemed to be a seedy place where undesirable people hung out, and it certainly wasn't any place for Lynn to be hanging out in. As he made his way toward the door of the bar, his work boots crunched against the gravel in the parking lot.

Grabbing the handle of the door he swung it open, and as he entered the smoky room his eyes rapidly scanned the place. It wasn't a very big establishment, so it didn't take him long to realize that Lynn wasn't there. A pang of worry shot through him as he wondered where she was, and he made his way over to the bar so that he could talk to the waitress. As she noticed him coming her way her eyes lit up and she gave him a smile.

"Hey handsome, what can I get you?"

Ignoring her greeting, he said, "I'm looking for a woman. She's 5'6, has dark brown curly hair, almond eyes..."

"She already left." The waitress interjected before he could even finish.

"When?" A knot began to form in the pit of his stomach.

"Afew minutes ago. She was sitting here talking to some dude, and then another guy arrived to pick her up. She ended up leaving with him."

"Did he have a uniform on?" His voice was full of hope as he thought about the possibility of it being the tow truck driver.

"Nope, he's a regular. I see him around here every weekend. She just got into his car, and they took off together. I remember her saying something about him being her boyfriend."

"What? No, that can't be." He shook his head as if to confirm the impossibility of it.

"Well that's what I heard." Grabbing a towel from behind the bar, she began to busy herself with drying the shot glasses.

Takoda's brows furrowed together as he thought about the waitress' words. He knew Lynn wasn't cheating on him, but why would she leave a sleazy little dive like this with a strange man? The answer was that she wouldn't. She wasn't that type of woman, and he knew it. She would only have left with someone she knew. As worried thoughts ran through his head, he began to wonder

if she'd been forced into leaving.

As he'd been driving to the bar, he'd gotten a very strong feeling that something wasn't right with her. She'd been distressed and the signals that she'd sent to him had clearly communicated that she badly needed him with her. He'd driven as quickly as he could to get here, but unfortunately he hadn't been fast enough, because now she was gone.

Pushing the door to the bar open, Takoda exited and walked toward his car. As he was making his way across the gravel lined parking lot the toe of his shoe hit something on the ground. Lowering his eyes toward it, he saw that it was a cell phone, so he bent down to retrieve it.

As he curiously studied it, he began to wonder if the cell phone was somehow connected to her. He had the strong feeling that it was, so he pressed a few buttons and began searching through the menu until he reached the phone's address book.

He searched through numerous names and numbers, but there were so many contacts saved that it would take him forever to get through all of them. Not wanting to waste anymore time he slipped the phone into his pocket and got into his car. He was desperate to find out if the phone was somehow connected to her, but right now he needed to get back on the road.

Putting the car into drive, Takoda took off out of the parking lot and drove out onto the highway. Thoughts flashed through his mind as he drove, he began to feel sick as he thought about someone taking advantage of or trying to hurt her.

As he drove along the road he kept an eye out for her car, hoping he would spot it somewhere along the way. A few minutes passed before Takoda spotted her blue Toyota on the side of the highway. Just as Lynn had told him, it was leaning into a ditch. Saving the location to memory, he made a U-turn and headed straight for the bar, hoping to make it back there before the tow truck driver arrived.

He didn't know where she was or why she'd gone on without him, but he figured it must have been pretty important for her to have left her car behind. It just didn't seem likely that she would be willing to do that. He made it back to the bar in record time and just as he was pulling in, the tow truck driver was climbing down from the cab of his car.

Takoda pressed his palm against the horn to alert him, then leaned his arm out of the window so that he could wave him down. As the tow truck driver spotted him he came over to Takoda's truck. After giving him the location of Lynn's car and the address where he could drop it off, Takoda gave the driver his fee. Then he put his car into gear and tore off down the highway, heading straight for Lynn's house.

* * * *

The highway seemed to stretch endlessly in front of Takoda's car. Even with the distance between them he could strongly sense her feelings, and knew she was feeling discomfort and uncertainty.

Where are you, Lynn, and who could have possibly talked you into leaving before I came to pick you up?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a vibration in his pocket, followed by a melodic ringtone. Taking one hand off the wheel, Takoda used it to retrieve the cell phone he'd found in the parking lot of the bar.After flipping it open, he spoke into the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hi, who is this?" A man's voice curiously asked.

"You tell me who you are first."

"I'm the owner of the cell phone. Now tell me who you are." The caller's voice was laced with irritation.

As Takoda listened to the sound of the other man's voice he questioned in a hostile tone of voice, "Is this David?

"Who wants to know?"

"Her boyfriend, that's who."

"Oh so you're her boyfriend, huh? Well what the hell are you doing with my phone?"

"I found it."

"Okay, well I'm going to need it back."

"You'll get it back when I see that Lynn is safe."

"She's fine. She needed a ride so I'm taking her home."

"You'd better be heading straight there." The tone in Takoda's voice expressed his seriousness about the situation.

"I really don't appreciate the way you're speaking to me right now."

"Well I don't appreciate you taking off with my girlfriend. And since we're on the subject, I know what you've been up to."

"What the hell are you talking about?" David angrily inquired.

"Do you make it a habit to gain entry into women's homes and try to steal their underwear, or is my girlfriend just a special exception?"

Takoda impatiently waited for an answer, but the only sounds which came from the other end of the phone were the sounds of cars passing by and trucks blaring their horns.

"Hello? Answer me," Takoda sharply commanded.

"Listen asshole, if it wasn't for me, your girlfriend would still be back at that bar, getting harassed by weird creeps. So you'd better show me some fucking respect."

"You certainly didn't give her any respect that night you were snooping around in her bedroom. And you're a creep yourself, so I really don't trust you at all."

"Well, Lynn seems to trust me just fine. She happily came along with me when I showed up."

"That's because she doesn't know the type of man she's really dealing with. You might be fooling her right now, but not for very long."

"Whatever, man. I'm hanging up now."

"Put her on the phone. I want to speak to her."

"Tough shit," David snappily replied.

"You really don't want to mess me with," Takoda darkly warned.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then he heard the sound of David's voice once again.

"She's busy right now. She can't talk.."

"Busy doing what?" Takoda's knuckles turned white as he gripped the cell phone tightly in his hands.

Listening closely to the other end of the line, he focused upon the sound of a car door opening followed by it slamming shut. Then he heard a soft, female voice which was unmistakably Lynn's. Takoda heard her ask David who he was talking to, and then he heard David mumble an unintelligible reply.

"You're a liar. I hear her talking in the background. Put her on the phone."

There was pregnant silence between them, followed by the click of the line as it went dead. Takoda angrily snapped the phone shut, then redialed, but the line only rang once before voicemail picked up. Takoda tossed the cell phone onto the passenger's seat and pressed his foot on the accelerator, sending his car speeding down the highway like a bullet.

* * * *

Despite Lynn's urgency to get home, David had decided to make a few pit stops along the way. First he said he needed water, so they stopped at a mini-mart. Then he'd complained of being hungry, so they stopped at a diner just off the highway. Of course she knew that these were all just excuses. He was trying to delay their arrival to her house so that he would be able to spend more time with her.

Nearly an hour of their time was wasted making stops along the road, so once they finally got back onto the highway she found herself wishing that he wouldn't make another stop. To her relief, David finally took her home and as they arrived at her house she felt a huge sense of relief. She was back in familiar territory, and finally able to free herself from the presence of David.

As his car pulled into the driveway Lynn already had her hand poised and ready to open the door. Once the car came to a stop Lynn uttered a quick thanks and then bailed out of the car, walking quickly towards her front door.

She heard the sound of David's car door slam as he got out of the vehicle footsteps behind her as he followed her to the house.

"Lynn, wait. Are you okay?" He called out from behind her.

"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem mad at me."

Pulling her keys out of her purse Lynn responded,

"I'm fine. Just would have been nice if you'd brought me straight home."

"Sorry about that. I guess I just got so excited spending time with you outside of work that I went a little crazy. We are still friends, aren't we?"

Slipping her key into the lock she twisted the knob open and cracked open the door. Then she turned around to face him.

"I don't know, David. I guess.".

"Please don't be mad at me, Lynn."

A sigh of frustration expelled itself from her lips, "I'm really exhausted right now, and i'd like to go inside and relax. I've had a very long day."

"Alright, I'll let you go now. Have a nice night, and see you at work tomorrow." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he turned and began walking down the steps."

"Goodnight, David."

Once she crossed the threshold, he waved and she returned it with a quick one of her own. Then she closed and locked it behind her. Breathing a sigh of relief she slid her palm along the wall until it bumped against the light switch. As the room flooded with light she tossed her purse onto the couch and took off her shoes.

She headed toward the hallway so that she could go to her bedroom, but as she walking she was seized by a nagging sense of dread. Something was off about the energy in the room, and the muscles in her body had suddenly grown tense.

There was also a strange scent in the room, a smell which was definitely foreign to her house. Struck with the sense that she was being watched she whirled her head around, glancing behind her to see if anyone was there. She looked over her shoulder and all around the room, but as far as she could see, there wasn't anyone there.

Despite the hairs which had pricked up on the back of her neck, she decided to brush it off. The strange turn of events that evening had caused her to feel a little jumpy, and her nerves were badly jarred.

Holding her shoes in her hand, she continued on back to her bedroom. She was just stepping into the hallway when she saw something shift from out of the corner of her eye. Turning her gaze toward the far corner of the room, she rested her eyes on an armchair which was cast in a shadowy corner of the room.

Walking toward a floor lamp with bated breath, she switched it on to immerse the other part of the room in light. As the shadow dissipated she saw there was nothing there and she exhaled a breath of tension. She had to loosen up and stop getting spooked so easily. She'd been on edge the entire evening, as was tired of feeling this way.

Lynn headed down the hallway to go into her bedroom and as she pushed the door open she saw that the window was slightly ajar. Walking over toward it, she shut it closed and then locked it. She felt alarmed for a few moments, and then she suddenly remembered that she'd opened it earlier that morning. She headed out of her bedroom and made her way toward the bathroom to freshen up, but the sound of a knock at the door caused her to halt her steps.

Figuring it was David, she remained still and froze in place. Then she remembered that Takoda was supposed to pick her up from the bar, so she headed out of the hallway and made her way toward the front door. As she looked though the peephole she saw a tall form standing on the porch. Not doubting for a minute that it was Takoda she unlatched the lock and twisted the door knob, but as she swung the door open she realized there was nobody standing there at all.

Knitting her brows in puzzlement, Lynn glanced to her left to see if there was anybody standing on the other side of the porch.

"Hello?" her voice called out into the darkness of the night.

The feel of an icy-cold breeze hit the back of her neck and then suddenly she felt the energy around her shift, followed by the sound of a voice. It wasn't coming from outside, though. It was coming from right behind her, within her own house.