Wanted (7 page)

I
wake up early Christmas morning and feel overwhelmed with guilt that this sweet
girl is missing Christmas with her family because of me.  While she’s
sleeping, I sneak out of the cabin and find a 4 foot tall evergreen that is
perfect for a Christmas tree.  I rummage around the shed and manage to
make a little stand for it.  I haul it into the cabin and set it next to
the fireplace, figuring we can decorate it later.  Together.  If she
wants. 

I
hear tiny footsteps and turn to see her shuffle out of the bedroom in my
t-shirt.  She looks sleepy.  Her hair is all messy and there are
little red creases on her face from the pillow.  I see her squint at the
little tree.

“I
know you want to be home with your family today but I thought maybe since we’re
stuck here we can make the most of it.”  I say shoving a huge bite of a
frozen waffle into my mouth.  I just got out of the shower and threw on
some sweatpants.  My hair is still damp and I haven’t put on my shirt
yet.  I notice her scan my chest and I immediately get hard. 
Fuck!  I need another shower.  A cold one.

“Where
is your family, Ryan? Can’t they help you?” She asks as she walks toward the
table.

“I
don’t have any family.”

“What
do you mean?”

“Sit.” 
I say pointing to the chair across from me.  It’s a long story. I’ll make
you breakfast”.  I slip two frozen waffles into the toaster and push the
lever down.

She
pulls up a chair and waits for the waffle to pop up. I toss them quickly on a
plate trying not burn my fingers.  “Sorry, no syrup.”

“It’s
okay. So, where’s your family?”  She asks biting into her dry, burnt
waffle.

“I
don’t know my biological parents.  I was adopted as a baby.  My
adoptive parents agreed on a closed adoption.  When I was sixteen, they
died in a car accident.  I was sent to a foster home and lived there for
two years.  The day I turned eighteen, a few weeks before I graduated high
school, I got a call from a Lawyer.  Apparently my adoptive parents set up
a trust fund when they adopted me. The trust fund was enough to pay for my
college tuition and even enough for a deposit on a small house.  I moved
out of my foster family’s house and I rent a studio apartment near
campus.  My foster brother and I still keep in touch.  His name is
Landon.   He’s a few years older than me.  He’s the only family
I have.  When I found out I was in trouble, Landon gave me the keys to
this place.  It belongs to his grandfather who is in a senior home
now.  Anyway, Landon’s the only one I really consider family, besides
Kim.”  It used to be hard for me to talk about the death of my
parents.  Now, I have a hard time talking about Kim.  She has always
been there for me. She’s my family and now she’s charging me attempted murder.

“What
about your foster parents?  They wouldn’t help you?”

“They
only took me in because I was 16 and they only had to deal with me for two
years.  I got in a lot of trouble during those two years so I assume they
probably think I’m guilty as hell.” 

“Your
adoptive parents, were they good to you?”

“The
best.  My Dad owned a small company that rented different types of
equipment out to companies and even residents.  You know, like
rototillers, chainsaws, things people might need for a project but don’t have
the money to buy the tools.  He was a good businessman and a good
father.  My Mom stayed at home and raised me.  She spoiled me
rotten.  We were best friends.  She was always the one to help me
with my homework, drive me to sports, and take me to the mall to meet my
friends.  We used to watch movies together, cook together…...”  Shit!
I guess it’s still hard to talk about them.  “Anyway,” I swipe my eyes
with the back of my hand, glancing up at her, hoping she didn’t see me cry like
a pussy.  She’s looking at me like she wants to hug me and that shit makes
me hard.  I squirm a bit and try to refocus. “Anyway, it’s just me now.”

“I’m
sorry Ryan.”  She pauses as if another thought just flew into her head.
“You know, it just occurred to me.  How the hell did you escape the
accident without a scratch?”

“I
was driving a Toyota FJ.  It’s an off road 4 wheel truck.  You were
driving a “bug”!  You’re lucky you didn’t suffer worse, considering you
didn’t have your seatbelt on either!”

Her
eyes glaze over as if she gets lost in her thoughts.  “I remember
now.  I took it off so I could answer my phone.” She says softly.

“Boyfriend?” 
Shit.  Does she have a boyfriend?

“We
had just broken up.”

“Fuck,
what a shitty day you had!” I say sarcastically.  I feel a bit of relief,
although, what the hell do I expect to happen.  I abduct the girl,
handcuff her to a bed, keep her from her family and now I expect her to,
what?  Be my girl?

She
reaches over and slugs my arm. “So, not funny!” but I see her crack a smile.

“Why
did you break up?”

She
looks like she is unsure how to answer.  Must be a story there. “Um, it’s
personal.”

“Gotcha. 
So does it have anything to do with what you were doing alone on a deserted
highway the night before Christmas eve?”

“No,
I was actually coming home from Telluride.  My best friend planned this
ski trip for my birthday.  It was supposed to be kind of like a kick off
to my new life.  My mom was sick for two years and I took care of her and
my family.  I sacrificed school and basically my life.  Now that’s
she’s healthy, I decided to live a little, ya know?  It was supposed to be
girl time, dancing and wine.  Instead it turned out to be Mission: Get
Vanessa Laid. I tried to hook up with a guy.  I had never had a
one-night-stand.  It ended badly so I left early and I was on my way
home.”

“You
never had a one-night stand?”

“Nope.
I didn’t think it would be a big deal but….”

“But
what?”

“I
don’t know. It sort of was.  It didn’t feel right.  I stopped him in
the middle and pushed him off of me.”

“In
the middle of sex?”

“Yeah.” 
She giggles.

“That
is not funny!  You can fucking kill a man!” 

“Well,
I didn’t feel bad.  I was really drunk.  What kind of guy does that?”

“Vanessa,
that was stupid.  Shit.  You’re lucky that guy stopped.  He did,
didn’t he?”  Just the thought of some guy taking advantage of her pisses me
off.  She nods her head.  “You could have gotten yourself into
trouble.” I feel like a dick.  I’ve had about twenty
one-stand-stands.  I’ve never had a girl stop in the middle but I wonder
how many felt just like her.  She looks at me sheepishly as I’m thinking
about my sex life.  I want to ask her about her experience; how many guys
she’s been with, what she likes, what she doesn’t like or what she won’t ever
do.  I feel my dick twitch and I know I have to change the subject.

“Want
to tell me about your family?”  She looks at me knowingly and smiles.

“We’re
really close.  My Dad owns his own medical practice.  He used to work
as an ER surgeon.  Two year ago, my Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer
and got really sick.  My brother, Mason, and I took care of her.  My
Dad had a hard time with the guilt of not being around and ended up opening his
own office just a few months ago so he can be home more. Her illness changed
things for all of us.  We became very close because of everything we went through. 
Last year, we spent Christmas in the hospital. My Mom wasn’t doing well. 
That’s why it was so important for me to get home in time for Christmas this
year.”  She stops and clears her throat.  Shit.  I’m such a
prick.   

“You
said your mom’s healthy now?”

“Yeah. 
She’s doing really good.  Her hair is finally starting to grow back and
she has more energy.  I was really looking forward to her apple pies
today. She loves to cook but hasn’t for a while.”

“What
about your brother?”

“He’s
great. He’s turning eleven.  Just getting into girls and loves
skateboarding.  We’re really close too.”

“I
bet it was hard on him when your Mom was sick.”

“It
was very hard on him.  He started to take his frustration out on kids at
school and he’d get into trouble.  I had to go pick him up a lot and have
chats with the principal.  Things have been much better though.”

“What
about you?”

“What
do you mean?”

“You
took care of your Mom and your brother but who took care of you?”

“Um,
well I had my boyfriend and I also had my best friend Megan.  She’s the
one that I was with in Telluride.  She was my shoulder to cry on. 
She was my voice of reason when things got really bad.”

“And
your boyfriend wasn’t?” Ah, so there is a story.

“He
was there but he’s not the emotional type, ya know?  I think he was
uncomfortable when things weren’t going well.  He didn’t know how to
comfort me.”

“Is
that why you broke up?”  I can’t help being persistent.  I really
want to know.

“Some
of it.”

“Come
on, tell me.” I flash her the smile that I usually use to get into girls
panties.

“Okay.” 
She breathes out a sigh of frustration.  “I just felt something was
missing.  We were together for 6 years.”

“6
years?  How old are you?”

“I
just turned 21 last week. How old are you?”

“I’m
22.  Anyway, back to your boyfriend! 6 years!  What happened?”

“So,
I was fifteen when we met.  I was totally in love.”  She rolls her
eyes.  “He carried my books around school.  We went to the
movies.  We went to homecoming and prom.  He was my first kiss. 
My first everything.  He graduated two years ahead of me and got a job
working at his dad’s car dealership.  He is a very sales-y type. 
Charming.  We talked about marriage and kids.  I just always assumed
he was the one I’d be with forever.  We had it all planned out.”

“So? 
What happened?”

“Ugh.
I don’t know.  Something was missing.  My Mom and I have had this
rule since she got sick.  Live your life with no regrets.  When I
turned 21 and found out my Mom was going to be okay, I decided it was time to make
some changes.  I didn’t want to be committed and tied down at such a young
age.  I missed out on a lot of normal things girls my age do and I wanted
to experience those things.  I’ve never dated anyone but James.  I
didn’t want any regrets.  That’s all.”

“What
do you think was missing?”

“You
are super nosy.”

“I’m
just curious.  You don’t have to tell me.”  I say pouting.

“To
be completely honest, it was missing passion, okay?”  She turns completely
red. 

“Passion? 
Like during sex?  So, he didn’t take care of you?”

“I’m
done.  So what about you?”

“Oh
come on.  Tell me. Maybe I can help?”  He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

“Don’t
tease me.  It’s really embarrassing.”

“I’m
not teasing.  I’m curious.  We’re just two adults having a
conversation.  What was it?  Was he unable to make you come so hard
that you were screaming for God?”

“Oh
God.”  She squirms in her chair and then bursts out laughing as she
realizes what she just said.  “Okay, enough about me and my embarrassing
sex life, what’s your story?”

“Okay,
I’ll give you a break. I told you about my family.  I had a hard time when
my parents died.  Sixteen is a tough age.  I partied a lot.  I
had a lot of sex with a lot of different girls.  It was just sex
though.  No passion.” I wink at her letting her know that she and I have
an understanding. “Over the last year or so, I slowed down with the girls and
then, Kim and I…..”

We
hear Vanessa’s name on the TV and we both jump up and run over to watch. A
newscaster is standing outside of a building on the Western Colorado University
campus.  Hundreds of students are all standing behind her. “The
investigators in the case involving the disappearance of Vanessa Cartwright
believe her disappearance is linked to the murders of Sophie Carsen and Mia
Knoll last year and the recent attack of Kim Sawyer, another student here at
Western.  Vanessa’s car was found pushed off the side of the road a few
miles from campus on December 23
^rd
.  Her belongings still
inside.  Her car was totaled which leaves police to believe she was taken
from the scene and the crash may have been deliberate.  Kim Sawyer issued
a statement last month stating that she was attacked by her best friend, Ryan
Jenson.  Ryan has been missing since Kim Sawyer’s battered body was
discovered in a wooden area not far from campus on November 21st.  Police
believe all of these cases are connected and Ryan Jenson is the main
suspect.  He may be armed and dangerous.  If you have seen Ryan
Jenson or may know of his whereabouts, please contact the number on your
screen.  With us now is the mother of Vanessa Cartwright.”

“If
you’re out there watching and you have Vanessa….ppplleeasse let her come
home.  Please.  I beg you.”  Vanessa’s Mom turns her face into
her husband’s shoulder and he just holds her staring at the ground. 
Vanessa is standing next to me with her hand over her mouth like she might get
sick.  Her eyes are filling with tears.  I want to hold her and
comfort her but it’s my fault she’s here and not with her family.  I doubt
she wants me to touch her.  She takes off and runs into the bedroom
slamming the door behind her.