An extremely dangerous prisoner stumbles across a secret that could leave him financially set for life. He escapes from a maximum security prison and flees across state lines leaving a trail of destruction in his path. He seeks obscurity in the Northern wooded area of Wisconsin, and while shrouded in the deep forested area stumbles across 15-year-old Stella Compton, whom he abducts and holds prisoner. Stella finds herself in the midst of an incomprehensible nightmare, and one she fears there is no escape from. She vows if she survives her nightmarish ordeal and is reunited with her loved ones, she will commit her life to righting the wrongs the only way she knows how. Surprisingly, her journey leads her to the one man who restores faith in her future, and who will ultimately become the center of her world. This is a story that speaks volumes about the importance of our human relationships and the animals we bond with, and how one girl achieves triumph over tragedy.

September Woods

Trafford Publishing

Contents

Acknowledgments.............................................viiPrologue....................................................ixChapter 1 On Your Guard.....................................1Chapter 2 Nice Guys Finish Last.............................11Chapter 3 Plenty of Room to Hide............................20Chapter 4 Family Bliss......................................25Chapter 5 Without a Trace...................................31Chapter 6 Questions.........................................35Chapter 7 The Nightmare at Hand.............................41Chapter 8 The Unthinkable...................................57Chapter 9 Tracking..........................................65Chapter 10 Beginnings and Endings...........................74Chapter 11 The Road Back....................................81Chapter 12 Trust............................................97Chapter 13 Her Guardian.....................................101Chapter 14 The Fork in the Road.............................114Chapter 15 The Winter of Her Discontent.....................120Chapter 16 Paw Prints on Her Heart..........................125Chapter 17 Seasons Change...................................136Chapter 18 A Step Forward...................................148Chapter 19 Taking Chances...................................153Chapter 20 All I Want for Christmas.........................165Chapter 21 Let Love Lead....................................174Chapter 22 Brighter Days Ahead..............................190Chapter 13 Blessings........................................198Chapter 14 Joy to the Girl..................................204Chapter 15 Struggles Turned Success.........................214Chapter 16 Harvest Time.....................................221Chapter 17 Righting the Wrongs..............................229Chapter 18 Revelations......................................239Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.......................................249Epilogue....................................................261

Chapter One

Randall Daggett played his escape over and over in his mind every night while he lay in his cell at Ryder Penitentiary. Ryder was the only level five maximum security prison in the state of Minnesota and home to 440 inmates who were considered an extreme risk to the public. A majority of the prisoners had committed heinous murders and were serving life sentences.

The prison cells were seven by ten feet, and each one had a bed, table, toilet, and sink in it and a narrow rectangular window with reinforced glass and steel bars, so an escape from each cell was impossible. Daggett's plan of escape involved killing both the guards who assisted prisoners in and out of the courtyard each day, but he knew he needed Murphy's help with this one. Murphy was his "bitch," who was serving a ten-year sentence for a bank robbery in St. Paul, where a security guard was shot and killed. Daggett kept Murphy safe from the other guys in the slammer, and he made it known that Murphy was his, and his alone. He said he'd kill whoever "banged his boy." In return, Murphy had to perform every sexual act that Daggett wanted; when he wanted. Murphy thought it was better to have one guy rape you than ten, in a place where it was common to be raped by ten guys all at once, especially if you were new.

One day, one of the more dangerous prisoners, Jinx, a gargantuan former street gang leader, cornered Murphy in the back shower stall. Jinx noticed that Murphy was alone in the end shower stall vigorously washing his face with his eyes squeezed shut in an effort to keep the soap out. Jinx approached quietly and waited. Murphy held his head under the shower head rinsing the soap from his face, and as he wiped the excess water out of his eyes and opened them, he jumped back. There before him stood a naked Jinx grinning with a very menacing look on his face.

The alarms went off in Murphy's head, and he made a feeble attempt to dart past him, but Jinx's massive arm caught him and flung him up against the wall. Within minutes, Jinx had Murphy pinned in the corner and bent over where he proceeded to rape him. Murphy screamed at him the entire time that Daggett would kill him, but Jinx merely laughed while he continued to inflict lewd and lascivious acts on him. Suddenly, Murphy felt Jinx dislodge and, seconds later, saw Jinx's entire body plummet to the shower floor with herculean force. When Murphy stood upright and turned around, he saw Daggett standing over Jinx's body, clutching a steam iron smeared with blood. Daggett leaned over the body to check if Jinx was still alive, and after discovering he was, positioned him in such a way that the shower head was aimed directly at his genitals. Then Daggett turned the handle all the way to the "H" and watched as scalding hot water jetted directly onto his lower torso. Daggett and Murphy walked away laughing, and they took care to step over the stream of blood that trickled from Jinx's head toward the drain. At the door, they both looked back in the direction of the shower, and all that could be seen was a mass of steam billowing upward from the scalding water's temperature. Moments later when Jinx finally came to, he let out a bloodcurdling scream and shuffled quickly away from the water's spray. He moaned from the blinding pain in his head and the scarlet-colored skin from the waist down; then, a few seconds later, he doubled over and vomited. He was found that way about ten minutes later by two guards, who merely assumed he had fallen in the shower when they saw the bloody gash in his head and his burned skin. He was immediately taken to the infirmary and treated for second-degree burns and a severe concussion. Jinx never said a word to anyone about what happened, but the other prisoners all knew. Daggett sent a message loud and clear: anybody who touched his boy Murphy would wind up like Jinx or worse. No one ever went near Murphy again.

Murphy was given the maximum sentence in prison for his involvement in the robbery, but his only real participation was that of driving the getaway car for his brother Quinn, and Quinn's best friend Wink. The three made their escape with the enormous amount of cash across the Minnesota state line into Wisconsin and then drove to an obscure area within the northern woods where they devised a plan to hide the money and stay out of sight until the heat was off.

Their plan was foiled four days later. After the robbery, they drove until dark until they came to a small town called Three Lakes. They knew they needed a safe refuge, one that would not draw suspicion, so they broke into an elderly couple's home, tied the couple up and held them at gunpoint. The next day, Wink and Quinn came up with a plan between themselves to bury the money at night, while leaving Murphy to keep vigil over the couple and the house. Wink and Quinn chose a spot they were sure no one would ever find, but one that they themselves could easily remember when it came time to retrieve it. After burying the money, they returned to the house where they cleaned up, ate dinner, and spent most of their time glued to the television to stay abreast of any late breaking news about the robbery. After a few days, they were quite sure they were home free, when a SWAT team and several FBI agents moved in on the house. They were startled when FBI agents yelled through a megaphone and warned them they were surrounded and were to give themselves up. Wink and Quinn panicked. They grabbed their guns and headed for the...