by Lisa Harris
They hadn’t seen her.
Pressing her back against the stone, she inched her way to the hidden passage, no longer a secret but at least out of sight of the watching men.
The sound of soft crying carried through the narrow gap in the boulders.
Ella.
Cassidy tried to slow her heartbeat. She could rescue her. This time, she would do it right.
She took off her backpack, found her water, and took a swig of it. As she was returning it to the pack, she spied something else at the bottom of the pack.
A knife wrapped in a leather sheath. After their conversation about one’s need to carry a hunting knife, James must’ve put it in there. She shoved it deep in her front pocket.
Checked her handgun. It would be a challenge to wear it through the passage, but she wasn’t leaving it, and she’d need both her hands.
She found a bush, stashed the backpack behind it. Not well hidden, but it would do.
Her gaze traveled the hillside below, wondering where the killer had stood when he’d shot at her before. She turned her back on that phantom fear and looked up at the rock wall beside her.
It took two tries, but she managed to climb the boulder and into the cramped space. Stone on all sides, barely enough room to move, she wiggled her way, pressing hands and feet against the rough walls to keep moving upward, fighting the gravity that wanted to push her down and spit her out. She reached the curve and took her gun from its holster. Keeping it in her hand in front of her, she bent her body over and around the stone, feeling the scrape against her hips as she wiggled through. She made it to the slightly wider opening.
Ella’s cries were louder here.
Could James and the killer hear? Would they notice if they suddenly stopped?
Father, please. Help.
After sliding the gun back into the holster, she reached the mouth of the passage and caught sight of the child.
Ella lay curled on a blanket, head on a pillow, back against the stone wall that had been Cassidy’s prison for days. Thumb in her mouth. Her eyes were closed, her hands unbound.
Unbound? Cassidy’s and Hallie’s hands and feet had been tied.
And then she saw it. A thick, black… something. Looked like iron or steel. Was it an anvil? She’d never seen one in real life, but it looked like the images she’d seen.
Admittedly, most of those images had come from the old cartoons.
There was nothing amusing about this one. A hook connected a chain to a leather cuff wrapped around one of Ella’s ankles.
Cassidy crept toward her. When she was within five feet, she whispered, “Shh.”
The girl gasped.
“Shh.” Cassidy pressed her finger to her lips and shot a look at the mouth of the cavern. “He’s out there.”
The girl’s eyes widened.
Cassidy closed the distance between them and swept the child in her arms. The metal chain clanged, and she froze at the sound.
So did Ella.
A normal sound. The girl could move. The sound of chains would make sense.
“It’s okay.” Cassidy kept her voice so low, she wondered if Ella could hear it. “My name is Cassidy. I’m going to get you out of here.”
The girl’s gaze flicked to the cavern opening.
“Ella, right?”
The child nodded.
“There’s another way out.” Cassidy pointed toward the back, though the opening was hidden from there. “It’s how I got in. I’m going to get that off your foot, and we’re going to crawl out. Okay?”
Again, Ella nodded.
Cassidy set her back on the blanket, realizing then that it wasn’t just a blanket but that there was padding beneath it. It was actually soft. Better than the cold stone she and Hallie had suffered.
Well, mostly her. Hallie had stayed on her lap most of the time. Her sweet little body had been so warm. She’d been so trusting, looking at Cassidy just like Ella was now.
Father, please, please.
She couldn’t lose another little girl.
Shaking off the fear, she focused on the cuff that kept the girl chained to the anvil. Made of thick leather, it was padded on the inside, but not well. Ella’s skin was scraped raw. The metal clasp opened with a key. She looked around, hoping the key was nearby.
There was a cooler, but that was close enough for Ella to reach.
There was a bucket. Cassidy didn’t look inside it, figuring it was where the strong scent of urine came from. At least Ella’d had a place to relieve herself. Cassidy and Hallie’d just had to hold it until the kidnapper returned.
“Does he keep the key here?”
Ella shook her head.
“You’re sure?”
She whispered, “In his pocket.”
Figured.
She found the knife. James was a genius.
She prayed a quick, Don’t let me hurt her. Or accidentally slit my wrist. Hoping to avoid cutting the girl’s raw skin, she set to work trying to force open the lock.
Thirty seconds of that and she admitted she’d make a terrible thief.
Okay, plan B. She slid the knife between Ella’s leg and the cuff and started sawing.
It was working, slowly.
Ella’s eyes were scrunched up, her lips trembling.
“Am I hurting you?” Cassidy whispered.
“Get it off.”
A minute, two, and she’d hardly made a slit.
Lord, keep the men out there until we can escape. Then, help me figure out where to hide Ella. And how to warn James.
Chapter Thirty-Three
James resisted the urge to look for Cassidy. Was she where he’d left her? Was she safe?
He and Vince had been crouched, side-by-side, for ten minutes or more. How long did Vince plan to watch an empty trail? To wait for someone to emerge from a cavern free of everybody except a trapped little girl?
“It’s obvious to me now that Cassidy isn’t the kidnapper.” Vince’s voice seemed too loud in the silent woods. “If she’s here, she doesn’t have to be afraid of me.”
“Cassidy took off after you came to my house yesterday.”
Vince nodded slowly, kept his focus on the path. “If she were here, would you tell me?”
“You say you believe me, but have you convinced Detective Cote?”
At Vince’s shrug, James added, “You still have a job to do, right? Finding Cassidy is part of that.”
“I’m not on the job right now. Not officially, anyway.”
“Take the day off?”
Vince shot a glare his way. “I wanna find Reid’s daughter as much as you do.”
“I’m sure that’s true.”
More long minutes of waiting followed. Finally, Vince said, “I don’t think he’s in there. Let’s go get Ella.” He nodded toward the mouth of the cavern, but James shook him off.
“You’re the professional. I’ll follow.”
Vince gave him a long look through squinted eyes, then nodded and started up the steep hill. From behind, James caught sight of the handgun holstered on Vince’s right hip, some kind of black contraption on his left. Looked like it could be official police gear, but he’d never seen it before.
And then he realized it was a satellite phone. Vince had told him he’d bought one to stay in touch while he searched for the cave.
Only when James was sure Vince wasn’t looking did he turn toward where he’d left Cassidy. No sign of her, but that didn’t mean anything. She could still be where he’d asked her to stay. She could have run to call 911, thinking he’d confirmed that Ella was here when he didn’t come right back.
He highly doubted that second option.
She could be in the cavern. Vince could be on his way to her right now.
We need help, Lord. Please, protect them. He trudged behind his friend, unsure how to proceed but knowing he needed to do so very carefully.
At the top of the hill, Vince crouched to offer him a hand.
“I got it,�
�� he said and climbed the last few feet.
Vince waited until James was beside him, and they stalked nearer the mouth of the cavern.
Ella was no longer crying.
Vince glanced back at him. “I’ll go first. Stay here, just in case he’s in there.”
“I’ll stay behind you.” Which wasn’t the same as staying outside, but Vince didn’t argue.
James followed, keeping his handgun pointed at the ground.
Out of the bright sunshine, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Sidestepped to see beyond Vince.
A blue cooler, a grocery bag, a bucket. Near them, an anvil, a chain.
A leather cuff, sliced open.
No Ella.
Vince bolted deeper into the cave, gun drawn. He got to the narrow escape passage and crouched, reached inside.
Yelled, “Stop. Police.”
Then pulled his weapon.
James barreled into him, knocking him to the side.
Vince turned the weapon his direction.
James dove, lifted his own, pointed it at his friend.
Neither fired.
Neither moved.
James did his best not to focus on the gun aimed at his heart. Not to focus on the fact that, with a single squeeze of the trigger, he’d be dead.
Vince’s gaze flicked to James’s gun as well. That neither had fired proved the friendship was real. Even if it had been built on shifting sand.
“They’re getting away,” Vince said. “I don’t want to shoot you.”
James wasn’t sure he could say the same.
“If Cassidy didn’t do it,” Vince continued, “she’ll get a fair trial.”
“This isn’t about Cassidy.”
Vince’s eyes narrowed. His expression hardened, and he shouted toward the opening, “Bring her back around or your boyfriend dies.”
“Don’t do it!” James yelled. “Call 911.”
From the other end of the passageway, only silence.
Vince smirked. “I guess she’s not as devoted to you as you are to her. Of course, I could’ve told you that a long time ago, considering she killed your sister and disappeared.”
James wouldn’t rise to Vince’s bait. Where was Cassidy? She had to have been in the shaft when Vince pulled his weapon. Otherwise, why show his hand?
Had she made it through? Was Ella safe?
“What do you think is happening here?” Vince asked. “I’m trying to catch Ella’s kidnapper, and you’re letting them get away.”
“You’re trying to catch Ella and the one girl you let survive.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I figured it out, Vince. It was you. It had to be you.”
“You’re insane.”
“Here’s what I know,” James said. “I think you did it. Everybody else thinks Cassidy did it. If you’re innocent, then use that handy little contraption on your left hip and call your friends at the station. They can take you both into custody, and we’ll let them sort it out from there.”
Vince scoffed. “Reid’s daughter is out there, and you’re letting her get away.”
“Escape. I’m letting her escape.”
Vince yelled, “Cassidy, you still there?”
A moment later… “I’m here. Ella’s hidden.” Her voice echoed from the passageway. James wanted to glance that way, but he was afraid to take his eyes off Vince and his weapon for even an instant.
“Come on through where I can see you,” Vince said.
“Stay where you are, Cassidy. I can shoot him as easily as he can shoot me.”
“I’ll stay where I am,” she said.
“Seems we have some time.” Vince leaned against the stone wall behind him. “Why are you so sure it’s me? Your girlfriend tell you that?”
“She didn’t know. I didn’t either, not until just now. But I suspected.”
Vince’s lips curled at the corners. Not a smile as much as a sneer. “Why’s that?”
“You were in charge of the search for this place ten years ago yet swore you couldn’t find it. You told me a few nights ago you’d continued searching. For ten long years, you searched. It took Cassidy and me less than twenty-four hours. Tells me you weren’t trying that hard, or you were lying.”
“It’s not like it’s easy to find.”
“And you called it a cave. The other night at Teresa’s, you were emphatic when you said it. ‘There are no caves.’”
“So what?”
“Cassidy said she was careful never to call it a cave. She said she always called it a rock formation, which is what it is. But it feels like a cave.” He didn’t look around, kept his focus on the man, the gun. But Vince’s gaze flicked to the stone walls surrounding them.
“That doesn’t mean anything. She described it like a cave.”
James shrugged. The gun was getting heavy in his hand, but he didn’t shift it. “Not proof. I never had proof. Only suspicion. Like the fact that you were the first to show up when that family reported finding Hallie’s body. The rest of the town cops were elsewhere, making calls, knocking on doors. But you were on this side of the lake, Johnny-on-the-spot. Because you knew where Cassidy and Hallie had last been seen. Not at the rest stop near Concord. Not in town. Nope. They’d still been on this mountain.”
“The search took us all over.”
“Yesterday, you showed up at my house alone. You said it was because you trusted me, but that’s not why. You showed up alone because you wanted to catch Cassidy without cops nearby to witness it. You need her dead.”
“You really think I’d have killed your girlfriend in cold blood?”
James’s lack of response to the question was all the answer he planned to give. “Lorelei still out of town?” James asked, referring to Vince’s girlfriend. “She was last month when Addison went missing too, wasn’t she? Convenient.”
Vince’s expression gave away nothing.
James continued. “One of my biggest questions all along has been about the ten-year gap in kidnappings. Assuming they were related, nobody could explain why the killer would take ten years off. Something had to happen in the killer’s life to get him started again. Something drastic. Like, say, for instance… his mother’s death.”
Now, Vince flinched as if James had wounded him.
“And then there’s the fact that Eugene and Wilson reported having seen us on the mountain two nights ago, and the next day, the killer had emptied this place out. How would he know to do that? How would he know to be prepared for us?”
“Word gets around.”
“After I was arrested, sure, the stories got out. But before that? When you were still theoretically trying to catch a killer? Surely the department keeps such things a little closer to the vest.”
“Rumors.” Vince shrugged. “Leaks. They’re the bane of our existence.”
“More circumstantial evidence. It’s possible word got out that we’d been seen up here, the killer heard, ran up to the mountain, hid Ella and all this gear somewhere, and then waited to try to kill Cassidy, the only person who could recognize him. But it feels unlikely.
“And then there’s the other question, the one that’s been nagging us. Why didn’t the killer shoot us both yesterday? Why let us go after Cassidy was shot?”
“He probably ran. Stayed with the kid.”
“I think he wanted to kill Cassidy, but he didn’t want to kill his friend.”
Vince’s gaze hardened. “He didn’t want to, but he will.”
“Problem is, Vince, I’m not the only one who knows. Before we started this morning, I left a message for Reid. I don’t know if he’s listened to it yet. Considering how ticked at me he was”—the reminder had James wanting to rub the jaw that still hurt—“I wouldn’t be surprised if it took him a day or two. But if I turn up missing or dead, he’ll listen. I laid out for him all the reasons why I think you might be the guy. It’s circumstantial, like you say, but I’m sure his uncle, your boss, would take it seriously
. Especially if I’m dead.”
For the first time, Vince had no answer. No defense. No argument.
Which meant this conversation was over.
Vince’s eyes didn’t shift, but his lips flattened. His shoulder lifted the tiniest bit.
And he fired.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ella sat in the sunshine, her back pressed against a skinny tree trunk. The pretty lady had freed her from the chain, and they’d crawled out a back hole Ella hadn’t even known was there. But the lady knew. The lady said if Ella was really quiet, she’d get her out of there, and she had.
But then, the lady had wanted her to go closer to the cave’s entrance, but she wasn’t going back there. She couldn’t. She grabbed the trunk and held on and cried and begged the lady not to take her back inside.
The lady had run her hand down Ella’s hair, which was probably all matted and yucky, kissed her on the temple, told her to stay put, and crept to the entrance.
Ella couldn’t look. She hid behind the tree and hoped the man wouldn’t find her there.
He was inside. Ella wanted to run away, far away where the man wouldn’t find her. But the lady promised to take her home to her daddy if she stayed where she was, and she was too scared to move, too scared to do anything.
She sucked her thumb and prayed to God to please keep the lady safe.
But then, a loud bang came from the cave, and Ella screamed.
Chapter Thirty-Five
James dove to the side just in time.
The bullet ricocheted off the wall behind him, sending stone fragments in every direction.
James rolled onto his knees, prepared to shoot.
But a shadow darkened the cave. Vince turned that direction, shifted his aim.
Had to be Cassidy. But James didn’t look, just lined Vince up in his sights.
And squeezed the trigger.
Vince crashed back against the stone wall behind him. Lifted his gun. Aimed at James.
Cassidy fired, and Vince flinched, then raised his gun again, this time aimed at Cassidy.
James vaulted across the ground, lowered his shoulder, and tackled his friend. He tossed his own gun away, snatched the weapon from Vince’s hand, and threw it across the cavern.
