by Kathi Daley
“No. I was knocked out cold, and when I woke up, I was here. I have no idea how long it took them to transport us here. I’m hoping it’s close to the house. If it is, then we’ll be easier to find.”
“Maybe I can open the door. Look outside,” I suggested. “Maybe I’ll recognize where we are.”
“Can you make it to the door?”
No, is what I wanted to say, but instead, I just asked Colt to give me a minute. After several minutes, I slipped off the bed and crawled across the room. I felt somewhat less dizzy and probably could have walked, but since I couldn’t see a single thing and wasn’t all that sure that I’d feel steady on my feet and didn’t want to fall and injure myself further, I figured crawling was the best choice. My eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness, and while I still couldn’t see much, I could see a tiny strip of light beneath the door. If not for the fact that it was a clear night and the moon was out, I suspected I wouldn’t have been able to see that.
“Okay, I’m here,” I said as I slowly stood, walking my hands up the wall so as not to lose my balance. I tried the door handle, and it was locked, although the door did have quite a bit of give. I was pretty sure that if I could work up the energy to do so, I could kick it in. Of course, if I did that, then the door would break, which meant that it would no longer be effective in helping to protect us from the cold. It would be worth the risk if we were close to civilization, and I could go for help, but if we were in the middle of nowhere, then breaking the door wouldn’t be our best move. “So what do we do now?” I asked after I’d caught Colt up on what I was thinking.
“We can’t just wait here since we don’t know if anyone is coming for us. Does the door open in or out?”
I used my hands to feel along the frame. “In.”
“Which means you won’t be able to kick it in even if you could control your dizziness long enough to do so.”
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, and praying that I wouldn’t panic and make things worse. “It’s odd that the door is locked from the outside. I guess there must be a lock of some sort on the exterior of the door.” I ran a hand around the frame. “It feels like there’s a space between the door frame and the wall. I feel cold air, so maybe it isn’t sealed the way it should be. I wonder if I can find something to try to pry one of the boards loose. If I can work one loose, I can probably create a hole large enough to squeeze through as long as there’s adequate spacing between support beams.” I squinted as I tried to look around the room. “The problem is that I can’t see a thing.”
“I feel pretty helpless cuffed to this dang bed,” Colt said with frustration evident in his voice.
“I wonder what the purpose of this room or shed is,” I commented. “We know it contains a bed, but I haven’t found anything else. It doesn’t make sense that someone would have a shed that locks from the outside with a bed and nothing else; unless Ned or Melody kidnap people all the time. It seems more likely this is a storage shed of some sort. Or maybe a hunting shack or a shelter to use when fishing.” I felt along the wall directly next to the door. “I’m going to make my way around the room using my hands. There could be items in the room other than the bed that we can’t see.”
“You didn’t run into anything when you crawled from where you were tossed to the bed or between the bed and the door.”
“I crossed the floor in the center. Maybe if something is in here, it’s along the walls.”
“Be careful,” Colt cautioned.
“I will. I’m going to walk my hands along the wall, one hand movement at a time. If I find something, I’ll pause and make sure I know what it is I’m touching.”
Suddenly, I had visions of all sorts of gross gooey things I’d never want to touch, but trying to find a way out seemed our only option, so I began to make my way around the room. The reality was that if we’d been easy to find, someone would have found us by now. I’d been talking to Georgia when whoever hit me approached. She knew where I was calling from, and the first thing she would have done was call Peach. Any hope that I might have had that we were stashed in an outbuilding on Melody’s property had dried up about twenty minutes ago.
“I found something,” I said when I was about a quarter of the way around one of the walls.
“What is it?” Colt asked.
“A shelf with dishes on it. Plates. Pans. That sort of thing. Not a lot. Just a few of each.”
“Anything else?”
I felt my hands slowly down the wall. “A table or maybe a counter. There are jars, I think.” I continued to feel my way around. “I think we were right when we said this might be a hunting or fishing shelter since there’s a bed and a few dishes, pans, and utensils for cooking over a fire.”
“Utensils would be good,” Colt said. “If you can find a knife, maybe I can use it as a screwdriver. If I can take the bed frame apart, I can slip my hand free.”
“I found a knife,” I said. “I like your idea about trying to get you free to help me. I’m going to continue making my way along the wall until I reach the bed.”
I knew that crossing the room in the center would be quicker, but I still didn’t know if there was anything in the center of the room. It seemed safer to feel my way around the room by touching the wall.
Luckily, the knife did the trick, and although it took us over an hour, we were able to work the bed frame loose so that Colt could slip his cuffed hand free. The handcuff was still around his wrist, but at least he could move around the room. Once he was free, we focused on finding something to pry a board near the door away, which would hopefully be enough to allow us to slip out. Of course, getting out of the room wasn’t our only problem. It was dark and cold. If this was a hunting or fishing shelter, then chances were it was located in the middle of nowhere.
“I found matches,” I said, opening the box and lighting one. I was happy for the light but almost passed out when I realized my left foot was less than a foot away from a bear trap. It wasn’t set, but it was sharp. If I’d stepped on it or tripped on it, I might have ended up with a serious injury. “I guess sticking to the walls was a good idea after all.”
“Yeah,” Colt agreed as the match burned down and the light went out. “I guess it was. Let’s look for something to light that will last a while.”
After a bit of searching, we found an old candle. Once it was lit, we took inventory of our situation. There was a bed with a filthy mattress against one wall. The shelving and wooden counter I’d found was across from the bed. There was no plumbing, gas, or electricity, but I supposed that if one were to bring a sleeping bag and cookstove along for the trip, the shelter would prove to be adequate.
“Look, there’s an old wood stove.” I pointed across the room.
“Okay, new plan,” Colt said. “Let’s find something to burn and hope the chimney’s free of soot, so smoke doesn’t back up. At this point, waiting out the night here probably makes the most sense. Maybe someone will see the smoke and come for us.”
“Do you think Ned or Melody will come back?”
Colt shook his head. “My bet is that Ned and Melody are long gone. If they wanted to kill us, they would have. I think they stashed us here to give them time to make their escape, and I doubt that we’ll see them again.”
Colt started breaking up the wooden shelving to use for firewood. He assured me that he would compensate the owner of the shack for any damage we did during our stay. I felt marginally better now that we had heat and light. I also felt better with the situation after Colt had assured me that Ned or Melody wouldn’t be back. I felt so tired and really wanted to sleep, but Colt convinced me that it was best for both of us to stay awake. We settled onto the filthy mattress, which at least provided a way for us to get up off the cold floor. We watched the fire, adding wood as needed, while Colt told me a story about his childhood, and then I told him one about mine. By the time the sun rose the following morning, a search helicopter had spotted the smoke from the fire, and the pilot notifi
ed Conroy and Dillinger, who’d been searching for us via snowmobile.
Chapter 14
Colt and I had been taken to the hospital to be checked out after we’d been found. Other than a massive headache on my part, we checked out just fine. Our instructions were to take it easy the rest of the day, so the two of us had returned to the cottage, where Georgia babied us when we weren’t sleeping in my big bed.
When we woke the following morning, we were both feeling rejuvenated, which was good since today was Christmas Eve, and there was much to do. I headed out into the living room while Colt jumped in the shower. This morning, I found two gifts on the counter. I supposed one of them might have been delivered yesterday.
I opened the larger of the two gifts to find ice skates in my size. Okay, now this was odd. Who other than Sierra even knew I was thinking of buying ice skates, and even if the gift had been from her, how was it possible that she knew my size? I supposed she could have asked Georgia, who had access to my shoes.
The second gift was a pair of earrings with red rubies and green emeralds, exactly like the ones my mom had worn every Christmas. Okay, these had to be from Annie. There is no way anyone other than Annie could have known about the earrings. I hadn’t called her. Maybe I would today.
I looked up as Colt walked into the room from the bathroom. “More gifts.” I held up the earrings and skates.
He took the earrings from my hand. “And you don’t have any idea who these are from?”
“I don’t know for sure. These earrings are just like the ones my mom used to have. The ones she wore every Christmas.” I looked at them closely. “At first, I thought they had to be from Annie, but then I realized that while these earrings look just like my mother’s, they aren’t my mother’s. In fact, I seem to remember that she lost one of her Christmas earrings when I was still a child. Besides, I can tell that while these were custom made to look exactly like those earrings, these are new.”
“So someone who knew about your mother’s earrings had a pair made to look just like them.”
“Yes. I guess. But who would do that, and who would know about the earrings in the first place? Other than Annie, but I don’t think this is the sort of thing she’d do. Still, I do feel that each gift I’ve received could be from someone in my life, yet there is no one in my life that all the gifts can be from.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“The first gift was a plate of cookies – my grandma’s chocolate Christmas cookies. The only person in my life that could have known that those cookies were special to me is Annie, and she’s no baker. She might have given the recipe to Georgia, I suppose, and Georgia might have made them. That actually makes sense, but when I asked Georgia, she said the cookies weren’t from her. However, I also think she’d lie if it meant not ruining a surprise, so I suppose they might have been. The second gift was a hand-painted ornament. It depicts the inn and the snowmen that had been built the day before. Nikki is a talented enough artist to have painted the ornament, so I suspect the gift might be from her even though she denied it when I asked her. The third gift was the snow globe, with a replica of the inn inside along with Rufus, Ramos, and Molly all sitting on the front porch, which reminded me of last Christmas when we first met Mylie. At first, I thought the snow globe might be from her, but then I went by Velma’s Diner, which reminded me that she has a snow globe collection she adds to every year, so now I suspect the snow globe might have been from her.” I took a breath and then continued. “And then on Monday, I received a holiday mug that is exactly like the one Annie bought for me when we went shopping in San Francisco years ago. It was purchased from a coffee house, which put out a different limited edition mug each Christmas. Annie, and only Annie, would know about my connection to that particular mug, so I’d suspect Annie had sent the mug, but then I remembered that my mug had broken, so now I feel like someone must have tracked down one of the mugs on eBay or somewhere else on the internet. That feels like a Lacy thing.”
“I agree that does feel like a Lacy thing, although how would Lacy know which mug to look for and buy?”
“She wouldn’t, unless Annie told her which mug to buy, which I suppose is possible. The next gift is a beautiful birthstone necklace. I suppose anyone who knows my birthday could have handled that one. Today, I received ice skates, which I’d just recently decided I might like to have. The only person I mentioned this to was Sierra. I also received the earrings, which, again, seem like the sort of thing only Annie could have known about. I suppose she might have had them made, but it doesn’t seem like something she’d do. I really am totally confused about who my Secret Santa might be. Unless…”
“Unless?” Colt asked.
“Unless it’s everyone.”
Colt smiled. “If that’s the case, then it seems as if your friends went to a lot of trouble to give you this gift. Maybe you should stop trying to figure it out and just let it play out.”
I kissed Colt on the lips. “Yeah. That’s good advice. Let’s go see what Georgia is up to. I, for one, am starving, and I bet she has food.”
Colt agreed to my plan, and we headed toward the inn. Not long after we arrived, Colt received a call from Melody asking to meet with me and only me.
“So what are you going to do?” Georgia asked as she refilled our coffee. “It could be a trap. I don’t think you should meet with her, at least not by yourself.”
“There’s no way you are going to meet with that woman alone,” Colt agreed.
“If a bunch of law enforcement cars show up, she might do something stupid,” I argued. “We don’t even know for certain that she was involved in what happened. She might have been forced to do what she did by Ned, who we have to assume might have had a gun when you stopped by.”
“We’ll go together,” Colt decided. “Melody asked that you meet her at the bridge that crosses the river at Brownville Junction.” He looked at his phone. “I’m going with you despite the fact that Melody requested that you go alone. Dillinger is headed out of town, but I’m going to call Conroy and have him follow us for backup.” He got up from the table. “I have a few calls to make, so grab what you need and meet me at your car in ten minutes.”
Georgia accompanied me back to the cottage. Since I wasn’t sure what to expect from our outing, I pulled on my heaviest jeans, a turtleneck and a wool sweater, and wool socks and snow boots. I also grabbed a jacket, hat, scarf, and mittens. If I ended up not needing so many layers, I’d take them off, but it sounded like we were meeting outside, and I wanted to be prepared.
“Are you sure about this?” Georgia asked as I gathered what I needed. “Maybe Colt and Conroy can just go alone. They are the cops, and you are the civilian. I mean, really, why did this woman ask to meet with you anyway? Do you know her?”
“No,” I said, tossing a heavy wool blanket on the pile with my jacket and other outerwear for good measure. “As far as I know, I’ve never met her.” I opened the drawer, looking for my good sunglasses. “I suppose she might figure I’m somehow involved in this whole thing since I was the one who showed up looking for Colt.” I picked up the pile of warm outerwear I’d just assembled. “I really don’t know why she wants to talk to me, but she’s currently on the run and possibly the only one who knows for certain where Ned is heading. If I can get her to tell me what she knows, maybe we can wrap this whole thing up once and for all.”
I tossed the pile of warm clothing I’d assembled into the backseat of my car. Colt waved at me as he concluded his conversation. He slipped into the driver’s side, so I naturally took the passenger seat.
“Okay, we’re all set,” he said. “I texted Conroy the location where Melody told me to have you meet her. He’s going to wait nearby should we need him. I’ll open a line between us when we arrive at the meet site, so he can hear everything that’s going on.”
“Do you think she means to harm me?” I asked as we traveled north.
“Actually, no. If Melody or Ned wanted to hu
rt either of us, they could have done so at Melody’s place the other night. If I had to guess, I’d say that Melody found herself in over her head and wants out. Melody probably wants to talk to you since she knows you’re a civilian and we’re friends, and hopes that if she can convince you that she’s willing to work with me, then you’ll convince me.”
“Do you think she’s involved?” I asked.
Colt frowned. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”
When we arrived at the meeting place, Colt parked, and we waited. A few minutes later, a woman, who I assumed was Melody, walked out from behind the cover of the trees. It occurred to me for the first time that if Ned and Melody hadn’t split up, he must have dropped her off. I didn’t see a second car, and it occurred to me that Melody’s car had most likely been at her house when the police searched the place.
“Melody?” I asked after getting out of the car and approaching the woman.
She looked toward the car where Colt had stepped out but hadn’t approached. “I told him to tell you to come alone.”
“That was never going to happen,” he said. “Whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us.”
She looked around. “I didn’t do anything. Not really. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life running, but I don’t want to go to jail either. I want to tell someone my story, and then I want to be taken home and left alone.”
Colt looked around. “Is Ned nearby?”
She shook her head. “No. He dropped me off yesterday. He made me promise to wait to call you until today.”
“Do you know where he’s heading?”
“To Canada, I think, but he really didn’t say. Everything happened so fast that I barely even knew what was happening before I was smack dab in the middle of a nightmare.”
“You look cold,” I said. “I have a blanket in the car. Why don’t you come with us, and we’ll figure this out.”
She glared at Colt.
“It’s fine. Get in the car. Let’s talk,” he said.
