“Someone’s coming.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“How should I know?” he snapped, turning down the light. “Out this way at night it probably means trouble.”
A bolt of fear electrified Jamie. They were all alone with only spotty cell reception. There was no way to call for help.
“Stay away from the windows,” he barked. “I’ll get my gun.”
“You have a gun?” She couldn’t decide if that was good news or bad.
He scurried up to the loft and came charging down as the car drew closer. Jamie could see the headlights reflected in the trees outside.
“Can I count on you?” Todd asked.
“Count on me?”
He seemed to answer his own question. “Better that you hide.” He opened a small door in the corner of the kitchen. “Get down there.”
“Where?” Jamie hadn’t even noticed the door before. It was flat and flush with the floor.
“It’s a root cellar. Go on. You have to keep quiet. For your own protection.”
“What do you mean?”
“You need to stay hidden and safe.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll deal with it.”
She shook her head. “No, we’ll deal with it together.”
“I don’t trust you, Jamie. You say the wrong thing and we’re screwed.” Todd dragged her toward the newly revealed hole in the floor. “Come on, get down there.”
Jamie looked into the pit at her feet. A narrow ladder lead down into pitch blackness. “Please, Todd, I’ll be good. I won’t say a word.”
“You brought this on yourself, honey. You’ve proven untrustworthy before.”
“I didn’t—”
“It’s for your own protection. Don’t make a sound. If anyone gets hurt it will be your fault.” He shoved a flashlight into her hands. “Remember, not a peep.” He pushed her down into the abyss and shut the door.
Clinging to the ladder, Jamie found the switch on the flashlight. It gave off a weak yellow beam that was only marginally better than nothing.
She bit her lip to keep from crying and slowly eased herself down the ladder to the ground.
Chapter 51
After half an hour of driving in the dark along poorly marked roads that supposedly lead to Porcupine Ridge, Marta was beginning to think Cassie had been right. They should have waited until morning.
She was on the verge of admitting defeat when Cassie pointed up ahead.
“I bet that’s it,” she said. “The bridge, I mean.”
“How can you tell?”
“The fencing on the side of the road. The woman at the bar said the turn-off was after a creek overcrossing.”
Marta slowed as they crossed over a creek, or what she assumed was a creek below.
“There,” Cassie said. “Up ahead. I see a road off on the left.”
Marta turned onto a narrow strip of pockmarked asphalt and they headed into the hills. The road morphed from asphalt to gravel, and continued to narrow as they wound further up. Eventually it ended where a rutted dirt road angled off to the right.
“This can’t be right,” Marta groaned.
Cassie turned on the dome light and examined the hand-drawn map. “No, I think it is. See, she made this part more of a dotted line.” Cassie peered into the darkness ahead. “You think we should go on?”
Marta’s instinct was to turn around and come back in daylight. Then she thought of Jamie, who might be close by and desperate for help. “Maybe just a little farther.”
The driving was difficult and Marta worried she would pop a tire or get stuck in one of the large potholes that were practically impossible to see in the dark.
“I guess we should call it off for tonight,” she said finally. “We can’t help Jamie if we’re stranded in the woods ourselves.”
She was looking for a place to turn around when through the trees ahead, she thought she saw a faint light. Cassie saw it too.
“Could be a cabin,” she said. “Looks like someone’s there.”
Marta inched forward. She stopped short of the light, which was coming from a small, rustic building that struck her as more shack than cabin, unsure what to do next.
“Maybe we should call the cops,” Cassie suggested.
“We don’t know that this is the right place. Or that Jamie’s here.”
“There’s no way we’re going to be able to find out tonight. We can’t go knock on the door.”
“Let’s just take a look.” Marta pushed on at a snail’s pace.
Suddenly the lights in the cabin dimmed.
“Let’s get out of here,” Cassie cried. “It’s creepy.”
Marta spotted a dark-colored car parked to the side of the cabin. “Just a minute. I want to get the license number.”
“I’m calling the cops.” Cassie took her phone from her purse. “Damn. No signal.”
Marta pulled to the side of the narrow road and turned off the engine.
“What are you doing?”
“There might be better reception outside this car and I want to check the parked car’s plate.”
They got out and circled behind the car. The night was pitch black and the ground was uneven. Staying close together, they inched toward the cabin. Cassie kept her eyes on the signal-strength icon. Every so often it would look like she’d found a good spot, but the signal faded again before she could complete a call.
“Let’s get out of here,” Cassie whispered. “We can come back tomorrow.”
“I want to find out if Jamie’s inside.”
“You can’t, not without maybe getting your head blown off.”
Cassie was right. There wasn’t any way to discreetly learn who was inside that cabin. Or to get near enough to the car to see its plate. But to be so close, to think Jamie was within hollering distance and simply walk away? Marta couldn’t do it.
A crackling sound behind them startled her. Her heart jumped into her throat. She turned and was immediately blinded by a bright light. Cassie gasped and grabbed Marta’s arm.
“Hello, Marta. And Cassie,” Todd said.
“Where’s Jamie?” Marta said. “Is she here?”
“Why would she be here?”
“Don’t play stupid. She called me a couple of days ago, remember?” Just before you slapped her and wrenched the phone from her hands, Marta added silently.
He lowered the light so that it was no longer blinding them, and Marta saw the gun in his other hand. “She’s gone,” he said.
“Gone? Where?”
“How should I know?” He gestured with the flashlight. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
“Is she okay? When did she leave?” What did gone mean. Marta’s stomach clenched. Was Jamie dead?
“Go on,” Todd said. “I’ll follow.”
Staying close, Marta and Cassie moved toward the cabin. Despite the shadowy light from Todd’s flashlight, Marta stumbled several times. Her legs felt like rubber.
“Why are you doing this?” Cassie whimpered. “We just want to know that Jamie is safe.”
“I’m surprised you’re part of this, Cassie. I thought you despised your sister.”
“Not true,” Cassie croaked to Marta. “I never said I despised you.”
Todd chuckled.
Inside the cabin, he turned off the flashlight and motioned them to wooden chairs set around a small heavily marred table. The gun remained in his hand.
“How’d you find me here?” he asked.
“You told me about the cabin,” Cassie said. “Near Trout Creek.”
“What a memory!” He laughed.
Marta looked around. The cabin was sparsely furnished and not very clean. There was no sign of Jamie. “What’s upstairs?” she asked.
“A sleeping loft. I’d give you a tour but this isn’t a social call, is it?”
“I want to see Jamie. Where is she?”
“I told you, she’s not here.” He smiled. “But you are.”
; Chapter 52
Jamie was grateful for the flashlight, weak though it was. She stood at the bottom of the ladder and circled the light around her, taking stock. The cellar appeared to be smaller than the cabin, and the ceiling was so low a taller person would have had trouble standing. No skeletons or dead animals that she could see. No live animals, either. That was a relief. But the beams were layered with dust-laden spider webs and the air smelled musty. She shivered and crossed her arms protectively. How long would she need to stay here?
She heard the cabin door creak and Todd’s footsteps descending the outside steps. Then quiet, broken only by an occasional snap of branches. She thought she saw a sweep of light through the cracks in the siding, and she heard the sound of a car door.
She lowered her flashlight beam and held her breath.
A short time later she heard footsteps above in the cabin and muffled voices. Someone was inside. Todd or intruders? Or both?
At first, she’d been upset about being pushed into the cellar, but she was scared enough now to think that Todd had been right. He was only trying to protect her, after all.
Someone was definitely here. What if Todd was in trouble?
Jamie’s mind raced with possibilities, none of them good. Her heart pounded and her stomach churned. He had a gun, she reminded herself. He wasn’t defenseless. And she hadn’t heard shouting or sounds of a fight. But whoever it was hadn’t left yet. She was pretty sure she’d have heard if they had.
She was afraid to move lest she make a noise. Afraid, almost, to breathe. But she couldn’t stop shivering.
In the dark cellar, she lost track of time. She was surprised when the cellar door opened and Todd called down to her. “You can come up now, honey.”
Was this a trick? Had he been forced to admit she was hiding below? Would he use her as bait?
No, Todd wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.
Slowly and cautiously, Jamie climbed the ladder into the shaft of light from above. Todd was waiting and she fell into his arms.
“Who was it?” she whispered. “What did they want?”
Keeping an arm tightly around her shoulders, he turned her toward the table. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to make out two figures sitting upright in the kitchen chairs.
She blinked and looked again. Her heart leapt to her throat. “Mom? Aunt Cassie?”
“Jamie!” They called her name in unison.
“How did you know…” Her words caught in her throat when she saw they were bound to the chairs with rope.
She started to run to them, then remembered Todd’s warning. If anything bad happened, it would be her fault. She looked at him. “What’s going on?”
“Your phone call the other day,” he said. “I warned you. Now look what you’ve done.”
What she’d done? Jamie took a tentative step forward. “Are you guys okay?”
Her mom stopped crying long enough to say, “More importantly, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jamie said, and at the same time realized it wasn’t true.
“You still want to come home?”
Yes, she did. With all her heart. But her mom was in no position right now to make that happen.
“I miss you,” Jamie said, feeling her own rush of tears. “I didn’t want to cause you trouble. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“We miss you, too. We’ve been so worried. That’s why we had to find you.”
Her mom wasn’t angry. She’d flown all this way because Jamie needed her!
“Why did you have to tie them up?” she asked Todd, her throat aching with choked-back tears.
He laughed without humor and waved the gun. “Jamie, you’re as dumb as shit sometimes.”
She flinched. Heat rose to her face. “What do you plan to do?”
“Not sure yet.”
“Let Jamie go,” her mom begged. “Cassie, too. I’ll stay with you. We’ll go away. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You had your chance, Marta. You blew it.”
Her mom’s face was etched with desperation. “What do you want?”
“I have it.” Todd grinned. “You’re begging me. Tit for tat.”
“It’s not the same at all.”
“You were cruel to me, now it’s my turn.”
“I’m married. I wasn’t trying to be cruel. I wanted to make you see things for what they were.”
Jamie sucked in a breath. It was true then? Her mother hadn’t lied about Todd pursuing her. The memory of their argument reached out and grabbed Jamie by the throat. Why hadn’t she listened? If only she hadn’t been so stupid. So determined to prove her mother wrong.
Todd stroked Jamie’s cheek. “As it turns out, I prefer your daughter. She’s more woman than you could ever be.” His hand slid lower, brushing her breasts and belly. “And I didn’t have to beg. She offered it all.”
A sour taste rose in Jamie’s throat. Todd didn’t prefer her. He’d been using her all along, just as her mother warned.
He stretched and yawned, making an elaborate show of both. “Bedtime, ladies. Jamie, you go on up, I’ll be there in a moment or two.”
Jamie’s legs felt wobbly. He couldn’t possibly think this was a normal night, could he?
“What about my mom and aunt?”
“They’re going to enjoy the charm of the cellar tonight.”
“No, Todd. Don’t make them—”
“Shut up, Jamie. Remember, I’m calling the shots here. Now scoot.”
She looked toward her mom and Cassie, silently begging them to understand. She didn’t want to abandon them, but what could she do? Todd was bigger and stronger, and he had a gun.
He put his hand on her neck, pressing so hard she had trouble breathing. “I told you to go upstairs,” he said. “Now do it!”
“Go on,” her mother said in a voice that was thin and tightly strung. “Do what he says. We’ll be fine.”
Jamie moved toward the loft ladder. If only she could figure out what to do.
Chapter 53
The sun was coming up when Gordon saw the first road sign for Trout Creek, thirty miles ahead. He’d raced to make his flight last night, dozed fitfully on the plane, and arrived in San Francisco a little after midnight. He’d gone straight to the rental car agency and had been driving for nearly five hours. Although exhausted, he hadn’t wanted to waste a minute’s time.
He was drained physically and his mind felt worn thin with worry. Why wasn’t Marta answering her phone? She wouldn’t ignore his calls, no matter how angry she might be. And Cassie wasn’t answering her phone, either. He could think of no explanation that wasn’t troubling as hell.
And what about Jamie? Had they managed to find her? If they had, Marta would have called. But what if Todd had found Marta first?
Gordon felt as though his heart was being squeezed by an iron claw. He couldn’t lose them. His wife and his daughter were his whole world. He made deals with God. I promise never to take them for granted. I promise to cherish them forever, to devote the rest of my life to being a good husband and father. I promise anything you ask, just let them be safe. Please.
He saw a gas station and pulled in. He needed coffee and the use of the restroom as much as he needed gas.
When he got back in the car with his large cup of sweetened coffee, his phone rang. His heart leapt. Marta?
But it was Scott Jennings. “I have more information on Winslow, if you’re interested.”
“Yes, I’m interested. Did you find out where the family cabin is? I’m in California right now.”
“Sorry, nothing about the cabin. I did some more digging on Travis and his siblings.”
“And?”
“Do you remember I told you Travis was suspected in the murder of a woman?”
“Right.” Gordon felt goose bumps rise along his arms.
“Well, he was also questioned in conjunction with a different missing woman.”
“But not arrested?”
“No. Same story. Lack of evidence and pressure from the family.”
“So he’s maybe gotten away with murder twice. And his family covers for him?”
“That’s one way of looking at it. Doesn’t mean that’s what happened, though. Maybe he’s innocent.”
“It’s troubling stuff, but I figured you deserved to know. I’d want to in your shoes.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your following up.”
“The siblings know about your call to their attorney. For what it’s worth, I get the feeling they’re fed up with Travis and the trouble he attracts. I think they might be as eager to find him as you are. They don’t want a scandal to interrupt their latest business deal, no matter who gets hurt. I thought you should know what you’re dealing with.”
“I appreciate it.”
Gordon’s coffee had grown cold. He took a couple of last swallows, dumped the rest, and drove on to Trout Creek. His conversation with Jennings circled through his mind in an endless loop. He needed a plan but couldn’t think past finding his wife and daughter, and keeping them safe.
When he reached the turnoff for Trout Creek, Gordon pulled to the side of the road. Marta had mentioned the hotel where she and Cassie were staying. Ponderosa something. He tapped the name into the browser on his cell phone and was rewarded with the full name—Ponderosa Pines—and a detailed map.
The hotel was a long, low building of mountain rustic design with a manager’s office in front. The office was empty so he rang the bell on the counter.
A man with thick gray hair and a ruddy face appeared from the back room, pulling on a sweater as he approached.
“Check-in time isn’t until three,” he said, somewhat irritably.
“I’m looking for my wife. She and her sister were staying here. Marta Crawford and Cassie Reynolds. I can’t reach them and I’m worried.”
“Your daughter is missing, right?” His tone softened. “I can understand why you’re worried.”
Gordon saw the flyer with Jamie’s photo on the wall. “I see you’ve got one of my wife’s flyers. I’ve been calling her, but she doesn’t answer.”
“We got spotty reception around here, but let’s take a look at her room.” He rooted around in a drawer, then looked up. “I suppose I should ask for some I.D. first.”
Payback Page 27
