by B. J Daniels
Clay drove southwest past Three Forks, taking Highway 287 toward Ennis. At the junction, he stopped to look under a large stone next to the stop sign. More instructions. He was to take Highway 2 toward Whitehall.
But as he got back into the truck, he let out a curse. “He’s leading us to Lewis and Clark Caverns.”
Josie felt herself go weak. “I’d forgotten about his fascination with caves.” It explained the odd mixture of items they had been instructed to bring in the backpack. It explained—
“The map!” they both said in unison.
“The map the sheriff found on Raymond,” Clay said excitedly. “It’s the inside of the caverns.”
Josie sat up a little straighter, hope rushing through her.
“Do you think you can draw it?” he asked as she snapped on the cab light to dig in the glove box as he drove. She found a pen and a Burger King napkin. “Wasn’t Pit the first name on the map?”
“Yes.” She quickly drew what she remembered with Clay’s help. “Remember the word End circled in red?”
“Yeah. I would imagine that’s where he plans to make the trade,” Clay said. “And the word, Paradise just before the word Finish.”
“He thinks he’ll have the jewels,” she said, not wanting to voice her real fear. That for Odell, paradise would only be if he’d gotten the jewels, destroyed her and Clay—and won.
Clay found more instructions just before the turnoff for Lewis and Clark Caverns, not that he hadn’t already anticipated what they would say. “Go up the mountain and into the caverns. Keep going. More instructions will be posted once inside.”
The narrow paved road curled up the mountain in tight switchbacks. The headlights cut a narrow swatch through the dense trees, the darkness close and low.
The road ended in a small paved parking lot. Several small buildings stood against the night sky. Two vehicles sat in the lot. A rental car and an old pickup truck with local plates.
Clay drove in and parked away from both of them. He killed the engine and the headlights. A faint light glowed near one of the buildings.
“Oh, God, Clay, someone else is here,” she whispered.
He took the backpack from her, saying nothing as he opened his door and got out. She followed, hurrying to catch up to him. He had the backpack slung over his shoulder and one of the flashlights in his hand. The golden disk of light bobbed across the pavement in front of him as Clay neared the only other light on the mountain.
Just as she caught up to Clay, he stopped and turned to try to shield her from something on the ground. At first all she glimpsed was the source of the faint light she’d seen from the truck. A flashlight lay on the ground, the beam dim as if the batteries were running low.
Past it, she caught sight of a pair of boots connected to two jeans-clad legs sticking out from behind the building.
Clay knelt down, then straightened. “The security guard,” he whispered. “He’s dead.”
She glanced at the poor man on the ground. Her heart hammered, her pulse thundering at her temple. Odell had already killed once tonight and he had Ivy.
Her limbs suddenly felt as though they were made of stone. She stared at the mountain ahead, too afraid to move. Tears burned in her eyes. She wanted to howl like the wounded animal she was.
She felt Clay’s hand on her face. He cupped her jaw and pulled her into him. She buried her face in his chest, absorbing the warm feel of his jacket, the safe feel of his arms around her.
“We’re going to get her back,” he whispered. “I promise you, Josie. You just have to trust me.”
She could feel the steady beat of his heart against her cheek, his arms around her, strong but gentle. Trust, that was something they’d never had. She looked up into his face beneath the wide brim of his Stetson. Steely determination shone in his eyes. But something more. His love for Ivy.
“Trust me?” he whispered.
She straightened and let out a ragged breath. “I trust you.”
“We can do this, Josie,” he whispered as he brushed a tear from her cheek.
She nodded, catching his large, warm hand and bringing it to her lips before letting him go.
He handed her the flashlight and motioned for her to lead the way up the path to the cavern entrance. She took a step, then another, each growing a little stronger. Instead of looking ahead, she watched only the few feet of path she could see in front of her. One step at a time. Don’t think. Just walk.
She did, trying to hold back the horrible thoughts that bombarded her. Trying to keep from looking off the steep drop to her left as the path climbed the mountain. Or looking too far into the future.
She had to believe in Clay. Believe in herself. She wasn’t still that scared young girl that Odell had bullied in Texas. But he didn’t know that. He would expect her to cower, to beg, to cry. That’s the way he liked her.
She lengthened her strides, breathing in the night air, feeling strength in her legs, in her heart. She could hear Clay behind her and thanked God he was here.
The smell hit her first. Dead, cold air, wrought with an age-old dampness.
She slowed. A gaping hole yawned in the side of the mountain. The once locked, barred door that had sealed it shut now hanging open. Ivy’s favorite teddy bear hung from one of the bars.
Clay gently pulled the worn teddy bear down, drawing it to his face. It smelled like her. He breathed in the scent of her, then pulled Josie to him, holding them both for a long moment.
Then he handed the bear to Josie.
She was crying softly, but when he met her gaze, her eyes gleamed with determination. His heart ached as he watched her hug the bear to her as she would have Ivy.
He stared into the dark, ominous opening. Unlike what he’d told Josie, Odell had every advantage. All they had was their love for their daughter.
An owl screeched somewhere nearby, giving him a start. In the distance, a car engine droned on the highway below them. Nothing but silence came from within the cave.
Unlike Odell, he’d never liked caves and didn’t like the idea of being trapped underground with a madman. Worse yet, the last thing he wanted to do was take Josie in with him. But he knew neither of them had any choice.
Odell was calling the shots. At least for the moment.
“Stay close,” he whispered to Josie as he pulled the second flashlight from the pack. “And remember what I said.” His gaze met hers for a moment, then he pointed the flashlight beam into the caverns and stepped through the rock arch, with Josie close behind.
Inside, their footfalls echoed off the walls of carved stone. Their flashlights did little to hold back the darkness. Clay moved slowly at first, feeling his way, expecting Odell to ambush them at any time.
They hadn’t gone far when he felt Josie clutch at the back of his jacket, grabbing a handful of cloth. Overhead, the ceiling came alive.
She let out a small choked cry as dozens of bats took flight, a scurry of wings and dark movement just inches above their heads.
“You all right?” he whispered back to her.
The hand on his back released its hold.
The path dropped downward in a series of cramped rock steps. At one point, he thought he heard a baby crying. He stopped to listen but could hear nothing but the drip of water deeper in the caverns, deeper in the endless darkness.
Not far in, they passed a shaft that dropped down to an open room. The Pit on the map Raymond had on him when he was killed?
The narrow path wound down another set of tight, steep steps that opened into a room filled with stalactites and stalagmites, then down along a small tunnel.
This time when it opened up, he saw that they were now at the bottom of the pit. Clay stopped to look up, feeling the hair rise on the back of his neck.
“Clay?”
He looked over at her, then where she pointed. A crudely written note instructed them to put down their flashlights, empty their pockets and the backpack onto the rock floor in the stationary bea
ms of light. They were to open the bag of jewels so they could be seen from above, then put everything back and continue into the cave.
“Do as he says.” He laid his flashlight next to Josie’s and pulled out his pockets, then dumped the backpack contents to the floor.
He couldn’t see Odell. He wasn’t even sure Odell was up there, on the trail they’d been on just moments before, now looking down at them from the darkness. It made his skin crawl, though. The man had always been on the edge. From what Clay had seen so far, he’d say Odell had now gone off the deep end. He’d progressed from theft to kidnapping and murder. That was one hell of a leap, even for a man who’d faked his own death.
After a moment, he picked up the items from the floor, put them again into the backpack, including Ivy’s teddy bear. As he scooped up his flashlight from the floor, he saw Josie’s face. The look in her eyes gave him hope. All her maternal instincts burned in her gaze. She was like a mama lion going after her cub.
Not that he would have blamed her if she fell apart, but he was damned glad she hadn’t and he was counting on her to hold it together. For their daughter’s sake.
He couldn’t let himself think of Ivy as they dropped deeper and deeper into the mountain, the air becoming colder and wetter. Bats scurried in front of them, a restless, frantic sound that set his nerves on end.
Water dripped and ran down the sides of the stone walls. Deeper and deeper. The narrow passages opened into rooms filled with rock formations. Rock sculpted by water and time.
He retraced the map in his head. Pit. Garden. Waterfall. End. Paradise. Points of interest? Except for End.
He shone the flashlight across the rock formations, standing like sentries. If he was right, this was the Garden. He hurried along the rock path worn slick by the feet of thousands of sightseers. If he was right, the waterfall would be in the next room.
But when he reached it, there was no running water. He glanced over at Josie. She pointed with her flashlight at a wall of brown flowstone that rippled and ran downward. “The waterfall,” she whispered.
He nodded and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. She reached for his hand, squeezed it, then quickly let go as she pointed her light into the darkness ahead.
They dropped down a tight, steep stairway carved in the rocks and into a huge room filled with boulders. The air seemed denser. Colder. He shone his flashlight beam across the expanse.
Eyes. His hand with the flashlight jerked. Slowly, his hand shaking, he scanned the light back across.
The figure sat against one of the stalagmites. For just that split second, Clay thought it was Odell. Then he heard Josie gasp, “Mildred!”
She was tied to the rock formation, gagged and bound. Blinded by their lights, her eyes widened with fear.
“It’s us,” Clay whispered as he climbed up to her. He kept his eye out for Odell as Josie removed the gag and untied her hands and feet.
“He’s got the baby,” Mildred cried. “He’s got Ivy.”
“Do you know where?” Josie asked.
She shook her head. “He left me here and took the baby.”
“It’s all right,” Clay assured her in a whisper. “Did you see where he went, which way?”
She shook her head, and he realized she’d been sitting here in the dark long enough that she’d become temporarily blind and disoriented.
He knew he couldn’t leave her here alone. Nor would it make sense to take her with them. He also knew that Odell had anticipated this.
“Josie, give her your flashlight.” Isn’t that what Odell had planned for the second flashlight? “Mildred, I want you to follow the trail back the way we just came. It will lead you out of here. You mustn’t be afraid.”
She nodded, looking scared, but tougher than most women her age. “You’re going to get him?”
Clay nodded. Or die trying. “When you get out, go to my truck, lock yourself inside and wait for us. The keys are in the truck.”
“You want me to go for help?”
“No, that might jeopardize Ivy’s life,” he said.
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. She took the flashlight and the keys. “I’ll wait for you.”
He waited until Mildred disappeared back through the cavern, then he looked over at Josie. Her jaw was set, her eyes dark and narrowed.
“Ready?” he whispered.
She nodded.
“I just want you to know,” he whispered, “you did the right thing with Ivy.” There was so much more he wanted to say to her, but he told himself there’d be time after they got Ivy back. After Odell really was dead and gone. This time for good.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and on impulse he leaned down to kiss her lips one last time before they got their daughter.
JOSIE FOLLOWED CLAY, her gaze on the small puddle of light that shone on the rock floor from his flashlight. The cave narrowed quickly, until she had to sit down and slide down a chute, the rocks overhead close and confining, cold to the touch.
Then the rock opened again. Clay flicked the light over a small room filled with stone statues huddled in thick clusters like lawn ornaments.
She knew they had to be getting close to the X on the map, which marked End. If they were right—
Off to her left, a faint light flashed on in one of the rock clusters. She swung around and let out a cry as Odell appeared out of the blackness like a ghost.
She clutched at Clay’s jacket, but she knew he’d seen him, too.
Odell stood among the tall, misshapen stone forms. The flashlight he held just under his chin shot eerie, pale light up over his stark features, making it appear that he’d just crawled from his grave.
“You bastard,” Clay swore.
Odell laughed, the sound echoing through the cavern, and lowered the flashlight. He’d wanted to scare them and he’d succeeded.
“Put your flashlight down,” he ordered, his flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. He pointed the gun at Clay’s chest, the flashlight beam at Clay’s knees.
He waited until Clay obliged, although Clay left the light on. The beam cut across the rock floor to shine like a small spotlight on one of the rough rock walls.
Odell moved toward them, keeping the gun aimed at Clay’s chest.
“Let me see the jewels,” he ordered.
Clay shook his head. “Where is Ivy?”
Josie saw that Odell had changed in the past two years. He’d lost weight. His face was gaunt, his eyes more deep-set, his body rangier. If anything, he looked meaner. Crazier.
“Not until I see the jewels,” he said.
Clay swung the backpack off one shoulder and pulled out the bag of jewels. He hefted it in his hands, keeping it out of Odell’s reach.
“I hope you brought the other things I told you to,” he said, then grinned, his dark eyes flashing with evil. “Of course you did. You want to see that baby of yours again, don’t you, Josie?”
“How could you involve an innocent child in this?” she cried. For even Odell, this was despicable. “What have you done with her? Tell me where she is, Odell.”
“Listen to you, woman. I don’t think you realize who you’re talking to. I’m not your boy Clay here.” His eyes narrowed, his face twisting into an angry sneer. “You talk nice to me if you want to see that kid again.”
“Ivy!” Josie called, the sound deafening in the cave. “Ivy?” The frantic sound echoed, then died into silence. “Ivy!”
“Quit that damn yelling,” Odell snapped. “She can’t hear you. I gave her a little something to help her sleep. Don’t worry, I asked a doctor. No matter what you think, I wouldn’t hurt her. Unless, of course, you make me.”
Odell snatched the bag of jewels from Clay’s hand. The bag came open and several jewels clattered to the floor of the cave. Odell’s flashlight beam dropped to them. “Wait a minute, these aren’t—”
Josie didn’t hear the rest. Hate as potent as jet fuel rocketed through her. She launched herself at Odell with
out words, without thought, without fear.
It happened in an instant.
Odell caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Shock registered on his face; this wasn’t the same easily intimidated woman he’d known in Texas.
He tried to swing the gun, to get it pointed at her before she hit him, but without any luck. She hit him hard, barreling into him, propelling him backward into the stalagmites.
He hit his arm on one. The gun clattered to the floor. She pounded at his chest, his face, his head. He caught hold of her, smacking her with the flashlight just as Clay lunged for him.
The blow from the flashlight sent her flying backward. She tripped over one of the stalagmites growing out of the floor and fell hard, banging her ankle as she went down, the pain piercing through her anger.
When she looked up, she saw Clay and Odell wrestling. The gun lay a few yards away, near Clay’s flashlight. Trying to ignore the pain, she slid over to it.
She’d almost reached the gun when she heard a loud crack behind her. She turned in time to see Odell’s hand holding the flashlight hit one of the stalactites. The light went out, throwing most of the room into darkness. Odell let out a curse.
In the shaft of light from Clay’s flashlight on the floor, she scooped up the gun, then the flashlight.
As she turned with both the gun and the light, she saw Clay slam Odell against the rock wall, his hands on Odell’s throat.
“Where is Ivy?” Clay demanded. When Odell didn’t answer, he threw him against the wall again, eliciting a groan from Odell.
“Don’t kill him,” she cried, trying to get to her feet. Her ankle wouldn’t take the weight. She slid toward them on her bottom, using her good foot to propel her.
The beam of her flashlight lit on Odell’s bulging face. “Clay, don’t kill him. He’s the only one who knows where Ivy is.”
He seemed to loosen his hold.
“Listen to her,” Odell gasped. “If you kill me, you’ll never find the kid.”
Clay instantly tightened his fingers on Odell’s throat. “But I’ll have the satisfaction of killing you.”
