by Misty Evans
As if staring at the map of the area still back at the cabin, he realized where he was.
The cave.
The place where he’d found the bones all those years ago.
Where Watt had killed those kids and left them to rot.
It was less than a quarter mile from this spot, down by the river.
No, no, no.
For a moment, he wanted to bang his head against a tree. Should have seen it. Should have stopped him. Not just today, but all those years ago.
“What is it?” Trace asked, his gaze scanning the area. “You got something?”
Adrenaline pumping like a jet stream in his blood, Jon started running.
His team did the same.
Nyx bolted past him, her nose held in the wind, paws churning up snowy leaves and forest detritus. He’d given her one of Jaya’s gloves to sniff and he had no doubt they were on the correct trail as Nyx’s speed increased.
Jon picked up his pace to match.
The rushing of the river echoed in the ancient trees and bluffs surrounding the area. Thousands of years of erosion had created a steep gorge on the northwest side. Half a mile wide in places downstream, the narrower banks here were crusted with ice, slowing the flow of water. A thin branch met the main channel along the rock cliff and the cave lay just beyond the fork, burrowing into the stones.
Jon stopped at the edge of a copse of trees and whistled softly for Nyx. The dog fell back and ran to meet up with him, sitting at his feet.
He stroked the dog’s ears as his team gathered on either side.
“That’s the place,” he told them. He could feel the horror from that day so long ago rising in his bones again. Compartmentalize. Shut it down. “That’s where he took her.”
Colton looked around and pointed to his left. “Best place for me to set up is half a click that way in some trees. Should be able to see inside the cave from there.”
“We going through the front door?” Trace asked, his own rifle in the crook of his elbow. “Or is there a back way in?”
“He wants me.” Jon stared at the dark mouth of the cave on the other side of the embankment. Unless they went a mile north to a natural bridge, the only way to get to the other side was through the frozen river. A river he would gladly swim if it meant getting to Jaya and his baby. “I’m going in the front. Hunter, you’ll be coming in from the southeast. Once over the river, there’s a trail that will lead you up the cliff but before you get to the top, you’ll see a large stone with a symbol on it. An eagle that one of my ancestors drew on it a couple hundred years ago. Drop down that hole and follow it toward the sound of the water.”
Trace swung the rifle around on its strap so it hung down his back. “Like Santa coming down the chimney. Piece of cake.”
“Wait for my signal.”
“Roger that.” Hunter hesitated before taking off. “We’ll get her back, Jon.”
He disappeared into the woods.
“Bells?”
“Yeah.” Colton stepped closer.
“I’ll draw him as close to the cave opening as possible. I plan to be the one to shoot his ass, but if you get him in your sights, take him out.”
“My pleasure.”
He too disappeared.
“Where do you want me?” Miles asked.
“You’re my wingman.” Jon gave Nyx the command to stay. “If Jaya’s hurt and Finn is in that cave, also hurt, I’m gonna need help getting them out of there.”
“How’d he get them across the river?”
Jon’s hands clenched again. “How do you think?”
“So we could be dealing with hyperthermia as well as concussions and other injuries. As soon as we confirm they’re inside, I’ll radio Rage and Clash, get them here. Both of them have medical training. Charlotte and the others can have a couple vehicles ready for transport. The closest clinic is sixteen miles south.”
He’d already checked, ready to whisk Charlotte there, but she’d shut him down. Jon gave him a back slap. “Thanks for this.”
Miles nodded. “Let’s get your girl back.”
Jaya’s head pounded, stomach roiling. Bone-deep chills racked her body.
Hard. Whatever she was lying on was so, so hard.
Cold.
Wet.
A trickle of water ran down her cheek, her hair seemed plastered to her lips.
She peeled one eye open. At least she thought it was. The darkness around her made her wonder if she were blind.
Blinking, she managed to get the other eye open, needing to raise her head slightly to do it. She was face down on unforgiving stone, and her head throbbed from the movement.
There wasn’t much to see thanks to the dark. Laying her cheek back down, she checked in with the rest of her body. Her toes were numb, her clothes soaked and sticking to her skin. The tips of her fingers matched her toes, unwilling to move, but she managed to press herself onto her back.
For her trouble, she received a splash of cold water in her face as a large drop fell from what looked like a giant icicle hanging above her. It seemed to glow, a white dagger hanging from the cave’s roof.
A cave? She’d never been in one before, but she was pretty sure this had to be one. Another sting of the freezing water on her cheek made her suck in a breath. Her ribs rebelled, yelling at her for the inhalation.
Where am I?
As her senses came online, she heard a loud shishing noise nearby. Was that water?
Someone left the faucet on!
She smiled at her delirium, raising her desensitized hands to her face and wiping her eyes.
Her stiff fingers hit a painful spot above her ear and a memory cut through the stupor. The smile fell. A baseball bat swinging at her head, an explosion of pain.
Justin—Dalton. The bastard had hurt Charlotte, hurt her.
Fear brought her upright, her poor head once again screaming in agony. She grabbed it and held it between her freezing hands, eyes pinching shut.
Move.
Fighting through the pain, she forced her eyes open and shifted on to her hands and knees. Dizziness swamped her. Her stomach lurched. Breathing deeply, waiting for the vertigo to pass, she forced her brain to connect the dots.
Looking around, her eyes began to adjust to her surroundings, bumps and rock formations coming into view.
Get out.
She didn’t know where she was or where Dalton might be, but she had to move or she would, at the very least, freeze to death. Was that Dalton’s plan? To leave her here and let her die?
Her hand clamored for her coat pocket, adrenaline giving her a boost. Frantic, she felt for the cross. When it wasn’t there, she sat back on her heels and patted down her other pockets. Maybe she was confused. The cross might be there.
She moved to the next pocket. Or here.
Or here.
All the pockets were empty.
Damn it.
Fear turned to horror. Without the cross, she had no bargaining chip to get Finn back.
Finn. Where was he? Had Jon found him?
Teeth chattering, she took stock. She couldn’t sit here and wait for someone to find her, she had to figure out where she was and how to get back to Jon.
At least her hands and feet weren’t bound. She still couldn’t feel her toes, but her legs felt like pins and needles were stabbing her. She wasn’t going to let that stop her from walking, climbing, or whatever she had to do to get out of this place.
Another chilling drop of water splatted on her, this time hitting the crown of her head. Eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, she realized the icicle was actually a stalactite. Dozens of others dotted the cave’s ceiling.
She started to stand, but the floor was slippery and her unsure feet gave out on her. Smack! Her feet went forward and she went backward, tailbone hitting the hard stones and making her yelp in pain.
Panting, she slowly rose once more, and against the recommendation of the Little Drummer Boy banging away inside her head, sh
ifted her weight like a surfer, keeping her hands out for balance. A few times, she was able to take normal steps, others were more of a slide.
“Hello?”
The voice was tired, shaky, and came from her left. Her heart raced, her eyes squinted. “Finn?”
“Jaya?”
Disregarding the icy floor, she flew in his direction, going down, but not caring about the pain. She scrambled on hands and knees toward him, nearly sobbing with relief.
His form came into view, a fuzzy monochrome of skin, hair, and clothes. “Jaya?” he asked again, his voice soft, measured. “I can’t believe it’s you.”
Her hand found his leg and she pulled herself beside him. “Oh my god, Finn. I’ve been so worried.”
She hugged him, the motion awkward when he leaned his head into her shoulder, but he didn’t hug her back.
His body shook with cold. “How did you find me?”
“I didn’t really.” Her hands went down his arms as she realized his wrists were bound. “Dalton knocked me out and brought me here.”
“Dalton?”
“Your kidnapper.”
Finn shook his head, a nasty gash on the temple that looked black in the darkness. “It’s that guy from the home where mom is. Jason? Jeremy?”
“Justin,” she told him. “That’s not his real name. He’s a serial killer, Finn. We have to get out of here before he comes back.”
“What?” Finn asked flabbergasted, but over his voice came another.
“Aww.” Dalton startled her then clucked a couple times as if she were a stupid child. “I see Jon’s been filling your head with bullshit.”
Her stomach dropped and she forced herself not to touch her abdomen. Show no fear.
Rising with caution, she faced him, his body nothing but a dark shadow. “You have the cross, let us go.”
He laughed, the sound echoing off the ceiling. “The cross is a nice bonus, but what I really want is to see Jon’s face when I fillet the meat from your bones.”
Talk about bullshit. She would never let that happen. “I told you, Jon isn’t here. It’s just me and a couple girlfriends who are trying to help me get Finn back.”
He raised a hand and pointed at her. “That’s cute, you trying to protect him.”
“All I want is to walk out of here with my brother.”
A light flicked on. Dalton held a flashlight in his hand.
At least it wasn’t the bat.
“Neither you nor your brother are going anywhere.” He pointed the beam toward the spot near where Jaya had been lying. “Except beside the rest of them.”
As the light illuminated two towering stalagmites next to the far wall, Jaya sucked in a sharp breath.
Bones.
Dozens of them.
Finn gagged and Jaya stumbled back a foot, her heel catching on a broken piece of rock.
She caught herself on the cave wall, swallowed, and forced herself to walk back in front of Finn to shield him. “Jon said the FBI found your little graveyard.” She could barely get the words out. Please let them be animal bones. “You’ve been living in Good Hope, not here, so…?”
“That was years ago when they took away my toys.” An evil gleam burned in his eyes as the flashlight arced back to her. “And every month last year, I made a little trip back to my old hunting grounds. I just couldn’t stay away.”
Oh god. She was going to puke. Keep him talking. Find a weapon. “What is wrong with you? Kids? That’s sick.”
One shoulder shrugged. “Easy pickins. These more recent acquisitions were runaways, just walking beside the highway or at one of the rest stops, desperate for some stranger to pick them up and take them on down the road to a happier life.”
He made it sound like he’d done a community service.
I hate you with every cell in my body. She took another small step, placing her foot next to a stalactite that had broken off from the ceiling. “My friends will have called the cops and they’ll know all about your…” She waved a hand, unable to say the words. “You better run while you can.”
His head tweaked half an inch to the right as if he heard something. He listened, and she did too, straining to hear anything over the sound of rushing water.
Dalton looked back at her and smiled. Only then did she remember the missing tooth he had on the bottom row, giving him the look of a jack-o’-lantern in the dim light. “He’s here!”
Jon? Hope screamed through her system, dulling all her aches and pains.
Distract him! “No one is here but us.” She licked her chapped lips. “Tell me about the kids. Why did you start killing again?”
His smile faded, his eyes zeroing in on her face. “Start again? I never stopped.”
Another wave of disgusted horror hit her. “How did you frame Jon’s dad?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head, wondering how fast she could drop down, grab the weapon beside her foot, and hit him before he could reach her.
Doubtful she could get in a hit before he jumped her, kicked her, or whatever he might do, but she had a baby to save and her brother as well. She couldn’t rely on hoping Jon had found her.
Search and rescue…this is what I do.
But how long would it take him to arrive?
Time to see if she could rile Dalton up, keep him focused on her. “Jon said you were a pussy and framed his dad because you were scared of ending up in the chair for your crimes. Is that true?”
The taunt did the trick. Dalton moved toward here, anger spurring him on. “I’m not scared of Jon or anyone else, and I’m too damn smart to get caught. His dad was a sucker, so intimidated by the government, all Big Brother this and Big Brother that. They’re going to take away our Constitutional rights! Everything’s a goddamn conspiracy!” He snorted. “Freaks.”
“So you’re not a survivalist?”
“Oh, I am.” His lips curved in another mean smile. “Which is why I’ve stayed out of jail all this time.”
His head snapped sideways as if he’d heard something else. The flashlight beam bounced off the walls.
She still hadn’t heard anything. Was Jon really here? Were the others too?
Now or never.
Bending down in one fluid movement, she snatched up the broken stalactite, surprised by how heavy it was. “Why don’t you go back to Ireland and hide again like the pussy you are?” she screamed.
And then she launched herself at him.
19
Jon heard Jaya scream and his heart rate spiked like he’d base-jumped off the side of a mountain.
As his boots covered the wet stones of the cave, his heart sank to his knees when he realized the direction her scream echoed from.
The bone yard.
The Bureau had labeled it that when they came in with their gloved hands and masked faces to collect and sort the piles of bones. Years later, Agent Strickland had told him all about the countless hours to run DNA tests and match the bones to identify the dead.
Jon motioned at Miles to stay a few steps back as he jetted into the main area of the cave, too far for Colton to be able to see them or have any kind of shot.
A faint light came from a side tunnel that ran to the bone yard. Stopping at the edge of a jagged corner, Jon eased around it enough to see what was going on.
In the light from a dropped flashlight, giant shadows played on the wall. Jaya swung a long, pointed object at Watt. On the ground behind her sat her brother, hands bound behind his back.
Watt ducked and punched her in the hip, sending her flying to her right. He lunged at her but her feet slipped and sent her falling over Finn’s legs and out of Watt’s reach.
Jon raised his gun, ready to fire, but with a loud roar of anger, Jaya jumped back up and took another swing.
She hit Watt in the shoulder and sent him cartwheeling backward.
It wasn’t enough though to knock him down, only angering him. He whirled, finding his balance, and grabbing the stalactite
from Jaya’s hands.
The piece of rock clattered to the floor as Watt grabbed Jaya by the neck, pushing her back, back, back, and jamming her into the wall. Bones crunched under both of their feet, the sharp snaps echoing over the noise of the water outside.
“You little bitch,” Watt said, and then seeming to sense Jon’s presence, looked in his direction. “I can’t wait to watch you die.”
He had no shot that wouldn’t endanger Jaya too. Jon stepped forward with meticulous care as she struggled in Watt’s grip, her feet flailing as he lifted her from the ground. “Let her go, Dalton. Your beef is with me, not her.”
Watt laughed, a high-pitched sound that made the hair on the back of Jon’s neck lift. He squeezed tighter, Jaya’s eyes going even wider and rough gurgling noises bubbling out of her throat.
Goddamn it. Jon angled sideways, putting Watt’s forehead in his sights. Focused on the man, he distantly sensed Finn dragging himself across the floor.
Finger on the trigger, he was ready to end the man’s life when Watt pulled Jaya in front of him and produced his own gun, pointing it at Jaya’s temple.
She coughed and gagged, Watt’s arm around her neck, but her eyes focused on Jon.
Fuck. He still couldn’t take the shot. Not with Watt using her as a shield.
“Back. Away.” Watt pressed the gun so hard to Jaya’s temple it pushed her head sideways. “I prefer to kill her slowly while you watch but I can, and will, end her right now if you want to play chicken.”
“Take the shot,” Jaya wheezed, keeping her head as far to the side as she could. “Kill him!”
Watt used his leverage around her neck to pull her head in front of his face. “Try it, Jon. You know you want to.”
Compartmentalize. Don’t let him goad you into something you’ll regret.
“You have the cross,” Jon said. “And you have me. Let her go.”
“Put down the gun and tell your buddy to get out.”
Shit. He knew Miles was there. “You’re not walking out of here, Watt, unless you let Jaya go. You do that, and I’ll call off my friends. It’ll just be you and me. You can do whatever you want to me.”
