Into the Wilderness

by Traci DePree

  He lay on his back on the rock ledge. Joe must have seen him at the same time because he started yelling with Kate to the rest of the team.

  “We found him! We found Paul!”

  They ran to him. His eyes were closed, and his skin was pale and filthy. Kate noticed how thin he was, and she had an overwhelming urge to kiss his sunken cheek. When she leaned over him, she saw that he had bruises across his face and a cut above his eye. Tears streamed down her face as she stroked his cold forehead. His eyelids fluttered open. He looked confused and dazed, but he smiled when he saw her.

  “They took him” was all he managed to get out before his eyes closed again.

  The sheriff came to her side and bent down to look at Paul.

  “He’s been beaten,” he said, lightly touching the cut on Paul’s head. He gently lifted him and saw that the back of his head had a gash. It was caked with blood, and his right eye was swollen and black.

  He looked horrible and yet he’d never looked better. Joy flooded Kate’s being. She’d found him, and he was alive! She could scarcely believe it.

  Paul’s eyes fluttered, and he managed through chattering teeth, “They took Marcus. Some men. The two we saw that night at the restaurant...”

  Kate could hear the panic in his exhausted voice.

  “I tried to fight them, but there were two...” He took a shallow breath. “Marcus is dying, but they took him anyway.”

  “Shh,” Kate comforted, not wanting him to overexert himself. Yet his words disturbed her.

  “Do you know which way they went?” Sheriff Roberts coaxed.

  Paul’s eyes drifted shut again, and this time they didn’t open. Kate reached into her backpack for a bottle of water, but he was already unconscious.

  She stroked his stubbled cheeks as a new fear arose. Had they gotten to him too late? Sheriff Roberts radioed in with the good news that they’d found Paul and the bad news that he had been beaten and was unconscious.

  “We need medics here immediately,” he announced to the Sugarlands manager, then gave the group’s exact coordinates. Thankfully there was a big enough clearing nearby where a helicopter could land, since there were no roads close enough to safely carry Paul out on a stretcher.

  The sheriff pocketed his radio and turned toward Kate. “I’m beginning to think no one should be allowed in these woods, this being the second call for medical help since we got here.”

  Kate felt herself nodding in agreement. It was dangerous out here; not even safe for an Eagle Scout.

  THE GROUP STOOD THERE, each person’s patience clearly waning as they waited for the medevac helicopter to arrive. Kate glanced over at Rebecca, who was near her father’s feet. She had seen the fear in her daughter’s eyes when Paul confirmed that the men had taken Marcus. What did they plan to do with him? That was a question Kate didn’t want to consider.

  “What’s this?” Eli said, drawing Kate from her thoughts.

  The young man bent to the ground where Paul lay. Tucked just underneath Paul’s unconscious form was a white slip of paper folded in half. He picked it up and opened it. Then his face twisted in confusion for a moment before he handed the paper to Kate.

  “Isn’t that your address?” he said.

  The paper contained Paul and Kate’s address in Copper Mill, though it didn’t mention their names. Kate didn’t recognize the handwriting; she knew it wasn’t Paul’s. Livvy stood beside her, reading along. Kate turned the paper over. The other side was blank.

  “What is it?” Rebecca asked. Kate handed the sheet to her daughter. Rebecca studied it for a moment, then turned it over. “Just your address? What do you think it means?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate said. “I suppose those men probably wrote it down to find Marcus. Though how they got our address in the first place is a mystery to me.”

  She showed the paper to Sheriff Roberts, then at his discreet nod, she put it back in her pocket. She knew that if she were anyone else, the sheriff wouldn’t allow her to keep a piece of evidence, so she was thankful for his trust in her detective instincts.

  Kate stuck close to Paul’s side, holding his hand and stroking his arm. He remained unconscious, whether from hypothermic shock or mere lack of sleep, Kate couldn’t tell. But it worried her.

  When the helicopter finally arrived it was almost completely dark outside. Dusk clung to the trees, with a mere shimmer of orange sunlight across their tops. The helicopter landed, and an EMT crew hurried out to care for Paul. They checked his vital signs and loaded him onto the chopper. Before the pilot got back into the helicopter, he shouted above the roar of the blades, “I’ll come back for all of you once we get him up to the hospital.”

  “Wait! I am coming with!” Kate shouted to the pilot.

  “No, ma’am. I’m sorry, but we can only carry so many people on the chopper, and we’re at capacity,” he yelled.

  Kate felt devastated that she couldn’t go with her husband, but as she looked over at Rebecca, she realized that she needed to stay with her daughter and be a comfort to her. She put her arms around Rebecca as the helicopter lifted into the air, then she closed her eyes and prayed that this wouldn’t be the last time she would see her husband alive.

  LATER THAT NIGHT, after the helicopter had transported the group back to Sugarlands and they had talked with reporters, Kate and Rebecca drove to the Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in nearby Sevierville.

  They stood at the foot of Paul’s hospital bed while doctors and nurses checked vitals and spoke in hushed tones.

  One of the doctors said that Paul wasn’t “out of the woods.” Kate found the statement ironic.

  The EMTs had hooked him up to an IV en route and a heart monitor now beeped its faint rhythm on the far side of the bed. Warmed blankets covered his body since his core temperature had been far too low. He was badly dehydrated—the main reason for his continued comatose state, according to the doctor. They needed to pump his body full of fluids before his internal organs began to shut down.

  As for the wounds he’d suffered in his fight with the men, he had a concussion from being knocked to the ground, but no broken bones.

  Kate held his hand. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him. She wanted to drink him in, make sure he was real. Finally the medical personnel left the room so they could be alone with Paul for their fifteen minutes of visiting time in the intensive care unit.

  Rebecca moved to the edge of the bed and gently patted the blanket that covered his feet. Kate could see the unshed tears that shimmered in her eyes.

  “I’m so worried, Mom,” Rebecca said. “Daddy can’t die now.”

  “He’s going to be okay,” Kate said, praying that God would honor her faith. She gazed at Paul’s handsome face, the face she’d come to adore. Nearly thirty years of marriage had only solidified her love for him. It was no longer the flimsy, frail love of youth but was as firm and foundational as any rock. What would she do without Paul and his love? She didn’t want to think about that. Instead, she reached for her daughter’s hand, and together they prayed for Paul.

  When their visiting time was over, they walked slowly down the hospital corridor. The sound of their boots on tile echoed in the lonely expanse.

  Sheriff Roberts and the others were holding vigil in the ICU waiting room.

  “How is he?” Livvy asked when Kate and Rebecca entered the room. Danny was next to her.

  “Resting,” Kate said, “but still unconscious.”

  “He’s dehydrated,” Rebecca took over. “We should know more by morning, once they can test him to make sure he doesn’t have any organ damage.”

  A sobering hush fell across the room, and Kate noticed for the first time a short, heavyset blonde woman whom she hadn’t seen before. The woman walked across the room and held out a hand to Kate.

  “MaryAnne Kieffer,” the woman introduced herself. At first Kate was confused, but then she realized this was Marcus’ sister, who was scheduled to arrive that day. “I heard your husb
and was found and thought I’d come meet you here in case there was any news on Marcus...”

  “Oh, MaryAnne, I’m so happy to see you. I’m sorry we don’t have Marcus.” The woman’s face fell, then her eyes crinkled into a forced smile. She turned to Rebecca. “You must be the girlfriend. Marcus always did know how to get the pretty girls.”

  Rebecca blushed at the compliment and shook hands with her. Kate noticed Rebecca’s glance shift to Eli, then back to the newcomer.

  Then MaryAnne nodded at the sheriff before speaking, “The sheriff here tells me you found your husband around six or six-thirty...”

  Kate nodded.

  “And that two men beat him up and took Marcus.” She shook her head. “Do you have any idea who they are or what they could want with him? I don’t get it. We’re hundreds of miles from New York. Who in the world would follow him and then kidnap him in the middle of the wilderness?”

  “We were kind of hoping you could help us with that,” Kate admitted.

  Sheriff Roberts pulled a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket and flattened it on a table, then handed it to the woman. “This is a composite drawing of the suspects.”

  It was nearly an exact likeness of the two men, down to the cleft in the taller man’s chin and the flat nose and pale, sinister eyes of the smaller man.

  MaryAnne gasped and clutched a hand to her mouth. “It’s the Sacco brothers,” she breathed as she lifted terrified eyes to Kate. “Jerry and Alex Sacco. They live in West Orange, or at least they used to when we were kids.”

  “Are you sure it’s them?” Kate asked, remembering that ‘Sacco’ was the name Marcus had called the old squatter.

  “I wish I weren’t.” She turned to the sheriff, fear in her eyes. “Those two boys...Well, let’s just say that the last I heard, those two were in the banking business, so to speak.”

  “Meaning what?” Rebecca asked.

  “They’re...loan sharks,” MaryAnne clarified.

  “Loan sharks?” Rebecca’s voice rose at least two octaves. “What would Marcus have taken out a loan for?”

  “The kind of loans they give...”—MaryAnne paused and glanced around the room before going on—“They’re usually for one of two things: drugs or gambling. And Mack, I mean Marcus, wouldn’t think of touching any drugs. He’s too smart for that, and besides, they’d wreck his good looks.”

  Kate glanced at her daughter and noticed that a dark cloud had formed across her brow.

  “I hope they aren’t the ones who took Marcus,” MaryAnne went on, “’cause those boys have done some serious stuff.”

  “What kind of serious stuff?” the sheriff asked.

  “The kind that puts a person in prison for forty to life.”

  LATER THAT EVENING, the group left Kate and Rebecca at the hospital and returned to the motel in Gatlinburg. Then sometime before midnight, the ICU nurse encouraged Kate and Rebecca to go get some rest, since they wouldn’t be allowed to see Paul until morning anyway. She assured them that they’d receive a call if there was any change in Paul’s status. Kate was beyond exhausted, but she didn’t know if she’d be able to sleep.

  “I’m so sorry, honey, that we didn’t find both your father and Marcus,” Kate said.

  “I’m the one who should be apologizing,” Rebecca insisted. “Who knows what Marcus did to cause those men to come looking for him. It’s just...” Her words failed, then after a moment, she continued. “He could already be dead, for all we know.”

  “Don’t talk that way,” Kate admonished.

  “What other reason could they have for tracking him down and kidnapping him?” Rebecca stopped to catch her breath. “When MaryAnne was talking, I remembered where I’d seen those men.” Rebecca closed her eyes and a tear escaped her lashes.

  Kate reached for her daughter’s hand.

  “When we first started dating, Marcus took me out for pizza at Bruno Brothers,” she went on. “I’d gone to the ladies’ room, but when I came back to the table, I saw two men talking to Marcus. They’d seemed very angry, and when I asked Marcus about it later, he got upset and told me not to worry about it. But I remember he was shaken by whatever they’d said.”

  “Did you suspect that Marcus was gambling?” Kate asked.

  “That’s the sad part.” Rebecca lifted her forlorn gaze to the ceiling. “I had these niggling thoughts. He would say things.” She shook her head. “Mom, he bought me a lottery ticket on our first date, and I still didn’t have a clue.”

  “Well, it’s not my idea of a romantic gift, but a lot of people do buy lottery tickets,” Kate said.

  But Rebecca was shaking her head. “There’s more. He’d disappear for days at a time, and when I’d finally get ahold of him, I could hear a lot of commotion in the background. Don’t you see? He was at the racetrack. There was always something, but I chose to stick my head in the sand. That’s why it’s my fault that Daddy is fighting for his life.”

  “None of this is your fault, honey. You can’t blame yourself. Marcus made his own choices, and Daddy chose to go after him. Both decisions were out of your hands.”

  “But if I hadn’t suggested that Marcus go along on the trip—”

  “Who could’ve guessed that any of this would happen?” Kate lifted her daughter’s chin and looked into her eyes. “You aren’t responsible for other people’s decisions, and we don’t expect you to know the future, honey. We love you. No matter what.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  All night Rebecca had tossed and turned in her bed. Her moans had awakened Kate several times, and at 5:45 AM, she’d screamed Marcus’ name and shot upright.

  “What is it, honey?” Kate asked as she turned on the bedside lamp.

  Rebecca held her face in her hands. She rubbed her cheeks, then lifted her face to her mother. “I had a dream,” she said.

  “I guessed that,” Kate said. “About Marcus?”

  Rebecca nodded. “And the two men. Only we were in New York. They were...” Her voice trailed away, and she took a deep breath before continuing. “How are we going to find him now when we know those men are purposely evading us? Daddy said that Marcus was dying!”

  Kate glanced at the clock, noting that the sun would be rising within the hour. She dialed search headquarters to see if the rescue team was getting ready to head out.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ranger Morton said. “We’ll keep searching until Marcus is found between Elkmont and Chimney Tops. But I’m afraid that since this has become a criminal investigation, we can’t let civilians search anymore. It’s just too dangerous.”

  “But...” Kate began to protest.

  “No buts, ma’am. It’s by order of the local sheriff’s department. And all stations have been instructed that no car is to leave the park without first being cleared by the police.”

  REBECCA PACED the hospital waiting room that morning.

  “At least I could do something before!” she complained. “Marcus could be dead already.”

  “Honey,” Kate said, holding a cup of steaming coffee out to her. “Sit down.”

  “How can I be so angry with him and so devastated at the same time? Right now I’m doubting everything he ever said to me...” She blew out a heavy breath.

  “On some level, you still care about him, even though he didn’t tell you everything about himself. You’ll have to sort it all out once he comes home.”

  “If he comes home,” Rebecca corrected.

  Just then Kate’s cell phone rang. Rebecca took her coffee so that Kate could answer the call.

  “Kate, it’s Sheriff Roberts,” he said. “I have a bit of news for you. I talked to the West Orange Police Department, and they confirmed that there’s an arrest warrant out for those two Sacco men. We also ran the prints Deputy Spencer took off the stolen El Dorado. It’s them all right.”

  “What are the warrants for?” Kate asked.

  The sheriff paused as if he didn’t want to tell her, then he finally said, “Racketeer
ing and suspicion of murder.”

  BY NINE O’CLOCK, the Wilsons, Eli, Joe, and the Jenners joined in the wait at the hospital. MaryAnne had called earlier to say she’d wait for news of her brother at the visitor center. She was simply too nervous to be so far away from him, even though it was only a half-hour’s drive.

  Eli sat near Rebecca. His presence seemed to calm her tattered nerves. Joe paced the room, that walking stick of his thumping the floor with each step. Livvy had taken a spot near Kate at one of the tables that flanked the soda and candy machines.

  Kate needed to do something to take her mind off Paul. She’d called Betty Anderson back in Copper Mill to update those who were praying on all that had happened. Then she’d gone to see Sam who was in a room not far from Paul’s. He was thrilled to learn that they’d found Paul, though his eyes had clouded when she’d told him Paul still was unconscious.

  Then when she’d gone in to see Paul, he’d looked better to her. Yet his eyes remained closed, his sunken cheeks and bruised face testifying to his weakened condition.

  “Come on.”

  Eli’s warm voice broke into Kate’s musings. She glanced up to see him reaching out a hand to Rebecca.

  “We’re going to go for a little walk,” he said to Kate.

  She nodded and offered a smile, then once they’d left, she pulled her laptop from its case, set it up on the table, and turned it on.

  “What are you looking up?” Livvy asked once the screen had booted up.

  “I keep thinking about those men,” Kate said. “They don’t know the woods any better than Marcus, from what I’ve heard of them. So it has me wondering...”

  She clicked on a map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and when the page had downloaded, she said, “We found Paul here.” She pointed to the spot halfway between the Appalachian Trail and Chimney Tops Trail, named for a pair of mountains with a chimneylike appearance.

  “Does it make sense to you that the search team is starting back at Elkmont?”

  By this time, Joe’s interest had been piqued. He pulled up a chair on the other side of the table.