by Jen Wright
Amanda was much more hesitant, possibly because she wasn't the one holding a gun. Jo wondered if she regretted having spoken up about her knowledge of the area.
Jo found that she was craving a cup of coffee like nobody's business, and Zoey's plea to go with them was tugging at her heart. She had been on plenty of missions with her juvenile unit at the probation office as well as joint efforts and stings with the police, but she had never really had someone she loved worrying so much about her before. She didn't quite know what to do with this torn feeling.
Sandy seemed to want to make peace, and said to Jo, "Tell me more about your friend Rick. When was he last seen?"
"The teenager who was hanging with him said it has been two or three weeks, but I don't know how reliable her information is."
"Is this still your idea of a vacation?"
"I suppose not."
"Did you tell the authorities about the crosses?"
"Yeah, but it only raised more questions, and there's no proof they're connected to Rick. People often put crosses where they bury pets, or at the scene of accidents. It wasn't enough."
"But Amanda's seen hundreds?"
"At least two hundred. When I called Nate, he said he thought Rick was a meth doper. Possibly dealing. Maybe the crosses were some kind of paranoid delusion."
"Well, that makes some sense. The brain is a strange thing on drugs."
Jo wished her buddy and professional confidante Nate was there to mull it over with her. It might at least keep her mind off their present situation. The snow was blowing so hard that they were in near-blizzard conditions. They could see roughly five feet in front of them, and they appeared to be climbing a gentle hill.
They had their three headlamps, and the other group members had given them two spares. They only had three more granola bars to hold them. After walking for 45 minutes, they gathered for a rest. Amanda was concerned that the tracks they had been following were becoming less and less discernible. She believed they were still on track but wasn't quite sure. The temperature was around 20 degrees, and the wind was strong.
They were passing through a densely forested area, though, which helped to cut the wind quite a bit and allowed Amanda to pick out an occasional track, especially if it was sheltered from the wind by a tree trunk. Hunkering down, they squatted in a huddle.
"So, what do you think?" Jo said to break the silence.
"This is nuts," Amanda said through her scarf.
"Agreed," replied Sandy.
Jo attempted to radio in their status. Probably no one could hear them. If she was getting through, she would surely have heard more than a crackle in response. The radio had been crackling quite a bit, but it was distant radio traffic. She hoped that some remnant of a voice would penetrate the airwaves soon. Once they had rested a bit, she prompted Amanda to share her thoughts more specifically.
"What are your concerns?"
"I'm not sure of the wisdom of this," Amanda shouted through the wind and snow. "My first concern is that we might be lost. These conditions are very tough. I would never go out in this on my own. I've been doing my best to track our direction, but these tracks have gone all over the place."
She had Jo's attention. "We're lost? Can you find your way back?" Jo nodded in the direction they had come from.
"Only if I can follow our tracks. I think this blowing snow is too deep. I'm not sure I'm on any tracks now."
"Shit!" Jo exclaimed before she stopped to think. "What are our options then? Either way, we have problems." Jo looked back and then the other way.
"Well, I'm not ready to say we're really lost yet. I'd like a chance to see if we can pick up the trail in either direction before we decide what we're doing. If we are truly lost, our best strategy is to stay put, find a way to keep warm, and wait for rescue."
Jo looked at Sandy and Amanda. "But you are the rescue team, right?"
"Only part of it."
Jo looked to Sandy. "What's your take?"
"We keep moving in the direction of the hostages, and if we determine we are indeed lost, we should stay put."
"Let's do it?" She met two nods, and they traveled on.
Amanda worked against the snow and wind to pick up signs of the trail. They all struggled with the fear of being lost. Jo had an excellent sense of direction in the woods, and she cursed herself for relying so completely on Amanda. She too had begun to fiercely look for any signs of boot prints.
They walked on for twenty minutes until Jo stopped to bring out the radio. As Jo radioed their status, a shot rang out. It must have been close because sound doesn't carry far at all in a blizzard. They all froze a little more. The radio crackled again. Jo said something reassuring into it, and everyone listened. Jo felt for the pistol in her right-hand pocket and was comforted by its weight.
"That was close," muttered Sandy.
They listened for more sounds.
"This is nuts," Sandy whispered.
"Freaking nuts," Jo found herself replying as she moved in the direction of the shot. She knew from experience that sound can bounce all over the place outside, but she couldn't help herself. She felt a tug at her jacket but ignored it and kept moving. She sensed Amanda and Sandy moving with her. Up ahead, she saw a figure moving toward them but couldn't tell if it was male or female. She lay down flat on the ground and gestured for her companions to follow suit. She removed her glove and drew the gun out of her pocket. The person was walking toward them just off to their right. They lay motionless until the figure was five feet away. Jo whispered, "Stay down."
She sprung up, gun pointed, and in a low voice instructed, "Freeze." The figure immediately put her hands up and sat down. In a sobbing voice, she asked, "Police?"
Jo didn't respond at first because she didn't want to give up any advantage before determining if this was a victim or someone more sinister. "Police or rescue, your choice." The woman began to sob, put her hands down, and crumpled over.
Jo approached her and said, "What's going on out here? Who are you, and where are the others?" Jo had crouched down directly in front of her with gun still pointed. Not waiting for her to answer, Jo asked, "Do you have a weapon?"
"No."
Jo motioned for Sandy to approach and handed her the gun.
"I know her. This is Jean," Sandy said.
Jo didn't seem to hear, or didn't care, and she commanded the woman to stand and place her hands up against a tree. Jo then instructed her to spread her legs and lean into the tree, thereby placing her off balance. The woman still wept but complied, and Jo searched her with her hands. Nothing. Jo called out to Sandy, "Clear." All three of them squatted down in front of her.
Jo repeated, "Who are you, and where are the others?"
"I'm Jean Anderson." She gestured in the direction of the shot and said, "My husband and my lover are out there." She sobbed again. Jo could tell that Jean was small even in her winter wear. She had on a parka and only thin Velcro-closure boots. Definitely not something you would wear into the north woods in winter. Her skin was so pale, it nearly matched the light blond hair escaping from under her knit hat. Her eyes were blue and bloodshot, presumably from squinting into blowing snow and wind.
Jo held Jean up by her shoulders and made her look her in the eyes, "How close?"
"I don't know, I think they kept going."
Jo relaxed a little. "Going where?"
"Don is unstable, he's hearing voices."
Jo held up her hand, trying to be patient. "Don is your husband?"
"Yes."
"And the other guy?"
"Frank. He's going to kill Frank."
"Because he's your lover?"
"Yes." She put her head down and sobbed some more.
Nothing about Rick. A Don and a Frank, but no Rick. Jo cursed herself inwardly. She knew she was being insensitive to this woman's plight, but she was disgusted with herself.
She had pushed Sandy to keep going even when her more experienced friend had been warning her t
hat they should turn back.
She'd put Zoey through untold anguish and fear, over what? A damned domestic love triangle.
Jean began taking her boots off.
"Whoa! What are you doing?"
"My feet are cold. I need to rub them."
Jo held Jean's hands still and asked Sandy to come over. "Sandy, can you talk to her and find out what's going on while I see how far ahead they are? I'm not feeling particularly safe here. See if you can warm her feet up a bit."
Sandy nodded, came over, and began taking off Jean's boots while talking softly to her. Jo motioned for Amanda to stay with them as Jo followed Don and Frank, conscious that every step was inching her closer to an armed madman.
Jo couldn't help but wonder why he was heading out into the woods with his wife and her lover. Why not just take care of business at home, wherever that was. Why here?
When it became clear to Jo that the tracks were leading away from them, she turned back. She had eased her fears about their immediate danger. She put the safety back on the gun and returned it to her jacket pocket.
Sandy had removed Jean's boots and socks, and had placed her feet inside her coat and up against her own bare stomach in an attempt to warm them.
"We know each other, don't we?" Sandy looked into Jean's eyes to gauge her response. If the woman was hypothermic, she might not be thinking clearly.
Jean nodded yes. Sandy waited, counting on the uncomfortable silence to prod her on. "I read my stuff at G's. You know, I write. You tried to talk to me." Jean seemed embarrassed to reveal this.
"Don is the person you were writing about?"
"Well, I'm not always writing about Don. Sometimes it's about Frank. In my poetry, I pretend that they are the same person." Sandy nodded in response and turned to make sure it was Jo approaching.
Jo rejoined Sandy, Amanda, and Jean, and updated them on the likelihood that Don and Frank were moving ahead rather than doubling back.
"Her feet were ice cubes because they were totally soaked. They didn't have snowshoes." Sandy continued to warm Jean's feet. "According to Jean here, her husband Don says he has a shack up ahead. More like a bomb shelter. He sounds like some kind of survivalist fanatic. Built a shelter into the earth and is going to survive something we all aren't."
Jo gave Sandy a look that said, Holy shit, what are we up against?
Sandy went on to relay what she had gleaned from Jean in Jo's absence. Don had followed her to Frank's cabin, kidnapped them both, and was bringing them to his "bunker." They had been making their way on foot and breaking into cabins for warmth and food along the way. Jean got so tired that she took a gamble and walked away from the group, banking on the hope that Don wouldn't kill her. He did take a shot, but it was probably just to scare her into returning. She kept walking.
Sandy nodded toward Jean, "I know her from G's."
Once Jean's feet were thawed a bit, she pleaded with Jo and Sandy to go after Don and Frank. "He's crazy. He'll kill Frank. Please stop him." She sobbed so hard that her shoulders shook. "I'll go with you. He might listen to me if I have help. He won't kill me. He wants to own me." She looked at Jo with huge, hysterical eyes. Then she made the same plea to Sandy. "This is all my fault. Frank doesn't deserve this. He's really a good, sweet man. Please help him. I'll go back with you. I can talk to Don. He'll take me instead of Frank."
Jo was fighting an internal struggle. She knew what she was up against now, and in some ways, that made things easier. She had dealt with domestic violence many times during her long career. It usually made perpetrators somewhat predictable. She wondered about the hundreds of crosses all over the woods, though, and what that meant about this particular abusive husband.
"Is Don religious?" Jo played her hunch that Don and the crosses were somehow related.
"He thinks God tells him what to do."
Jo shot Sandy another concerned look.
"Does he focus on crosses?"
"Yes! He makes them. He's obsessed."
Jo didn't want to discuss the implications, considering their predicament, but she was certain Sandy was following her thought process.
They devised a plan. As the one most familiar with these woods and equipped with the compass, Amanda would escort Jean back to the last cabin and the larger group. Jo would radio in their location and as many details as possible in hopes that dispatch could hear. Sandy and Jo would push onward to see about Don, his bunker, and the remaining hostage.
They had managed on their snowshoes to close the gap, and Don and Frank's tracks were more visible. Jo and Sandy felt more confident in their ability to follow them now.
But Jo had a sinking feeling about what and whom they were about to encounter. Jo's heart ached as she walked further and further from Zoey. Her relationship with Zoey was the most important thing in her life. She looked at Sandy and sensed that Sandy was struggling with the same thing.
"This is killing me, going into this, knowing that Zoey is back there worried about me. I don't want her here and in danger, either." Jo wasn't afraid, but she was aware that there was still time to turn away from the risk.
"I know what you mean. Ree is always with me on these things."
"These things? You mean you do this all the time?" Jo sounded skeptical.
"Not like this, but the rescues. They can still be scary. You never know what you'll come upon. People are inebriated or hysterical. You just never know." Sandy looked at Jo earnestly, and they stopped to talk it over.
"Well, I think we have a pretty good idea about how crazy this guy is," Jo added.
"Zoey and Ree will take care of each other. I'm not worried about them. It's we who need to be careful. This guy is seriously dangerous, for God's sake. And a little crazy — maybe more than a little. That makes him unpredictable. He has to have been planning this for a while if he built a bunker out in the woods," Sandy said.
"I'm with you on that. Let's make getting home to our girls our first priority," Jo added. "But these tracks are pretty fresh. We kind of know where we're going now."
"This is my community. I'm scared shitless, but I feel like I have to do something. Let's just be very careful. Track them until help arrives."
"It's a given, my friend." They locked eyes, and then started back down the trail.
Jo's heart did a tumble in her chest, and she felt an ominous premonition that what lay ahead was something evil and dark. She felt a shiver but told herself that she had dealt with mentally ill clients over the years, and this would be no different.
CHAPTER 28
Zoey couldn't sleep, and neither could Ree. The cabin had warmed to 70 degrees, and the members of the Big Noise Volunteer Fire Department had shed their clothes down to longies. Jackets, hats, scarves, and gators hung from every available surface to dry. They had been talking and trying to rest on and off for the past hour and a half since Jo, Sandy, and Amanda had left.
The snow hadn't let up at all, and visibility was down to less than three feet. Zoey was becoming acutely aware of her knowledge base about blizzards and snowstorms since her migration to Minnesota from New Mexico. While she loved the snow, skiing, and snowshoeing, she found herself awestruck by the power of these storms. She couldn't fully accept that Jo was wandering around in this, trying to track down an armed man holding two people captive at gunpoint. What did she think she was going to do?
Ree was no more relaxed than Zoey and turned to her, "So, do you think you can deal with this?"
"What choice do we have?"
"I mean Jo, her job, chasing after monsters. Saving the world?" Ree's eyebrows were raised.
"I don't know. The last time I was with her. This is harder in some ways; I don't even know what's going on. I feel so helpless." Zoey let her hands drop to express her sense of futility. "How do you do it?"
"Sandy doesn't chase monsters for a living…not like this. She…we…put out fires, rescue injured people. We help. Sandy is a bit of a maverick, though. You know, she thinks she's responsible
for everyone. Maybe our lovers are cut from the same cloth. I don't know if they can say no when someone is in trouble. Maybe they have some kind of a savior complex."
"Something like that. I've been hoping to talk some sense into Jo, but I don't know if she can really change… Damn, I want to go out there and bring her back. I can't stand not knowing what's going on. I can't stop thinking about it."
"Me, either. This is crazy. Why didn't we go with them?"
"Let's go now."
No sooner had they made a pact to go after Jo and Sandy when in the distance they heard the high-pitched sound of snowmobile engines. Everyone in the cabin stood simultaneously and listened. The snowmobiles were moving closer. Ree and Zoey put on their winter wear. By the time they exited the cabin, three snowmobiles pulling sleds behind them arrived. A DNR (Department of Natural Resources) badge was visible on the green jacket of the lead man. He turned off his machine and walked over to them.
