Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery

by Sharon Canipe

  He got up and went into the bathroom where he splashed some cold water on his face and brushed his teeth. He’d showered just hours before, but he needed to shave. That accomplished he grabbed his keys and his jacket and headed out to get something to eat. The fact that he was quite hungry surprised him, considering his level of anxiety.

  Neal drove down Milton Rd. toward town, deciding to head up north of the medical center to Brandy’s. He hadn’t been to that popular local restaurant in months—actually more like a year. He recalled that the last time he was there he was with Lin, just before she’d returned to North Carolina. Thinking about all that had happened since then, he went in and took a seat at a small table near the back. He thought back to the anger he’d felt last night, how upset he’d been, questioning what his future with Lin would be like. Now, in the light of the morning, he realized that his truest emotion had actually been fear—fear that he might lose this woman whom he loved so dearly.

  The waitress brought him a steaming mug of fresh hot coffee and took his order. Now his fear had resolved into determination. He was going to finish his business here and get back to North Carolina as soon as possible.

  By the time he’d finished his breakfast, it was almost time for offices to be opened. He asked for more coffee and decided to make some calls. The first was to his realtor. Closing of the sale wasn’t the problem. That could even be done from a distance if necessary; what he was seeking was some help in ensuring that the folks who were supposed to pick up furniture they’d purchased and the movers who were coming to pick up his remaining things could get into his house if he left town early.

  He was in luck, his agent was already in and she listened patiently as he explained his need to finish things up as quickly as possible.

  “The closing papers are already prepared, that’s not a problem anyway,” she offered. “Let me make a few calls and see what I can do to help with the other stuff. I have a couple of ideas. I’ll get right back to you.”

  That was a start, Neal thought. Next, he called the people who were coming to pick up things and asked them to give him a specific time that they planned to come. “I have an emergency out of town,” he explained, “and I need to make arrangements to have someone meet you at the house.” By the time his realtor called back, he had a list of three times when he’d need someone to open the house.

  “We have a young, summer intern helping us here,” his agent explained, “and she said that she’d be glad to meet your purchasers if she has a list of times—the movers too, if need be.”

  “That’s terrific. I ‘ve talked to the folks buying the furniture, and I’ll call the mover next. I’ll find out the exact time he’s coming.” Neal felt much more light-hearted by the time he left the restaurant. In spite of his concerns about Lin and her friend, he was making excellent progress on this front.

  He decided to stop by the mover’s office in person and then go to campus to try to see Chris, his co-worker and friend. He needed a safe place to leave his car until he returned from North Carolina. Then he’d have only one more thing to do—change his flight plans. He just hoped he could do so given the fact that Wednesday was a holiday.

  Things were going so smoothly, Neal began to wonder why he’d planned to take this entire week to complete everything in the first place. Then he realized that folks had a tendency to step up when someone had an emergency—all of the times he’d set previously had been at the convenience of other’s schedules, now they were trying to help him.

  After making arrangements to leave his car with Chris, Neal headed back to his house to make a final check. He took a farewell walk through the now almost empty rooms and sat down on the living room carpet to dial US Airways. It took a bit of doing, and he was going to have to put up with a middle seat near the rear of the plane, but he was able to change his flight to leave the next morning. Next he booked a shuttle ride to Sky Harbor and arranged to rent a car when he arrived in Charlotte the following night. Then he returned to his hotel. Chris would pick his car up later and he’d take a taxi to meet the airport shuttle.

  Suddenly, the bustle of the busy day he’d had was over. All he had to do now was wait until his morning departure. He realized that he’d heard nothing all day from Mark Scott regarding the search, so he tried to call. Mark didn’t answer his cell phone so Neal left an urgent message for him to please call when he could.

  He found himself sitting alone in a hotel room worrying about Lin. Neal desperately wanted to feel normal, but nothing was normal right now. Until he found Lin and knew that she was OK, nothing could be normal. Neal realized that he was about to lose it. He had to get out of that room. He grabbed his jacket and left to walk to the restaurant next door fighting the tears that were forming in his eyes.

  ***

  Neal had just cleared airport security and arrived at his gate the following morning when Mark Scott finally returned his call. As expected, neither Lin nor Sue had been located, and both were now officially considered missing. Mark did have some news though. He’d located Ted Whitley at the local hospital where he was recovering from a gunshot wound to his upper chest and shoulders. Mark had been to the hospital, and Ted had been able to talk to him.

  “Did he know anything about where Lin might be?” Neal asked.

  “Not really,” Mark replied. “He was able to tell me that the two of them had been together looking for Sue at Luke Taylor’s home and that he’d been hit by a shotgun blast through the barn door. He thinks he passed out sometime during the trip to the hospital, but he knows that Lin drove him there and that she wasn’t hurt—nothing except the sprained ankle she’d sustained earlier that is. I was able to learn that Lin waited here at the hospital until she knew Ted was OK. Apparently, she went home after that.”

  “Yes,” Neal said. “She was at home and it was late when she called me. She told me that they were looking for Sue but that they hadn’t found her. The intruder or abductor, whatever you want to say, arrived before she could tell me about the shooting.”

  “Well, at least that fills in the gaps a little, but I’m afraid we’re no closer to finding her. Frankly, I’m not sure where to start looking—there are no clues.”

  Neal tried to think, what could he say that might help. “You know, Mark. I believe Lin thought all of the problems they’d experienced this summer might be related to these past unsolved murders and possibly to the ginseng poaching that Bryan Lee might’ve been investigating.”

  “That’s really the only avenue I can think of,” Mark replied. “Lin and Sue gave me some photos that clearly indicated poaching going on near the site of one of those murders. Maybe that’s where we should start looking. Maybe Bryan had some more information in his files. I’ve been so busy just searching the woods and trails around here that I haven’t really looked at them with that in mind. Maybe I need to do a couple of hours of searching through papers before I hit the road again.”

  Neal agreed that such a search might suggest new possibilities. He reminded Mark that he expected to be in Boone by sometime late that night. “I plan to stay at the house Lin and Sue are renting. Maybe you could call me tomorrow morning?”

  “I’ll do that,” Mark said. “Hopefully, I’ll at least have some new ideas by then.”

  After ending the call, Neal sat quietly trying to collect his thoughts. At least he knew that Lin had no new injuries at the time she took Ted to the hospital. He could only hope that was still the case.

  Suddenly, Neal realized that, with everything that had been going on, he had forgotten to call Lin’s children. They had no idea what was going on. He knew that they were traveling together with their families camping somewhere in the west, but he had no idea where they were at that point. He searched his cell phone contacts for Ben, Jr.’s number. Hopefully, wherever they were, they would have cell service.

  ***

  It was after midnight when Neal drove up to the house in Boone. The fog that Lin had mentioned earlier had abated; the night w
as clear. Still, the house exhibited a kind of eerie quality—it was totally dark inside and out and clearly no one was at home. Of course, Neal had no garage door opener and he couldn’t recall the code so he parked in the driveway. Tomorrow he’d have to find someone to pick him up when he returned the rental car to the Enterprise location in town.

  He recalled that Lin and Sue had originally hidden an extra key to the front door under a rhododendron beside the front steps, but when he checked he found nothing. I guess they decided to quit doing that after having so much trouble he thought, wondering how he could gain access to the home.

  He remembered that the intruder had approached from the rear of the house, according to what Lin had told him by phone; he decided to try the back porch. As soon as he mounted the steps he could see that the glass in the back door had been broken. No one had bothered to board it up. Neal thought that probably meant that the local authorities had not come to the house seeking evidence for their search. At this point he was glad, as it meant he could probably gain access. Sure enough he found the door was unlocked. The intruder had obviously reached in through the broken glass and unlocked the door from the inside. Neal carefully opened the door, trying not to step on the shattered glass inside. He went back to the front of the house and out to the car to bring his luggage inside.

  Placing his bags beside the stairs, Neal decided to conduct a search of the empty house. He wanted to make sure no one was inside. That took only a few minutes, but it made him feel better to know that he was indeed alone in this place. He didn’t feel comfortable to sleep with the back door open though, so he went into the garage where he remembered that there were some tools and some scraps of building materials left over from some of the owner’s woodworking projects.

  He found enough pieces to board up the broken window and secure the back door temporarily. I’ll get someone out to do a more permanent fix later, he thought as he swept up all the broken glass and also cleaned up the remains of Lin’s meal she’d never gotten to eat. He located a spare set of house keys for his use along with Lin’s car keys and decided to take his stuff upstairs. Even though he was alone in the house, he bypassed the guest room and put his stuff in Lin’s bedroom. Somehow doing that made him feel closer to her. He was anxious to begin helping with the search efforts, but he realized he was too tired, and it was too late to accomplish anything at this point. A hot shower helped him to unwind. As he crawled into bed and arranged the pillows comfortably, he thought—Lin’s been gone now for twenty-four hours and Sue for longer. He said a silent prayer for their safety as he turned out the light.

  Chapter 27

  Lin felt as if she were climbing up out of a deep well of dreamless sleep, she felt as if she were detached from her body—her spirit hovering above seeking to escape. Suddenly, she experienced a falling sensation as if in a dream; she was tumbling head over heels in space—then she hit bottom with a crash. She awoke with a start and realized that she was hurting all over. Where was she? What had happened to her?

  The pain was so severe that she couldn’t really move. Looking straight up from where she lay, she saw nothing but tall, dark walls. Finally her head cleared a bit and she realized that she could see light streaming through green branches overhead. She blinked her eyes several times trying to focus her vision. She was evidently at the bottom of some sort of deep pit—the pit was in a forest somewhere. She began to do a mental and physical inventory of her body, trying to move each part in descending order from her head.

  She was able to move her head and shoulders a little, then her arms and hands. She felt pain but everything worked. She lifted her legs one at a time, trying to flex her feet. That’s when she remembered that she had a sprained ankle. Her left foot was still in a boot, and when she tried to move the ankle she experienced sharp pain. Finally, she tried to sit up, using her elbows as leverage. It hurt to do so, but she gradually achieved a sitting position—it was too much for her head though—she began to experience dizziness and nausea. Realizing she was going to be sick she turned her head to one side and managed to avoid throwing up on her own clothes. She heaved several times; finally the dizziness abated a little. Her mouth tasted awful though—she wished she had some water.

  “I see you’re finally awake,” a tremulous voice broke through the shadows. “Do you feel better now that you’ve thrown up?”

  “Sue, is that you?” Lin found her voice. She looked around the place where she was, finally her eyes rested on a crumpled heap over in one corner that was the source of the voice.

  “None other,” Sue replied weakly, “Are you hurt?”

  Again, Lin turned to her mental inventory, “My ankle hurts like hell, and I’m sore all over, but basically I think I’m fine. I don’t feel sick or dizzy any more. I probably got a mild concussion from being hit on the head.” She felt gingerly at the lump that had formed above her right ear, “otherwise, I’m probably just badly bruised—how about you?”

  “Not so good,” Sue’s voice sounded weaker, “I think I have a broken leg and I was out for a long time, I think. I got hit on the head too. I don’t remember anything much after that. I woke up here—I’m not sure how long ago. I guess my leg broke when they threw me into this place.”

  “When was I thrown in? How long have I been out?” Lin asked, hoping to determine a time line.

  “I’m not sure, maybe only a few hours—maybe longer—a whole day—I’m fuzzy on time. I keep going to sleep or passing out. I can’t remember,” Sue answered.

  “Then it could be Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. I don’t know how long I was out of it either. You were probably brought here Monday afternoon after whoever it was grabbed you from the park. Did you see them?”

  “Not really,” Sue said. “They grabbed me and hit me on the head too; I have no memory until I woke up in this place. It was dark, but I don’t know how long I’d been out. It was sometime before you and the other person were thrown in here. Whoever, came with you hasn’t moved or spoken, I think they may be dead.”

  Luke, Lin thought. She remembered hearing the blast of a shotgun shortly before her captors found her in the woods. “That would be Luke Taylor,” Lin told Sue, “Where is he?”

  “I think he landed on this side of the hole, but down from where we are. If he’s moved since, I’m not aware of it.” Sue replied, “I tried to crawl to reach you, but I didn’t get very far with this leg—it hurt too much. Reaching him was out of the question.”

  Lin shifted a bit, sitting up straighter and rubbing her hands over her legs to determine if her initial assessment of no broken bones was accurate. Her joints and muscles ached, but that seemed to be the only problem. Her ankle was badly swollen inside the boot; she thought she’d be more comfortable without it and managed to remove it. Finally, she rolled over into a crawling position and headed toward the place Sue had indicated Luke was. The light was dim but she did see another heap piled against the wall. When she reached that spot she saw that this was indeed Luke. He was very still and pale and his clothing was plastered to his body with blood. It was almost impossible to determine where the bleeding had come from. Lin didn’t want to disturb his clothing because she thought it might be helping to stem the flow. She crawled up beside him and put her cheek against his lips, she thought she felt a faint movement of air. She moved her face down toward his chest, laying her ear against his bloody shirt. Again, she thought she heard a faint heartbeat. Finally she tried to check his wrist for a pulse. At first she felt nothing, but then she thought she found a thready delicate beat.

  “I think he’s still alive, but I’m not sure how much longer he can last. We’ve got to get him and ourselves out of here,” Lin said, moving again toward Sue.

  “I don’t see how,” Sue commented as Lin curled herself against the wall in a seated position beside her. “I nearly passed out when I dragged myself over here to this wall and I couldn’t possible move any further. This is some kind of old pit. I think we were all thrown in here, and I don�
�t think there’s a way out.”

  “But your abductors came back here or never left after they brought you here,” Lin reasoned. “That’s when they caught Luke and me. Maybe there is something here—something that might help us.” Lin was determined not to die in this hole, but right at the moment she felt too tired and sore to do much exploring.

  She rested for a bit and then decided to examine Sue’s injuries. “Is it OK if I check you out, Sue? I know you’re in pain, but I’d like to see exactly what’s wrong, or at least what I can determine is wrong.”

  Sue nodded her assent and Lin began to carefully probe her friend’s body. Her upper body and arms seemed to be more or less OK—just bruised and sore like Lin’s, but, when she reached her right thigh, she knew immediately that she had a broken femur—maybe in more than one place. She could feel the jagged bone edges under the fabric of her pants. As soon as she’d touched the leg, Sue had cried out in pain. There was blood on the leg of Sue’s khakis—a dark stain. This might be a compound fracture, Lin thought. She elected not to try to remove Sue’s pants for further examination—no point. That would just cause her further pain and Lin had no way to do anything in the way of first aid. She continued her examination.

  “I think that leg is your only major problem—other than maybe a concussion—but I think it’s probably a compound fracture.”

  Sue could only nod. She was too exhausted.

  Lin continued to crawl along the side of the pit—finally coming to Luke again and checking to see if he was still breathing—he was but just barely—and then positioning herself as comfortably as possible next to Sue, who appeared to be asleep at this point. The limited efforts she’d made left her feeling tired and weak also. She’d picked up her boot during the search and now she tried to use it as a prop for her foot so as to elevate it at least a little bit.