“Wait! Don’t hang up!” Ben shouted into the phone, but it was too late.
He turned to the others. “Some wacko has my wife and is using torture tactics on her for some reason. Why? There’s nothing she knows that’s secret. She’s the sheriff of a county with ten thousand residents, for crying out loud. What can they possibly want from her?” Ben’s questions went unanswered, but Jackie broke his lament.
“First, we have to get a triangulation to locate from where these calls are originating. In the elapsed time from when we think she was picked up until the first picture was taken, she could have been transported miles from here, even to a Range town.” She was referring to Iron Range towns like Hibbing, Virginia, or Eveleth. “Obviously, you’ll be getting another call. We’ll be working on triangulation until then.”
*****
Deidre had lain in the corner for what seemed like only minutes when the rough hands grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. This time she could stand, but when she attempted to walk, her legs didn’t cooperate. She felt pressure on her back, pushing her forward, and she moved with shuffling steps in the direction she was being guided. Through swollen eyes, the chair came into focus, and she made out the silhouette of the powerful lamp. Her body was pushed so she was seated in the all-too-familiar chair, and the ties were placed around her legs again.
When the light was turned on, the heat was intense, and in her delirium, Deidre remembered a biology class she had taken in college. They had gone to a plant-growing lab that had high intensity lights to mimic the strength of the sun on the equator at noon. The heat had been unbearable, and now, she felt as though she was a specimen under one of those lights. In seconds, she was in agony.
“Well,” the familiar voice said, “Here we are again. Are you warm enough?” Deidre didn’t raise her head, and the speaker hadn’t really expected an answer. Her mouth was so dry it felt as though it was filled with sand, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She hadn’t had a drop to drink since supper, and she had no idea how long ago that had been. Deidre sat in silence for an eternity—in actuality, fifteen minutes. “Would you like to see a bottle of water?” the voice asked. From behind the glare, she saw an arm reach out and watched through her blurred vision as a bottle was set on the floor in front of her. The moisture in the air condensed on the outside of the cold plastic and collected in a ring at the bottom. Deidre would have given anything to have been able to lick it off the container. Another eternity of silence ensued before the voice spoke.
“I’m going to place a call to your husband and then hand your phone to you. Here is what you will say to him: ‘I’m doing okay, but there is no chance for me to escape. I haven’t had anything to drink since I got here, and I’m so thirsty. Can you come save me?’ Can you remember that?”
Deidre’s mind was as blurred as her vision, but she nodded, trying to remember the words she had been instructed to recite.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
At four in the morning, Ben’s phone’s message alert signal went off, and his heart missed a beat when he saw the caller ID—Deidre. He opened the message app and immediately a series of pictures materialized. In the first, Deidre was in a fetal position crammed into a corner. She had no blanket, and Ben could see the urine stains on her pants. She appeared to be sleeping. In the next frame she was attempting to stand, and it was obvious she wasn’t succeeding very well. He scrolled to the next. Again, his wife was strapped to a chair. The time on the picture was 2:45 a.m. Another picture, taken only a few minutes later, showed Deidre staring at a water bottle sitting on the floor in front of her. The condensation on the bottle could clearly be seen. Finally, the in the last photo, Deidre was slumped in her chair, her eyes glazed, the bottle still on the floor, but now, the condensation had evaporated as its contents warmed to room temperature. Ben squinted at the time signature, 4:00 a.m. The photo had been taken only minutes before.
He hit the recall button on his phone and stared at the home screen. While he was still holding the phone, it rang—Deidre. “Deidre. Where are you?” he blurted out.
A long moment of silence ensued, during which he thought he could hear the phone being passed from one person to the next. “Listen to me, darling.” It was Deidre, but Ben could hardly recognize her cracked, hoarse whisper. “I’m doing okay, but there is no chance for escape. I haven’t had anything to drink since I got here, and I’m so thirsty.” The next words Ben heard were almost shouted, spit out in rapid fire. “Don’t come here! It’s a trap! Stay away!” Ben could hear a scuffle, and then the phone went dead.
*****
Almost before Deidre got the warning out, a larger-than-life figure emerged from behind the light, and with one quick step, he stood in front of Deidre. Because of the intense backlighting, he appeared as a silhouette; Deidre had yet been able to see her assailants. With one swipe he grabbed the phone from her, and with the other hand, he slapped her across her face, splitting her lip. The figure moved behind the light, and the room was silent for another eternity. Finally, the voice spoke. “That was a stupid thing to do. Now, you are both thirsty and bleeding. What do you think your husband will say when he sees this picture?” For the first time it dawned on her that they had been sending pictures of her to Ben.
“What do you want from me?” Deidre croaked from her dry throat and swollen lips. “Either way, you’re going to kill me. I know that. Why should I ever cooperate with you?”
The voice responded. “Cooperate? Why, you are cooperating. At least, we are helping you to cooperate. You aren’t aware that this is the beginning of a war. Within weeks, this scenario will be carried out in thousands of communities across the nation. We are in the process of restoring this nation to what the founding fathers had in mind. Jews will be taken care of. Blacks will be harnessed as they were meant to be, and society will be cleansed of perverts. Churches that do not preach the true word of the Bible will be eliminated, and our nation will once again be the ruler of the world. By allowing us to use you, you are doing your part to restore our country to its roots.” He chuckled. “Everyone will have to make some sacrifices, some more than others.”
A shiver went up Deidre’s spine as she realized she was being held by an ultra-rightwing militia, and that she was viewed as an expendable pawn. She decided she would do nothing from that time on that could be used for their purpose. She vowed to not say another word, no matter what. Considering her situation, she knew she had no options. She heard the ring tone of her cell phone. Whether intentionally or not, her captors had made it possible for Ben to call them. Deidre heard a one-sided conversation.
“No, we will not let her go . . . Yes, we are mistreating her . . . We want you to come and rescue her. That’s what the FBI is good at, isn’t it? Rescuing people? Or do you spend all of your time spying on decent, law-abiding citizens? If you want your wife, come and get her. And while you’re at it, why don’t you come confiscate our guns at the same time? . . . Where am I? Come on, Ben. I know you have been triangulating our calls. Do you want me to stay on the line a little longer so you can find the exact location? It shouldn’t be difficult for you with your connections.”
Deidre heard a whispered conversation, but she couldn’t make out the words. Then she heard, “Turn off the light and give her some water. We don’t want her dying before they decide to come.” To her relief, the light went almost black—she could see a lingering glow at its center—and a trim man in fatigues handed her a bottle of water. She gulped it down, some running down the front of her shirt, some spilling on the floor, most going down her throat. In seconds her stomach revolted and she threw up.
“Here’s another. Sip it this time!” he commanded, and she did as she was told. He cut the ties on her legs and for a second time that night, Deidre was led to the corner and shoved into it.
*****
Ben couldn’t believe his ears as
he heard Deidre’s warning, and he stared at the phone as though it were a bomb. His urge was to throw it against the wall, but he gained control of his emotions and resisted the impulse. Instead he dialed back Deidre’s number. He was almost startled when a man’s voice answered. The deputies and Jackie stood silently by, listening to the one-sided conversation.
“Let my wife go . . . You’re mistreating her. Let her go! . . . Where are you? Tell me so I can find you! . . . Damn it! Don’t hang up!” Ben went back to staring at the phone.
Jackie had spread a map out on the dining table, and she was busy with a straight edge, drawing lines. She hunched her left shoulder, holding her cell phone to her ear to free both hands. As the person on the other end of the call spoke, she changed the position of the straight edge and continued marking the maps. Ben heard her say, “Uh-huh, uh-huh. Okay, got it. Thanks,” and she hung up.
Jackie looked at her work. “That was a Verizon rep. I had cleared with them the possibility that we would need to trace a call, and they were very cooperative. Those three initials, FBI, open a lot of doors. Ben, you’re not going to believe this. The calls you received were sent from a mile and a quarter from here.” She spun the map so it faced him and pointed at a spot. “She’s being held here.”
Ben was dumbfounded. Jackie was pointing to a site on the property adjacent to theirs, the large tract of land that had once been owned by a paper company. He sat down, shaking his head. “I don’t understand. That’s just wild land. Nobody lives on it. In fact, it didn’t even have a road into it until two years ago, and the road has seldom been used. We’ve never seen anyone drive in or out. Once in a while there would be tire tracks, but I never gave it a second thought.” He paused for a moment. “My God, who’s living back there?” He stared at the floor, still holding the dead phone in both hands.
“That’s what we need to know,” Jackie said, stating the obvious. “I’m calling for a helicopter flyover. Maybe they can take some pictures, and we can decide what to do next.”
Before he could respond, the phone signaled another incoming message. Ben opened it to another photo. It was Deidre, still bound to the chair, but now, he could plainly see a trickle of blood running down her chin. She appeared to have lost consciousness. His heart beat wildly, and he clenched his fist in desperation.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ben sat down and looked at the map spread before him on the table. “I think it would be a mistake to come in with copters for a flyover of wherever they have Deidre. It would be showing them that we’re biting the bait they’ve set before us, and I’m afraid it would only exacerbate her situation. There’s a reason they’re showing so many of their cards to us. He told me to come confiscate their weapons, and I think they want us to show up so they can demonstrate their firepower. Jackie, I’ll follow your lead if you have a better idea, but I think I should go to that location,” he pointed at the map, “on foot to see what we’re up against. If I can pull it off, we’ll gain the advantage of knowing their position without them being aware that we have them in our sights.” He looked at her with a plea on his face.
Jackie looked at the map. From where they stood to where the calls originated was a half-hour walk if the surface was level. She knew it wasn’t. It would take Ben a good hour to traverse the distance. Considering that his steps would be cautious and his approach watchful, she guessed more like two hours.
“Do you know that country?” she wanted to know. Ben stood up and paced the room.
“Jackie, I was raised only two miles from here. No, I’ve never been on this particular tract of land, but I grew up exploring the Knife River. I grew up hunting in these woods. I trapped along the river and camped out too many nights to count. If I’m anything, I’m a guy who knows the woods. If anyone is going to reconnoiter these people, I think I’m the best bet. Say the word, and I’m gone.”
“Go for it,” was all she said.
Ben made a quick trip to the shed where his camping gear was stored. He grabbed a compass from one drawer, pulled on a pair of well-worn boots, and donned his lightweight camo jacket. The last thing Ben put in his jacket pocket was a compact pair of binoculars. He stopped back at the house and tromped upstairs into their bedroom. His service handgun was in the top drawer of the bureau. Ben inserted the ammunition clip into the gun’s magazine. He’d wait to chamber a round until he was outside.
Heading back downstairs, Ben suddenly became aware that he had totally neglected the needs of his daughters who were curled together on the couch in the living room, holding each other. They were asleep in that uncomfortable position, and Ben’s heart broke when he saw them. Gently shaking their shoulders, he woke the girls, and when their eyes opened, he could tell they had fallen asleep while they were crying. Ben cradled his daughters in his arms and rocked them back and forth.
“Oh girls, girls. I’m so sorry. I’ve been so wrapped up in myself that I totally forgot you.” He squeezed them tighter. “It’s going to be okay. I’m leaving for a short time. We know where Mom is and that she’s still okay. When I get back, we’ll have some answers, I think. I’ll be gone about three hours, maybe a little longer. Right now, I want you to get on your cell phone and call Pastor Ike. Explain to him that I asked you to call, and that I’d like him to come to the house to be with you. Can you do that?” They nodded as Ben stood to leave. He walked through the kitchen toward the back door.
“Take it slow,” Jackie warned, and clapped him on the shoulder as he walked past her. “You got your cell phone with my number set on your speed dial?” Ben nodded once and started down the path on a trot. The sky in the east was turning pink. It would be totally light in a half-hour.
When he reached the picnic spot, he slowed to a walk and took a deep breath to get his emotions under control, found a place where he could step from rock to rock, and crossed the river without getting wet. On the other side he followed the bank for a few steps to the place where he thought the captors might have crossed with Deidre. Without having to really look, he spotted a branch that hung loose, broken off from the main stem of a shrub. Under it, he saw the imprint of the heel of a boot pressed into the moist soil. It was a large boot.
Ben stopped for a second to get his bearings. He looked at his compass and turned to face the direction he calculated would intersect with the origin of the phone calls. Then he remembered he had his cell phone in his pocket, took it out, and set it on airplane mode. He didn’t want it even vibrating and giving away his position. He moved a few feet and found another broken branch. He knew he was going in the right direction. For the next half-hour he worked his way through the brush in this manner, finding a scuff mark on the ground here, a crushed fern there, and then another broken branch. Between his compass and the signs left by whoever had grabbed his wife, he could follow the trail, but the going was slow.
Two hundred yards in from the river, the alder brush and high bush cranberry bushes thinned, and the terrain became higher. Ben found himself on a ridge forested by paper birch interspersed with an occasional balsam fir. An almost invisible trail ran along the crest. He was accustomed to seeing these trails, most of them routes animals such as white-tailed deer followed, especially during the autumn and early winter. He hoped Deidre’s abductors had taken this easy route. According to his compass, he was headed in the direction pinpointed by Jackie’s triangulation. Ben had walked only a few hundred feet when he spotted a stem of hazelnut brush broken off about three feet above the ground.
For a second he stopped, looked closely at the jagged end of the break, and decided it was fresh. The inner bark was still green, and the loose end of the shrub was still supple. Ben was sure he was on the right path and that the trail would lead him to Deidre. Now he had to fight the impulse to hurry, and the thought crossed his mind that the trail might be booby trapped. He kept a constant pace for another twenty minutes, and once, when the early morning
breeze picked up for an instant, he thought he heard voices in the distance. Then the breeze died and so did the voices.
He hadn’t seen a sign of anyone having used the trail since the broken hazelnut bush, and doubts began to rise in Ben’s mind. Ahead, beside the trail, he spotted a crushed bracken fern frond, and he stopped to look more closely. Then, further off the trail he saw another. It wasn’t obvious among the standing fronds, but as he studied it, he was sure whoever had taken his wife had made a detour.
Ben dropped his hat on the trail at that spot so he could return to it and slowly moved ahead on the path, his eyes scanning the ground and forest ahead of him. He had gone only a few yards when he spotted what looked like a place where the ground had been disturbed. It looked as though the dried leaves and duff of the forest floor had been scraped aside and then replaced to hide something. He got on his hands and knees and carefully lifted a leaf off the top, then another. One leaf, one twig at a time he carefully worked his way down until eventually he saw a piece of metal protruding upward. He had dug far enough. It was a landmine, armed, he was sure. Cautiously, he backed away, returned to where he had left his hat, and took the same detour Deidre’s captor had taken. Ben located and noted a landmark so if he returned in a hurry, he wouldn’t stumble on the mine.
It wasn’t difficult to follow the route they had used, because it was impossible for them to walk off the trail without leaving signs: a piece of dislodged moss, a crushed fern, a broken twig. The signs led him around the spot where the mine had been set and back to the trail. He deliberately slowed his pace to a crawl and unconsciously walked slouched over. He plainly heard a voice, couldn’t make out what was said, but knew it was human. He stopped in his tracks and knelt on the ground, his ear turned toward where he thought the sound originated. The voice spoke again, and again it was unintelligible. Ben thought he could make out three separate voices but he wasn’t sure.
Preying in Two Harbors Page 21
