by J. A. Kalis
He had to put things straight again, get rid of the men. Get rid of the danger of being discovered. Both he and Corinne needed more time to prepare their escape abroad.
Lorenzo knew the scarcely populated region he now found himself in. He knew all its secluded spots and where was best to dispose of a body without the slightest risk of it ever being discovered.
He wondered if the two men even suspected who had pushed them off the road. He doubted it. Everything had happened so quickly; they’d had no chance to see his face.
He advanced into the forest, slowly ploughing his way through the underbrush, scanning the surroundings, his eyes straining to detect even the slightest movement.
Soon, the rain stopped and the wind settled down to a gentle breeze. The temperature dropped. His wet clothes clamped uncomfortably to his skin, providing little protection from the cold. The chill from the air seeped into his flesh, making him shiver. Undaunted by such minor discomforts, he kept searching.
Eventually, night fell like a thick curtain, shrouding everything in gloom. Fortunately, there was just enough moonlight leaking through the forest canopy for him to see his way without the need for a torch. He decided it was better not to use it. Its strong beam could only tip them off. His sharp predator eyes quickly grew accustomed to the darkness.
In the distance, an owl hooted. When it stopped, the forest was once more plunged into silence.
Unrelenting, Lorenzo looked behind each tree he passed. But the men were nowhere in sight.
Where the hell were they?
His gut feeling told him they were close by, maybe only a few metres away. Pity, it doesn’t tell me where exactly, he thought bitterly.
He heard a small sound, something like the snapping of twigs. The sound stopped before he’d even managed to place it or identify its source. Lorenzo froze and listened. Nothing. The sound didn’t repeat itself, but he knew it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. He wasn’t alone. Slowly, he scanned the area with the torch beam. An instant later, he found himself staring into a pair of bright white eyes glowing eerily in the brush.
The eyes weren’t human. It was a fox.
Lorenzo walked on. Every now and then, he stopped and listened. But he heard nothing.
With each passing minute, anger rose in his chest. All his earlier plans were overthrown. That day, he’d intended to track down Véronique and take her to the cave. But instead he’d had to follow these two men. He hoped he found them soon. Killing them would help discharge some of the rage that had built up during the day.
But after another hundred metres, he decided he’d enough. It was too late to continue combing the forest. By now they could be anywhere. They were probably hidden somewhere deep in an open cavern, of which there was no shortage in the area. Scattered as they were, it was impossible to check all of them. The forest was so large and full of secret hiding places that he could wander around it the whole night without ever finding the runaways.
Besides, he was afraid to venture too deep into the forest. Although he knew it well, at night it was too treacherous. What if he got lost? He didn’t feel like spending the whole night walking in circles. Better to sleep in a comfortable bed and resume the search in the morning. Those two had no means of leaving the area. Tomorrow he would get them.
He felt cold. In an attempt to generate some heat, he folded his arms across his chest and rubbed his shoulders. It didn’t work. There was nothing else to do but go back to his car. He quickened his pace and headed towards it. Once he reached it, he picked up his jacket from the back seat and put it on. Then he opened the driver’s side door and slid in. He checked his watch. It was twenty past ten. Wandering around in the forest had taken him longer than he thought.
He fished his mobile out of his pocket and called Corinne. She must have been waiting for his call because she answered on the second ring.
‘How are you? How did it go? Have you got them?’ She flooded him with questions.
‘I’m fine, haven’t got a scratch. Everything worked as planned … well, almost everything. I pushed them off the road. They crashed against a tree but somehow managed to escape before I got to them.’
‘What? How?’
‘I must have hit too hard and my car broke down. The road was so slick with rain, at one point I almost flew off it myself. Well, the thing is I had to walk and believe me it wasn’t easy.’
‘So it didn’t really work. You screwed things up. Have you searched for them?’
‘You bet I have. I checked the entire place but couldn’t find them anywhere.’
‘That’s bad. Very bad. We mustn’t let them get away. You realize what it means for us if they do? We can’t take that risk. Do you understand?’
‘Of course I do. Don’t worry. They won’t be able to leave the area tonight. On foot? Impossible. Remember, they have no car. And there’s no danger of anyone giving them a lift. Tomorrow morning I’ll come back to comb the whole area and I’ll get them. I swear, I’ll find them.’
‘You better do. And what about you, now? You can’t stay in a broken down car stranded somewhere on the side of a road.’
‘Can you come and pick me up? We can go to my place and spend the night there. It’ll take much less time than going back to Rocamadour. And tomorrow, at the break of dawn, we’ll come back to look for them. Listen, Corinne, one more thing. Better bring one of your father’s guns with you. We may need it. A simple knife might prove not enough.’
‘Okay, but I must ask Aurélie to cover for me here. Then I’ll be on my way. Just wait for me in your car. And tell me exactly where to find you.’
Lorenzo explained where he was, and ended the call.
To kill time while waiting, he tried once more to restart his car. But this time the engine didn’t even groan. The old battered-up thing was completely dead.
Still on edge, he climbed out of the car, slammed the door and strode up to the road. He scanned it in both directions. It was empty. No one dared venture onto it at this hour, after a storm. He pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his jacket pocket. He took out a cigarette, lit it up and took a deep drag. As he slowly blew the smoke out, he felt his tense muscles started to relax. Everything will be fine, he reassured himself. Tomorrow, he would find both men and make sure they would never go to the police.
A sudden idea hit him. He knew what he should do to appease his own anger. Instead of killing them right away, he would make them suffer first. Make them die a slow death. It would teach them a lesson not to be so nosy. And he knew the perfect place to execute his newly concocted plan. After he was finished with them, he would take care of the girl. Briefly, he wondered what to do about Véronique, but he decided he’d have to forget about her; he was running short on time. Better to concentrate all his energy on the two men and Sandy’s sister.
Those fine prospects quickly improved his mood. He tossed the glowing cigarette butt to the ground, twisted it out with his foot and got back in his car.
Corinne arrived about forty minutes later. Lorenzo had walked to the side of the road to check if she was coming. He was about to return to his old Peugeot when, from a distance, he saw the bright headlights of a vehicle glaring in the darkness. As soon as she pulled up, he opened the passenger door and stepped in.
‘Have you brought the gun with you?’
‘Yes, I have. All ready for the hunt tomorrow. Let’s go now. We need a good night’s sleep.’
‘You are right, we do. We must get up at the break of dawn.’
Corinne accelerated. Soon the red taillights of her car faded away as night swallowed them.
CHAPTER 15
Carol’s stomach began to churn. She was hungry. How long had she been in this prison? She could only make a guess based on her internal clock, which told her that it must have been at least twenty-four hours. Despite the uncomfortable feeling in her abdomen, she didn’t want to touch her captor’s food. The mere thought of it repulsed her. She wondered if he had p
ut any drugs or poison into it. Luckily the bottle of mineral water was sealed, otherwise … She couldn’t bear to think about it.
She put out her right hand and fumbled in the dark until it closed around the bottle. With quivering fingers, she unscrewed the top, brought it to her parched lips and drained the last drop out of it.
Sudden despair threatened to overwhelm her, crowding her mind with dark thoughts.
How long was this nightmare going to last?
Had she any chance of survival?
What if her captor didn’t come back?
She pictured herself dying alone in here, tortured by thirst and hunger until the last moment. The image was very vivid and inspired even more dread in her heart.
Odds were slim someone would venture so deep into the cave to look for her. Her body would probably never be found in this maze of underground tunnels and chambers.
Hugging herself for comfort, she began to rock. Feeling helpless and hating it, she dropped onto the sleeping bag, curling up as tight as the ropes would let her. Cold from the stone floor underneath the flimsy covers seeped into her bones, making her shiver. Warm tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t brush them away. Her chest and shoulders heaved with silent sobs. All hope abandoned her and with it the last shred of willpower to struggle.
But then her crying stopped almost as suddenly as it had started. She regretted her moment of weakness, despising herself for succumbing to such a humiliating feeling.
She hated herself, hated her own vulnerability, stupidity and impulsivity. Travelling alone to France to look for Corinne and Lucien was a very bad decision. The couple was too dangerous. She regretted now that she had acted so recklessly.
The man who abducted her was a cold-blooded killer. He had killed her sister. Next it would be her turn to die. She wondered what sort of horrible end he was preparing for her. There was no way of telling what his cruel mind was capable of concocting.
A hot wave of hatred swept over her, surpassing her fear. How dare he treat her like this? He shouldn’t walk free and live his life as he pleased. He should be behind bars. Both him and Corinne.
She swore that if she survived, she would get them, no matter where they were, and bring them to justice.
If she survived. But chances were high she wouldn’t.
How awful it would be for her parents. To lose one daughter, and then the other so soon. How would they cope? More tears rolled down her cheeks. With the back of her hand she smeared them across her face.
And Mike …? She didn’t feel sorry for him. She was still angry with him for not coming with her. He should have been by her side, to protect her. If he had come, maybe none of this would have happened.
She hugged her chest even tighter, feeling exhaustion invade her body and mind. She’d had enough of all the dark thoughts swirling in her head like a swarm of angry bees. They drained her of energy. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to ease the built-up tension. It took quite some time before the muscles in her neck, back and shoulders started to relax.
Curled up tight, rocking gently, she felt her eyes begin to droop. She was about to drift away when a vicious pain ripped across her abdomen. Hunger resurged, gnawing at her insides. She couldn’t stand it anymore.
She forced herself to sit up, found the torch and switched it on. Her hand reached for one of the paper bags. She peered inside. Quite a pleasant aroma of food wafted her way, making her mouth water. All her earlier reservations crumbled. She took the first bite. It tasted good. As soon as she’d finished eating the first sandwich, she bit into the second one and devoured it as if it was the best food she had ever eaten. Soon there were only a few crumbs left.
Before long, she started to feel better. Her mood improved and some of the lost hope returned. She shouldn’t give up so easily. Not yet. She had to do everything to survive. To spare her parents the pain.
Her head cleared up a bit. She was able to think again. Think about what else there was for her to do. Her mind raced but she could not think of a solution.
Then an idea hit her. There was one more thing she could try. If it worked, she would get rid of the bonds. If not, she would be back to square one. No matter how small the chance of success was, she had to try.
Her sweat-coated, slightly trembling fingers touched the lens of the torch. She couldn’t be sure but it seemed to be made out of glass, not plastic as she’d believed at first. It was small, but if she managed to break it the right way, she could obtain a shard of glass big and sharp enough to cut the ropes wrapped around her body. Of course, it meant that she would have no light to guide her in this dark labyrinth. It was easy to get lost in such a complex network of underground passages. Very easy. And nobody – not even Lucien – would know where to find her. A slow, painful death from starvation was not how she wanted her life to end.
But it was her only chance, and she had to take it.
She turned the torch on and swept its beam across the floor. Careful not to mess things up, she traced with her fingers the pits and cracks in the eroded rock until she came upon a small bulge jutting up from the flat stone surface. That was the right spot. That was where she should strike the glass lens.
She drew a deep breath and felt her body tense. She lifted the torch and with one quick movement, brought it down on the rock. The lens touched the hard stone and exploded into fragments. The tinkling sound of the shattering glass broke the silence, reverberating off the cave walls. When it stopped, silence fell. And darkness.
Carol exhaled the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding and felt beads of sweat form on her forehead.
Scared that her last hope had just been shattered together with the glass, she sat still for a few moments, as if rooted to the ground, clutching the ruined torch.
Then, her heart thumping wildly in her chest, she bent down. Her fingers ran along the stone floor, tracing every centimetre of it. Her breath quickened. What if it hadn’t worked? She felt a few splinters of glass but pushed them aside. Far too small, she decided.
A stab of pain ripped through one of her fingers. She felt a slick and sticky liquid drip out of the freshly-made wound. A sliver of glass had perforated her skin. She inspected it but it wasn’t big enough to cut the ties.
Undaunted, she kept searching. A few seconds later, she found what she was looking for. Gently, as if it was something very precious, she picked up the shard of glass from the floor. She traced its shape with a fingertip, careful not to cut herself.
Yes, it was perfect.
She could hardly contain her joy. It worked!
She was a step closer to freedom. Hope resurged once more. Then, a sense of urgency gripped her. There was no way of telling when Lucien would come back. He might return any minute. She had to hurry up. Before making the first move, she listened. Not a sound disturbed the tomblike silence.
Not wanting to waste another moment, she started to saw at the rope wrapped around her legs, realizing how numb they felt. Cautious not to damage her precious piece of glass, holding it tight, she moved it slowly back and forth. It wasn’t an easy task. The rope was thick, and without light, she couldn’t see what she was doing.
Was she cutting at the right spot? She hoped so.
She worked diligently on the rope for some time and yet it seemed to her as if she was making no progress. It took, what seemed to her, many minutes before she felt its first strands unravel. Her hands ached from the exertion. She strained against the bindings willing her legs to pull the rest of the fibres apart. It didn’t work.
She made another attempt. That one too failed.
Reluctantly, she resumed cutting the ties. She persisted in her efforts until they finally paid off and she could feel the last strand of rope come apart. She writhed around, trying to free herself of the constricting bindings. Once more, she strained her sore legs and nervously fiddled the bonds with the trembling fingers of her empty hand while the other one clutched the precious shard of glass. She was afraid to los
e it.
The bonds loosened but didn’t give way entirely. The rope was still wrapped around her calves and ankles. Her fingers fumbled around in the dark looking for the loose end and eventually found it. They seized it, and moving briskly, unwound the cord. Before long her legs were free.
She threw the rope aside and stood up. Her legs tingled as feeling and circulation returned. Although they felt wobbly, she managed to take a couple of steps. It was a strange sensation to be able to walk again.
A smile crept into her lips at the thought that she was another step closer to freedom. Excitement bubbled inside her chest. But right away, a voice deep in her practical mind brought her back to the hard reality, reminding that she wasn’t yet free. She now had to cut through the rope wrapped around her waist.
She touched it. It was even thicker than the first one.
Before she started working on it with the shard of glass, she listened. Again, no sound breached the silence. Nervous, and eager to sever the last restraints, she fumbled at the rope, searching for the best place to make the cut. As soon as she located it, she began sawing. Despite her impatience, she kept a steady tempo. Yet after a while, her fingers became so stiff and clumsy that at one point she dropped the shard of glass. She fumbled around on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it.
Finally, the long awaited moment arrived. The piece of glass sliced through the last strands of rope, and she shook it off.
The severed ties fell on the stone floor with a clunk.
She was free. At last.
Now she had to find her way out of the cave before Lucien returned. She willed her erratic breathing to slow down to normal. As she made the first steps through the pitch-black chamber, her hands in front of her, she strained to listen. Nothing. Only silence. She couldn’t hear any footsteps. Then, just as she was about to make the next move, a small muffled sound reached her ears. She froze trying to locate it. It was the same scraping noise she’d heard not long after she’d been brought here. A moment later, it stopped. Probably a rodent, she concluded and shrugged her shoulders.
