by Jewel Allen
“So,” Leroy cleared his throat. “Do you know anything about stalactites and stalagmites?”
He launched into an interesting lecture of which ones were the ones “tight” on the ceiling—stalactites—and the stalagmites being the ones on the floor. The colors bouncing off the natural formations were all prisms of the rainbow.
“I feel really bad for Princess Nutah,” Madison told Luke. “She wouldn’t have gotten lost if only she’d followed the rail and the lights.”
Luke grinned. “I don’t think they had these back then.”
Their hands accidentally touched. Luke captured her hand in his. At the bottom of the stairs, he didn’t let go. Held securely in his hand, hers felt toasty warm. Tingly. Their glances met. Luke rubbed his thumb over her palm and smiled. And only then did he let go of her hand.
Madison looked away, dazed. She was trying to follow what Leroy was saying, but couldn’t.
“…moonshine central. It’s believed that they made their own liquor here.”
“Poor pioneers,” Madison said. “They sure were starved for entertainment if they weren’t content with stalactites and stalagmites.
They descended further into a maze of caverns. Leroy beckoned for Madison to enter one of the little hideaways for moonshiners. There was a door that looked fairly new.
“This door was actually not part of the original cavern,” Leroy said. “But there is something behind it I’d like to show you.”
Madison squeezed past Leroy and stepped into the room. After she entered, he stepped in, too, and slammed the door shut, before Luke and the other guys could join them.
A match flickered, casting Leroy’s eyes in a yellow, feral light. He lit a candle and set it on a table. His eyes took on a dull sheen. Madison recoiled as he pulled off his beard to reveal Frank Dell.
The stuffy room smelled like a musty attic.
“Madison, Madison,” he said in his normal voice. “Didn’t you recognize who I am, little Maddie?”
***
“Hey!” Luke yelled and pounded. “Open up! Madison!”
No answer.
Luke stepped back and jammed his weight full force against the door. He only succeeded in bouncing off it. He motioned for Renny to help him. Even with the two of them jamming it with their bodies, the door still didn’t budge.
“He’s probably got something on the other side,” Luke muttered.
Why wasn’t Madison screaming? What was the guide doing to her right now? Luke was going crazy with worry.
He pulled his gun from his holster and shot at the hasp of the lock. The shot rang out in the caverns.
Even before the smoke cleared, he kicked at the door. It swung open to darkness. Beyond, there were no lights. And no sound either.
“Go get a flashlight from the car,” Luke ordered Miko. “Renny, radio Sgt. Wilson.”
It was cold in this finger of the cavern. He shouted Madison’s name, but only got echoes. He also smelled something—chloroform.
When Renny returned with the flashlight, Luke shone it around the area. It was empty. A fake beard lay on the table. Instantly, Luke connected the dots.
Leroy Stodges was Frank Dell.
His stomach flipped.
In clipped, quick movements, Luke flashed the light in the room, but could see no other opening.
“Get to work bringing back the power,” he instructed his men. “And hurry. I’ll check outside.”
But there was no access outside to that part of the tunnel.
How could Frank Dell have hidden Madison so well?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Madison woke outside, her eyesight blurry and her head fogged up. She could make out trees swaying above, and the sun shining brightly overhead. A starling darted into the trees, scattering others.
Where am I? How did I get here? Where is Luke?
She was gagged and her hands and feet were bound tightly. So tight that the circulation was getting cut off. She tried to turn her head to look up at the sky, but she couldn’t. She felt sick to her stomach, and her skin prickled from all the undergrowth that she was lying on.
The realization returned, making her suck in her breath so quickly and deeply. Frank Dell finally got her. She pressed against her side, but the gun she had tucked in her pocket for self-protection was gone.
Please don’t let him kill me, she prayed.
She heard a rustle from behind her. Frank was bringing over a bulging backpack. He looked like a ranger or an older scout leader. So happy, like he was going to perform some service for old ladies.
“Now Maddie, that wasn’t nice of you to kick at me. You’ll have to learn your place if we are to coexist happily.”
I don’t want to co-exist happily. I want to get out of here.
“Are you comfortable, my dear?” he asked. “I hope so, since you and I will be spending a little time here while your bodyguard tries to find you.”
Madison stared at him mutely. Pleading with him to let her go. A tear escaped from her eye.
“Don’t give me that look now, girlie. Just because you’re my girl doesn’t mean I’ll give in to your whims.”
His girl. This guy is nuts.
“Did you think I was clever, Madison? I knew that you were setting a trap for me here. I’ve been bugging your conversations. Your bodyguard thought he was sweeping everything, but I was able to find workarounds. I’m clever that way. And I loved your ingenuity. We will make a great team, don’t you think?”
He frowned. “I wish your meddling bodyguard would have chosen a closer destination than the Great Smokies. But no matter, here we are now. I used to play at being a ranger. The guy I had to rob of his uniform was too easy to dupe. I just arranged a private tour. And then I just had to wait. Don’t you think my plan was clever? There were so many caverns to get lost in.” He laughed. “You’re just like Princess Nutah.”
He froze, watching the foliage. He put his finger on her lips but she moaned. Now he pulled a gun from his backpack and put it to her temple.
“Shut up,” he whispered, his eyes crazed.
Madison shook with fear and frustration. She could hear footsteps right by them, a little to her left, and there was nothing she could do to draw attention to her. He believed Frank’s threat that he could shoot her.
Beyond the bushes, two people were talking. Luke and Sgt. Wilson.
Suddenly, Madison worried if Frank would try to attack them. She prayed, oh, she’d never prayed harder in her life that Luke wouldn’t stumble upon them unawares. For if he did, he would surely be Frank’s next victim.
The voices and footsteps moved on. Madison ached for the missed opportunity. Madison thought up a plan: to distract Frank and get him unarmed, after which she could then yell for help and run.
Frank’s expression relaxed as the voices became less distinct. He grinned at Madison and touched her cheek.
She recoiled, and saw the hurt in his eyes. But she didn’t care. The monster needed to know that his advances were not welcome.
“Madison, Madison,” Frank said. “Do you know why I wanted you from day one?”
She shook her head, feeling tears squeeze out of her eyes.
He took an envelope out of his backpack and pulled out a piece of yellowing newspaper. It was a very faded picture of a blonde girl.
“This here is my Paisley. Doesn’t she look amazingly like you?”
Madison stared at the photo. Apart from the blonde hair, the girl looked nothing like Madison.
“She was my princess. She got lost in the woods and was never found again. They actually accused me of her murder. Me, the most devoted of fathers. I’ve never forgiven myself for letting her down. So now I have to save you, too, from danger. The only way I could think of was to keep you under lock and key so that no one could harm you.”
Madison shut her eyes. At least his interest in her wasn’t romantic, if he was thinking of his daughter. But then he reached over and caressed her hair.
“Paisley’s mother looked just like you. An angel with blonde hair. She was also a singer, though not as melodious as you.”
Madison pulled back from his touch.
He grabbed her hair and leaned close. “Do not ever pull away from me, do you hear?” And then tenderly. “Okay, Madison?”
She nodded, then made gagging noises. He loosened the gag from her mouth.
“I’m thirsty,” she said.
He put the gag back and went off somewhere, returning with a little flask of water. She drank greedily while ungagged, and then he put the handkerchief back on.
Madison lay there studying her surroundings. She would need to outwit Frank if she were to survive or to ward off an assault. It would just be a matter of time before Frank felt bogged down by her presence. Or when he would decide that she was going to be a good stand-in for his late wife.
Above the ditch where he had hidden her, trees hovered like monster limbs trying to gather the earth with their claws. Birds flitted jerkily from branch to branch, eying them both with distrust.
She snuck a glance at Frank. He sat with his side to her, a gun in a chest holster. She wondered what violence he must have experienced as a child to want to inflict it upon her and others.
He was not a young man, but even with his age, he had an elegant posture.
She prayed for deliverance.
Luke, where are you?
***
Once again, Luke searched the perimeter of the cave, coming up empty-handed. Sgt. Wilson arrived on the scene, but it filled Luke with little hope.
“Show me where he took her?” Sgt. Wilson said.
Luke went into the caverns and showed him the room. Power had been restored and they could see that Frank Dell had meticulously prepared for Madison. In a locker, they discovered a cavern employee, gagged, stripped down to his boxer shorts, and tied up.
Sgt. Wilson frowned. “They couldn’t have gone far. We’re putting notice to all the cabins in the vicinity to watch for a man and woman fitting their description.”
“He’d worn a beard disguise,” Luke pointed out.
“I’ll add that to the alert.”
Luke walked the length of the room, wondering where they could have exited the caverns. It seemed in the light that nothing was obvious. “Sgt. Wilson,” he said, “do you have a lighter on you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Cut the lights and turn on your lighter.”
Sgt. Wilson gave him a curious glance but followed as he’d been asked. Luke turned the lighter on and watched the flame flicker to the right.
“Turn the lights back on,” he told Renny.
Going the direction of the flame, Luke got on all fours to inspect the floor of the cavern. Underneath a dusty corner was a crisscross pattern. He dusted it off and found the cover to an exit to a cavern further below. He exchanged glances with Sgt. Wilson
“After you,” the cop said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
A shadow crossed Madison’s body as she lay there bound and gagged. Frank knelt and cut the ropes around her ankles. Then he yanked her to her feet and hauled her off away from the cave.
She studied her surroundings, longing for escape. Frank only had handguns in his backpack. She’d seen him getting into it and glimpsed the weapons. Somehow the fact that he hadn’t brought a shotgun or a deer rifle that could inflict more injury on someone filled her with some peace.
Their fight was winnable.
But she needed to bide her time, needed to make sure that if she were to bolt, she could get away from this madman easily. For now, she would pretend to go along with the plan.
They walked along a ditch that was about six feet high. Every so often, Frank would stop and listen. Madison would listen, too, but all she could hear were the sound of the birds and an occasional cat-like noise.
She wondered where he was taking her, and soon, she found her answer. They were headed towards a cabin with smoke curling from its chimney.
Let there be no people there.
She would be happy to see others, but not if Frank decided to kill them.
He pulled her close so that his mouth was against her ear. “Now listen, and listen good. I’m gonna put you somewhere for now. If you decide to cause trouble, make noise of any kind, I am going to shoot the people in that cabin. Just like that. And their blood will be on your head.”
He shoved Madison into a canvas bag and rolled her into the bushes.
Madison lay there for what seemed like the longest time. Her ears pricked at every single sound. But most of all, she was listening for sounds of a scuffle inside the cabin. Or a gunshot.
When she didn’t, she wondered what was going on.
Frank Dell came back. “It’s your lucky day. The cabin is empty. The people are probably out hiking.”
Madison breathed a sigh of relief for those people.
Frank left again for several minutes. Madison tried to extricate her wrists from the rope that had bound them. But they were tight and she couldn’t even wiggle them. She was sure, if she looked at her arms, that they were bloody from being tied so tightly.
She heard footsteps and hoped that it was Luke. But it was only Frank. He held up apples and a huge pot roast in a pot.
“Eat up, quickly,” he said, ungagging her.
Madison had no appetite. The last thing she wanted to do was to eat. Her body hurt everywhere, and her arms kept going numb. She shook her head.
“Eat,” he said, putting the pistol to her temple.
Madison swallowed and made a show of eating the piece of meat he’d cut for her. It was delicious and moist, but rich, and she felt like throwing up after a few bites.
Frank didn’t seem to notice her discomfort. Finally, she had to turn her head away, she was feeling sick from eating too much too fast.
He put his face against hers. “I told you to not move away from me.”
“Please,” she whispered, “I don’t want any more food.”
His lips formed a tight line. He gagged her and tossed the pot roast onto the ground. “Fine,” he said. “You win.”
He yanked her back up and marched her across the forest.
***
Luke studied the bootprints on the moist soil. “They were here just now,” he said. “Let’s keep going this way.”
He led the little team—Wilson and two of his men, Renny and Miko, through the trail.
Luke studied the ground again. There were several footprints here, and then nothing. It looked like they could have jumped into a ditch full of leaves, masking their steps.
Sgt. Wilson’s phone buzzed. “Wilson,” he said. “Uh-huh. Okay. Thanks.”
“Sounds like our man has been tracked,” Sgt. Wilson told Luke. “A cabin owner reported theft. Someone took their food while they were out walking.”
“The coordinates?” Luke asked.
Before Sgt. Wilson rattled off the last coordinate, Luke was already running off towards that direction.
***
Madison fell to the ground with a thud, nearly hitting her head on rock. It was slow-going where Frank wanted her to go—a rocky face that rose up to the mountain.
She was desperate to rest. Frank kept prodding her and when she fell behind, he yanked back his wrist to scare her into flinching, but actually didn’t hurt her. He thought it was pretty funny and laughed about that often.
“Mmmph,” she said through her gag.
He hesitated, then let the gag loose.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said.
He gave her a sour glance. “Just go, right here.”
“I can’t do that,” she said. “Please, I need privacy.”
He made a face. “Okay. But don’t try anything funny.” After he untied the ropes around her wrist, she stepped behind a tree and tried to think of a way out of the forest.
Maybe she could shout to catch Luke’s attention. Maybe she could bury herself in dirt so that Frank couldn’t find her. Whatever she
decided to do, she needed to do it soon.
Frank said, “You’re taking too long.”
“Just one more moment.”
She peered up the boughs of the tree she was under. She wished she could launch herself up to see if Luke was anywhere in sight. She did her business quickly and reappeared behind the trees.
He tied her wrists and gagged her once again.
But this time, there was one difference. In her hand, she held a sharp flat rock. A Cherokee spearhead, most likely. It scratched at her hand like a knife.
***
Luke gazed around the ransacked cabin as the owners talked to Sgt. Wilson. They hadn’t seen anything unusual.
Then the wife said, “Wait. I did hear something.” She paused. “A sort of scrabbling noise, like someone was trying to get up a rock. But I thought nothing of it. I just thought it was an animal. I went out to look, but I couldn’t see anything.”
“A rock.” Luke turned to Sgt. Wilson. “Is there a rocky ledge nearby?”
“Couple steps ahead of you, boss,” Sgt. Wilson said. “Right this way.”
Several minutes later, Luke was studying the facade of the rocky formation. He could tell that boots had scuffed them. Madison would have had a bear of a time scaling the rock. She might have gashed her knee.
“Luke, come see,” Sgt. Wilson said.
On the ground, there was a brown sandal. He stiffened as he picked it up. “It’s Madison’s,” he said grimly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Madison’s foot throbbed. She had lost a sandal, but Frank wouldn’t stop. She hobbled along, her foot torn from the rocks and prickly vegetation on the ground. Finally, Madison just threw herself onto the ground, refusing to move.
Frank kicked at her. Madison averted her face and shielded her body with her arms.
Suddenly, he knelt. “I am so sorry, Maddie. You’ve gotten me so mad.” And then he stopped. He was listening. While he walked away from Madison to investigate, she continued to saw against her ropes using the arrowhead she had found earlier.
The rope snapped apart.
