“I don’t like you going into the woods in the dark.” Morgan set her jaw. “What if you don’t see an infrared sensor?”
Sharp shook his head. “He uses this land as a camp for survivalists. He can’t risk blowing up his customers.”
Lance wasn’t so sure. Holgersen’s survival school was in bankruptcy. How long had it been since he’d had students here? He thought of the arsenal he and Sharp had found at the Olander farm. As a survivalist, Holgersen could also have plenty of firepower on hand. Sharp and Lance would be the trespassers. What would Holgersen do if he caught them snooping around his land? Would he come after them with weapons or call the sheriff’s department?
But in the end, the worst scenario was if Stephen Holgersen wasn’t the man who took Olivia. Then what?
A failing business did not make Stephen Holgersen a criminal. They had no evidence to support their hunch. But Olivia had been missing for three and a half days, and Sharp wasn’t going to wait to assess or gather any more information. He’d been twitchy since they learned about Stephen Holgersen’s massive debt and watched his YouTube videos on setting booby traps. Lance was lucky he’d talked him into changing his clothes and having a look at satellite images of the area and online pictures of the camp.
The Jeep was concealed behind a clump of trees just past the entrance marked PRIMITIVE SURVIVAL SCHOOL. From this position, Morgan would be able to see the driveway and the road in both directions.
He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. “Be careful.”
She nodded. “You’re the ones walking into who knows what.”
“We’ll be all right.” He settled his hands on her arms and squeezed her biceps. “This will be an in-and-out operation. Our goal is to avoid confrontation.”
From the online pictures, it seemed as if most of the property had been left in its natural state. People paid to learn to live off the land.
Sharp tapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Love you.” Lance released Morgan’s arms.
“Love you too.” She stepped back.
Lance and Sharp turned into the woods. Lance lowered his NVGs over his eyes and scanned his surroundings. The newer-generation night vision equipment illuminated the landscape in shades of black and white instead of the traditional eerie green. He took the stick and cord and held it in front of them. Sharp stayed at his right flank, watching for infrared sensors. Thick woods and the potential for booby traps kept their pace slow.
A hundred yards into the forest, they stepped onto a rough trail. A red light shone to his left. Lance grabbed Sharp’s arm to stop him and pointed at the light. Sharp took a tiny penlight from his pocket and shone it ahead.
He leaned close to Lance’s ear. “Trip wire connected to a sound grenade.”
An alarm was better than a bomb.
Lance skirted the device.
They moved back into the woods and traveled north in a line parallel to the trail. The property was on a peninsula that jutted into the lake. Water formed a natural barrier on three sides. Satellite images of the area had not penetrated the thick woods but had showed several structures built at the edge of the water. This likely marked the location of the main buildings. Stephen’s residence should also be near the lake. Most people with lakefront properties built their houses with a view of the water.
A northerly path from where they’d parked at the entrance would take Lance and Sharp through the center of the property. Lance checked his compass and angled slightly to the west to intersect with the shoreline of the lake. A flank approach would be preferable to a direct line.
Pine needles were quiet underfoot. The underbrush thinned, and they increased their speed. An organic, mossy smell hit Lance’s nostrils.
The lake must be ahead.
He turned to signal Sharp. A loud snap sounded, and Sharp went down.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Pain shot up Sharp’s leg. He’d hit the ground sideways. His hip landed on a rock.
Lance doubled back and spoke in a low voice. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I tripped on something.” Sharp jerked his foot, but he couldn’t budge it. “My boot is caught.”
“Maybe a tree root.” Lance knelt down and brushed pine needles aside. “Not a tree root. An animal trap.”
Sharp sat up. Moonlight caught the black metal of the spring-loaded leghold trap. His belly churned at the sight.
“You’re lucky. You stepped on the edge and the jaws caught the heel of your boot.”
If he had hit the center of the device, it could have broken his leg. “Can you open it?”
“If I can’t, you’ll have to take off your boot.” Lance squeezed the levers on both sides of the trap with his hands, but the springs wouldn’t give. “Stand up so I can use my body weight.” He extended a hand and helped Sharp get vertical.
Sharp balanced on one foot. Lance placed a boot on each side of the trap. He pressed down on both levers simultaneously. The jaws opened, and Sharp pulled his foot free.
Sharp tested his foot on the ground. Other than a slight pang in his ankle from the twist, he seemed uninjured. “I’m good.”
“I thought I heard something in that direction.” Lance pointed to the northeast.
“Let’s go.” Sharp left the trap closed, so it couldn’t hurt anyone else.
Guilty or not, Stephen Holgersen was a nutter.
They moved onto the trail and headed in the direction Lance had pointed. Sharp surged forward. But Lance held him back. “We won’t find anything if one of us breaks a leg in a trap.”
He went back to using the stick and paracord to check for trip wires. They crept a hundred yards farther down the trail, and Lance stopped. He tapped Sharp on the shoulder and pointed to the ground. The paracord leaned against a fishing line trip wire.
“Damn. This guy is paranoid,” Sharp said under his breath. “But we have to move faster.”
“I know,” Lance whispered. He followed the trip wire to a loop of wire on the ground hidden beneath a layer of sand. “A leg snare.”
“I’m sorry I gave you shit about the cost of those NVGs.” Sharp circled around the trap and they continued their trek toward the lake. Frustration gripped him. How were they going to find Olivia in a hundred acres of booby-trapped wilderness?
The sound of water lapping caught his attention. They were nearing the lake. Ahead, the trail opened onto the water. Sharp could see the rocky shore and moonlit ripples across the lake’s surface.
A squeak stopped them both short. They moved to the side of the trail and crept to the last clump of underbrush before the beach. Ducking behind it, they peered over the top of the foliage. A dock extended out over the water. Next to the beginning of the dock, a man stood in the open doorway of a shed.
His voice floated over the rocks. “Olivia, if you come out now, I promise to kill you quick. It won’t hurt.”
She’s alive?
Hope surged in Sharp, followed by rage. The man had just promised to kill Olivia. Sharp wanted to strangle him with his bare hands. Was she in that shed? There was only one way to find out. Simultaneously energized and furious, Sharp pressed forward.
Lance grabbed his arm and held him back. He made a motion toward the other side of the shed and pointed to his own chest. Sharp breathed through his urge to run headfirst at the man on the beach. To pound on him and make him say where Olivia was. But Lance was right. They should flank the man, otherwise he might escape. He could have weapons.
“Count to fifty,” Lance whispered before he raced along the tree line to the right.
Sharp said a quick prayer that neither of them hit another trap. Counting, he turned back to the lake just as the man disappeared into the shed.
Twenty-nine. Thirty.
Sharp counted faster.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Under the dock, Olivia shivered in the freezing water. The lake bottom was slimy and slick under her bare feet.
Boots clump
ed on the dock. He was exiting the shed. Thank God she’d changed her mind about hiding in there. He would have found her already.
The footsteps came closer. Her pulse skittered. She wanted to flee, but there was nowhere to go. No boats were tied up at the dock, and she didn’t have the wind to swim. Her body remained still, but her heart beat like a wild animal.
Instinctively, she wanted to hold her breath, but that might trigger a coughing spell. She prayed the lapping of the water covered her wheezing. As long as she didn’t cough, he wouldn’t hear her.
“Where are you?” His angry voice echoed over the water. “I swear, the longer it takes me to find you, the more you’re going to suffer.”
The sound of his words sent a shiver through her entire body. Still, she tried not to move. Could he hear her teeth chattering? Her arms, wrapped around the dock piling, cramped in the cold water.
Do. Not. Move.
No matter how uncomfortable she was, she had to remain still. The footsteps approached. She breathed shallowly to minimize her wheezing. Olivia looked up. She could see the soles of his boots between the boards of the dock.
So close.
Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard it seemed as if he would be able to hear it knocking. A cough tickled Olivia’s throat. She swallowed and concentrated on taking shallow, steady breaths.
Please. No.
The cold penetrated her bones. Her teeth rattled, and the cold seemed to burn her skin. The aching in her body slowly went numb. Her hands and feet felt like blocks of ice. How could she hold on to the dock if she couldn’t feel her hands?
Don’t let go!
Slowly, the footsteps began to walk away. Olivia waited. He would need time to walk back across the rocky beach to the path in the woods.
Her hands slipped on the wet piling. She lost footing in the slippery muck. The cold closed over her head. For a few seconds, she was suspended in the murky water. Then she got her feet under her body again. Her face broke the surface, and she sputtered.
Had he heard?
She listened but heard no more footsteps. Had he left or was he waiting for her to come out? She couldn’t wait any longer. Soon, she wouldn’t be able to move. Her body would shut down. She’d sink and drown.
She released her grip on the dock. Her arms fell limply into the water. She sank, her head going under again. The cold water burned her eyeballs. But she wasn’t ready to die. Her survival instinct kicked in, and her feet followed suit. She came up again. Floundering in the water, she gasped for air as she emerged from under the dock. For a few seconds, she stood in the muck, scanning the beach, the tall weeds that grew at the marshy edge of the lake brushing her face.
The shore was empty, but she could sense a presence. The goose bumps on her skin prickled. Someone was watching.
Where is he?
Maybe she’d gotten lucky. Maybe he’d returned to the woods to search for her. Maybe he hadn’t heard her almost drowning in the marshy lake.
Olivia’s bare feet were numb as she tried to walk toward the shore. She could barely feel the slime on the bottom of the lake. Tall weeds and cattails tangled around her legs. She tripped over a rock and fell forward. Reaching out, she caught her balance on the side of the dock. Righting herself, she plowed forward. She could do this.
Dry land was ahead. Then what? She was soaking wet, having an asthma attack, and probably hypothermic. She could barely breathe standing still. How could she run away?
A hand reached down from the dock and grabbed her by the arm. “Get up here, bitch!”
Olivia tried to resist as he pulled her from the water, but there was nothing to hold on to. Lack of oxygen had stolen her energy. Not even the panic swirling in her belly could give her the strength to fight back. She flopped like a rag doll. Her leg banged into the wood as he dragged her over the edge. Her legs tangled in her wet pajama bottoms.
He shook her arm. “I’ve had enough of chasing you through the woods. Did you think you could escape?”
She did not.
As her oxygen levels fell even further, her panic faded to sadness. She’d never see her family or Lincoln again. Her life was over, and she had left too many things undone and unsaid. She had been defeated. She had nothing left. Her lungs were tighter than an industrial vise. She could barely draw in enough air to stay conscious. She couldn’t fight, and she couldn’t run.
She was at his mercy.
Chapter Forty
Through the black-and-white imaging of his NVGs, Lance watched the man he was assuming was Stephen Holgersen drag a women’s body from the water up onto the dock. She fell onto her hands and knees. Was that Olivia?
The woman was the right size and shape. Moonlight brightened the lake, and he could see Olivia.
Relief passed through him.
She’s alive.
Lance paused behind a bush to send Morgan a quick text, asking her to call 911 and send help to the lake.
He returned his phone to his pocket and drew his weapon. If Morgan received his message and called for help, emergency response was at least twenty minutes from the entrance to the camp. Then the Redhaven police or Randolph County sheriff’s deputies would have to find them. Who knew how long that would take? He and Sharp were on their own. At best, law enforcement would show up to clean up the mess after it was all over.
He had to sneak up on Stephen. Lance removed his NVGs and set them on the ground at the base of a tree. Holgersen was focused on Olivia, who was on her knees in front of him. Lance crept across the beach and hid behind the shed. He peered around the building and saw Sharp approaching from the other side. Slipping out from behind the shed, Lance eased into the lake. He lowered his body until only his head was above the water.
Olivia and Stephen were near the end of the dock, about forty feet away. Lance slid alongside the dock. He moved slowly so he didn’t splash. When he’d gone twenty feet, Lance chinned himself up and peered over the top of the dock.
Still on her hands and knees, Olivia coughed and spit water onto the dock. Her long dark hair dripped. Her pajamas were soaked. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Closer now, Lance could see bruises on her face.
“You thought you were being clever, hiding in the water.” Stephen grabbed her by the hair and jerked. “Do you feel smart now?”
She whimpered, and fury stoked inside Lance. Men who hurt women deserved the same treatment tenfold.
Stephen released her hair. Her head fell and hung low. She began to cough, a dry, painful sound. When the spell ended, Lance could hear her wheezing from twenty feet away. Her body moved with the effort to draw in air. Could she even breathe? How long had she been in the water?
Lance moved forward. She needed help. Now. But Olivia was too close to Stephen. He couldn’t shoot him without risking hitting her. He needed a better angle.
He eased back into the water and moved through the thick weeds and cattails until he rounded the far end of the dock. A ladder led up. Lance started up the rungs and peered over the top.
A few feet away, Stephen took a big-ass KA-BAR knife from his pocket. He took hold of Olivia by the hair again and pulled her head backward, stretching her neck. Rage rose in Lance’s chest. Olivia’s eyes were wide. How fast could Lance get over the side of the dock? Not fast enough to keep Stephen from slitting her throat.
Putting the knife to Olivia’s neck, he said, “Say goodbye.”
From the corner of his eye, Lance saw Sharp leap onto the other end of the dock and draw his gun. “Put down the knife, Stephen.”
Stephen’s head snapped around. His eyes narrowed as he assessed Sharp. “Who are you?”
“A private investigator,” Sharp said.
“A PI?” Stephen snorted. “Don’t come any closer, Private Dick. One slice is all it’ll take.” He caressed Olivia’s throat with the KA-BAR. A thin line of blood trickled down her neck.
“Then what?” Sharp asked. “I’ll be a witness. Are you going to kill me too?”
“Why
not, old man? Doesn’t look like it’ll be that hard.”
“Come and try it.” Sharp extended his empty hand, palms up, and curled his fingers in a come here gesture. “What’s the matter? It’s easy to best a girl. Are you afraid to take on a grown man? Are you a coward?”
Stephen dragged Olivia to her feet and held her in front of him, using her as a human shield. “Go ahead. Shoot. She’s only a woman. No big deal if you hit her.”
Sharp didn’t move. He kept his gun leveled at Stephen. “Put down the knife.”
“I don’t think so,” Stephen snapped. “One more step, and I will slit her throat. She’ll bleed out before you can dial 911.”
Sharp eased forward one tiny step. “Why did you kidnap her, Stephen? Why?”
Keep stalling, Sharp.
“Is this the part where I’m supposed to confess and tell you my life’s story?” Holgersen mocked. “Fuck that. I’m not telling you anything.”
Chest-deep in the lake, Lance went up another rung. Between Stephen’s and Olivia’s legs, he could see Sharp. Did Sharp see him? Slowly, silently, he pulled his body from the water until he crouched on the dock.
Lance needed a few inches of space between Olivia’s throat and the blade. He couldn’t risk attacking Stephen with the knife so close. Sharp needed to make him move. Just an inch or two. That’s all Lance needed.
Come on.
“You don’t have a chance,” Sharp yelled. “I didn’t come alone. The cops are already on their way.”
“It’ll take them forever to get way the fuck out here. Put down the gun!” Stephen shouted at Sharp. The knife remained pressed against Olivia’s neck.
“OK. OK,” Sharp said. “I’ll put it down. But you have to move the knife away from her throat.”
“Fuck you. I’m making the rules here.”
Save Your Breath Page 25
