A hard blow crashed onto his wrist, and his hand went numb. His gun clattered to the floor.
Another guy, as big as a sumo wrestler, tackled him and took him to the ground. He put his big hands around Lance’s neck and squeezed. Lance tore at the sausage-like fingers and managed to get his knee up. He kicked the guy in the groin, and the grip on his neck slackened enough for him to scramble away and get to his hands and knees.
Before he got to his feet, the guy roared and drove him headfirst into the refrigerator. Darkness descended, and Lance blacked out.
Cold, so cold. Lance lifted his head. How long had he been out? A groan escaped him as the pain ratcheted up his head. The cabin was empty. No women, no Zach. Where were they? He managed to get to his feet and stumble toward the door, then staggered through it to the outside.
Zach lay sprawled in a pool of blood in the flower bed. Still dizzy, Lance lurched forward and fell facedown into the dirt beside Zach.
King stood behind a two-way mirror and watched the four women in the room. He’d had them brought to his hunting lodge in the mountains, and the rain in the valley was snow up here. A lot of snow was forecast, so he needed to get this taken care of so he could handle his straying wife. The room where the women huddled was lavishly furnished with leather furniture. Various mounted animal heads stared down at them, something sure to set them on edge. The fully preserved lion he’d gotten on an illegal safari hunt stood near the door as if waiting to eat them if they tried to escape.
He badly wanted to talk to Bailey himself, but this seemed the wiser course of action right now. He smiled as Bailey paced back and forth in front of the love seat where Lily, Ellie, and Shauna sat. The older woman wept steadily, tears tracking down her wrinkled cheeks. That should soften Bailey up for what needed to be done.
He let his gaze linger on Shauna. Too bad she’d gotten involved in this.
He turned up the speaker to listen in when Bailey stopped in front of Shauna. “I’m sorry I got you into this. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“It’s not your fault, Bailey. Hang on to your faith. Our guys will find us.”
Behind the mirror he rolled his eyes. Their men would have no idea where they were or who had taken them. They were in his hands now.
“I hope you’re right. We didn’t even get a chance to receive the results of the DNA test.”
“You know we’re sisters. Look at our eyes, our hair.” Shauna rose and embraced her. “The Bible says fear not. Let’s not let fear blind us to everything else. Whatever happens, God has us.”
He stepped back from the mirror. They were talking about God at a time like this? He clenched his fists as his blood pressure went up a tick. They should be shaking and crying in there. This time alone was supposed to make them receptive to Chey’s persuasion.
And Bailey now knew her true parentage. Olivia would be rolling over in her grave about now. It also confirmed he’d been right—this sibling search would have led to his undoing if he’d let it go. When Olivia had called him after Shauna’s call, he’d known it would end this way. The first time the FBI showed up asking questions about kidnapping, she would have spilled it all.
Bailey tipped her chin up. “You’re right. Whatever happens, God has this. And us.” She embraced Shauna. “If we don’t get a chance to know each other better, I think you’re a pretty spectacular sister. You never gave up on finding me.”
“Never.”
The women stood with their arms around each other for several long moments. When the door opened behind them, they both squared their shoulders and turned to Chey. Strange how much courage they had in the face of such danger. He couldn’t help feeling a smidgeon of admiration.
Chey shut the door behind him and crossed the room to sit in a huge leather armchair. “Sit.” His voice was stern and commanding. He wore an impeccable suit and expensive shoes, just as he’d been told. He needed to look the part of the kingpin.
Bailey and Shauna glanced at each other, then Shauna settled beside Lily and Ellie, and Bailey perched on the arm of the love seat on the old woman’s other side.
Bailey held out her hand. “Look, I’ll do whatever you want. There was no need to bring them here.”
“Silence.” Chey’s voice rumbled like thunder. “I’ll speak, you’ll listen, and we’ll end this tonight.”
Bailey’s face blanched and she nodded. She reached over and took Lily’s hand. The old woman just appeared confused and continued to cry, a soft monotonous sound that was beginning to drive him crazy. Chey probably wouldn’t take it long either.
Chey reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a crisp, folded sheet of paper. “First, you’re going to sign this deed transfer right now.” He stood and handed it to Bailey along with a pen.
She glanced at his face and unfolded the paper. “I’m happy to sign it, but it looks like it’s going back to Kyle. I’m not sure why you even want it back unless it’s to keep the FBI from finding the bodies. They’ve already found three.”
Three? King’s throat constricted and dread curled in his stomach.
“They’ve identified the girls in the shed, and they’re working on the body in the garden, the one that’s been dead a long time.”
King exhaled and whirled from the window. A volley of expletives burst from his mouth. He’d known this was coming if he didn’t act fast. Why did that woman have to break all this open? Part of this was Shauna’s fault. She just couldn’t let it go.
What was he going to do? He feverishly ran through his options. Much of his money was in a Swiss bank account. He could escape to a foreign country that had no extradition treaty. He had a house in Cambodia and another in the Maldives. Either would do if he could arrange transportation. He’d have to move quickly.
All three of the younger women would bring a pretty penny in China. Once all the girls were sold and the money transferred, he’d make sure Chey took the fall while he got out. Things might be coming to an end here, but he’d be free to pursue his business in his new homeland with plenty of money. And the good thing was his wife couldn’t touch him. She could have the house and deal with the shame of the media attention.
Just what she deserved.
Chapter 34
Everything in her wanted to tremble, but Bailey couldn’t give in to fear. She stood with her hands clasped. Where were they? They’d been blindfolded on the way to this place, but she knew they’d traveled over unpaved roads. They could be anywhere in the Olympic Mountains or down some deserted byway nearer to Lavender Tides.
Lily had finally quit crying, and she sat wringing her hands in her lap. Ellie paced by the window. Shauna seemed to be the only calm one, only betraying her agitation by twisting a strand of her long black hair in her fingers. They had to get away somehow. Bailey had signed the deed without hesitation. What difference did the cabin make to her now when all she wanted was to make sure they survived this?
She didn’t have a lot of hope the man would let them go. He’d left with the deed half an hour ago and hadn’t been back. There’d been something in his dark eyes that made her shrivel inside. A dismissal of who she was as if she didn’t matter. And she probably didn’t to him. They were all expendable. Bailey didn’t understand why he’d wanted that cabin signed over either. The only time he seemed rattled was when she mentioned the bones found in the garden.
A large mirror caught her gaze, and something seemed off about it. She walked over to examine it and felt around the edges. It seemed to be part of the wall itself. Her suspicion was confirmed when she tried to pull it out from the wall to look behind it and it wouldn’t budge. She’d read something about this, and she pressed a fingernail to the mirror’s glass.
Shauna joined her. “What are you doing?”
“I think this is a two-way mirror. Someone was probably watching us through here.” A shudder went up her back. Who had been back there and why? “Does that mean the guy we talked to isn’t the leader? Did you notice
how he hurried out when I told him the FBI had found that body in the garden?”
“I noticed that too. Maybe that’s why he wanted the deed signed over, to get in there and move those bones.” Shauna studied the mirror. “I wonder if we could break this and get into the room behind it. Maybe we could escape that way.”
“It’s worth a try. I don’t think they’re going to willingly let us out of here.” Bailey picked up the desk lamp. The brass fixture weighed several pounds. “This is fairly heavy. It might work. Stand back.”
Shauna went over to calm Lily while Bailey raised the lamp over her head and brought it crashing down on the mirror. The surface cracked but held together, and the sound made her wince. She’d have to hurry before someone came.
With the second blow the cracks in the mirrored surface spread out from the top to bottom of the frame, but the pieces didn’t fall. Maybe one more strike would do it. Bailey took a better grip on the base of the lamp with both hands and brought it down.
This time pieces of the mirror tumbled to the floor, and she could see into the space behind the mirror. Using the lamp, she broke out the rest of the jagged pieces until there was enough space to crawl through.
She held out her hand to the other women. “Let’s go. They may have heard the breaking glass.”
Shauna hustled Lily to the space. “Ellie, you go first so you can help haul Lily through while I boost her.”
Bailey nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”
Ellie crawled through the opening into the darkened room. “I’m in. Looks like it’s about six by ten. There’s a door.” She held out her hand to take Lily’s. “Come on, sweetie.”
Lily shook her head and began to cry again. “It’s dark in there.”
“We aren’t staying long.” Shauna helped Lily lift her leg into the space. “Take Ellie’s hand. Bailey and I are right behind you.”
She urged Lily through the space, then crawled after her. Bailey found Shauna pulling Lily to the door. The space held several video screens and computer equipment as well.
Shauna sniffed. “That male cologne is familiar.” She twisted the knob, then eased open the door and peered out. “It leads to a hallway. I can see the front door from here. We’d better hurry. Someone has to have heard us breaking that mirror.”
“For sure.” Bailey took Lily’s arm and moved toward the door with her. “Hurry, Lily. We have to be very quiet.”
Lily didn’t resist as Bailey guided her behind Shauna and Ellie. The wind howled and the shutters rattled against the windows. “It’s kind of loud out here. Maybe no one heard us.”
“Maybe.” Shauna went to a table in the entry. “I was hoping to find keys. I’m not sure where we go from here, but we can’t stay and wait for them to decide what to do with us. We need to find some keys and a vehicle. See what you can find.”
Bailey left Lily in the middle of the entry and surveyed the area. They appeared to be in a log cabin, a large one. The log walls still smelled of pine, so it was probably fairly new. Across the space the elaborately carved front door was flanked by two fancy wall sconces. The outside lights revealed a near white-out with snow already at least six inches deep and still coming down. It blew nearly horizontal in the howling wind.
She and Shauna exchanged dismayed glances. “Now what? We don’t have winter gear or even warm coats.”
“We might still be okay if we can find an SUV with keys.” Ellie cupped her hands to the glass and peered outside. “There’s a Suburban or something by the garage. Let’s see if we can find keys.”
“You mean these keys?” a male voice asked.
Bailey turned toward the man when Shauna shouted out his name.
Lance opened his eyes to the smell of some awful stench. “What the heck is that?” He waved away the vial under his nose and sat up to the squeak of nurse’s shoes on vinyl floors and the rattle of carts in the hall.
Hospital. He was in the hospital.
He sat up and looked around. “Zach?”
“He’s okay,” the male nurse said. “In the room next door. His head wound bled quite a lot, but it wasn’t anything life threatening. He’s asking about you too.”
Lance eyed him. The guy didn’t look old enough to be out of high school, let alone taking care of patients. Blond guys tended to appear younger. “Were several women brought in too?”
The nurse shook his head. “Mr. Bannister is asking about his wife too. There’s an FBI agent outside eager to talk with you. I’ll send him in.”
Lance swung his legs over the side of the bed as Daniel came into the room. “No sign of the women?”
There were dark circles under Daniel’s gray eyes, and he shook his head. “Lily’s cabin was empty, and the doors were both open. We found tracks leading to the water, so we think the men took them out that way. We found Bailey’s car in a ditch half a mile from Lily’s too. They walked the rest of the way.”
Gone. His mouth went dry. Bailey couldn’t be gone like Ava. He had to find her.
He looked around for his shoes. “How long was I out?”
Daniel glanced at his watch. “About an hour. You were brought in by ambulance a few minutes ago. Grayson stayed with the perps at Cedar Cabin until the deputies arrived, but he’s out in the waiting room now.”
“What about the two we caught at Bailey’s cabin? You get anything out of them?”
“Not yet. They’ve lawyered up.”
Lance clenched his fists and slid to his feet. His head swam and he grabbed the edge of the mattress to steady himself. “We’ve got to find them.”
A figure loomed in the doorway, and Zach stepped into the room. Stitches held together the edges of a two-inch wound on his forehead.
The nurse followed on his heels. “Mr. Bannister, you have to lie still. Please come back to your room.”
Zach shrugged off the nurse’s hand. “I’m leaving. My wife is out there somewhere, and I’m going to find her.” He stared at Lance with a pleading expression. “Any word on the women?”
Lance shook his head. “Not yet.”
The anguish on Zach’s face echoed in Lance’s chest too. They both knew these were high stakes. Bailey had sneaked into his heart when he wasn’t looking. If anything happened to her, he’d never be the same.
“Shauna’s pregnant.” Zach pulled on his jacket. “I have to find her.”
Lance set his hand on Zach’s shoulder. “The FBI is putting all their resources on this. We’ll find them.”
He felt like puking at the confidence he’d forced into his voice. No amount of resources had found his sister. What if these guys were planning to traffic Bailey, Ellie, and Shauna as well? They were beautiful women. He couldn’t figure out why they’d taken Lily though.
“Let’s get out of here.” He nodded to the nurse. “Thanks for your help, but we’re leaving.”
The male nurse held up his hand. “I have paperwork for you to sign.”
“We don’t have time.” Lance brushed past the nurse, and Zach and Daniel followed him to the waiting room where he told Grayson about the men he’d seen with the captured women.
Grayson clenched and unclenched his fists. “I should have been out there looking for them. I didn’t realize they’d been captured.” He strode ahead of them to the ER exit.
It shocked Lance to see the dark night outside the glass doors and windows. The disorientation from the head injury had made him expect to see daylight.
The door to the waiting room flew open, and Mac, her face pale and streaked with tears, rushed into the room. “Where’s Ellie?”
Grayson opened his arms, and she rushed into his embrace. He stroked her hair. “We’ll find her, Mac. We’re about to get back out there and search.”
She lifted her head and stared up at him. “What if she’s dead? It’s more than I can bear.”
Lance clenched his fists. The thought of Bailey lying dead somewhere was a spear to his heart. He barely heard Grayson comforting Ellie’s sister as his head fi
lled with noise and fear. He pushed it away as best as he could. They had to find then.
Mac swiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I have to tell Jason.” She rushed out as quickly as she’d come.
Lance pulled out his phone. “Kyle Bearcroft knows more than he told Bailey. We need to talk to him. Let me see if I can find a number for him.” He called headquarters and waited. After a few minutes on hold, he had something better than a number.
“We got lucky. He’s got a boat out in the sound, and he’s been staying there a couple of days. The FBI had a couple of agents watching him, and they followed him here to the hospital. The boom swung around and cut his forehead. He’s getting stitches.”
“Good work,” Daniel said.
Lance approached the desk and pulled out his badge. “FBI. What room is Kyle Bearcroft in?”
The young woman with bleached-blonde hair glanced at the badge. “He just left.” Her gaze went over Lance’s shoulder to a door swishing shut.
Lance wheeled around and saw Kyle with another man walking toward the parking lot. The streetlights spotlighted him.
“Thanks.” He set off at a run with Daniel, Grayson, and Zach keeping pace. The wind and rain buffeted him, and he had to struggle to maintain his balance. This dizziness was seriously bugging him. It had dropped twenty degrees since he’d been brought in here, and the night seemed especially black with the heavy cloud cover still blocking any light from the heavens.
“Bearcroft!” he called.
The singer stopped, then frowned when he saw the men charging toward him. “No interviews, guys.” He touched a bandage on his forehead. “I have to get some rest.”
Lance flipped out his badge. “FBI. We have a few questions.”
Bearcroft zipped his coat up around his neck. “In this weather? Let’s do this another time.”
Secrets at Cedar Cabin Page 22
