Secrets at Cedar Cabin

by Colleen Coble

  Zach absorbed the words in silence, but his blue eyes turned bleak. “What if they’re stranded in the snow up there?”

  “What if they’re not and we’re spinning our wheels looking in the wrong place? The FBI is pulling up everything we know about the judge as we speak, but you know the guy personally. Can you think of anything, anything at all, that might tell us where he might run in a situation like this?”

  Zach shook his head. “Shauna used to babysit for his kids, and now his daughter watches Alex sometimes. We aren’t bosom buddies or anything.”

  “Would the daughter know anything? We only talked to Gina, not their daughter. How old is she?”

  “Sixteen. She might know something.” Zach pulled out his phone. “I could call Gina and ask to speak to Taylor.”

  “Go ahead while I call the office and see if they have any leads.”

  Zach nodded. “If we don’t have anything else to go on, I’m going back up the mountain to continue to look.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Lance turned away and called the field office. They had a list of properties the judge owned, but most of them weren’t in the area. It was likely the judge had access to other properties not in his own name. He told the agent to check Baker Holdings as well.

  When he ended the call, the plane had been refueled and Zach stood by the door with a thunderous frown. “Taylor didn’t know of any other places her dad might have gone?”

  Zach shook his head. “I can see by your expression that you don’t have anything either. I’m going back up there.”

  Lance couldn’t blame him, and he stepped back as Zach got into the plane.

  Bailey’s chest burned, and her breath whistled in and out of her mouth behind the towel, which hadn’t done much to stop the brutal wind from biting her skin. Her legs ached, and she had to stop to massage out a cramp every few minutes. How far had she come? Maybe five miles though it was hard to tell. She’d never used snowshoes before, and they weren’t as easy as she’d hoped.

  Another cramp struck her, this time in the left leg, and she groaned as she knelt and rubbed it. Her throat was parched, but the coffee was long gone. When the cramp released, she yanked off a glove and scooped up a handful of snow. Carefully lifting the towel without dislodging it, she gulped a mouthful of snow. It was heaven on her hot tongue. She let the moisture trickle down her dry throat, then stood. She took out the thermos and scooped snow into it, leaving off the cap for now so it could melt.

  The movement loosened the towel on her face, and the makeshift ski mask slid down and into the snow. “Oh no!” The bite of the wind intensified as Bailey grabbed it and tried to figure out how to get it back on. She took off her ski cap, and the shock of the wind in her hair made her gasp.

  When she heard the whine of an engine, she turned around expecting a snow machine, but a huge truck with a snowplow rumbled toward her. A jolt of energy shot up her spine. Help was here, which was almost too good to believe.

  She waved her arms. “Stop! Please, I need help.”

  The truck slowed and stopped a few feet from her. Two men were inside. The passenger door opened, and a man in his twenties got out. He had a heavy black beard and wore a ski cap and parka.

  His white teeth flashed in a smile. “You’ve led us on a nice chase, Bailey, yet here you are. A pretty little surprise with the purple hair.”

  Her breath caught in her throat and she took a step back. This wasn’t a county truck but a private plow. She spun around to flee, but his long arm shot out and he grabbed her by the forearm. The thermos in her hand tumbled to the snow to land beside her makeshift ski mask.

  “The boss will be so happy I might even get a raise. Where are the other women?”

  “Safe.” She lifted her chin and glared up into his gleeful face.

  His smile dimmed and his brown eyes narrowed. “Where are they?”

  “I’d rather die than tell you.” She prayed the wind had blown enough snow over her tracks to keep her friends safe. The man had mentioned his boss. Did that mean the judge still lived?

  The man’s face twisted into a snarl. “I’m sure the boss can arrange that.” He shoved her toward the big cab. “Get in.”

  He pushed her inside into the middle of the bench seat, then climbed in behind her and slammed the door shut.

  “What do you want to do?” The driver was older than the other man, probably in his forties with long, grizzled sideburns.

  The guy on Bailey’s right pressed his lips together and fell silent for a moment. He finally shrugged. “Let’s get this one to the boss. She was his priority, and he has the resources to make her talk.”

  “You don’t want to follow her tracks back?”

  “I told you what we were doing. A mile from here and snow will have filled in the tracks. Turn this thing around and let’s get out of this snow. I’m sick of being cold.”

  The driver said nothing and backed the truck up until he could turn around in the area that had already been plowed. The truck rumbled faster down the mountain in the plowed lane, and Bailey huddled between the two of them and tried to figure out what to do.

  The blast of warmth from the heater was heavenly, and she pulled off the wet cotton gloves to rub her hands together. Her skin drank in the heat like a thirsty sponge, and she edged her feet farther under the blower. She had to figure out a way to send help for the other women. They only had enough wood for a couple of days. They wouldn’t know what had happened to her either.

  The truck rolled past farms and houses where the residents were beginning to dig out from the snow, and she recognized a couple of places. They weren’t far from the judge’s lodge they’d fled from. Were the men taking her back there? Maybe she could get to a phone and call Lance.

  But the truck didn’t even slow at the drive to the lodge. She curled her hands into fists. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To the judge. He has plans for you.”

  “His place is back there.”

  “He has lots of places.”

  She fell silent. How did she get them to stop? The big truck ate up the miles, and they’d be off the mountain in no time. There was a gas station not too far from here according to a sign she’d seen. “Listen, I need to go to the bathroom. Could we stop at the gas station up ahead?”

  The man sent an incredulous glance her way. “You think we’re stupid, girl? If you have to pee, we can stop and you can do your business by the side of the road.”

  She sank back against the seat and tucked her chin into her jacket. “I can wait awhile.”

  What was she going to do? She had to get help to the others.

  Chapter 40

  Shauna’s head throbbed from lack of sleep and stress. Bailey had been gone nearly five hours, and she was beginning to fear something had happened to her sister. She’d been as sparing with the wood as she could, but it would only last a couple of days. They’d be facing surviving somehow with no heat in this cabin without insulation.

  Lily had been confused and agitated ever since Bailey had left—probably because of the high fever. Ellie sported dark circles under her eyes from trying to keep the older woman calm. She’d found a game of checkers in a drawer and had coaxed Lily into playing, but the elderly woman simply moved the pieces around randomly and didn’t seem to understand what she was doing.

  Shauna paced back and forth across the living room and finally went to stand at the window to look out onto the snow-covered porch. “The wind is dying down. I can see the barn from here now.”

  Ellie rose and rubbed her neck. “Maybe we should take another look at things in the barn. I could get a shovel and we could take turns digging out the driveway. The Suburban is still out there. If the plow comes through, we could drive out of here and search for Bailey.” She came to stand by Shauna at the window.

  “You’re worried about Bailey, too, aren’t you? I doubt the plow will be through today.”

  “She’s been gone too long. If she found help,
our guys would have found a way to reach us.”

  Shauna nodded. “Zach has skis for one of his planes. He’d be in the open field before I could blink.”

  Her stomach still roiled, and she felt off. If she were home, she’d crawl into bed and let Zach bring her warm cocoa and toast with strawberry jam. Instead, she was charged with making sure they all got out of here alive.

  Surely the snowplow would be through within a day or two. This far out, it might not be today, but she had to believe they might arrive before the wood ran out.

  “You’re right—let’s try to shovel out the drive while we still have a bit of food left. If we wait, we might be too weak to do it.”

  Ellie pulled on a jacket. “I’ll take the first shift.”

  “Put on another jacket over that one. Layer up.” They had no hats, no gloves, no boots. Just jackets and determination.

  Ellie pulled on another jacket, and opened the door. The wind gusted inside and hit the stove, making it flare. Lily cried out and backed away from the fire, and Shauna went to soothe her.

  Ellie closed the door behind her, and once Shauna had Lily calmed down, she went to peer out the window again. Ellie had found a regular shovel, but it was better than nothing at all. She watched her friend attack the drive into the barn first. The Suburban would have to get out of there first. The drifts were three feet high, even higher in some spots. Even in four-wheel drive, the vehicle wouldn’t be able to make it through without the drive being cleared.

  She watched the time and when a half hour had passed, she opened the door and called for Ellie to come in and warm up while she took a turn. Ellie trudged back inside. Her nose and cheeks were red from the wind, and her knuckles stood out with bright red as well.

  “The wind is brutal. I got the area at the barn shoveled, but we’ve got at least thirty feet to go to reach the road. It’s going to take hours.”

  “We’ll rest when we need to.” Shauna’s stomach was still uneasy, but she took the jackets Ellie shrugged off and zipped them up.

  She stepped out and tried to walk in the holes Ellie had already made. The cold made her chest hurt, and every exposed inch of skin stung from the wind too. She’d be lucky to stay out here half an hour like Ellie did. She grabbed the shovel and attacked the closest drift. The shovel was shaped wrong, and some of the snow fell off before she could toss it aside. Gritting her teeth, she pressed on until she’d cleared an area about three by five feet.

  She paused a moment to wipe the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her arm. A familiar sound made her turn and squint into the sun. A small plane banked over the mountain and hovered low to the ground as if searching. Her heart leaped and she dropped the shovel to jump up and down and scream, though the pilot would never hear over the sound of the engine. From here she couldn’t tell if it was Zach’s plane, but every part of her being hoped her husband was out looking for them.

  “Zach!” She waved her hands again, then grabbed the shovel and held it aloft as well. Did he see her?

  The plane’s wings wagged back and forth, and it began a slow turn to the open field to the east of the cabin. It was landing!

  “Ellie!” She stumbled for the front door and threw it open. “I think it’s Zach’s plane. It’s landing!”

  Without waiting for a reply, she shut the door behind her and slogged through the thick snow toward the field. She’d only made it fifteen feet by the time the plane slowed and stopped on its skis. Two figures emerged, and her husband’s deep voice called her name.

  “Shauna! Stay there. We’ll come to you with a sled.”

  Grayson was with him and pulled a sled behind him. A few minutes more and she was in Zach’s arms, not caring about the wind snaking down her neck. His embrace was like heaven.

  She pulled back and looked up into Zach’s blue eyes. “Thank God Bailey got through to you.”

  His smile dimmed. “We haven’t heard from Bailey. She’s not here?”

  Shauna’s exuberance fell away. “She left this morning to try to get help.”

  Where was her baby sister? Lying frozen along the road somewhere?

  Gulls cawed overhead, and Mac zipped the Windbreaker up to her chin. Even with the sun shining, she was so cold. She stood on the deck of her ship and stared out toward the ferry chugging across the strait. Being on her boat always brought her comfort, but not today. Was her sister dead? There’d been no word through the long, lonely night down in her cabin. The soothing sway of the waves hadn’t brought her its usual solace.

  She’d give anything to hear Ellie’s cheerful voice and see her contagious smile. And to top it all off, Mac’d made a total fool of herself with Jason. What had possessed her to admit she still loved him? She slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned. If she could only go back a few hours.

  But that didn’t matter, not really. All that mattered was Ellie right now. Her phone rang and she grabbed it off the deck. Grayson. She closed her eyes and summoned a deep breath, preparing for the worst. “Grayson? Did you find her?”

  “We found her and Shauna! They’re all right.”

  She smiled at the elation in his voice. “What about Bailey?”

  “She went for help. We have a search team out looking for her now. But Ellie is fine. We’re bringing her home.”

  A sob rose in her throat. “Thank God. Thank God, thank God.” She didn’t think she’d ever stop thanking him for saving her sister. Only by God’s grace was Ellie all right. “Let me know when you find Bailey. And hug my sister for me.”

  “Will do!”

  She switched off her screen and closed her eyes. Tears trailed down her face, and she sniffled as she let the rocking ship envelop her in peace.

  A scraping sound rose above the gentle noise of the boat’s creaking, and she opened her eyes, then angled toward the shore. A hand slapped at the top of the ladder. “Who’s there?”

  She ran to the ladder and stared down. “Jason?” She looked past him to the bobbing boat below.

  Mayor Weaver waved from the dingy tied up at the boat’s hull. “Call if you need me to come get him.”

  Jason finished clambering up the rope ladder and swung his legs over the railing. He lifted his face to the sun. “I haven’t been outside in the sunshine for a while. It feels good.”

  She took a step closer to him. “What are you doing here?”

  He stretched and grinned her way. “You didn’t come back when I called.”

  “I didn’t hear you.” Her heart thumped so loudly, she thought he might hear the commotion.

  “Any word on Ellie?”

  “Grayson just called. They found her and Shauna, but Bailey hiked out for help. They’re still looking for her.”

  “Shew, I’m so thankful.” He shuffled a little closer.

  She told him about Harry’s involvement, and he shook his head. “Hard to believe the judge could be part of this.”

  “You’ve spent a lot of time with him. Fishing and hunting.”

  He nodded, then a thoughtful frown crouched between his eyes. “You might tell Lance about a property Harry owns. He was really weird about making sure I didn’t tell anyone about it.”

  She grabbed her phone again. “Where is it? I’ll tell Grayson just in case it’s important.” She shot off a text with the location, then stared back at Jason. “You still didn’t say why you’re here.”

  He reached toward her, but his fingers barely grazed her shoulder, so she took another step closer. His other hand gripped her forearm and pulled her toward him.

  “I should have come sooner,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you really meant what you said, but then I remembered something Bailey told me. ‘For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.’ I realized I was wallowing in everything but peace. It didn’t let me see anything good left in my life. My anger and confusion didn’t even let me realize all my rage and anger were because I still loved you, not because I hated you. After you left, it took me a little while to sort through all my f
eelings.”

  She placed her palm atop his hand on her arm. “You still love me?” She could barely choke out the words.

  “Yeah, crazy, huh? I’m a brute for punishment I guess.” He cupped her face with his other hand and his smile vanished. “I’ll admit pride played a role. I wasn’t going to tell you until I could see, but I called Tom anyway and asked him to bring me out. On the way here, I saw a little flash of light. It might not mean anything, but I’m taking it as a good sign.”

  She stepped closer into his embrace and slid her arms up around his neck. The scent of his aftershave enveloped her. “Shut up and kiss me.”

  She closed her eyes as he obliged. His arms were the safe haven she’d been looking for all her life.

  Chapter 41

  By the time Bailey saw the water, the driver had turned down the heat, and the man in the passenger seat had lowered his window an inch or two. She had shed her hat and one of the jackets she wore. They’d driven down the mountain, through a large tract of forest without any houses until the road narrowed even more into a drive to a building back near the water. The long, nondescript building appeared to be a warehouse.

  The snowplow rolled to a stop, and the driver switched off the engine and got out, leaving her with the man on the passenger side. Both men had been careful not to mention names. The driver went into a large garage off to the side of the warehouse.

  The other man, who seemed to be in charge, reminded her of Leonard from The Big Bang Theory only with a beard. He got out and motioned to her to climb down.

  She slid out and stared at the building. “What is this place?”

  Several armed guards spared her a glance before looking past her with indifference. Maybe they’d seen captured women before. There were high fences topped with strands of barbed wire lining the perimeter, almost like a prison. And maybe that’s what this was—a prison where trafficked women were held captive. It would be difficult to break free.