Double Blind (39 page)

Oh God, Shelby thought. He had watched her. Swimming naked. Getting stoned.

“You’re new here,” he said.

Shelby swallowed her heart back into her chest. “Visiting. My mom‘s Alyss Cameron. She owns an inn here.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Sam Cody. She your mom’s friend?”

How did this guy know that? “Yes.”

“Billy? Is he still at your house?”

Shelby didn’t know what to say. She stared at him afraid to say anything.

“It’s OK. I sent him there.”

Shelby couldn’t be sure in the darkness, but it appeared as if he smiled from behind his thick beard.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Just do as I say and everything will work out.” He looked at Kelly. “You’ll go with Conner and me. In the truck.” He turned to Shelby. “You go home. Tell Sam and Billy I’ll be at the Glenross Mine as planned.”

“But...” Shelby began.

“Get going. You have a two mile hike ahead of you.” He grabbed Kelly by the arm and led her toward the truck.

Kelly tried to pull away. “Please, let me go,” she sobbed. She dropped to her knees, but Morgan yanked her back to her feet.

“Don’t hurt her,” Shelby said.

He pulled Kelly to him. “She’s not the one I want.”

“Then, leave her here with me. Please.”

“Look, Conner’s too big for me to carry very far. After she drives us over near Crystal Falls, I’ll let her go,” Morgan said.

“What about Conner?” Shelby asked.

“He goes with me.”

*

As the truck moved away, a thick cloud slid across the moon, leaving Shelby in a deepening darkness. Panic rose in her chest, squeezing air from her lungs. The marijuana and her own fear dried her mouth and her tongue felt as if it had swelled and lodged in her throat.

She spun around, looking for something, anything familiar. Where was she? Which way was home?

Get a grip, Shelby. Think.

Retrace the route Conner had driven. Back to the main road and follow it toward town. But, Conner hadn’t really followed a road or trail or anything, but rather had zigzagged all over the place getting here. Why hadn’t she paid more attention?  She again spun around, looking at the ghostly peaks that surrounded her. Which one did her mother’s inn back up against? They all looked the same.

She dropped to her knees. Tears sprang into her eyes. She couldn’t do this. She was cold and lost. And what if a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion found her. She sobbed into her hands.

Then, she remembered what Burt had said the day they rode horses near here. Look for the notch in the peaks. That’s west, toward town.
Toward home.

She jumped to her feet and again scanned the peaks. The notch, clearly visible.

Shelby ran.

She ran until her legs ached and her lungs burned. She ran until her stomach knotted and acid climbed into her chest. She ran until she had to stop and vomit, bile and tequila scorching her throat. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she dropped to all fours. She retched until nothing else came up. Until she was sure her stomach would burst. Finally, the violent convulsions subsided.

She struggled to her feet and ran again.

*

Kelly could barely see through her tears. Morgan had tied Conner hands, tossed him in the back of the truck, and then sat beside her as he directed her to drive across the meadow.

“There,” he said, pointing toward the forest that climbed up the slope. “Stop near that stand of aspens.”

Kelly did as he said.

He jumped from the truck and hoisted the unconscious Conner over one shoulder. He walked around to the driver’s side window. “Here.” He shoved the note he had scribbled through the window at her.

She took it. “What’s this?”

“Give it to Burt. Tell him I have Conner and if he wants to see him again to come to the Glenross Mine. Alone. Unarmed. Understand?”

Kelly sniffed back tears and nodded.

She watched as Morgan turned and lumbered into the trees, Conner draped limply over his shoulder.

The sound of someone bursting through the front door yanked Sam from a fitful sleep. Momentarily disoriented, she sat up in bed and scanned the room.

“Mom. Mom.” Shelby’s voice came through the door followed by the pounding of footsteps racing up the stairs.

Sam grabbed her .357 from the bedside table as she rolled out of bed. She yanked open the door to her room just as Billy stepped out into the hallway.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Sam said.

She looked up as Alyss and Shelby came down the stairs. Alyss appeared as confused as Sam felt.

Shelby’s eyes were wide and glazed, her skin pale and frosted with sweat, her black hair, shiny with moisture, molded itself to her head like a swimmer’s cap. Only one Big Bird hair clip remained.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked.

“It’s Conner,” Shelby said. “That Morgan person took him.”

“What?” Sam asked.

“He took him.”

Alyss looked her daughter up and down, from her muddied boots to her pale and drawn face, and seemed to notice Shelby’s disheveled look for the first time. “What are you talking about? Where have you been?”

Stumbling over the words that tumbled rapid fire from her mouth, Shelby told them of her sneaking out and meeting with Conner and Kelly. Of them going up to the lake. Of Morgan knocking Conner unconscious.

“What about Kelly?” Sam asked.

“He said he would let her go after she drove them to Crystal Falls.”

Billy looked at Sam. “The Glenross Mine is near there.”

“That’s it,” Sam said. “He’s taken Conner as a bargaining chip. And Kelly will tell Burt and her dad and they’ll go after him. And if we bring the State Patrol guys, Morgan will have everybody in one place.”

“Clever,” Billy said.

“Maybe, too clever,” Sam said. “You can bet Burt’ll try to put an end to this before the state boys can get here.”

“But, if Morgan has Conner, how can he?” Billy said.

“One thing I’ve learned is that Mister Eagan is very resourceful.”

“Let’s get some clothes on and get going,” Billy said. “Morgan’s going to need us.”

Sam retreated to her room, stripped off her nightshirt, and tugged on her jeans and a sweatshirt. She returned to the kitchen, where Alyss and Shelby sat at the kitchen table.

“I’m sorry,” Shelby said.

Alyss shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later.” She looked at Sam. “What can I do?”

“Keep the spare gun I gave you close at hand and lock up. Nobody but me, Billy, or the CBI people gets through the door. OK?”

Alyss nodded. “But, I don’t know if I can actually fire a gun.”

“It’s point and shoot,” Sam said. “Like a camera.”

“But...”

“But, nothing.” Sam laid her hand on Alyss’ arm. “We have to leave. You have to protect yourself. And Shelby. You can do it.”

Billy entered, dressed in his freshly washed clothes. “Let’s go.”

“Let me call the State Patrol first,” Sam said. “Bring them up to date. With a kidnapping, maybe they’ll take things a little more seriously.”

Sam called the CBI Field Office in Montrose. She refused to speak with the duty officer and demanded that the dispatcher put her through to Captain Harold Baker. After assuring the operator that she was indeed a law officer and convincing her that the captain was expecting her call, the dispatcher connected her to Captain Baker’s home. His voice was thick with sleep when he answered.

After Sam told him who she was and what was happening, he said, “Chief Wade called me yesterday. Said all this was nothing and that he’d handle it. Are you working with him?”

“Not exactly. In fact, he’s part of the problem.” Sam briefly explained Wade’s involvement in the situation.

“Look, I’ve known Forrest Wade for twenty years. He’s not the most enthusiastic cop I know, but he’s not a criminal like you suggest either.”

“From what I see,” Sam said, “No one around here is very enthusiastic about law enforcement.”

“Now, you listen here missy...”

“It’s Deputy, Captain. Deputy Samantha Cody.

“Well, you just listen up and...”

“No, you listen. I don’t have time to sit here and argue with you about the merits of Forrest Wade or your chauvinistic attitudes. Now, there are going to be some bodies around here to deal with unless you get your ass out of bed and get down here. Clear?”

She heard him grunt as if sitting up in bed. “Goddamn it,” he growled. “Just who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

“I thought I was talking to an officer of the law. You know...protect and serve...all that stuff. Captain, I don’t want to piss you off or insult you or anything. But, if that’s the only way I can get your attention, then that’s the way it’ll have to be.”

He sighed heavily. “OK. I’m awake now. Give it to me again.”

*

Sam spun out of the drive onto Gold Creek Road and gunned the engine. The Jeep surged forward, gravel banging against the undercarriage and wheel wells. Billy grabbed the dash with one hand and the handle above the passenger’s window with the other and held on. A broken layer of clouds smudged the full moon, muting its glow, darkening the valley.

“OK,” Sam said. “Which way?”

“The fastest way is to cut across Burt’s property. Up here about a half mile,” he said. “Just past where Gold Creek cuts under the road.”

“Guess we might as well add trespassing to our sheet.”

Following Billy’s directions, Sam jerked the Jeep off the road and pointed it toward Crystal Falls, which, in the cloud dampened moonlight, appeared like a pale white ribbon draped over the dark slopes. The Jeep bucked over the uneven terrain. She aimed at one of the “No Trespassing” signs that demarcated Burt’s property and accelerated. The Jeep’s nose easily snapped the barbed wire strands.

Billy pointed to their left as they neared the trees. Burt’s Range Rover and Wade’s Jeep sat side by side.

Sam parked near the other vehicles and jumped out. “Where to?”

“This way,” Billy said, striding into the trees. He pushed aside a spruce branch and disappeared. Sam hurried after him.

The forest, beautiful, serene, and filled with wonderful sounds and smells during daylight, morphs into a place of disorienting terror after the sun retreats beneath the horizon, it. Gone are the scents of the flowers as if they had died away, leaving behind a dense pungency. Gone are the rich colors, leaving only the monochrome of night. Gone are the birds, the buzzing insects, and the graceful butterflies, replaced by a woolen silence that paradoxically magnifies every sudden sound. The snap of a twig or the tumble of a stone can jerk the pulse into a higher gear.

Sam’s heart thumped loudly against her chest and her senses amped up to full alert as she struggled to keep up with Billy. She was amazed at the agility and speed with which he moved. She expected a man of his size to lumber through the forest pushing aside trees like King Kong. Yet, Billy seemed to dance through the foliage, making little noise and no missteps.

Suddenly, he stopped. “We’re close,” he whispered. “A hundred yards at most. Real slow and quiet.”

Sam followed Billy up the slope, moving more slowly, taking care with each step and each branch she brushed against. Soon, she could hear voices, which became more distinct as they drew closer. Billy grabbed her arm and pulled her down to a knee behind a mulberry shrub. She pushed aside a branch, revealing Burt, Wade, Hollis, and Eloy standing before the mouth of the Glenross Mine.

“Just let Conner go and we’ll leave,” Burt said.

“I don’t see that happening.” Morgan’s voice came from the mine.

“If you hurt him, you’ll pay dearly.”

“I’ve already paid dearly,” Morgan said. “And now, so will you.”

“What do you want?” Burt asked.

“You.”

“And then what?”

“All in due time.”

“You don’t have much time,” Burt said. “Don’t make me come and get my son.”

“You won’t,” Morgan said.

“Why won’t I?”

“Because I’ll kill him. I’m already dead so it won’t change things for me. I just don’t want you walking away clean.”

“After everything I did for you?”

“You mean such as hunting me like an animal?”

Sam pushed through the shrub and stepped into the clearing behind Burt and the others. The men turned and looked at her.

“Well, look who’s joining the party,” Burt said.

Billy stepped up beside Sam.

“Both of you. How perfect.”

“We’ll see if you still feel the same way when the CBI officers get here.”

“They ain’t coming,” Wade said. “I had a little chat with them. Assured them they weren’t needed.”

“Captain Baker seemed to see things my way after I brought him up to date.”

Wade glanced at Burt.

“So,” Sam said. “Perhaps you should listen to what Morgan has to say.”

Burt shook his head, a grim smile on his face. “What do you care about that mutant in there?” He jerked his head toward the mine.

“He’s not a mutant. He’s a man and he’s sick.”

“And he did it to himself,” Burt said.

“I know.”

“And he killed two of my men.”

Sam glared at him. “Yes, he did. In self-defense and you know that. And he killed Lloyd Varney. An accident but he did it nonetheless. And he’ll stand before the judge for it. But, not here. Not like this.”

Burt laughed and glanced at Wade, then Eloy. “And I suppose you’re going to stop us?”

“Any way I can.”

“I don’t see that you have many options. There are four of us.”

Sam pulled her Smith & Wesson, leveling it at Burt. “But, I’ll get you.” She noticed that Wade had pulled his weapon.

Burt’s smile evaporated. “You wouldn’t give yourself up for me. Or for Morgan.”

“Like you said, I don’t have many options. Besides, I figure without you these other clowns will come to their senses. After all, who benefits the most here?”

“What are you talking about?” Burt asked.

“If Morgan and Billy and I disappear, you get to sidestep a shit load of charges and you’ll likely get Billy’s land to boot. What do they get?”

Burt’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “And just what do you want?”