Survival Instinct (14 page)

“You three come easy and I won’t have to shoot,” he called.

Abby didn’t even consider trying to run for it. She stepped across the threshold with Scott as the ledge gave way to a wide-open platform and finally a pier made of metal and wood.

Six thugs approached them as they entered. Two pulled Tracie roughly from her kayak, and the others quickly bound their wrists behind their backs with lengths of fabric. Hands wrenched away their headlamps, radios and Tracie’s camera and sidearm.

The Coastie scowled at them.

“Careful now, boys,” Captain Sal cautioned. “We don’t want any marks on the bodies. No signs of violence, nothing to indicate foul play. These three are going to die in an unfortunate accident, just like Marilyn Adams.”

At the mention of his mother’s name, Abby felt Scott stiffen beside her. But before either of them had a chance to respond, they were pushed through the darkness down the pier. Abby looked all around her, trying to take in as many details as possible. If she ever got the chance, she wanted to be able to explain clearly what she’d seen in that unknown space.

Rough hands steered her and the others toward a large metal door. From the looks of it, Abby guessed it dated back all the way to the time of the pirates a century before, or possibly longer back than that. But the thick chains and padlocks on the outside were definitely newer and looked impenetrable. Two different men took out keys, unlocking
the securely fastened door before shoving the three of them inside.

A slice of light pierced the empty room. Then the door shuddered shut behind them and they were left in utter darkness.

A
bby leaned against Scott. His arms were bound behind him, but she felt him leaning counterweight against her, supporting her even as she supported him.

A weak voice cut through the gloom. “Scott? Honey, is that you?”

Shuffling noises sounded from the far corner of the room.

Scott straightened beside her. “Mom?”

“Oh, Scott, honey!”

Abby could see nothing, but she heard Marilyn coming closer, and then felt the impact of her body as she rushed to her son.

“Mom! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. I finally got those ropes off. Here, let me untie you.”

Scott continued to pepper his mother with questions. “How did you get here? How long have you been here?”

As Marilyn tugged at the fabric that bound her son, she explained, “Captain Sal came back last night. A storm had started to blow up, and I was nervous about what had become of you and Abby, and then out of nowhere, here comes the
Helene.
I had a horrible feeling something was up, but Mitch seemed to think Captain Sal had just gotten
his times mixed up after all. He told me to get on the boat. I shouldn’t have listened, but with the weather getting bad, I thought I couldn’t possibly be worse off on the boat than standing out in the storm.” She shook her head, finally tugging Scott free with a grunt.

Scott gave his mother a long hug before he turned his attention to untying Abby.

“Are you sure we should untie ourselves? Won’t that make them angry?” Abby asked, concerned. She’d seen enough people shot—she knew Captain Sal’s threats weren’t empty.

“Oh, probably,” Marilyn chided, “but they’re angry enough as it is. They’ll just tie us up again anyway. In the meantime, it’s no fun stumbling around in the dark when you don’t have use of your hands.” Marilyn looked at Tracie warily. “Who’s this? Do we want to untie her?”

Scott explained Tracie’s role in the investigation. Abby noticed that he left out anything having to do with Mitch. She recalled his earlier insistence on avoiding upsetting his mother, and figured it was for the best, at this point.

While Scott tugged on the tight knot behind her, Abby’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She realized there was a very faint beam of light coming down through the solid rock of the ceiling—probably one of the natural fissures in the stone, much like the blowholes they’d witnessed aboveground. Though it stretched three feet long or more, it couldn’t have been more than eight inches wide at the broadest point.

Then Scott had her hands free and his arms back around his mother. For several minutes mother and son simply held each other. “You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked again.

“Just hungry, and more than a little spooked,” Marilyn confessed. “But they’ve been very careful not to injure me. Captain Sal insisted on that.”

At the mention of food, Abby dug through her pockets and pulled out the last peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the remains of the trail mix they’d shared on the boat ride over. Fortunately the thugs hadn’t confiscated them. “Here, Marilyn.” She pressed the food into her hands. “Do you like PB&J?”

“Love it,” Marilyn exclaimed. “But even if I didn’t, I’d eat it. You’re sure you don’t want to save this?”

“No, I’ve had my fill. Please,” Abby insisted. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she’d live to see another meal. Not if Captain Sal got his way. She pushed the thought away.

Marilyn made quick work of the sandwich, between bites questioning them about what had happened to them since they’d rowed away in the canoe the day before. Scott began the story, but before he reached the part with Mitch’s involvement, Tracie stopped him.

“I hate to interrupt, but those guys out there intend to kill us, and I don’t intend to die.”

Though she agreed, Abby couldn’t imagine what they could possibly do about it. “Yes. What do you think we should do?”

Tracie pointed to the crack in the ceiling. “I want to go for help.”

Abby looked at the narrow fissure and then looked at Tracie. Granted, the other woman was uncommonly slender. She’d have a better shot than Abby of fitting through the tiny space. “But that’s got to be fifteen feet high,” Abby protested. “We have no way of getting you up
there.” She looked around the room, although as she’d already concluded, it was completely empty.

“Good idea,” Marilyn agreed. “What am I doing standing around eating? We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“But do you really think—” Abby began to protest when she felt Scott’s hand on her shoulder and he whispered in her ear. “Floss.”

Then he spoke in a louder, cheery voice, “Is there anything around here we could use to climb up there?”

It took a moment for Abby to figure out what Scott had meant by his ambiguous reference, especially since she didn’t have any more floss with her, and had left her purse on the utility boat. Then she recalled the discussion they’d had the day before about giving his mother a project to work on to keep her from becoming overly anxious. Though she feared their efforts would be futile, Abby realized doing
something
would be better than doing nothing, even if it didn’t get them anywhere.

“Well, son,” Marilyn began, “I’ve been in this little room for all of today and most of last night. The back and side walls are solid rock, and the front is cement around the door. I think I’ve explored every inch of it, and I can tell you there wasn’t a thing in here, not a loose rock, not a spare rope, not anything before you three arrived. But now that you’re here, we finally have something we can work with.”

“What’s that?” Scott asked, clearly as bewildered as Abby felt.

“Us!”

While Abby stared at her, dumbfounded, Marilyn explained her plan to make a human chain extending up toward the skylight. Though she felt skeptical their efforts
would achieve anything more than bumps and bruises, and maybe broken limbs or concussions, when she recalled Captain Sal’s insistence that they not be injured, she smiled to herself. Yes, Marilyn’s plan sounded pretty crazy, but if injury was the worst that could happen, Abby was all for it.

“Okay,” she agreed. “Let’s do it.”

They agreed that if Abby stood on Scott’s shoulders, and Tracie stood on Abby’s shoulders, they should have enough height between the three of them to reach the gap in the ceiling. Fortunately, the fissure was close to the back wall of the cave. As Scott pointed out, he and Abby had successfully managed a similar human chain the day before at the shed. Adding one more person couldn’t be that difficult—could it?

Abby told herself it didn’t so much matter whether their plan was really as ridiculous as it sounded. They needed to do
something,
and she didn’t have any better suggestions. Besides, there was still some slim chance the crazy scheme could work. She’d seen more outrageous stunts at the circus.

Though Abby had taken several strength training classes at the Bayfield Recreation Center over the years, she wasn’t sure how well she’d manage supporting Tracie’s slight weight for any amount of time. Still she crouched down and allowed the other woman to step up onto her shoulders. With Tracie clutching at the rough wall for balance and Abby pushing against her knees as she stood, Scott hovered close behind, lending balance and a little extra lift. Slowly, Abby stood.

The tricky part, then, was for Abby to step up onto Scott’s shoulders so he could stand with the two of them wobbling ten feet above his head. They made several
attempts. Most ended with Tracie sliding down the length of the wall, but when she fell backward and landed with a thump, Abby stretched her overworked leg muscles with a sigh. “I don’t think this is working.”

“No, I’m okay,” Tracie insisted. “We can do this. Let’s give it another go.”

But this time, Marilyn sided with Abby. “Let’s take a break.”

“But Captain Sal and his men could come back for us any moment,” Scott protested. “We don’t have much time.”

Marilyn gave her son a stern look. “We need to pray.”

“She’s right,” Abby agreed immediately. “Let’s pray.” She looked at Tracie uncertainly. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course.” Tracie nodded. “We should have thought of it sooner.”

The four of them joined hands and Marilyn immediately began by thanking God for protecting them and bringing them back together. Then Scott asked for wisdom in how to proceed, and Tracie requested strength.

As soon as Tracie’s prayer concluded, Abby began, “And, Lord, we know Your word says that You’re with us.” Her voice cracked. “The darkness isn’t dark to You, and no obstacle is too big for You. So we ask You to help us see what we need to do, and give us strength to do it. Amen.”

The other three joined her with the
Amen,
and Scott squeezed her hand. Abby felt lighter somehow, as though a great burden had been lifted.

Tracie clapped her hands together. “Let’s do this.”

Having practiced the move several times before, Abby squatted down and held tight to Tracie’s ankles as the other woman stepped onto her shoulders. But having lifted Tracie’s weight so many times already, Abby’s leg muscles
protested painfully as she rose. She focused on breathing steadily in through her nose and out through her mouth. God would give her the strength to stand.

Once Abby stood straight, Tracie’s weight was easier to bear locked into place by her upright posture.

“Okay.” Scott spoke softly close to her ear as he stood with his solid arms supporting her. “I’m going to have you sit you on my shoulders and then lift you to a standing position. You don’t have to bend your legs.”

“But that’s not how we did it before.”

“I know. That’s why it’s going to work this time.”

“But it’s too much weight for you to bear,” Abby protested.

“You’ve been taking on more than your fair share,” Scott insisted as he ducked down and grasped her knees. “Let’s just try this.”

“Okay,” Abby agreed shakily. She reminded herself that they’d prayed—perhaps Scott’s new approach was a gift from God. As he slowly stood, with Abby sitting piggyback on his shoulders and Tracie standing balanced on Abby’s shoulders, Abby realized how much easier it was on her to let Scott do all the lifting. She recalled his earlier penchant for carrying the burdens of others, but this time she was glad for it. She honestly didn’t know how much more standing and lifting she could take.

“Now I’m going to lift you up,” Scott explained once he stood upright.

“What do you want me to do?” Abby asked.

“Nothing. Just try not to lose your balance. Use the wall as much as you can to stabilize yourself.”

It was easier said than done. As Scott began to lift her by the seat of her pants, she was glad for the rubberized wet suit that allowed him to grasp her easily. More so, she
appreciated his massive upper body strength as he hoisted the weight of both women above his head.

After a moment’s grunting struggle, she managed to perch on his shoulders on her knees. She could hear him panting as he caught his breath beneath her.

“I can reach the ceiling now,” Tracie called down. “I think we can do this.”

Abby wasn’t so sure, but she refused to voice her doubts. Everyone was giving it their all. She wasn’t about to deter them.

“Do you want me to try to stand?” she asked Scott in a shaky voice. She could feel the strain on her leg muscles again, and her back felt as though it would crumple under the constant weight of the woman on her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Scott conceded. “I guess you’re going to have to. I’ll give you all the lift I can add from down here, but you’re getting too high up for me to do much more.”

Cautiously, Abby proceeded to move upward. Now that Tracie held firm to the ceiling, anchoring them, it was easier to balance, which helped with the strain on her leg muscles. Still, she wobbled horribly before she finally had both of her feet solidly on Scott’s shoulders. She let out an exhausted breath. “We’re up,” she announced.

“Okay, now I’m going to move us closer to the opening.”

Abby was reluctant to lose her contact with the wall of the cave, but they were still a foot or two from the fissure on the ceiling. She pulled her hands up to her shoulders and held tight to Tracie’s ankles, steadying her as she crouched just below the top of the cave.

“Got it,” Tracie called, and Abby could feel her straighten up inside the space. “I fit. I can reach.” She paused. “I can
almost
reach the top.”

“Can you pull yourself up?” Scott’s voice sounded strained.

“It’s too slick. The sides are rock and clay, and it’s damp. There’s nothing to hold on to. I just need a few more inches. I can feel the edge of the hole, but I can’t get enough leverage with my hands.”

It wasn’t until Abby realized they wouldn’t be able to make it after all that she recognized she’d begun to hope their outrageous plan would work.

But then a voice spoke from below.

“Scott, stand on my back.” Marilyn lay down on the floor.

“Mother, no,” Scott protested. “We’re too heavy. It will hurt you.”

“Son—” Marilyn’s voice took on a no-nonsense mothering tone “—I said step on my back. You either risk hurting me, or we all die.”

Abby could feel the hesitation in Scott’s trembling muscles as his body moved slightly forward…and then up. Though she didn’t dare look down from her dizzying height, she could imagine Marilyn lying on the floor below them, and hated to think how much weight the older woman had taken on.

No sooner did she think about the weight, than she felt the burden on her shoulders ease. Instinctively she lifted up on Tracie’s ankles.

“I’m up! I’m through!” the other woman called down, and with a thrashing kick of her legs, Tracie disappeared up through the hole.

With nothing more to anchor her to the ceiling, Abby lost her perch on Scott’s shoulders. She felt him jump down from his mother’s back and an instant later, display
ing all the dexterity of the quarterback he’d once been, he caught Abby as she fell.

Scott pulled Abby into his arms and didn’t let go. “Thank you,” he whispered when he could finally talk.

“Thank you,” she countered. “And thank you to your mother. Marilyn, how are you?”