Twisted (23 page)

“Asshole.” I swore aloud. Whoever it was, had to be from out of town. Cross-country skiing is the lifeblood of the valley in the wintertime, and no one local would park a vehicle, blocking a trailhead.

Mike saw the van and slowed down a bit. I could see him turn as he came up on the van so he would ski past it on the two feet of the trail which weren’t blocked. Just as he drew abreast of the van, someone jumped out and grabbed him. I started to ski much faster. Being grabbed from the side door of the van threw him off balance. He dragged his attacker out of the van. I could see Mike struggling. The person who jumped him shoved something in his face. Almost immediately, Mike seemed to go limp and start to fall away from his attacker. The guy from the van threw down the rag he had pushed into Mike’s face. He pulled Mike’s limp form up and began to push him into the van. I was beginning to panic. Mike was being kidnapped! As the guy pushed Mike into the van, his skis caught in the door. The kidnapper looked at me. I was just seconds away. He pushed again, but Mike’s skis held fast.

As I came up, he grabbed the back of Mike’s coat and pulled him back and out of the van. Without bothering to close the side door, he jumped partway into the driver’s seat. The driver’s door must have been open all the time. As I skied up, I pulled up one of my ski poles and held it like a spear. The only thing I could see of the guy was his leg, disappearing into the van. I stabbed at him with my ski pole and managed to hit his leg. He howled as the blunt metal tip went through his jeans and into his left calf. He slammed the door, breaking my pole. I skied up to the window, but could only see he was wearing a balaclava-type ski mask, the type which covers your face.

The van started, and I held on to the driver’s door. I managed to open it as he was pulling away. I held on as he gathered speed. The door swung wide, and I hit a dry patch on the asphalt of the parking lot. I felt myself falling and let go of the handle. The van peeled out, the driver slamming the door. I looked at the license plate, but it had been covered with snow.

I picked myself up, took off my skis, and ran back to Mike. He was lying on the ice of the parking lot. I could see he was white as a sheet. I pulled off my glove and put my hand above his nose and mouth. I felt the reassuring puff of warm air as he exhaled. I reached through his scarf and to his neck. I could clearly feel his pulse. There was a chemical smell clinging to him. The bastard had drugged him!

I sat down on the cold ice. I gently felt around Mike’s head. There was a bit of a lump on the back. He’d obviously hit his head when he fell. I put his head in my lap and pulled my cell phone from my pocket. I have Sheriff Johnston’s phone number on speed dial. Normally I use it for Sandy, but this time I needed him. It rang several times, and he picked up himself.

“Hello.”

“Sheriff, it’s Jeff. Someone tried to kidnap Mike at the parking lot at Green’s Farm.”

“Tried? He’s okay then?”

“The kidnapper didn’t get him, but he’s unconscious. The guy drove away toward Winslett in a dark blue or black van. The back plate is covered in snow. The van has a passenger door on the driver’s side. It’s a slidin’ door. The driver had on a black ski mask and a black winter coat. Looked like he was in black jeans, also.”

“Jeff, I’m on my way. I’ll look for him as I drive out there. Call 911 for Mike.”

“I will.” I hung up and made the 911 call. When I was sure they were on their way, I pulled off my jacket and wrapped it around Mike. Cross-country skiing is a lot of exercise, and you stay really warm while you are skiing. When you stop, you get cold quickly. I was worried about Mike lying on the ice and being wet from sweating from the exercise. I was starting to shiver. Both of us were only a few minutes from hypothermia.

I began to talk to Mike as I held him. “It’s gonna be okay, buddy. Help is on the way. It’s a good thing you were smart enough to try to fight when he grabbed you. You’re gonna be fine, Mike. I love you too much to let anything happen to you.” I was starting to feel guilty that I hadn’t gotten the bastard and prevented him from drugging Mike. I pulled him more onto my lap and stretched out my legs so he was on them and off the cold, icy ground. I was starting to shiver something fierce. My teeth chattered as I continued to talk to Mike. “Hang in there, buddy. You’re all right. I can hear the sirens now, Mike. Just hold on. I’m takin’ care of you. I won’t let anythin’ happen to you, buddy.”

Just then the ambulance pulled in. They pulled right up next to us. The driver and another paramedic jumped out. One came over with a bag, and the other went to the back of the ambulance.

“What knocked him out?”

“Some guy tried to kidnap him. He’d pushed that rag over there in his face.” I was shivering so much I could barely talk.

“Kurt, bring an extra blanket.” The paramedic had yelled to his partner. He pulled on a stethoscope and put it against the pulse point on Mike’s neck. He looked at his watch.

“His heartbeat is a bit slow, but steady and strong. Put your jacket back on.” He pulled the jacket off of Mike and gave it to me. He wrapped his blood pressure cuff around Mike’s arm.

“Blood pressure is one ten over seventy. His vitals are good and strong.” By then the other paramedic had a stretcher next to Mike. They both lifted him gently onto the stretcher and covered him with a blanket. The first paramedic then wrapped the other blanket around me.

“Let’s get you off the ground. Can you stand up?”

“I’m pretty cold and stiff. Can you give me a hand?” Just then I saw the sheriff pull in.

The paramedic helped me up. “Let’s get you in the ambulance too. You’re colder than your friend, there.”

“I tried to keep him warm and off the ice.”

“You did a great job. Where’s the rag the guy pushed in his face?” I pointed to it.

“There.” He walked over and picked it up gingerly. He sniffed it from a bit of a distance.

“Chloroform. Your buddy’s gonna have a headache, but he’ll be fine.” The other paramedic had wheeled Mike over to the ambulance. In just a few seconds, they had Mike in the back and hooked up to an oxygen mask. The sheriff walked over to me.

“I heard they’re taking you to the clinic in Twisp also. I’ll meet you there. I’ll take your and Mike’s skis too.”

“Thanks, sheriff. You may want to take one of my poles for evidence. It’s pretty bloody. Might be some DNA or something on it. I stabbed the motherfucker who went after Mike, with it.”

The sheriff just stared at me for a moment and then gave a mirthless chuckle. “I suppose you did. Now get in the ambulance. I’ll be behind you in a few minutes. I reckon the van was parked near the trailhead?”

“Half blockin’ it, sir.”

“Okay. Now, see you in the clinic.” I walked over to the ambulance. I still felt cold as ice. I climbed in and sat on one of the benches, next to Mike. It was warm in the ambulance and felt great. I was shaking like a leaf. The paramedic looked at me.

“You were pretty cold there, and you’re probably comin’ down off of a major adrenaline rush.”

“Whatever it is, I feel like a chicken with its neck wrung.”

“We’ll have the doctor check you over too, when we get to the clinic.”

“As long as he takes care of Mike first.”

“Don’t worry, bud. We got more than one doctor.” I took Mike’s hand and leaned back against the side of the ambulance. The only thing that mattered to me was Mike was safe.

Chapter Ten

“M
R
. C
ONNELLY
, your body temperature is about five degrees below normal. You were even colder when you were brought in. You need to just lie there in the heated blankets and get warm.”

“I’m fine, Doctor. I just wanna go and be by Mike. What if he wakes up, and I’m not there? I don’t want him to get any more upset than he is. Can’t I wrap up in a blanket in his room?”

“You’re not going to let up or sit still until you are with him, are you?” The doctor gave me a stern look. I was wracked with shivering, but I really didn’t care.

“No, sir, Mike is my number one priority.”

“If we wheel your bed in next to his, will you keep the blanket on and sit still?”

“Yes, sir.” Within five minutes, an orderly was wheeling me down the hall into another room. He pushed my gurney right next to Mike’s. Mike was still out of it. He was hooked up to a monitor, and he had an IV drip in, too. Another doctor was writing in his chart.

“How is he, Doctor?”

“He inhaled a bit of chloroform, and it seems when he was thrown out of the van, he hit his head on the ground. With the knit cap, he didn’t get bumped too badly. His pupils are equal and reactive. He should be coming to in another hour or so. I imagine he’ll have quite a headache for a day or so, but he should be fine. Your having covered him up and keeping him off the ground helped quite a bit. I’d venture you got quite a bit colder than he did.”

“I reckon so. How long will he stay in the clinic, here?”

“I want to keep him overnight for observation. Chloroform can be toxic and can cause problems with the heart, so I want to monitor him for a day to make sure he has none of those problems and that the drug is totally metabolized.”

“Okay. I reckon I’m supposed to stay a while too.”

“From what I can see, you’re still hypothermic. That’s why you’re still shivering. I am sure Doctor Kline won’t let you go until your body temperature is back to normal. I’ll be back to check on your partner in a half an hour or so.”

I reached over and grabbed Mike’s hand as the doctor was speaking to me. I still felt cold, a deep bone-numbing cold, like I would never be warm again. I felt better, though, hearing Mike would be fine. I looked over at him. He was still very pale, but much better than he’d looked earlier. His hand felt warm in mine. I closed my eyes.

I
MUST
have slept a bit, because when I opened my eyes, I felt warm again. Mike was still out. I looked over to the other side of the bed and saw Sheriff Johnston sitting there.

“Hi, sir. Did you manage to see the van as you were coming out to the lot at Green’s Farm?”

“No, I didn’t. He could have easily pulled off the road and waited until I passed, and then headed away. There aren’t too many ways he can go, and I put a bulletin out on him, so we’ll get him sooner or later. By the way, Jeff, you must’ve done a number on his leg with your ski pole. The pole was broken, but the end was still hanging on. There was quite a bit of blood around. I’ve put out a bulletin to doctors and hospitals to be on the lookout for a stab wound made by a very blunt instrument. He must be in a hell of a lot of pain.”

“Good. I hope he gets blood poisoning after tryin’ to kidnap Mike.”

“You feel up to telling me what happened?”

“Yes, sir. It ain’t like I’ve got a lot else to do. Hopefully it will allow you to catch this guy.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Mike and I decided to go for an evening ski trip. With the moon out, it was fairly light. We took our time skiin’ and thought we’d go as far as Green’s Farm and then turn around. We got to the rise above the parkin’ lot, and Mike asked me if I would watch him ski ahead and critique his form while he practiced skate-skiin’. I said sure, so he headed on ahead. I was following behind him, and then I noticed that there was a van parked, half blocking the trailhead. It looked to be dark blue or black. Snow was packed on the license plate.” Just then Sheriff Johnston broke in.

“Tell me more about the van, windows, trim, bumper stickers, anything like that.”

“All I could see at first was the back of the van. There were no windows in the back doors. They opened outward, one on each side of the back. No bumper stickers that I noticed. There was a sliding door on the side. I didn’t see any trim. Just behind the sliding door on the driver’s side was a dent. It looks like someone backed into the van. I think it was an older model, since the door handles were the kind that had the button you press rather than just lifting up the handle. It also looked like it was a work van rather than a passenger vehicle, because of the lack of windows in the back and on the sides.”

“Okay, so what happened next?”

“Mike saw the van and skied around it. As he passed the side of the van, someone jumped out and grabbed him. His momentum pulled the guy out of the van. Mike started to struggle, and the guy pushed a rag in his face. Then Mike went all limp, and the guy tried to put him in the back. The guy was a bit shorter than Mike, maybe five foot ten or so. He was dressed in black and had a balaclava-type ski mask covering his face. He seemed to be a fairly slender guy, not skinny, not stocky. I’m sure it was a guy, by his voice when I stabbed him with the ski pole. He was pretty well covered, so I really couldn’t see any details. As he was tryin’ to push Mike into the van, Mike’s skis got wedged in the door. By that time, I was just about there, so the guy pulled Mike out and jumped into the driver’s seat. I stabbed him just as he was about to close the door. I grabbed on to the door handle, and he took off. I was tryin’ to see him, but couldn’t. Just then he sped up, and the door swung wide. I hit a dry patch and stopped slidin’ and let go. Then I went back to Mike and called you and 911.”

“Life sure hasn’t been dull since you came back, Jeff.”

“I really could use some dull life now, sir.”

“You and me both, Jeff.” The sheriff laughed. “You and Mike were really lucky that the perpetrator didn’t get Mike in the van and that you just didn’t jump in the back trying to play the hero.” I didn’t say anything to that. The only reason that I hadn’t jumped in the back to get at the guy was I was trying to go through the driver’s door.

“Why would someone try to kidnap Mike, sheriff?”

“Did you and Mike mention to anyone you were going skiing?”

“No, sir. When we decided to go, everyone was out in the bunkhouse. We didn’t see anyone as we skied down the driveway.”

“It could be Mike was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve got enough blood for DNA typing, and we have some casts of the tire tracks. We’ve certainly got more to go on than we did before.”