“Emma, you do it now, or I will kill you here and bury you with Ted!” Mike shouted.
Terrified, Emma felt her legs give out as he forced her down on the ground next to Ted’s body. She tried to roll him, but his weight was too much. Frustrated, Mike grabbed her arm again and shoved her away. He rolled the body over the river embankment out of sight, while keeping his eyes on Emma. Still kneeling in the dirt, she wanting to run but could not seem to get her trembling legs to stand.
Finished with Ted, Mike trained the gun back on Emma as he stalked over to her. Grasping her bruised arm once again, he pulled her up and pushed her in front of him.
They walked to the edge of the Little River where an old log lay across it. Hesitating at the end of the log, she turned around to see what he wanted her to do. Mike used the butt of the gun to push her forward.
She tentatively placed her foot on the log, then stumbled across the distance over what she remembered Brad had referred to as a big creek. Perhaps it seemed narrow to teenagers playing in the summer, but Emma tried not to look at the swirling water rushing below her.
As they reached the other side, Mike ordered her to move forward a few steps and then told her to stand still. Turning around he pushed the log to the side, so that it fell into the water.
Emma wanted to run, but the gun trained on her back kept her following Mike’s orders. The wind blowing stronger, sent shivers through her. Her hands were cold, and she slid them into her pockets to keep them warm. As she did, she felt her cell phone.
Oh my God, I forgot the call from Jake. Oh please let him have been listening.
With new resolve, she decided to see if she could get Mike to talk just in case Jake was still on the phone.
“I don’t understand Mike. What did Ted mean by the athletic buses?”
“It was the perfect set up. My contacts in the pipeline needed an easy, undetectable way to keep the heroin coming into the area. One night Ted and I were at Smokey’s, just drinking and shooting the shit, when he mentioned that part of his job duties was that he had to arrange all the buses for the athletic teams when they travel from one county to another. God, it was so easy – the idea just came to me that night,” Mike bragged.
Emma kept her hand in her pocket, trying to hold the phone up in a way to maximize the chance that Jake could hear the conversation. She stumbled over a root and went down on her knees.
“Get up. We don’t have time for you to be stumbling every step.” He looked over at her. “Why are your hands in your pockets?” he asked.
“My hands are freezing – I’m just trying to keep them warm.” It was only a partial lie as she could feel the cold seep into her fingers as well as her toes.
“Girl, you are going to feel a lot colder before this is over.”
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, hoping he had a destination in mind that could be relayed to Jake.
“My Jeep is up here over this next ridge. I’m taking you on up the mountain and getting rid of you there. I’ll have time to get back to town, circle around, and join the search for you.” He chuckled, congratulating himself on his grand plan. “It won’t be too hard to get everyone off the trail.”
“Why did you burn down the old shack back there,” Emma asked, turning around to look at Mike’s face. His face darkened.
“Goddamn, you really have screwed things up since you landed here, you know that?” he growled. “No one has lived there for years; it was the perfect place to hide the stash when it came off the buses. Once I got Ted involved, my contact would get the drugs into the equipment bags on the buses while the teams were in the locker rooms. After the kids got home, Ted would bring the bags to the hut and lock them up. I would get them the next day and get them out to my southern contact. Goddamn, it was perfect. Then you moved in, and I had to try to keep you from wandering around your property.”
Remembering the times that Mike had warned her about the woods and vagrants, Emma remembered he convinced Jake that she didn’t need to walk around check out her acreage.
The landscape around them became steeper, and Emma was having a hard time walking. Her toes ached from the cold, and she was shivering under her coat. The wind picked up more, whipping her hair about her face. The woods were thick, bare limbs and underbrush scraping her hands, face, and legs as she stumbled along. Whenever she would stumble, Mike would curse and prod her with the gun again.
She looked back at Mike and was shocked to see that he seemed impervious to the cold or strain of climbing, as he continued his diatribe.
“The last drop I made, I wanted to make sure that there was no evidence in case you started looking, and I heard those kids across the river watching me. I knew I had to get rid of all evidence permanently so I set it on fire.” He chuckled to himself again. “I even stayed behind to handle the fire investigation after making sure that Jake was caring for you.”
Emma was astounded – Mike had been in the perfect position to make the contacts, cover evidence, even to make threats to keep everyone in line. And no one would suspect him. She even thought of him as a friend.
And Jake. Oh my god. This will kill him to think she was kidnapped by his friend. Fellow detective. A brother. A psychopath.
By this time, they were making the last climb to the top of the ridge. The cold had seeped in as Emma realized once again how poorly she was dressed. Her knee length skirt, stockings, and heeled boots made for poor hiking attire she thought ruefully. Her stockings were torn, and her knees were bleeding where she had fallen several times. She looked up and saw Mike’s familiar Jeep. She didn’t know if she was relieved or terrified.
“I’ve never been in the park this far up,” she said, hoping against hope that her phone call was still connected. “Where are we?” she asked.
Mike laughed and answered, “Hawks Ridge. But we’re heading up higher, darling. We’re heading to Bear’s Ridge. Can you guess why it’s called Bear’s Ridge?” He continued to laugh as he prodded her once again with the gun, moving her next to his jeep.
Emma whirled around on him, stopping short as he raised the gun back to her face. “You bastard!” she spat.
“You know it babe. Hands behind your back,” he ordered. Mike put his handcuffs on her and pushed her into the back seat of his jeep before jumping into the front. Starting the Jeep, he drove up the winding road higher into the park’s mountains.
“You never finished telling me why you are doing this?” she continued to prod.
“Do you know how much new detectives make in this podunk town?” He looked in the rearview mirror, and Emma shook her head. “I made good money working as a cop in the state capital. Found how easy it was to take a little from the drug busts. Hell, I was livin’ good for a while. They got suspicious, but I was never accused. Things got a little hot so I decided to move on to a smaller town and see what I could do to make some money on the side.”
“So all this is about money?” Emma asked, her voice quivering with fear and anger.
“Haven’t you heard, Emma? Money makes the world go round,” he chuckled at his own joke. “And there is a lot of money to be made this way. Stupid kids don’t care what shit they get high off of as long as they get high.”
Emma thought back to the two students who had heroin in their weed. “You get them hooked, on more than just pot!” she said incredulously. “You get them hooked so they keep coming back to your sources.”
“Don’t be so high and mighty, counselor,” Mike said looking back at her in the rear view mirror. “I don’t force anyone to take anything. Those kids put that shit in their own bodies, no one makes them,” he rationalized.
Emma had dealt with teens and addiction before, but she had never been faced with the blatant cruelty of a drug supplier before. “You prey on the young! You may not force it down them, but you make it so available and easy. You make them need it, and then you make them need you. You’re….. despicable!”
Mike laughed. “Is that the best you can
come up with, Em?
She wanted to scream and rant but looking into his cold eyes staring back at her, she knew nothing she could say would ever make a difference to him.
Emma looked outside, noting that the sun had dropped below the tree line, deepening the shadows of the woods all around them. Night was falling fast and so was the temperature.
Oh Jake, where are you? Will you be able to find me in time? I just want to tell you one more time that I love you. I want to look in your baby blues and tell you that you hold my heart in your hands. She felt a tear slide down her face. What will Laurie do if I don’t come back? She has lost everyone. Oh god, please let Rob take care of her. Let her know that I would never willingly leave her.
The jeep came to a jerking stop, and Emma bounced forward, slamming her cheek on the seat in front of her. Jolted out of her morbid musings, she looked out. It was now pitch dark. Her heart pounded as Mike jumped out of the jeep and came around to her side. He pulled her out and turned her around to un-cuff her.
“Can’t have your body found with my handcuffs on it, now can I?” He pulled her over to the top of a steep ridge, looking down on what Emma could only assume was more woods.
“Not gonna shoot you either. Don’t want any evidence at all. By the time anyone finds what is left of you, it will just look like you had wandered, got lost, and perished. Perished… that’s sounds like a nice way to die, doesn’t it? Emma perished in the cold mountains.” Mike chuckled again at his own sick joke.
Emma looked at him realizing that what sanity he had, was completely gone. She looked back over her shoulder, trying to figure out what to do when there were suddenly tremendous noises and lights coming towards them. Mike, surprised, grabbed Emma and pulled her in front of him. Her heart pounding, she could feel her shaking legs giving out.
Disoriented, Mike began shouting and cursing waving the gun round then pressing it up against Emma’s temple. A state police helicopter flew around the side of the cliff and shone its spotlights down on them. She and Mike both threw an arm up to shield their eyes as he jerked Emma tightly to keep her in front of his body. The only thing keeping Emma on her feet was Mike’s arm around her waist and the pressure of the gun against her head.
The noise and lights from the helicopter camouflaged the sound of police cruisers coming around Mike’s jeep.
DROP. YOUR. WEAPONS.
Whirling around, keeping Emma in front of him, Mike was enraged. Cursing, he tightened his grip on her.
Jake walked in front of the police cruiser, its headlights illuminating behind him, looking like an avenging angel. He stalked forward, approaching the couple on the edge of the ridge, with his gun pointed at Mike. Tom circled around to the side. The area began to fill with police, park rangers, and Rob and Mac leading the rescue crew.
“How… how did you find us?” Mike asked, keeping his gun pressed to Emma’s head, with his other arm wrapped around her chest. Jake said nothing, but pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and waved it back and forth. Mike looked on in confusion, then suddenly jerked Emma tighter to him.
“Bitch! You have a cell phone on you. You goddamn bitch!” he screamed, pressing the gun tightly to head. “I ought to kill you right now!”
The police chief spoke softly, “Mike, give it up son. It’s all over. I’ve got men who have found Ted’s body, we’ve talked to the boys that were at the hut, we’ve got your confession on Jake’s cell recorded for the past hour. It’s over now. Let Emma go, Mike.”
Emma began to shake. She knew Mike wasn’t in control of his mental stability right now, and she wasn’t even sure he was listening. With the bright lights behind Jake, she couldn’t see his face or expression. She just focused on the massive shadow outline of the man she loved.
“No, no, it’s not supposed to end like this.” Mike’s arms jerked Emma back closer to the edge of the ridge. Holding the gun tightly to her temple, his breathing ragged, he began to grin slowly.
“Hey Jake,” Mike called out. Jake looked sharply in their direction, showing no emotion. Heart pounding, he focused on the prey in front of him holding his revolver steady.
Come on fucker. Jake thought. Come on. Just move slightly to the side, and you’re a dead man. Emma, just hold steady. I got you, baby.
“Looks like I got your girl in the end, doesn’t it bro? Well, if I’m not getting out of this, she’s not either!” and with that Mike backed up and hurled himself off the edge of the ridge while still holding on to Emma.
“Noooo!” Jake roared, as he saw the woman he loved being pulled over the edge.
Emma screamed and felt weightless for an instant as they flew through the air before the impact of hitting the ground jarred her. She and Mike rolled over and over, down the incline, rocks cutting into them, tree limbs tearing at their clothes and skin. Their bodies separated, and Emma came to a stop when she crashed into a boulder.
Stunned, she lay slowly losing consciousness. She was afraid to move, not knowing what might be broken. Her body was screaming in pain, and she could feel tears falling down her face, but couldn’t move her free arm to wipe them away. Far away she could hear her name being called.
She was cold. So cold. She could still hear her name being called but it wasn’t getting closer. It was farther and farther away, drifting off on the howling wind. Closing her eyes she first felt horrible pain, then eventually fear, then finally peace. She could see her mother’s beautiful face. Behind her mother, was Sarah, smiling.
I’m coming home mom. I’m so cold and hurt, and I just want to see you again. Take me home mom. I’m coming home……
*
Jake came crashing down the incline, heedless of the danger.
“Emma! Emma!” he yelled over and over. Tom was right behind him, stumbling down the side of the ridge. Rob followed with a medical backpack, and another rescue crewmember had the ropes and stretcher board. Stumbling upon Mike first, they could see his head was at an awkward angle having broken his neck during the fall.
“Goddamn bastard, rot in hell!” Jake choked out.
The rescue team member radioed back to the top that there was a fatality, quickly assuring them that it was Mike and not Emma. They would need to send down a body bag. Chief and Mac looked at each other, both praying that there would only be one body bag needed.
Jake continued down, cursing the dark, swinging his powerful light back and forth. The spotlight from the helicopter scanned the area where they were desperately searching, illuminating shadows and shapes.
“Jake, over there!” Tom exclaimed pointing to a large boulder to the right. Jake scrambled over, seeing a small unmoving body pressed against the rock.
God no, no! Not Emma, not when I just got her in my life. God don’t take her now.
Jake went to gather her in his arms, noting her battered body.
“Don’t touch her!” Rob ordered. He moved over and checked her pulse. Looking up at Jake and Tom, he said, “She’s alive. Barely.”
The rescue team came down, stabilized her neck and back, then placed her in the carrier. Carefully hauling her up the mountainside, she was loaded inside the ambulance. Jake jumped in with them, daring them to try to kick him out. The ambulance headed to the hospital; Tom called Carol and Rob called Laurie. Carol was already at the hospital and Laurie was on her way.
*
The hospital waiting room was crowded with a large number of Fairfield residents. Rob sat, comforting a distraught Laurie, while Bernie and Mac took the seats next to them. Mac’s arm was around his daughter Suzy’s shoulders. Bernie had brought Mary to the hospital and she sat with her head bowed in prayer. Helen and Roger came as soon as they could, closing up the hotel’s lobby for the first time in years. Brad stood with his parents, stoically trying not to cry, while Bill had one huge arm around him and the other holding Wendy tightly against his chest. Various policemen, firemen, teachers, and students all passed through the waiting area, checking for news, offering comfort, and just needing to feel t
he closeness that comes from shared grief.
Tom looked around at the crowd of people, all there for one tiny powerhouse of a woman who had touched their lives in such a short period of time. He looked over at Jake, standing off to the side with his head in his hands, knowing that Jake was unaware of anyone else at the moment. Tom kept hoping that Carol would come back in and update them as she had been for the past several hours. Crossing the room, Tom stood next to Jake, placing his hand on his partner’s shoulders. He could feel Jake’s body shake with emotion.
The double doors swung open and a doctor in surgical scrubs came out, with Carol right behind him. Jake jerked his head up as Tom’s grip tightened on his shoulders.
“Family of Emma Dodd?” the surgeon asked to the crowd.
“I am,” Jake and Laurie said at the same time. Looking at each other for a second, they wrapped their arms around each other and Laurie corrected, “We are.”
The doctor proceeded to list Emma’s injuries while Jake’s head felt as though it was spinning with all of the information. He could feel Laurie’s legs wobbling and was glad for the support as Rob approached and took hold of Laurie. He heard words but couldn’t fit them all together. Contusions, fractures, dislocated shoulder, concussion, internal bleeding, coma …the words just kept coming. After the doctor finished, he asked if there were any questions.
The only thing that Jake could manage to get out was, “Doc, just tell me, is she going to be okay?” Since the internal bleeding was stopped with the surgery, the doctor’s main concern now was the possible brain injury with the swelling and concussion. “Only time will tell,” he concluded. “We’re watching her closely.” With that, he shook Jake’s hand and headed back down the hall.
Jake, numb, just stood staring at the doctor’s back. Carol, who had walked over to support Laurie, reached out and gently lay her hand on his arm.
“Jake, as soon as they get her settled in ICU, you and Laurie can go back. I’ll take you when you are ready.”
Emma's Home (The Fairfield Series) Page 18