Mountain Captive (Love Inspired Suspense)

by Sharon Dunn

  Along the road, the van was backing up, maybe to try and head them off if they tried to circle back to the road. Because there still wasn’t a spot wide enough to turn around, the van had to continue to go backward.

  The second car did not move.

  They hurried as fast as they could. The bottom of his pant leg was weighed down from the moisture of the slushy snow. Jude glanced over his shoulder. The shooter had stopped and shoved his gun in his jacket. The van started to rumble forward, and the car shifted into Reverse.

  A farm truck hauling a load of hay was behind the van. It was too far away for them to hope to wave it down. But the presence of the stranger was enough to make the men hide what they were up to.

  The delay bought them precious minutes. They ran through the field. Jude veered off toward the east where a windbreak of trees stood in a straight line. The deciduous trees were barren and gray. Judging from the wide circumference of the trunks, the old oaks had to be at least fifty years old. They slipped in behind the trees. Both of them were gasping for air. Jude stared out at the field and then along the road. He couldn’t see the van or the farmer’s truck anymore, but the car was rolling down the road. It must have pulled off on a shoulder while driving backward and let the van and the farmer’s truck go by.

  The man with the gun was still headed across the field toward them.

  Jude tugged on Lacey’s sleeve. “Let’s keep going.” Though not a direct route, they were headed back in the direction they had come from toward the main road and the gas station though it had to be at least ten miles. They ran until the side road was no longer in view. The terrain turned from flat to rolling hills. Every time they came to the crest of a hill, Jude looked down to see the shooter still dogging them but never catching up. He was a lean man who appeared to be in very good shape. Was he just waiting for them to drop from exhaustion? Jude’s leg muscles screamed from the amount of exertion.

  They stopped only briefly to catch their breaths and then kept running. Their footsteps smacked through the damp heavy snow. He was grateful for his waterproof boots or his feet would have been as soaked as his pant legs.

  He wondered if they would just be running forever, never being caught, but never able to get away either. Up ahead, he saw a field populated with huge round hay bales. This might be the chance they were looking for. They could hide behind one of the bales and try to ambush the shooter. Or, maybe the shooter would run right by them.

  After glancing over his shoulder and not seeing their pursuer, he sprinted toward the middle of the field. Lacey ran beside him. Their boots made squishy sounds on the half-melted snow. He crouched behind a bale and Lacey slipped in beside him, pressed close to his back. He pulled the gun from his waistband. He could feel Lacey’s breath on his neck and the heat of her touch as she rested her hand on his upper shoulder.

  Time seemed to slow down as he watched and listened. The rhythm of Lacey’s breathing matched his own. His leg muscles started to cramp. He switched to a more comfortable position on his knees which meant his pants would get even more wet.

  Lacey whispered in his ear. “I’ll keep a lookout on the other side of the bale. I’ll signal you if I see him coming.”

  Jude nodded. The less they talked, the better. The guy might have figured out their plan and was already creeping through the field.

  Jude angled his head around the bale so he could see more. His gaze moved from one open area to another and then he studied each of the hay bales. A crow fluttered down on top of one of the other bales picking at whatever morsels of food he could find.

  The distant cawing of other crows filled the air. Jude glanced at the slow-moving clouds in the blue sky. The calm he saw there stood in sharp contrast to his pounding heart and tensed muscles.

  He turned to glance back at Lacey. His heart froze. She wasn’t there. He had a moment of fear that she’d been snatched. But no one could be that quiet. She would have put up a fight. She’d moved for some reason.

  He studied the area around him. Lacey stuck her head out from the side of a bale not too far from him and gave him the okay sign. She had probably reasoned that they could see more if they were split up behind different bales.

  The wind ruffled his hair and he adjusted his grip on the gun. The crow on top of the bale flapped away. Jude went on high alert as his gaze darted everywhere. The crow may just have had his fill of grain or he may have been frightened by something.

  Jude heard movement, footsteps, off to his side. He rose up and lifted his gun. Lacey had run from one bale to the next. His breath hitched. Now he knew what she was doing. She must have spotted the shooter and was making herself bait to draw him out. No wonder she hadn’t said anything. Making her a target was a plan he never would have agreed to.

  Jude sprinted toward another bale. He heard swishing movements but couldn’t see anything.

  At the sound of the first gunshot, his heart squeezed tight and he prayed for Lacey’s safety.

  Jude sprinted toward the next bale, still not seeing anything.

  * * *

  Lacey was pretty sure that first shot had lodged in the hay bale she was hiding behind. So the shooter had seen her. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears as she rose up and prepared to run to the next bale. She could not see the shooter or Jude, but she heard squishy footsteps all around her.

  Crouching low, she sprinted out into the open. The next bale was only fifteen feet away, but it felt like a thousand miles while she was vulnerable and exposed. She was sure that Jude would realize what her plan was. As she ran, she looked from side to side. She caught a flash of movement. Someone slipping behind a bale not too far from her. He’d disappeared before she could tell if it was Jude or the shooter.

  She ran to hide behind the next bale but stuttered in her step. The shooter with his back to her crouched one bale away. She scrambled to the side of her bale so he wouldn’t see her. That meant that it was Jude who had gone behind the other bale. Their positioning formed a sort of triangle. Jude at the apex of the triangle and the shooter and her at the lower angles.

  Lacey took in a breath and rested her palm against her raging heart. She could try to jump the shooter from the back. But if he heard her coming, he could turn and shoot her. At that close a range the shot was bound to be fatal.

  She crept around to the other side of the bale that was closer to where she’d seen Jude. She sprinted out toward the next bale, pressing against the side of it that was the farthest away from the one where she’d seen the shooter.

  Fear raged through her at the same time she felt a surge of strength. She ran to the next bale. She was one bale away from where she’d seen Jude when a volley of gunfire shattered the silence around her.

  She pressed into the bale as terror froze her in place. The straw was itchy against the back of her neck. A deafening silence fell around her. The beating of her own heart seemed to be the only thing she could hear. And then she detected the distant cawing of the crows and felt the breeze on her face. She shook herself free of the paralysis, scrambled toward the edge of the bale and peered out to see if she could figure out what had happened.

  She looked everywhere, not seeing or hearing anything. She feared that Jude lay on the cold wet ground bleeding to death, and the shooter was just waiting for her to find him so he could take her out too.

  She thought she heard footsteps off to the side of her. She ran the other way toward the nearest bale. Her own footsteps seemed to be getting louder. She slowed and stepped more lightly.

  She pressed against the side of the cylindrical hay bale and tilted her head to the sky and listened. She’d worked her way almost to the end of the field. Ahead she could see another windbreak of trees and a barbed wire fence. She wasn’t leaving without Jude. She had to know what had happened. If the shooter had taken him out, he was probably still stalking the field looking for her.

  She crawled to
the top of the hay bale, lifting her head only slightly to try to get a view of the field. One more shot was fired, followed by the deafening quiet, no cries of pain, no indication that anyone had been hit. She recoiled but managed a deep breath, still studying the field. She could guess the direction the shot had come from, several bales back from where she’d just been.

  To run to where the shot had been fired from meant she might be running directly toward the shooter. She waited and watched. In the midst of this standoff, someone had to move sooner or later. Even slight movement caused the straw to make noise. She pressed her belly against it and willed herself to be still.

  Her gaze darted from one bale to the next and then to the open areas. After what felt like forever, she saw Jude’s head for only a moment before he was hidden again.

  Heart racing, she crawled down and ran to the edge of field on the side where she’d spotted Jude. She risked running into the shooter, but she worried that Jude would be distracted wondering about her safety. If they were together, they could take on the shooter.

  Jude was three hay bales up from the edge of the field. She darted to the end of the first cylinder of straw, stopping only to take in a deep breath before she ran to the next one. Her fingers pulled straw out to release some of the tension building up inside of her. Her stomach had coiled into a tight knot.

  She prayed that Jude hadn’t already repositioned again. This deadly game could go on forever if he had. She ran toward the last place she’d seen Jude.

  When she got there...the space was empty.

  She heard footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, an object hit her head and a view of the ground filled her vision.

  EIGHTEEN

  “Jude, I have your girlfriend. Come and get her.”

  The mocking tone of the shooter tore Jude to pieces. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut.

  “I’ll give you to a count of ten and then I’m going to put a bullet in her.”

  Was it possible the shooter was lying to lure him out? Jude stood up and shouted, “I need to hear her voice.”

  “That’s not possible. I call the terms of this arrangement.”

  Was Lacey already dead? Or maybe unconscious.

  Judging from the volume of the shooter’s voice. Jude was within one or two bales of where the man was. He took in a deep breath to try to loosen the tightness he felt in his chest. He peered around the bale where he was hiding, still not seeing anything. He didn’t have a clear plan, all he knew was that he needed to get to Lacey.

  If she was conscious, close and not being held at gunpoint, she would have heard the shouting and responded in some way to warn him. He studied the field and the fence and trees beyond. Could she be hiding out there?

  Too many questions, too many unknowns. He hurried to the next bale in the general direction the man’s voice had come from. He ran to another bale and looked out. Adrenaline surged through him as he raised his gun. The shooter was turned sideways. Lacey lay on the ground beside him.

  Before he could pull the trigger, the shooter raised his gun. Jude dove behind the bale for cover and fired a shot. When he looked out, the man was no longer out in the open. Lacey lay motionless on the cold wet snow. No doubt, the shooter was somewhere he could watch her, so running to rescue her would only get them both killed.

  A strange mumbling reached his ears. Jude lifted his chin, listening. It sounded like the shooter was on a phone. The voice grew louder then softer. Like he was pacing.

  He touched his own pocket where his phone should have been. It must still be on the console of the SUV from when he’d had Lacey call in to the sheriff.

  From the sound of the voice, the man was getting farther away. That didn’t make sense. Wouldn’t the shooter at least be where he could see Lacey?

  Lacey’s body jerked. She must be coming around. The intense need to run to her, to make sure she was safe, overwhelmed him. The shooter had to be using her as bait. Jude glanced all around, not seeing any movement or any sign of the other man. The voice had faded altogether.

  Lacey stirred even more. Her legs moved and she lifted her head slightly. She must be cold lying there on the ground for so long. She opened her eyes. Her expression changed when she saw him. Her features softened, and warmth seemed to come into her eyes.

  He rose up to run to her when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned but saw no one. The man was on the other side of the hay bale. Jude glanced over at Lacey, who was still struggling to get to her feet. Her hand went to the side of her head.

  The next few minutes seemed to unfold in slow motion. The broad-shouldered man came out of nowhere and grabbed Lacey before she could get to her feet. He pulled her by her hair and held a gun to her stomach. A look of terror crossed her features as she reached out a hand toward Jude and was dragged away. He jerked to move toward her.

  Jude had been so focused on Lacey and what the shooter was up to, he hadn’t seen the van driven by Broad Shoulders lumbering across the field to park behind the windbreak.

  Broad Shoulders lifted his chin in a challenging way as his gaze darted toward the gun that was held on Lacey. Jude watched in horror as the man’s finger moved to the trigger. Lacey’s eyes grew wide with fear.

  Breath caught in Jude’s throat.

  Broad Shoulders looked out beyond Jude. His grimace went slack as he withdrew the gun from view but still was controlling her by pushing the gun into her back. Jude glanced over his shoulder.

  The farmer they’d seen earlier had driven into the adjoining field where cattle rested. His truck rolled forward while he threw rectangular straw bales off the back of it.

  Jude felt something hard push against his back. A gun. The shooter who had chased them across the field spoke in a low voice. “Get moving and don’t try anything.”

  “You won’t shoot me,” Jude said and tilted his head toward where the farmer was. “I know you don’t want witnesses.”

  “Shut up,” the man who had chased them said. “It would be nothing for me to drag you behind that hay bale and put a bullet through you.”

  That might be true. But the farmer would still remember seeing two strange men in the field and if a body was found later, he would connect the dots. Broad Shoulders had disappeared behind the windbreak. The van was nearly camouflaged by the bare trees. He didn’t see the other car or its driver anywhere. Maybe he had left.

  “Okay, I’ll go.” All Jude knew was that Lacey had just been loaded into that van. He wasn’t about to abandon her. Even if he could get away and get the farmer’s attention, Lacey would still be held captive. She would be killed and her body dumped somewhere else.

  The farmer, focused on feeding the cows, had not looked in their direction other than a quick glance. Men and a woman in a field had to look out of place.

  They walked across the snowy muddy field to where the van was. The shooter swung open the side door of the van and shoved Jude inside. Lacey was there. Her back pressed against the wall of the van. Her hands tied in front of her.

  “Stay away from her. No talking.”

  The man who had captured Jude got into the passenger seat of the van and slammed the door.

  “Thought I was going to have to leave without you,” Broad Shoulders said.

  “Like you would,” the second man, who had buggy eyes, said. His red hair stuck out beneath his winter hat.

  There were no windows in the back of the van and Jude couldn’t see much out the front window without lifting up. He raised his eyebrows as a way of communicating with Lacey. She gave a slight nod in response.

  “What are we supposed to do with them now?”

  “I’m sure boss wants us to find a place to get rid of them.”

  Jude wondered who the boss was referring to. Had it been the man who was the driver in the other car? Jude had not seen him at all. Was it like Lacey had speculate
d, George Ignatius had conspired in the kidnapping of his own daughter?

  “Off the road somewhere should be fine. Just find a concealed area,” Bug Eyes said.

  The words sent a chill through Jude. Did they have only minutes to live?

  “Don’t you think you should tie him up too?”

  “Why? This will be over soon enough. Let’s just get this done. Then, I want to go into town and grab a burger.”

  The callousness of the men sent a new shock wave of fear through him. His hands weren’t tied. He had to act. He glanced around in search of a weapon. Lacey seemed to understand, as well. She looked from side to side and shook her head.

  The van went from rolling smoothly to bumping along. He didn’t have much time. He jumped up and reached for the driver, knowing the other man had a gun. All the same, if they were distracted by a potential wreck, he and Lacey might have a fighting chance.

  Lacey jumped up as well, moving toward the man in the passenger seat. Jude wrapped his hands around the neck of the driver while Lacey pummeled the passenger with her bound hands.

  The driver took his hands off the wheel in an attempt to free himself from Jude’s stranglehold. The van swerved.

  Broad Shoulders wrestled free of Jude’s hold. The passenger had subdued Lacey by gripping her bound hands and pushing her down. Through the windshield, Jude saw the farmer in the truck driving toward them.

  With Lacey under control, both men pounced on Jude.

  The passenger, the man with buggy eyes, glanced nervously through the windshield. “Get him out of sight,” Broad Shoulders said.

  Jude felt a hard object hit the side of his head. Black dots filled the edges of his vision as his view of the orange carpet in the back of the van loomed toward him.