“Maude!” Chase’s heart slammed against his ribcage. “Haven’t you been watching television?”
“Why, no. I don’t turn that thing on at night. Peace and quiet, that’s what I like around my place of an evening.”
A choke gurgled in Chase’s throat. “Maude, Caitlin has been kidnapped, along with a twelve-year-old girl. The whole state is looking for them. Where did you see her?”
“Kidnapped?” A gasp. Her voice rose to a shout. “Why, I saw them. They were right here on my road. There was a girl in the front seat beside the man, and your sweetie was in the back. No wonder she looked upset.”
“Where, Maude?” Chase pounded the dashboard with every word. “Where did you see them?”
“Out here on Mackenzie Pike. They were in a green car, heading back into the woods.” A sob strangled her words. “Oh, honey. There’s a lot of woods up there.”
At least it was a start. Chase looked at Jenkins. “Mackenzie Pike.”
Their tires squealed as they tore out of the parking lot. Jenkins was shouting orders into his phone before they turned onto the road.
“Thank you, Maude. Thank you for being a busybody.”
“What can I do? How can I help?”
“Pray.” Chase closed his eyes. “Pray hard.”
TWENTY-THREE
“Come on. Get out.”
Caitlin fumbled for the seat belt release. Fear made her fingers awkward. How many minutes did they have left to live? She couldn’t stop looking at her watch. What time would be recorded on her death certificate? By the time they found her body in this deserted location, how closely would they be able to pinpoint the exact moment she drew her last breath?
Stop it! Going all morbid isn’t going to help.
But try though she might, she couldn’t think of anything that would help.
She found the button. The buckle released, and she slid across the seat to the door Alex had opened. The tendons in his left hand bulged as he gripped Nicky’s arm, the gun still clutched in his right. Terror had bleached the girl’s skin a pasty white. One side of her mouth had swollen into a painful-looking grimace. She wouldn’t be able to play her flute for at least a week with that injury.
Nausea swirled in Caitlin’s stomach. If Alex had his way, Nicky would never play her flute again.
The knife lay open beneath her purse in the seat beside her. She should have picked it up while they were driving and slipped it into her pocket. Now Alex’s glare burned into her and she didn’t dare make a move for it. And even if she managed to get it without him seeing, would she use it? Could she?
Thou shalt not kill.
“Hurry up.” His voice snapped with impatience.
Caitlin twisted as she slid across the seat and turned her back toward the door. Her body shielded the interior of the car for no more than three seconds. Thunder from her heart filled her ears as she slid the knife from beneath the cover of her purse. She held the plastic case in her palm. The blade nestled against the soft skin of her wrist as she climbed out of the car.
Lord, don’t let him look at my hand.
The sinking sun glittered through the tops of the trees to the west of the cabin. Birds called to one another across the clearing, oblivious to the palpable terror beneath them. A squirrel scolded nearby as Caitlin closed the car door and turned to face her captor.
“Inside.” His head jerked toward the cabin.
Caitlin preceded him, thoughts racing through her mind. If she was going to use her only weapon, she had to do it now. Every second that ticked by increased the chance that he would see it. And he probably planned to kill them as soon as he got them inside. But she couldn’t do anything as long as he had that gun pressed into Nicky’s side.
The door’s scarred surface had never been painted. Slender gaps riddled the splintered wood.
“Go ahead. There’s no lock.”
The door swung inward. Caitlin stepped up onto the thick, uneven plank floor. The gloom of dusk had settled inside the cabin. The air smelled dusty and dank. Little sunlight shone through the filthy window panes, but there was enough to make out an ancient-looking counter along the back wall and a folding table with one metal chair. A metal clasp had been hooked between the handles of the two cabinet doors, secured with a padlock. The room contained nothing else. The heels of her sandals returned a hollow echo from the rough plank walls.
Caitlin stopped in the center of the room and turned. She didn’t dare clutch at the knife for fear he’d see she held something hidden in her hand. Instead, she held the case in place with light pressure from her thumb, her fingers curved in a natural pose. She hoped.
Alex closed the door.
“Well, this is it.” His glance circled the room, then came to rest on her with a tight smile. “I admit it isn’t much, but it has a couple of good points.” He pulled Nicky around the perimeter of the room, watching Caitlin as he moved. “It’s owned by the father of a friend of mine from California, a man who’s too old to use it anymore, and it’s out in the middle of nowhere, away from prying eyes.”
Caitlin’s mind raced. Is this where he’d killed some of his victims? Acid burned the back of her throat. She covered her mouth as she scanned the wood floor for signs of violence.
“Since you’re here, you two might as well make yourselves useful. It seems I have to vacate the premises, and there are a few things I’d rather not leave behind. They’ll come in handy when I settle somewhere else.”
He approached the counter. As he moved, he released Nicky with a shove.
Caitlin’s heart stuttered. Was this her chance?
Suddenly freed from her captor’s grip, a sobbing Nicky launched herself across the room toward Caitlin, arms flung wide. They collided with unexpected force. Time crashed to a halt.
The knife flew from Caitlin’s palm.
Her only hope for survival skittered across the floor. The quiet thud as it smacked the door was her death knell. Horror spread over Caitlin like a stain. Alex looked at the knife. Then he fixed a glittering glare on her.
He crossed the room in three strides, his arm cocked back.
“You stupid—”
The rest of his sentence was swallowed up in blackness as his fist connected with her face.
TWENTY-FOUR
Red and blue lights stuttered against the trees and flashed in Chase’s eyes. A half dozen police vehicles lined the highway at the intersection to Mackenzie Pike, four from the sheriff’s department and two belonging to the state police. Two more formed a V across the road to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
“All right, listen up.” Detective Jenkins spread a map out on the hood of his car.
Chase itched to elbow his way into the group, but he didn’t dare. Any minute someone might voice a complaint about the civilian and Jenkins would send him packing. There was no way they were kicking him out now. They’d have to haul him off in handcuffs.
“Here’s Mackenzie Pike.” Jenkins’s finger traced a line on the map. Chase angled sideways so he could see between two deputies. “If our information is right, Adams is somewhere in this area.” His finger traced a circle on the map.
“That’s a lot of land to cover,” said one of the deputies.
Chase traced Mackenzie Pike in his mind. Probably twenty miles of twisting country road through mostly unpopulated and heavily forested hill country. He fought against the tug of despair. Even with four times as many police officers, it would take hours and hours to search all that land.
“Yes, it is. But remember, he may be holed up in a cabin, and he’s in a car, not on foot, so look in every garage and search every trail big enough for a vehicle to pass. We’ll start right here, where Adams’s car was spotted, and work our way inside. Stop at every house. Those starting at the other end will do the same.” He glanced up at the flashing light bar atop the cruiser. “No sirens or lights. Let’s try to take him by surprise.”
Chase pressed himself against the car door as the offic
ers surged past him toward their cruisers.
“Get in,” Jenkins said.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to get an official statement from your friend. See if she knows anything else that might help.”
Chase jerked the car door open. Maude was the last person to see Caitlin and Nicky—he stopped himself from finishing the sentence. He refused to consider that she might have been the last to see Caitlin alive.
God, You know I don’t ask much. But this is my fault, and I can’t stand the thought of … He swallowed against a tight throat. Just lead us to them, please. Let us find them in time.
One of the state police vehicles blocking the road moved aside to let the searchers through. Jenkins followed. When they’d gone by, Chase turned to watch the roadblock close up behind them. No one was getting through that way.
Maude’s place lay about four miles up Mackenzie Pike on the left. Lights glowed in the windows of the sprawling, single-story brick home. When Jenkins’s car pulled down the dirt driveway, the front door flew open.
“That’s her.”
Maude leaned heavily on the railing to climb down three steps from her front stoop, but the minute her feet touched the grass she raced toward them. Chase got out of the car and found himself engulfed in a tight embrace.
“Oh, honey, I haven’t gotten off my knees since we hung up.” She backed up and wrung her hands. “I’m just sick. I had my car right there. I should have jumped in and followed them, seen where they went.”
“Don’t do this to yourself, Maude.” Chase covered her hands with his. “You’ve helped more than anyone. Because of you, we still have a chance to find them.”
“He’s right, ma’am,” Jenkins said. “And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to tell me exactly what you saw.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. “I was just coming home from work. I stopped for the mail like I always do. Right over there.” She pointed toward the front of the driveway.
“What time was that?” Chase asked.
She replied without hesitation. “Six-fifteen. Same time as every other day, except the Lord’s Day. I was standing there glancing through the mail when a car came down the road.”
“Did you notice the make and model?” asked Jenkins.
Worry lines creased her brown forehead. “I don’t know a Chevy from a Ford. I just know it was green and shaped like a box. You know, not a sporty car. Just the regular kind. It did have four doors.”
Chase squeezed her hand. Alex’s Toyota was green and had four doors.
“That’s all right.” Jenkins smiled. “Go on.”
Maude relayed the same information she’d told Chase on the phone, that she’d recognized Caitlin in the backseat, and that she looked upset.
“How do you know she was upset?” Jenkins prodded.
Maude’s brows crouched low over her eyes. “I don’t know. She just was. She wasn’t smiling like every other time I’ve seen her.”
Caitlin’s smile rose unbidden in Chase’s mind. Would he ever see it again?
“And besides, the Lord stirred my soul.” Maude’s chin jutted out, daring them to doubt her. “Say what you want, but I know He did. He wouldn’t let me get that girl off my mind until I called Chase.”
Detective Jenkins twisted on his heel and stared up the road, in the direction Maude had seen the Toyota drive. “Is there any place up there where someone could hide out? We got word that he may be holed up in a cabin somewhere.”
“Oh, honey, there’s a bunch of cabins in these woods.” She waved a hand. “During deer season this place is packed with hunters. It isn’t safe to walk in your own front yard without covering yourself head to toe in orange.”
“A deserted cabin, maybe?” Chase asked. “He wouldn’t use one where the owner might find him. He’d want someplace where there was no chance of a surprise visit.”
Maude tilted her head. “You know, there is old Mr. Owens’s place about three, four miles up the road. He hasn’t been up there in more than ten years, not since he moved to the nursing home. His kids all live out west somewhere, so they don’t ever go up there.”
Jenkins’s expression did not change, but the intensity in his eyes stirred up an excitement in Chase. This could be it.
“How do I get there?” Jenkins was already rounding his car as he asked the question.
Maude pointed. “Head that way and look for a path off to the right.” She hesitated. “There isn’t a sign or anything.”
Chase’s blood raced through his veins. Finally, they were getting somewhere. He jerked open the car door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jenkins demanded.
Chase stopped. “I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not.” The detective’s jaw took on a stubborn set. “You’re going to stay right here and wait.”
Chase slapped a hand on the roof. “I can’t stay here. You need every able-bodied man you can get. I can help.”
Jenkins pierced him with a stare. “Do you really want to waste my time arguing over this?”
Seconds ticked by as Chase glared at the detective. Seconds that might mean the difference between life and death for Caitlin.
He took out his frustration on the door. It slammed shut with a thud that rattled the windows. Knots formed in Chase’s insides as the detective’s car backed out of the driveway and disappeared around a bend in the road.
Maude looked intently at Chase.
“Not too many years ago, when my daddy was still living, he and old Mr. Owens used to hunt together. Deer, squirrel, rabbit. Whatever was in season.” She put her hand on her hip. “And sometimes, whatever wasn’t in season, truth be told.”
Chase did not have time to listen to the woman’s reminiscing. Here he stood, doing nothing while Caitlin and Nicky were in mortal danger at the hands of a cold-blooded killer. Thanks to him.
“He had him a shortcut, a path right through the woods. It’s at least four miles between here and there by road, but not more than half a mile on that path, I’d say.” She pointed across the street. “Right over there.”
It took a moment for Chase to process the information she’d just given him. Then he whirled toward her. “Do you think the path is still there?”
She squinted her eyes in that direction. “This end’s still there. See it? Right between those two trees.”
Chase didn’t waste time. He dashed across the road, aiming for the opening in the trees she’d pointed out.
Maude’s voice called out after him. “Chase Hollister, you be careful, you hear me?”
As he slipped into the trees, he turned his head and shouted, “I will! Keep praying!”
TWENTY-FIVE
Chase’s arms folded Caitlin in a warm embrace.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Her words were muffled by his shirt as she snuggled close. “I was afraid I’d never get to tell you how I felt.”
His voice rumbled in his chest. “Tell me now.”
She closed her eyes. “I know we just met, but—”
“Wake up. Please wake up.”
Nicky’s tearful voice urged Caitlin to consciousness.
Oh, Lord! Let me stay in the dream!
The intense throbbing in her head was proof enough that this nightmare was real. The effort she exerted to open her eyes sent shafts of pain through her head. Her left eye cooperated. A weight pressed against the right one. Swelling had already begun.
How long was I out?
Nicky’s anxious face swam into view. “You’re awake. I thought you were going to die.”
I am. We both are. Don’t you know that?
Alex’s voice grated on her ears like an obscenity. “Finally awake, is she?”
Hammers pounded in her head. The temptation to sink back into oblivion was almost overwhelming. But she couldn’t leave Nicky to face the monster alone.
“About time you woke up.” His face appeared behind Nicky’s. “I’ve almost finis
hed up here. Almost time for me to hit the road.”
She became aware of details. The rough, bare floor beneath her. Faint strains of a country music song. Her feet crossed at the ankles. One shoe missing. Pain radiating from the back of her head as well as her temple and eye ridge. Apparently the force of his blow had knocked her backward, and she’d struck her head on the floor.
She struggled to sit up. Nicky slipped an arm behind her and helped her to a sitting position. She leaned heavily against the wall as black spots swirled in her vision and nausea almost overpowered her. Did she have a concussion?
What does it matter? I’m going to die soon anyway.
Her thoughts felt oddly detached. What did a little pain matter? It would all be over soon. She’d be in the arms of Jesus. He’d stop the pounding in her head, still the queasiness in her stomach.
But what about Nicky?
Caitlin forced herself to focus on the girl, the room.
The killer.
He stood a few feet away, watching her with an amused grin. What was that in his hands? It looked like a set of scales. Just like the ones in the chemistry lab at school. Of course. He’d need that to weigh the drugs he put inside those horrible candles. Where was the gun?
He noticed her staring at the scales. “No sense leaving perfectly good equipment behind. I’d just have to find more when I get settled somewhere else.”
When he turned and left the cabin, Caitlin caught sight of the gun. He’d tucked it in the waistband of his jeans, above his right hip pocket.
Once he stepped outside, she whispered. “What’s he doing?”
Nicky squatted beside her. “Loading everything from that cabinet into his car. He made me carry out a cardboard box with a roll of foil and a cutting board and some other stuff.”
Caitlin touched the back of her head with hesitant fingers. It felt like half a golf ball back there. Nothing sticky, though. The music changed to a different country western song. She followed the sound to its source. A small boom box rested on the counter.
“What are we going to do?” Nicky’s whisper quivered, but her grip on Caitlin’s arm tightened with urgency.
Murder in D Minor Boxed Set Page 52