by Rebecca York
A couple of times, the tires sank into potholes that were hidden by the snow.
Matt felt his tension mounting and knew it was worse for Shelley, because this rescue operation depended on her knowing where they were going. Well, not where in the normal sense. They had no directions—only her sense that she was getting closer to Trevor.
He glanced at her again, then brought his eyes back to the road. Each second that ticked by felt like an eternity. He wanted to ask for another reading, but he managed to keep from distracting her, because he knew it wouldn’t help either one of them.
After what felt like an eternity, she spoke.
“We’re close.”
“How close?
She turned her hand palm upward. “I can’t say exactly. I’ll know it when I see it. I guess.” When they came to a crossroad, she said, “Turn left here.”
He followed her directions, wondering if he was going to be able to get back to civilization once they picked up Trevor.
They had traveled another two miles when she made a small sound.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, worried that she had lost the connection—or worse, that she was seeing a scene of disaster.
She looked as if she was going to be sick. “This is the wrong way.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes!”
She’d told him where to turn, but now she sounded anguished and apologetic, all at the same time.
“I said turn around!” she shouted, and he knew that she was at the end of her emotional rope.
“I have to find somewhere wide enough.”
She sat rigidly beside him until he came to a place where the shoulder widened out. Cautiously he backed off the road, then came forward again, trying to make sure they didn’t get stuck in the snow.
When he glanced at Shelley, he saw she had her hands clenched in her lap so hard that the knuckles were white.
He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. I just got mixed up. Maybe because we’re so close.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry!”
“I know you’re doing the best you can.”
She dragged in a breath and let it out. “So are you, but we’re both pretty strung out.”
They traveled back the way they’d come. “Go the other way,” she said, pointing down a narrow side road that he hadn’t seen before.
The road surface was gravel, and he had to slow down to stay on it.
Finally they came to a long driveway that wound into the pine forest. It wasn’t marked by a sign like some of the other lanes they’d seen, and there were no tracks going in and out.
“Stop!” Shelley shouted, her voice ringing inside the confines of the vehicle, and he came down hard on the brake, making the car skid. He held his breath, praying they wouldn’t plow into a tree.
She pointed up the gravel roadway. “He’s there. Not far.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes!”
She’d been wrong before, but his only option was to rely on her ability to zero in on Trevor.
He wanted to ask how she was doing it, but he thought she probably couldn’t explain it. Just the way he couldn’t explain the mechanism for giving people a push.
When he started the car again, then pulled off into a small clearing, she made a shocked exclamation and grabbed his arm, her fingers digging through the padding of his jacket. “What are you doing? We have to go get him.”
Trying to keep his voice even, he said, “We can’t just drive up there. Think about it. That guy Blue is probably armed. What’s going to happen when he sees a car coming up the road?”
She pressed her lips together, then looked at him. “You’re right. I’m not thinking this through. What should we do?”
“Get out and walk. But not along the road.” He cleared his throat. “I think it’s time to tell him that you’re not alone. Tell Trevor his dad is with you.”
She reached for his hand and pressed her palm down in a gesture he knew was meant to comfort.
“I know this is hard on you. I understand you want him to know you’re here. But won’t that be too big a shock? I mean, we’re trying to keep him…quiet.”
Matt considered her assessment. He ached to let Trevor know that his dad was there with his mom, but he saw the wisdom of keeping his identity under wraps for a while longer.
“Okay. Tell him you’ve got a man with you—a friend. Somebody who’s here to help.”
She sat for a moment, silently communicating with her son.
“What does he say?” Matt asked.
“He understands. He says he’ll act normal.” She made a harsh sound. “If you can call any of this normal.”
“It will be over soon,” Matt soothed.
“Yes, but he’s scared. It’s almost time for another shot. And they hurt.”
Matt clenched his fists. He wanted to tell Trevor that they’d be there before Blue hurt him again, but he didn’t know if it was the truth.
Silently, they both pulled their gloves back on and climbed out of the car, then both started walking back along the road, before angling into the woods.
Luckily the snow wasn’t too deep, and they could make fairly rapid progress through the pine forest.
“Can you control Blue?” Shelley whispered as they tramped through the trees.
“I can’t influence a person I haven’t seen. Which means we have to get right up to the cabin. Or I do.”
“So do I,” she whispered, and he knew there was no way he was going to keep her from her son.
They both kept silent, but when he glanced at Shelley, he saw that she looked as though she wanted to scream.
Finally, through the trees, they caught sight of a small building made of logs. Plumes of smoke came from a stone chimney protruding from the shingled roof.
They corrected their course, heading for the structure.
When they reached the edge of the trees, Matt stopped and studied the area. The setting looked quiet and peaceful. It could be one of the vacation retreats they’d passed, except that a thirty-yard wide swath around the cabin had been cleared of trees and brush. Why do that to a cabin in the woods unless you want to make sure nobody could sneak up on you?
Were there alarms, too? Matt hoped not. And so far, the odds were against it, because nothing in the woods had called attention to them.
He hoped.
Off to the far side of the cabin was another building. The door was open and he could see a four-wheel drive vehicle parked inside.
There were no tracks in the snow, which meant that nobody had been in or out of here since the driver had arrived.
As Matt peered out from his hiding spot, he evaluated their chances of making it across the clearing. And he had something else to worry about. Shelley had been wrong before. What if they were closing in on the wrong place?
“You’re sure this is it?” he whispered.
She gave him a ferocious look. “Yes. I know he’s in that cabin. He’s just thirty yards from us.”
“Okay,” he answered, looking across the cleared space. “We’d better go in low so Blue won’t see us if he happens to glance out the window.”
It had started to snow—large, dry flakes drifting down from the sky as they stood among the trees.
They both dropped to the snow-covered ground and began belly-crawling across the open area, commando-style. It was hard slogging, with snow working its way up Matt’s jacket and making his shirt cold and wet. He was glad that they only had to go thirty yards.
The snow created another problem. Twisting around to look behind them, he saw two trails along the ground, like giant snakes slithering toward their prey.
He hoped the guy inside wasn’t going to look out and see the tracks.
When Matt glanced at Shelley, he saw her teeth were clenched, but he knew that she would crawl across ground glass or live coals to get to her son.
Halfway
across the open space, she made a moaning sound. He wanted to ask what she was hearing, but he couldn’t risk speaking out loud.
Could he send a silent question?
It might work, but it would only use up energy that they didn’t have.
When they finally made it across the thirty yards, Matt sat up with his back braced against the wall of the cabin and shook the snow from under his jacket. Shelley did the same.
The flakes continued to fall, obscuring their vision as they stared back at the woods.
At least it was going to cover the tracks they’d made as they crossed the clearing.
Leaning toward her, he put his mouth against her ear. “What happened?”
“He’s getting ready to give Trevor a shot.” She went rigid.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can hear Blue talking.”
Matt pressed his ear against the side of the cabin and heard the man speak.
“You’re sure you’re not lying to me, kid?”
“Nooo,” Trevor answered in a quavery voice.
“If you can’t do something special, I’m gonna have to punish you.”
Matt saw Shelley holding her breath, waiting for Trevor to confess that he’d been lying for days. But he said nothing.
“Nothing? You can’t move things with your mind?”
“No.”
“You can’t talk to people who aren’t here?”
“No!” Trevor said, his voice rising in alarm.
“You’re sure?”
Matt cursed under his breath. Knowing they had to hurry, he stood, bending to keep most of his face below the level of the window. Shelley did the same.
It took a moment to realize what he was seeing. Then the picture came into focus.
A big man dressed in a plaid shirt was leaning over a little boy who was stretched out on a kitchen table. The man had a hypodermic in his hand.
Shelley gasped.
The man whirled toward the window.
At first Matt could tell that the snow obscured his vision. Then his gaze zeroed in on them, and a look of shock and anger bloomed on his face.
Chapter Fourteen
Inside the cabin, Trevor cried out and twisted toward the window, his face flooding with relief when he saw his mother staring in at him.”
“Mommy! You found me, Mommy!”
The man’s curse was loud enough to penetrate the glass. Dropping the hypodermic, he pulled a gun from the waistband of his shirt and pointed it at them.
Trevor gasped and flailed out his arm, catching the man on the shoulder.
“Get the hell off me,” the kidnapper shouted.
“I hate you. You get away from me.”
Matt watched in horror, praying that Trevor wasn’t going to get hurt.
With desperate intensity, he focused on the man named Blue, sending him a message. Put down the gun. Back away from the boy. Back up until you hit the wall across the room. Put down the gun. Back away from the boy.
The man stared at him, obviously aware of the psychic order, but he didn’t move, and he kept the weapon aimed at them.
Don’t shoot. Put down the gun. Back away from the boy, Matt ordered, using every ounce of mental power that he had acquired since his kidnapping.
From the corner of his vision, he could see Shelley’s tense features. She must know that he was trying to give Blue a push and that it wasn’t working very well. This man must have been trained to resist a psychic suggestion. Or he possessed psychic powers himself. Maybe he knew how to shield his mind so that no one could penetrate the barrier.
Was he one of Dr. Sykes’s subjects? Someone who had joined the doctor’s team?
There was no way to figure out the man’s background—unless they asked him, and Matt was pretty sure they weren’t going to have a heart-to-heart anytime soon.
Could he disable the guy and get him to talk?
Maybe, but first things first. They had to get Trevor.
Staring at his quarry, Matt redoubled his efforts, pouring out more power, although he wasn’t sure what that meant.
When the man started slowly backing up, Matt sighed in relief, but the gun was still firmly in the kidnapper’s hand. And Trevor was still on the table between the weapon and the window.
Put down the gun. You don’t want to shoot anybody. Put down the gun and keep backing away from the boy.
To Matt’s vast relief, it seemed to be working.
Maybe his powers were stronger than the man’s after all.
“Open the door,” he told Shelley. “Then call to Trevor. Get him to come to you. Bring him outside.”
“He needs a coat, or he’ll freeze out here.”
“Can you send him a message—tell him to get it?”
“Yes.”
As he watched, Trevor gave a small nod, then slipped off the table.
“Stay here,” Blue growled.
“I don’t like you,” Trevor answered. “I want my mommy.”
“You have to stay with me.”
“No! I won’t.”
A look of comprehension bloomed on the man’s face. “Have you been talking to your mommy?”
Trevor lifted his chin, and this time his answer was a defiant, “Yes!”
“You little brat.” The man gave Trevor a murderous look, then must have realized that he should be paying attention to Matt, not the boy.
“How did you find me?” he demanded, his gaze fixed on Matt.
“Trade secret.”
“I don’t think it was you.” As he spoke, he tried again to wrench free and succeeded in raising his hand, reaching toward Trevor.
Stay away from the boy. Leave the boy alone. Put the gun down and back up. Press your arms against the wall.
Blue followed orders, his face a mask of anger.
Seeing his chance to get away, Trevor dodged around the man and ran into the bedroom. He was back almost at once carrying his coat.
“Go get him. Hurry,” Matt said to Shelley between gritted teeth. “Then take him back to the car and get out of here while I hold the guy off.”
Shelley gasped as she took in the implications. “What about you?”
Matt felt his insides squeeze. “I’ve got to stay here. Otherwise they guy is going to go after you and Trevor.”
“No!”
“Do it. I’ll give you as much lead time as I can. Drive to the police.”
As he spoke, he saw the man raise the gun, and he switched his attention away from Shelley toward Blue, repeating his previous orders.
When he could speak aloud again he said to Shelley, “Go on. I love you. I got you and Trevor into this mess. I’m going to get you out.”
Shelley made a moaning sound. “Matt, I love you. I can’t leave you.”
“You have to save our son. That’s what’s important.”
She moaned again, then pulled open the door and dashed into the cabin. Scooping up her boy, she held him tightly against her chest, then eased away so that she could pull on his coat.
Seconds later, she was outside carrying Trevor.
Matt saw the man’s gaze swing from him to the fleeing woman and child.
“Nooo! Come back, you bitch. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
As Blue roared his protest, Matt felt the kidnapper make a superhuman effort to wrench away from the mental vise that kept him in place.
Matt hadn’t expected that kind of resistance, and it took all of his power to keep the guy from breaking free and lunging toward Trevor.
“Go!” he shouted to Shelley.
She gave him an agonized look.
“Go, before it’s too late.”
After another second’s hesitation, she started running with Trevor back the way they’d come.
Trevor was crying and calling “Mommy. Mommy.”
SHELLEY CLUTCHED her son to her breast, fighting not to cry. She’d come to Matt because he’d been her only hope of getting Trevor back. And he’d done it. He’d done it!
A cry of anger and frustration rose from the depths of her soul.
“Mommy, what’s wrong, Mommy?”
“It’s all right.”
“Who is that man, the one who came with you?”
“He’s your daddy.”
The boy gasped. “My daddy?”
“Oh, honey.”
All she could do was keep running through the woods, back toward the car.
MATT DASHED from the window to the open doorway where he had a better line of sight to the kidnapper, determined to hold the bastard in place as long as he could.
Long enough for Shelley and Trevor to get away. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to survive this encounter. Eventually the man would fight off the mental compulsion. Then he’d start shooting.
Could Matt run into the woods and hide before that happened? Maybe, but he’d leave a trail of prints in the snow, just like the ones they’d made on the way up here.
Seconds ticked by, as he and the man faced each other. The mental struggle wasn’t something anyone could see, but Matt could feel the silent fight.
The two opponents glared at each other.
To Matt’s shock, the man spoke. “I’ll get you.”
“I’ll take that chance,” he answered. “What do you want with my son?”
“He’s an important part of a research project.”
“The hell he is.”
It was hard to keep up the conversation and keep his attention on fixing the man in place. Maybe that was the kidnapper’s objective—to distract Matt.
It looked as though it was working, because the man took a step forward.
Matt redoubled his efforts, praying he was giving Shelley and Trevor enough time to get away.