by Susan Stoker
Hey Dane. I wanted to let you know that I’m on my way out to check an address. There were two books checked out by the same person recently and I think maybe this person is up to no good. I don’t even know if the address is a real one, the person probably made it up. But don’t worry, even if it is real, I’m not going to talk to anyone. I’m just going to drive by and verify the address. I’ll tell you more about everything when I get back. I should be home around five. I hope your day with Steve is going okay and nothing has freaked you out today. If it has, don’t get sad about it. I’m sure Steve will have your back. Anyway, I’m looking forward to having sex with you tonight. Did you know that when people have sex their inner nose swells up? Scientists think it’s because of increased blood flow. I’m interested to see if it’s true or not…okay, I’m off. And don’t worry, I’m being safe. Bye.
* * *
Putting the phone in the holder on the dash, Bryn kept one eye on the small screen, making sure she was turning at the right times.
Heading down the one-lane gravel path that should be the driveway of the house she was looking for, if it existed, and if her directions were correct, Bryn couldn’t help but feel nervous. Her quest for knowledge had sometimes gotten her in trouble, but this time she was being smart. She’d told Dane where she was going, and she’d turn around if she saw a house of any sort.
Her car bumped and rattled down the long driveway until she came to a stop in front of a ramshackle building. It didn’t really look like a house anyone actually lived in, but it was rural Idaho. It wasn’t as if there were mansions down every gravel road. There was also a large garage-type building, built out of what looked like a massive pipe which had been cut in half.
She sat in her car, curiosity warring with her need to be smart and safe. She rolled down her window and didn’t hear anything but the sound of the wind through the trees and birds chirping.
She shivered. A feeling of something not being right shooting through her.
Bryn immediately put the car in reverse to get the hell out of there, when the sound of a shotgun cocking had her spinning around.
A man stood next to her open window with the barrel of a shotgun pointed at the ground.
In some ways, he reminded her of Mr. Jasper. His hair was too long, badly in need of a wash, and he was tall and slender. But that’s where the similarities ended. While Mr. Jasper looked wary, this man looked bat-shit crazy.
His eyes were narrowed in suspicion and she could see the evil in their depths. His hands and face were filthy, caked with dirt and who knew what else, and the unkempt black beard made him look even more sinister.
He was younger than Mr. Jasper, probably closer to mid-thirties. His voice was low and menacing…and she knew down to the marrow of her bones she was in deep trouble.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Bryn wanted to turn back time, even only if by a few minutes. She shouldn’t have turned down the driveway. Once she’d realized there probably wasn’t a house at the address she’d looked up at the library, she should’ve just turned around and gone back to Rathdrum. Told Dane what she’d found. He would’ve let her know if she was on to something, if the person who’d checked out the books was harmless or not.
But it was too late now.
“Uh…I’m Bryn…I seem to be lost. I must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere. I was turned around. I’ll just be on my way.”
“Oh you made a wrong turn somewhere for sure, girly. Get out of the car. Now.”
She didn’t want to. Really didn’t want to. But when he raised the shotgun and pointed it at her, she knew she didn’t have a choice. She was smart. Maybe she could talk her way out of this. She wanted to reach across the car and grab her cell phone. Call Dane. But as she moved, the man took a step closer to her and she could see his finger twitch on the trigger.
“Okay, okay. I’m getting out,” Bryn said softly, opening her car door and stepping out. She kept her eyes on the man in front of her, and his gun, and didn’t dare look at anything else.
She didn’t understand the head movement he made…he jerked his head to the left and then nodded once.
Bryn didn’t see the person come up behind her, and knew nothing else when she fell unconscious to the ground.
* * *
Dane climbed back into Miss May with a tired grunt. He was out of shape. Four hours following Steve around, bending and holding pipes while the other man checked fittings and connections and looked for the reasons why a large stovetop or refrigerator wasn’t working, had worked muscles he hadn’t used in quite a while.
He made a vow to start running and getting back into shape. He knew he’d let himself go for far too long. Truck had tried to tell him to get off his ass, but he hadn’t listened. Now that Steve had officially offered him the part-time position, he was excited about returning to his pre-injury fitness level.
Leaning over and opening the glove compartment, Dane grabbed his cell. He hadn’t wanted to be distracted while working, and had wanted to put his best foot forward for what might’ve been his future boss.
Smiling when he saw he had a message from Bryn, Dane clicked to listen—and immediately felt uneasy. It was obvious she truly hadn’t understood how dangerous preppers could be. And he knew her. There was no way she was going to be able to simply drive by an address if she thought there might actually be a bunker located on the premises.
He grinned momentarily at her nose comment, and could imagine her wanting to shove her finger up his nose to measure whether or not his inner nose had swelled while they had sex, but his concern for her quickly overrode any amusement he might feel about her quirkiness.
He dialed her number and waited, but it went straight to voicemail. He left a quick message for her to call him as soon as she got the message, but had no intention of waiting for her to get back to him. He put the truck in gear and headed through Rathdrum toward her apartment.
Bryn’s car wasn’t in the lot, so he turned his truck around and headed for the library. Her car wasn’t there either, but this time he parked and headed inside the building. It was closing time, but he had just enough time to get inside and see if Bryn had talked to anyone before she’d left.
Dane had a bad feeling about the whole situation. It was the same feeling he’d had right before his unit had set out to investigate reports of insurgents in the area before they’d run over the IED. He’d made himself a promise when he’d woken up in the hospital in Germany that if he ever had the feeling again, he wouldn’t dismiss it as simply being paranoid.
The door dinged as Dane entered the public building and made his way straight to the circulation desk. He didn’t even wait for the woman sitting there, he thought her name was Bonnie, to ask if she could help him. He’d met her a few times, but wasn’t interested in sharing pleasantries at the moment.
“Did you see Bryn today?”
“Hey, Dane. Yeah, she was here earlier. Why?”
“She’s not answering her phone and I’m worried about her.”
Bonnie looked relieved. “Oh, well, she probably just got distracted by something. She does that a lot.”
Dane was shaking his head before she’d gotten halfway through her sentence. “No. It’s more than that this time.”
Bonnie looked uncomfortable for the first time. Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip before saying, “Maybe I should have you talk to Rosie.”
“Yes, please,” Dane agreed immediately, knowing the head librarian would be able to help him faster than the college student who usually sat at the front desk.
Bonnie stood up and backed away, keeping him in her sights, until she got to a doorway behind her. Then she spun on her three-inch black heels and disappeared through the door.
Dane fought the urge to pace, barely. He felt the seconds ticking by as if in slow motion. Every second he stood here in the library was one more second Bryn could be in danger. He didn’t know it for sure yet, maybe the address she was checking out would turn ou
t to be nothing, but somehow he didn’t think so. He had no idea how or when she’d become so important to him, but there was no denying it.
Rosie Peterman came out of the door behind the counter. “Hi, Dane, can I help you?”
“Hey, Rosie. I have reason to believe that Bryn is in trouble. She’s been fascinated lately by the prepper lifestyle. I took her to meet with a man who has a bunker, and I’m afraid it only fueled her quest to learn more. I know this is unusual, but we both know Bryn, she doesn’t exactly see dangers when she’s lost in her quest for knowledge. Can you help me figure out what she looked up and whose address she found?”
The head librarian nodded regally. “I do know. Her love of information is what makes her an exceptional employee. And yes, I’ve had to remind her to focus on her job rather than looking through books she’s shelving more than once. Follow me. We’ll see what we can find. We can start by reviewing the security video…see what she did when she was here.”
Dane glanced at his watch as he followed the woman. He instinctively knew he didn’t have a lot of time to search for the address, but since it was the only way he’d find Bryn, he’d do it. He just hoped she could hang on until he could track her down.
* * *
Bryn picked up her head from where it rested on her chest and moaned at the pain that shot through it. Her neck ached from the odd angle it had been resting and her head hurt…she wasn’t sure why, just that it did. She tried to open her eyes, but squeezed them shut again at the bright light that pierced into her pupils, making her head throb even harder.
“The prisoner is awake.”
Bryn didn’t understand what in the world the voice meant, so she cautiously lifted her eyelids a fraction of an inch, wanting to see where she was and what was going on.
The bright light shining down on her from above and in front of her kept her from being able to see anything. “W-where am I?” she stuttered.
“We ask the questions here, not you. Who are you and what were you doing on my property?”
Swallowing hard, Bryn licked her dry lips in vain, her mouth not able to produce any saliva to bring relief to her parched skin. “I’m Bryn. I was lost.” She decided to stick to the story she’d used when she first saw him. “Did you hit me?”
“We ask the questions here.” This time the words were decidedly feminine. “Who do you work for?”
“The library. I work at the library.”
Bryn screeched as ice-cold water drenched her from head to toe. She tried to wrench her hands up to block the second bucketful, but found her arms tied tightly behind her. Gasping at the second, and just as cold, unasked-for shower, she could only blink the water out of her eyes and tug futilely at her bonds.
“Try again.” It was the man’s voice.
Bryn squinted, but wasn’t able to see anything past the bright light in her eyes. It was as if she was standing on a stage and had a spotlight on her. The room was dark except for the lights. She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing the jeans and T-shirt she’d put on that morning before heading to the library.
She’d known it when she’d first seen the house, but now her bad decision was being reinforced all that much more. She shouldn’t have tried to find out if the address was real or not. She should’ve gone straight to Dane…or even the cops. She thought back to not only Dane’s conversation, but the many chats she’d had with the men and women online, about the differences between a prepper who wanted to be left alone and the dangerous men who could be living in and around their rural town. Guess she’d found out for herself how right they all were.
But at least she’d called Dane and told him where she was going.
She groaned. Shit. She hadn’t actually given him the address. She’d told him she was checking it out, but not where she was going.
She was in deep shit—and it was all her fault. For someone as smart as she was supposed to be, she sure had been stupid.
“My name is Bryn Hartwell. I really do work at the library,” she told the man. “I’m a nobody. I’m a big nerd and I met a prepper the other day and it made me more interested in the lifestyle. I was just driving around the countryside checking out different properties that were for sale and got lost. That’s it. That’s all it is.”
“Who did you meet with? Was it Frank?”
Bryn’s mind spun. Who the hell is Frank? The man didn’t give her a chance to answer.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re just another government spy who’s here to make sure I don’t carry out my life’s work! It’s my destiny. The United States government is brainwashing its citizens. They’re watching us all the time. They know every move we make. They won’t let us worship who we want and they definitely don’t want any other countries to worship the way they want. It has to stop. And the majority of the citizens just go right along with it! They don’t care, goin’ about their business, not caring about the slaughter their country is conducting, all in the name of national security. Who are you working for? The CIA? The FBI?”
“No!” Bryn responded immediately. “No one. I’m just me.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not, I swear!” Bryn struggled to get free again, wanting nothing more than to start the day over and not make the incredibly stupid decision to go looking for that address by herself.
“Do you want me to go take care of her car now?” the female asked in a low, trembling voice.
“Well, Bryn, I don’t know who you really are, but I’ll find out,” the man told her. “I’ve worked too hard and long to get where I am, and to set up the op I’ve got planned, to let a nosy female ruin it all. Just goes to show the only thing a female is good for is having babies and keeping house, like my woman does. She doesn’t go where she’s not wanted and does exactly as she’s told. When the Taliban takes over this country, they’ll make sure women learn their place. Don’t go anywhere, you hear? I’ll be back, and you had better be prepared to answer my questions. You don’t want to know what I’ll do if you don’t cooperate.”
Bryn heard footsteps then the clang of a door, then nothing.
She had no idea where she was, but knew she was in big trouble. She shivered in the cool air and shook her head, trying to get a piece of wet hair that was stuck to her cheek off her face. It didn’t budge. She hung her head in defeat at her hopeless situation.
But then her sense of self-preservation kicked in. She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for the elusive Mr. Smith to torture her more.
She spent several minutes trying to get her hands loose from her bonds, but only succeeded in hurting her wrists. Her ankles were also secured to the legs of the wooden chair she sat in. The lights shining down on her hurt her eyes, so she shut them and tried to think.
Her phone was still in her car, as long as Mr. Smith and his wife hadn’t found it and smashed it. Maybe Dane could find her that way. She hadn’t really told anyone in the library what she was doing, but had logged into the library computer system. Dane was smart. Maybe he could track her activity and figure out the address that way.
She huffed out a breath that was half sob, half laugh. It wasn’t as if Dane was a computer genius. He was smart, but she had no idea if he would even think to track her that way. The phone company could follow the pings from the cell phone towers she passed, but by the time he figured out to do that, it might be too late for her anyway. Figured just when she was finally looking forward to spending the night with a man, she’d do something to screw it up.
Relaxing her neck muscles, she rested her head on the back of the chair. She kept her eyes closed and took a deep breath, forcing her tears away. Crying wouldn’t help her now. The only thing she had to rely on was her brain. She’d have to talk her way out of this somehow. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. Dane wasn’t going to swoop in and magically rescue her from her own stupidity. She should’ve listened to him, but it was a moot point now. She was on her own.
Chapter Twenty
“So she spent some time on the computer, then left.” Dane asked, “Is there a way to see what she was looking at?”
Rosie shook her head. “Not really. I mean, all of the employees have a separate login, and I’m sure someone who’s good at computers could probably do it, but I don’t know how.”
“I might be able to help.”
Dane turned to the door and saw the woman he’d talked to earlier standing there. He racked his brain for her name and finally remembered it. “Bonnie, right?”
She nodded. “I’m majoring in computer science down at the University of Idaho. I had a class last semester on tracking logins and keystroke monitoring. I’m not sure I can help, I only got a B in the class, but I’m willing to try.”
“Anything at this point would be extremely helpful. I’m going to step outside and make a call, but please let me know if you find anything,” Dane told the women.
“Of course,” Rosie replied, already focused on the screen as Bonnie started working.
Dane dialed his phone as he stalked out of the quiet library. “Come on, come on,” he muttered as the phone rang in his ear.
“Yo! How’s it goin’, Dane?”
“I need your help.” He didn’t beat around the bush. If anyone could help him find out what Bryn had gotten herself into, it’d be Truck and his connections.
“Sitrep.”
“Bryn’s missing. She told me she was checking out an address of someone who’d taken out some books at the library, but didn’t tell me where. She’s not answering her phone. It goes straight to voicemail.”
“You call Tex?”
“No. I wanted to get in touch with you first. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this, Truck.”
“Give me her number and I’ll call Tex.”
Dane immediately recited it to Truck. Having him talk with Tex would leave him free to concentrate on whatever was going on here.
“What’s she drive?” Truck asked.