Caitlin's role in Kyle’s death was obvious and Evan swore to get revenge. Kidnapping the little girl was certainly an effective way to bring his family to their knees. Although Evan was a possibility, they were operating under the assumption she had gotten lost in the forest. The night before, they’d poured over the map of the area creating a grid pattern that they would follow.
Albert was given the quadrant closest to the lodge. His knee was on the mend but after walking around on rough terrain for a day, he would be laid up in bed tomorrow.
Chase, Jack and Wyatt were all going to fan out over the mountain. With a plan in place, they all felt a little better. Rosie insisted they stay positive. No one wanted to accept the possibility that she could be seriously injured or captured.
Everyone was outfitted with a whistle and a flare gun. If they found her, they were to start with the whistle but if they didn’t get a response, then shooting a flare into the air would be the next option. They didn't want to risk anyone staying out longer than they had to.
Ryland came bounding down the stairs, dressed and ready to go. He would be teaming with Albert. Jack had made him put on a bright orange hunting vest that had belonged to Dale Morris, the family patriarch who had died trying to protect his family. It was much too big, but it would do the trick. None of them wanted to take the chance of anyone else getting lost in the woods. It was the middle of September and a winter storm could strike at any time.
They quickly went over their plans for their specific search grid. Each of them would be carrying a well-stocked backpack that would see them through up to three nights out in the woods if the worst happened, as well as additional supplies to support Caitlin should they find her.
Jack insisted they keep the packs under twenty-five pounds. Ryland's was about fifteen pounds. Wyatt had explained that in a typical bug out survival situation, they would carry around forty pounds of gear. The formula was no more than twenty percent of their body weight. Since all the men were at least two hundred pounds, twenty-five pounds was very light.
They wanted to be fast on their feet and every pound in the pack would tax their energy. They had to conserve their strength in order to cover the miles in their respective search grid. If their packs were too heavy, it could throw them off balance, which would only make the situation far worse.
They had spent an hour the night before carefully packing the most essential gear. Water was an absolute necessity. Caitlin would need water when they found her. Jack, Wyatt, and Chase were going to be the farthest from the cabin and from safe drinking water. They intended to carry a gallon each just in case one of them found Caitlin, but after a lot of debate, realized it was simply too heavy.
A single gallon of water weighed eight pounds. Even distributing it in several water bottles was too much weight. They opted to carry half a gallon each along with purification tablets they could use since there was plenty of water to be found on the mountain; especially after the rainstorm last night. Old tree stumps were plentiful in the forest, which often served as natural water basins. There would also be plenty of little creeks around the area to draw water from.
They ate quickly and drank plenty of water. They needed to be hydrated and fueled. The oats provided plenty of B vitamins that would give them the energy they needed and like Rosie always said, it stuck to the ribs.
Wyatt went upstairs to find his mom. She was busy looking at her medical books again.
“You headed out?” she asked looking up from her book.
“Yep. I gave Megan a pill about one this morning. Please make her take another one.”
Rosie smiled, “Oh, she will get a pill one way or another.”
Megan was as stubborn as he was when it came to the people she loved. But he knew his mom would do everything she could to keep Megan in bed and comfortable.
“Thanks, mom.”
She stood and gave him a quick, tight hug.
“Be careful, please. You will find her.”
“Damn straight I will.”
9
Caitlin cracked her eyes open before quickly shutting them again. Her arms weren’t moving so well but she managed to lift her left hand so she could rub at her face before opening her eyes again to a dark room. Rolling to her side, she sat up slowly only to end up leaning against the wall gasping for breath as pain shot through her.
“Mom!” she cried out, hoping her mom would make it better.
She cried out when she tried to shift her feet. Pulling the blanket back, she saw that her right foot was wrapped in a bandage. She reached to touch it, but her right arm still wouldn't move.
Her head felt fuzzy but she managed to look down at her arm and saw it was handcuffed to a small metal ring attached to the floor. Tugging uselessly at the cuff, she panicked; calling out for her mom as the tears fell.
Where was she? Where was Wyatt? Or Ryland?
In an instant, everything came flooding back. She and her mom had been hunting. When the storm came, they both fell and her mom was hurt bad. Caitlin remembered the blood on her mom's face, which started a new round of crying.
She remembered trying to walk back toward the lodge when something snapped around her ankle. It had felt like a hundred knives were cutting into her skin and she couldn't move. Falling to the ground, she tried to pry open the steel jaws that had snapped around her foot. Caitlin knew what it was. She had helped her mom set traps in the summer.
The trap that had her was much bigger than anything her mom used. Caitlin knew there was a trick to opening it, but the pain had made it hard for her to remember. The memory triggered another memory. Her stomach had been cut and bleeding.
Caitlin lifted her shirt and gasped when she saw the neat little row of stitches that stretched from her chest to her belly. She remembered landing on a tree stump during her fall down the hill. The cut had hurt, but her mom's bloody face had scared her too much to think much about it.
She knew she had to find Wyatt. Rosie would fix the cut on her stomach. While she was walking, she had stepped in the trap. She had been on the ground, trying to free her foot when she heard a voice.
Someone had bent down and opened the trap. Who? It wasn't her mom or anyone else from her family. That person must have taken her here.
They would be looking for her. Caitlin wasn't sure how long she had been in this dark place, but she knew Wyatt and her mom would be coming to get her very soon.
Caitlin froze when she heard a noise at the door. Someone was coming! She quickly lay back down on the bed, using her free hand to pull the covers up around her. Caitlin didn't move a muscle when she heard the door open.
Footsteps crossed the tiny room. Caitlin could hear someone breathing. The person didn't say a word. Her curiosity got the best of her and she barely opened her right eye to get a peek. It was a woman with a tray of food in her hand, which she placed on the floor.
When the woman turned to get something out of the drawer of the bedside table, Caitlin got a good look. She was tall and skinny and she could see glasses on her face. She also noticed the gun holstered at her waist. At home, they always put the guns away; no one wore them in the house.
The woman stood and turned back to Caitlin.
Caitlin squeezed her eyes shut and feigned sleep again.
“I know you’re awake. You need to try to eat something so you can get better,” the woman told her.
Caitlin didn't answer or move.
“I'm going to take off the handcuff, okay? But, it’s very important you stay still. You don't want to rip those stitches out.”
The woman undid the cuff that held Caitlin's wrist and gently rubbed the area where the cuff had been.
“Stay put and I won't have to put the cuff back on.”
Caitlin laid perfectly still for several minutes after the woman left. Her mom had warned her in the past about kidnappers and what to do if someone tried to snatch her. But this was different. She was injured and she didn't remember much of anything, including how
she got here. She didn't get to use any of the things her mom had taught her like paying attention to her surroundings and the people kidnapping her.
The reality of her situation started to sink in. She was kidnapped in the woods. Her mom wouldn't be able to call the police and no one would find her. Caitlin wondered what would happen to her. Horrible images flashed through her mind.
All she could do was cry.
“Please, mom, come get me,” she whispered into the room. “I'm so scared. Please don't leave me here.”
10
Chase and Jack set out in their designated directions. Wyatt walked with Ryland and Albert until it came time for him to split off. Right now would have been a great time to have two-way radios. Unfortunately, while the ones they had still worked, the batteries were dead. They had been scouring every house, store and shop on each of the trips into town, but had yet to find batteries to fit.
He knew they would be hard to come by but he thought for sure they would find some. In the spring, they were planning to head east to see what they could find. They had pretty much searched all the small towns in the area and had made it into the outskirts of Spokane on several occasions. They were all picked clean.
Wyatt's mind wandered as he walked along, looking down at the ground. He was looking for footprints but it was impossible. The rain had washed everything away. He was losing hope.
He didn't care how long it took, how cold it got or how much it rained; he was going to find her. She was going to be just fine. There was a cool breeze whipping through the trees as the sun came over the horizon. The weather was getting much colder the closer they got to winter. If Caitlin were in the woods on her own, she wouldn't survive the cold temperatures much longer.
Megan woke up when she heard the men leave. The pain shot through her body, reminding her what had happened the day before and an involuntary groan escaped her lips.
Rosie appeared at the doorway as if she had been hovering nearby. “I thought you would be up soon. Do you need to use the bathroom?”
Megan did, but was not looking forward to moving her leg.
Rosie left and came right back carrying Albert's crutches. “I adjusted them so they should work perfect for you. I know it’s going to hurt, but getting up and moving will actually help you a little.”
Megan wished she could jump out of bed and be her normal self. Her ankle was preventing her from looking for Caitlin and it was seriously ticking her off.
Rosie helped her to the bathroom and then back to bed. By the time she laid down, she was breathing heavy. The pain was severe, but she refused to give in. Mind over matter is what her dad always said.
After a quick check of her toes, Rosie declared all was well.
“I'm going to get you another Percocet.”
When Megan tried to refuse, Rosie held up her hand.
“You need the rest, Megan. One more pill and then we will see how you are doing. The guys are out looking. There is nothing you can do but sit here and heal. Caitlin will not be happy to see you miserable.”
Megan wanted to argue, to tell her to save the pills for when they had a real emergency but the pain really was brutal. She figured she would take a pill, sleep a few hours and when she woke up again, Caitlin would be waiting to talk her ear off.
“Thank you, Rosie. I'm sorry I'm being difficult.”
The older woman smiled, “No, Wyatt was difficult when he was injured. You are just fine. I'll get the pill and something for you to take it with.”
Megan ate a few bites of the oatmeal Rosie delivered and swallowed her pill like a good patient. She closed her eyes and imagined holding Caitlin in her arms. She drifted off to sleep knowing Caitlin would be there when she woke up.
Wyatt was so frustrated he wanted to punch something. The sun was setting and no one had shot a flare up. No Caitlin. He couldn't believe this was happening. How did an eight-year-old simply disappear without a trace?
He heard Chase coming before he saw him.
“What the hell, Wyatt?”
Wyatt shook his head, “I don't know.”
“We have scoured this area. She couldn't have disappeared. Are we dealing with a kidnapping here?”
Again, Wyatt shrugged his shoulders. It was looking that way, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions. They had to widen their search. Caitlin could have wandered away and kept going in the wrong direction.
The two men started walking with no particular direction in mind. They were lost in their own thoughts when Wyatt focused on a Grand Fir tree that was surrounded by a group of Douglas firs. It stood out because of its height but what drew Wyatt's attention was the shelter it created underneath its boughs.
Chase followed Wyatt's stare and quickly understood.
Both men jogged to the area. They found a length of gauze with blood on it.
“This could be from Caitlin,” Wyatt said picking it up and scanning the area expecting to see Caitlin. Nothing.
Chase seemed confused. “I thought Megan said she didn't have a first aid kit with her?”
Wyatt shook his head, “She didn't.”
Both men took a moment to process what the bloody bandage meant. It could have nothing to do with Caitlin. Wyatt hoped it was simply a coincidence.
“This could be from anyone,” Chase stated the obvious.
What were the chances of someone being out here, bleeding, without anyone from their group knowing? He thought about that for a few seconds, it was actually very plausible. There were people wandering all over the mountain, in search of food and shelter.
Wyatt squatted and carefully studied the area under the tree. He finally found what he was looking for. Footprints. Walking to the prints, being careful not to disturb them, he dropped to his knees like Megan had taught him to do when he was tracking an animal.
It was best to get as close to the print as possible to identify all of the details. When tracking animals, the smallest detail mattered. Megan had told him to put the track between him and the sun. Unfortunately, the sun was going down and the trees made it difficult for the sunlight to filter through.
The track was nothing more than a heel with a light impression of the toe. It was too big to be Caitlin's. He tried to find the trail by following the direction of the print. He was rewarded with another print that was barely noticeable in the mud. Wyatt stayed low to the ground, envisioning where the next footprint would be.
There was only one set of obviously adult footprints leading out from under the tree. The trail was lost once the shield of the heavy branches was gone. Whoever it was had boots on. It could have been male or female. The print was small, suggesting that it was a woman, but there was no way to tell for sure.
“Those are pretty small. I'm thinking female,” Chase said, confirming Wyatt's own conclusion.
He walked beside the tracks he found to get a sense of the person's walking pattern. The strides were much smaller than his own were. It could be a woman or a short man. Maybe the strides were closer together because the person was carrying something heavy, like Caitlin.
When he could find no more tracks, he imitated the mystery person's stride and headed in the general direction the prints went. Chase followed. There was nothing, but more trees and the setting sun made it difficult to see too far around them.
Wyatt stood still and did what Megan told him to do; he used his senses. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath through his nose. He couldn't smell any smoke that would indicate someone had a fire nearby and he didn't hear anyone, besides Chase walking on dried leaves and snapping twigs.
He opened his eyes and scanned the area. Nothing. This part of the forest looked like every other part of the forest.
“We better head back,” Chase said breaking through the quiet.
It was almost five and the sun was well on its way out of the sky. It would be dark by the time they got back to the lodge.
As they walked, they hashed out the various possibilities.
“Assum
ing it was Caitlin who was injured, someone obviously took the time to take care of whatever injury she had. That has to be a good sign, right?” Chase asked.
Wyatt nodded, “Yeah, but why wouldn't they bring her home? Caitlin would have a general idea of where home was.”
“Maybe she was unconscious or disoriented?” Chase offered.
That thought didn't sit any better with Wyatt. He wasn't sure how Megan was going to take the news. On the one hand the bandage could mean Caitlin was alive. Injured but alive and being cared for. On the other hand someone took the injured little girl instead of trying to bring her home. Of course, there was the very real possibility it wasn't Caitlin's blood or bandage at all. The tree was quite a bit away from where the accident happened.
The tracks led to the east, which was where they assumed Evan's people camped. They had no idea if the other group had left for the winter or had found shelter to ride it out up on the mountain.
Ever since the situation with Kyle had gone down, they had been waiting for Evan to make good on his promise to avenge his brother's death. Could this be it? Would they actually stoop so low to kidnap an injured little girl?
Wyatt realized he had voiced his concerns aloud when Chase answered.
“I don't know, man. I think we need to find Evan. There is only one way to know for sure what happened.”
Megan would come unglued. Injured ankle or not, she would storm Evan's camp to get her daughter back. She would die trying to rescue her daughter.
Wyatt flipped on the headlamp he put on his forehead.
“Let's not assume the worst yet,” Wyatt said aloud, trying to calm his own fears as well as his friend's.
Chase nodded, “Got it. We'll go over the maps again and come up with another search area. At least we have a general idea of where to go.”
Wyatt saw the lodge looming through the trees. There was a faint glow in the windows on the second floor. He imagined his mom working on her puzzle by candlelight, waiting for everyone to come home. It looked so peaceful and welcoming.
EMP Lodge Series (Book 2): Dark Hunt Page 6