by D P Lyle
“Come on.” It was Kelly. She was outside. Around the corner, not ten feet from him.
“Let me get the light,” Conner said.
“Do you have the stuff?” Kelly asked. “And the tequila?”
“Yeah. Now, be quiet before you wake someone.”
The soft illumination that fell through the window suddenly died. Another thud. They were both outside now.
Morgan held his breath and readied himself, expecting them to turn the corner toward him.
“Phew,” Kelly said. “What’s that smell?”
“Probably Carlos’ compost pile. He uses it to fertilize the flowers.”
“Smells like a skunk died in it.”
“Come on,” Conner said. “Let’s get going.”
The sound of their footsteps retreated across the patio. He waited until they faded, and then peered around the corner. Kelly climbed behind the wheel of Conner’s red pick-up truck, while Conner pushed it from the rear, propelling it down the sloping drive, lights off, engine silent. As it picked up speed, Conner jumped inside, behind the wheel, Kelly sliding over to give him room.
Morgan ran around the pool deck, along the backside of the cabana, and slipped into the trees. He watched as the truck rolled silently down the slope, toward the road. As it reached the end of the drive, the engine turned over, the headlights came on, and the vehicle swung onto the paved road.
Perfect.
He knew exactly where they were going. Where they always went to drink and smoke marijuana. Where no one could see them. And no one would see him.
He turned and loped into the forest.
Chapter 52
Shelby had dozed off and on, but never really slept. She was too excited. The storm that raged by earlier had concerned her. Had it continued, it would have blown the whole deal. But, it rumbled on eastward, leaving behind a few scattered clouds, which she could see through her bedroom window as they drifted across the full moon.
An hour and a half ago, she had heard Sam and Billy leave and as far as she could tell, they had not yet returned. Her mother had gone to bed shortly after they left. Since then, the house had been silent.
Having dressed an hour earlier, she tied her boot laces, slipped on her jacket, and eased open the window. Swinging one leg and then the other over the sill, she slid to the ground. After assuring herself that the only lights on in the house were the usual living room lamp and the upstairs bathroom night-light, she headed down the winding quarter mile drive toward the road. The storm-washed night air smelled fresh and the stars seemed brighter than usual, especially when a cloud softened the moonlight.
As she walked, she could see most of the valley. Few lights, no activity, and a thick blanket of silence. An owl flew overhead, its wings whispering rhythmically, its huge eyes visible as it obviously searched the fields for mice or rabbits.
She saw a car in the distance, coming up the road. Good they’re early, she thought. When the vehicle reached the drive, it slowed and turned toward her.
They were supposed to wait at the end of the drive, not come up toward the house. The headlamps grew brighter as they approached. She glanced over her shoulder, fearing she would see lights flickering on all over the house.
She quickened her pace. Stupid, she thought. They were going to wake her mother.
Suddenly, she stopped. That wasn’t Conner’s truck. She recognized the square headlights. Sam’s Jeep.
“Damn it,” she said aloud.
She ducked low and scrambled off the road into the knee-high grass. Dropping on her stomach, she flattened herself against the ground. The water from the rain-soaked foliage seeped through the front of her jeans and shirt.
The headlights swept across the grass above her, then back the other way, as the Jeep wound its way up the drive. The crunching of the tires on the gravel grew louder. Lying only ten feet from the drive, she held her breath, fearing they had seen her and would stop. The Jeep continued past her and toward the house. She remained still until she heard the car doors close, then she rose up just enough to see Sam and Billy climb the front steps and go inside.
She stood. The night breeze drove a chill through her soaked jeans and shirt. She brushed off what surface water she could and hurried down the drive toward the main road, arriving just as Conner pulled the truck to the shoulder. She jumped inside.
“You’re soaking wet,” Kelly said, moving to the center to give her room.
“You would be too if you’d been crawling around in the weeds,” Shelby said. She told them what had happened.
“Do you think they saw you?”
“No way. They would’ve stopped.”
“Here,” Conner said. He handed her the bottle of tequila. “This’ll warm you right up.” He eased the truck into a U-turn and headed back into the depths of the valley.
Shelby grabbed the bottle, spun off the cap, and took a slug. She swallowed and exhaled loudly. “Yes. That helps.” She took another shot, then passed it to Kelly. “You guys have any trouble getting out?”
“No,” Kelly said. “Piece of cake.”
“No thanks to you,” Conner teased her. “You made enough racket to wake the dead.”
She elbowed his ribs. “But, I didn’t. We’re out and no one on Earth knows.” She took a pull from the bottle and handed it to Conner. “Let’s fire up one of those joints.”
Conner pulled one from his shirt pocket and gave it to Kelly. She lit it, took a drag, and handed it to Shelby. They passed it around until it was too small to handle. Shelby stubbed it on the bottom of her shoe and tossed it out the window.
“That feels better,” Shelby said.
Conner wheeled off the road onto a dirt track, which soon played out, leaving them bouncing and gyrating over the uneven terrain of the valley floor. The girls giggled, screamed, and hung on as Conner spun the wheel one way and then the other, the truck airborne more than once. Ten minutes later, they reached the lake. Conner skidded the truck to a stop and they piled out.
A silver slash of moonlight reflected off the water, gently rippled by the soft breeze. The pearlescent glow of the snow-capped peaks hovered above the valley.
“This is so beautiful,” Shelby said as she helped Kelly spread a blanket on the ground. They sat in a circle, lit another joint, and passed it and the tequila around, talking, laughing, getting pleasantly stoned.
Shelby lay back and stared up at the sky. “I’ve never seen so many stars. In LA, you can see about a dozen. If the smog isn’t too bad.”
Kelly lay back beside her and giggled. “Billions and billions as Carl Sagan would say.”
They all laughed, and then fell into an easy silence.
Shelby decided Conner and Kelly were way cool. Maybe living here wouldn’t be so bad. If she had her car, that is.
Conner broke the silence. “Where are you going to college next year, Shelby?”
“Probably UCLA.”
“Studying what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe English. Or writing.”
“You should come back east. Princeton.”
“I don’t have the grades for Princeton.”
“Too bad. You’d love it.”
Shelby propped up on one elbow and looked at Conner. “You must be pretty smart.”
“I make good grades, if that’s what you mean. But I have a swimming scholarship.”
“So, that’s the ticket,” Shelby said.
“It helps.” He stood. “I’m going to get another joint from the truck.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “Yeah. That’s what we need. I’m completely mangled as it is.”
“Me, too,” Kelly said. “But what the hell. We can always get more wasted.”
Shelby lay back again and laced her hands behind her head. She felt completely relaxed. She heard Conner open and then close the truck door. Then, a thump and a groan. She and Kelly sat up at the same time.
Conner lay on the ground by the truck. A massive creature with long wild hair stood ov
er him.
Both girls screamed.
“Shut up,” he growled. He stepped toward them. “Hello, Kelly,” he said, his voice coarse and raspy.
Kelly took in a sharp breath. “How do you know who I am?”
“Don’t you recognize me?”
Shelby looked at Kelly, whose eyes were wide with fear.
Kelly shook her head.
“I’m Morgan.”
“No,” she said. “You couldn’t be.”
“But, I am.” He looked at Shelby. “And, who are you?”
She couldn’t speak. Her heart hammered against her chest. The odor that surrounded the creature was overpowering and seemed to thicken the air, making it difficult to breathe. She looked around, searching for some escape. She was in the middle of an open field. No trees, no place to hide, only the lake. The thought that maybe the man couldn’t swim crossed her mind, but she rejected it. She wasn’t the best swimmer in the world either.
“I said, who are you?” He took another step toward them.
“Shelby. Shelby Cameron.”
The moonlight brightened as a cloud slid from its face. Shelby saw the man’s blue eyes and his smile peeked through his beard.
“You’re the swimmer,” he said.
“What?”
“I saw you swimming in Aspen Creek a few days ago.”
Oh God, Shelby thought. He had watched her. Swimming naked. Getting stoned.
“You’re new here,” he said.
Shelby swallowed her heart back into her chest. “Visiting. My mom‘s Alyss Cameron. She owns an inn here.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Sam Cody. She your mom’s friend?”
How did this guy know that? “Yes.”
“Billy? Is he still at your house?”
Shelby didn’t know what to say. She stared at him afraid to say anything.
“It’s OK. I sent him there.”
Shelby couldn’t be sure in the darkness, but it appeared as if he smiled from behind his thick beard.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Just do as I say and everything will work out.” He looked at Kelly. “You’ll go with Conner and me. In the truck.” He turned to Shelby. “You go home. Tell Sam and Billy I’ll be at the Glenross Mine as planned.”
“But...” Shelby began.
“Get going. You have a two mile hike ahead of you.” He grabbed Kelly by the arm and led her toward the truck.
Kelly tried to pull away. “Please, let me go,” she sobbed. She dropped to her knees, but Morgan yanked her back to her feet.
“Don’t hurt her,” Shelby said.
He pulled Kelly to him. “She’s not the one I want.”
“Then, leave her here with me. Please.”
“Look, Conner’s too big for me to carry very far. After she drives us over near Crystal Falls, I’ll let her go,” Morgan said.
“What about Conner?” Shelby asked.
“He goes with me.”
*
As the truck moved away, a thick cloud slid across the moon, leaving Shelby in a deepening darkness. Panic rose in her chest, squeezing air from her lungs. The marijuana and her own fear dried her mouth and her tongue felt as if it had swelled and lodged in her throat.
She spun around, looking for something, anything familiar. Where was she? Which way was home?
Get a grip, Shelby. Think.
Retrace the route Conner had driven. Back to the main road and follow it toward town. But, Conner hadn’t really followed a road or trail or anything, but rather had zigzagged all over the place getting here. Why hadn’t she paid more attention? She again spun around, looking at the ghostly peaks that surrounded her. Which one did her mother’s inn back up against? They all looked the same.
She dropped to her knees. Tears sprang into her eyes. She couldn’t do this. She was cold and lost. And what if a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion found her. She sobbed into her hands.
Then, she remembered what Burt had said the day they rode horses near here. Look for the notch in the peaks. That’s west, toward town. Toward home.
She jumped to her feet and again scanned the peaks. The notch, clearly visible.
Shelby ran.
She ran until her legs ached and her lungs burned. She ran until her stomach knotted and acid climbed into her chest. She ran until she had to stop and vomit, bile and tequila scorching her throat. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she dropped to all fours. She retched until nothing else came up. Until she was sure her stomach would burst. Finally, the violent convulsions subsided.
She struggled to her feet and ran again.
*
Kelly could barely see through her tears. Morgan had tied Conner hands, tossed him in the back of the truck, and then sat beside her as he directed her to drive across the meadow.
“There,” he said, pointing toward the forest that climbed up the slope. “Stop near that stand of aspens.”
Kelly did as he said.
He jumped from the truck and hoisted the unconscious Conner over one shoulder. He walked around to the driver’s side window. “Here.” He shoved the note he had scribbled through the window at her.
She took it. “What’s this?”
“Give it to Burt. Tell him I have Conner and if he wants to see him again to come to the Glenross Mine. Alone. Unarmed. Understand?”
Kelly sniffed back tears and nodded.
She watched as Morgan turned and lumbered into the trees, Conner draped limply over his shoulder.
Chapter 53
The sound of someone bursting through the front door yanked Sam from a fitful sleep. Momentarily disoriented, she sat up in bed and scanned the room.
“Mom. Mom.” Shelby’s voice came through the door followed by the pounding of footsteps racing up the stairs.
Sam grabbed her .357 from the bedside table as she rolled out of bed. She yanked open the door to her room just as Billy stepped out into the hallway.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Sam said.
She looked up as Alyss and Shelby came down the stairs. Alyss appeared as confused as Sam felt.
Shelby’s eyes were wide and glazed, her skin pale and frosted with sweat, her black hair, shiny with moisture, molded itself to her head like a swimmer’s cap. Only one Big Bird hair clip remained.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
“It’s Conner,” Shelby said. “That Morgan person took him.”
“What?” Sam asked.
“He took him.”
Alyss looked her daughter up and down, from her muddied boots to her pale and drawn face, and seemed to notice Shelby’s disheveled look for the first time. “What are you talking about? Where have you been?”
Stumbling over the words that tumbled rapid fire from her mouth, Shelby told them of her sneaking out and meeting with Conner and Kelly. Of them going up to the lake. Of Morgan knocking Conner unconscious.
“What about Kelly?” Sam asked.
“He said he would let her go after she drove them to Crystal Falls.”
Billy looked at Sam. “The Glenross Mine is near there.”
“That’s it,” Sam said. “He’s taken Conner as a bargaining chip. And Kelly will tell Burt and her dad and they’ll go after him. And if we bring the State Patrol guys, Morgan will have everybody in one place.”
“Clever,” Billy said.
“Maybe, too clever,” Sam said. “You can bet Burt’ll try to put an end to this before the state boys can get here.”
“But, if Morgan has Conner, how can he?” Billy said.
“One thing I’ve learned is that Mister Eagan is very resourceful.”
“Let’s get some clothes on and get going,” Billy said. “Morgan’s going to need us.”
Sam retreated to her room, stripped off her nightshirt, and tugged on her jeans and a sweatshirt. She returned to the kitchen, where Alyss and Shelby sat at the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry,” Shelby said.
Al
yss shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later.” She looked at Sam. “What can I do?”
“Keep the spare gun I gave you close at hand and lock up. Nobody but me, Billy, or the CBI people gets through the door. OK?”
Alyss nodded. “But, I don’t know if I can actually fire a gun.”
“It’s point and shoot,” Sam said. “Like a camera.”
“But...”
“But, nothing.” Sam laid her hand on Alyss’ arm. “We have to leave. You have to protect yourself. And Shelby. You can do it.”
Billy entered, dressed in his freshly washed clothes. “Let’s go.”
“Let me call the State Patrol first,” Sam said. “Bring them up to date. With a kidnapping, maybe they’ll take things a little more seriously.”
Sam called the CBI Field Office in Montrose. She refused to speak with the duty officer and demanded that the dispatcher put her through to Captain Harold Baker. After assuring the operator that she was indeed a law officer and convincing her that the captain was expecting her call, the dispatcher connected her to Captain Baker’s home. His voice was thick with sleep when he answered.
After Sam told him who she was and what was happening, he said, “Chief Wade called me yesterday. Said all this was nothing and that he’d handle it. Are you working with him?”
“Not exactly. In fact, he’s part of the problem.” Sam briefly explained Wade’s involvement in the situation.
“Look, I’ve known Forrest Wade for twenty years. He’s not the most enthusiastic cop I know, but he’s not a criminal like you suggest either.”
“From what I see,” Sam said, “No one around here is very enthusiastic about law enforcement.”
“Now, you listen here missy...”
“It’s Deputy, Captain. Deputy Samantha Cody.
“Well, you just listen up and...”
“No, you listen. I don’t have time to sit here and argue with you about the merits of Forrest Wade or your chauvinistic attitudes. Now, there are going to be some bodies around here to deal with unless you get your ass out of bed and get down here. Clear?”
She heard him grunt as if sitting up in bed. “Goddamn it,” he growled. “Just who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”