You Will Never Leave: A psychological suspense thriller

by Hinkens, N. L.

  Matt let out a long, low whistle. "Does it say anything else?"

  Blair shook her head. "That’s it. It’s only part of an article torn from a newspaper." She pulled out her phone and took a quick picture of it.

  "I’ll ask Sam about it," Rob said, heading for the door. "I’m done searching the bathroom."

  "Wait! I’m not so sure that’s a good idea," Matt replied, rubbing his brow. "Let’s think this through. Why didn't Sam mention this?"

  "To be fair, he did tell us his friend died in a climbing accident," Blair said.

  Matt scowled. "Yeah, he just left out the part about the accident being under investigation."

  "Can’t say I blame the guy," Rob said. "Why would he tell a bunch of strangers that?"

  Matt squared his jaw. "Maybe he’s guilty. Who else could have tampered with the equipment but him?"

  For a long moment no one spoke, and then Blair said, "If he was guilty, he would have been arrested by now."

  "Not necessarily," Rob said. "Not unless they have sufficient evidence to prove it. Otherwise it's a circumstantial case."

  "He could be on the run," Matt suggested. "I knew there was something off about him the first time I set eyes on him."

  "That’s ridiculous! I can’t believe Sam had anything to do with it," Blair protested. "He’s gutted about his friend’s death. And I don’t blame him for not wanting to talk about the grisly details. Being accused of having had a hand in it must have been devastating. It's no wonder he took off in his trailer by himself. And it explains why he's so protective of his privacy. I wouldn't trust people either if they accused me of killing my friend."

  Matt rubbed a hand over his jaw. "I think it’s best if we don’t mention that we found the article, for now. We’ve got enough on our hands with Logan to deal with. The last thing I want to do is make an enemy of Sam too, or make him think we suspect he’s the killer."

  Blair arched a brow at him. "Well, we don't, do we?"

  Before Matt had a chance to answer, the door opened and Whitney entered the trailer. Her flushed face had been scrubbed clean of makeup and she wore a look of chastened resignation. "I’m here to help with the search."

  "We're just wrapping up in here," Blair said brightly. "We’re heading over to our trailer next. Why don't you let Sam know we’ll be right out."

  Whitney nodded and dutifully trekked back down the steps.

  "So we’re in agreement?" Matt said in a low tone, his gaze flitting from Rob to Blair. "We keep this to ourselves for now."

  Blair gave an affirming nod.

  Rob shrugged. "Fine with me."

  Matt switched off the lights and headed to the door. "Let's see what he’s got stored underneath the trailer."

  "It’s just climbing gear. Why do you need to pull it all out in the rain?" Sam growled, getting to his feet. He folded up his camping chair and tossed it angrily into the open storage compartment. "I don’t like anyone messing with it. I’ve got it organized just the way I need it."

  Duke pricked up his ears observing the interaction closely.

  “All part of the search," Matt said abruptly. He pulled out a tub and started rummaging through the contents: lanterns, mosquito nets, a camping stove. Rob hunkered down next to him and attempted to help. Whitney stood off to one side rubbing her arms distractedly. Blair cast a discreet look at Sam as she reached for another tub, searching for any trace of guilt in his expression. Was it possible his friend’s climbing accident hadn’t been an accident at all? At the end of the day, who would ever really know what happened hundreds of feet up on a cliff face? It would be the perfect way to kill someone.

  Blair dumped the tub unceremoniously at her feet. It was heavier than she’d anticipated. Unlatching the lid, she saw that it was filled with climbing harnesses and miscellaneous gear. She lifted out a couple of coils of rope and then froze, paralyzed by the sight of a knife lying in one corner of the tub. A fluttering feeling swirled around in her gut as she tried in vain not to make the connection that was forcing its way into her brain.

  She desperately wanted to pull out her phone and check the photograph she’d taken of the murdered man. Her rational self knew it was common for climbers to carry knives. It was a safety feature in case you needed to cut a rope at any point.

  But there was no getting around what her eyes were telling her—the knife in the corner of Sam’s tub looked exactly like the one protruding from the dead man’s belly.

  18

  Blair stood welded to the spot, staring down at the knife, her blood thudding in her temples.

  "Everything all right?" Matt asked, walking over to her.

  She gestured emphatically to the tub, not wanting Sam to overhear anything.

  Matt followed her gaze, his expression hardening as he reached in and lifted out the knife. He turned it over and studied the brand name on the handle.

  Blair’s heart knocked against her ribs. What was Matt doing? He wasn’t even trying to be discreet about it.

  "Petzl. Nice knife," he commented, holding it aloft for Sam to see. "Is this a specialty climber’s knife or something?"

  "Yeah, it is," Sam said, walking over. He took the knife from Matt’s hands and pointed to the odd-looking hole in the handle. "The carabiner hole is so you can attach it to a harness. It’s a super lightweight knife—ideal for climbing."

  Or killing. Blair squeezed her hands slowly into fists, mulling over the frightening possibility. Coincidentally, Sam had been the one to find the body. And it had been him who’d sounded the alarm by banging on their door in the early hours. A chill fingered its way down her spine. Isn't that what murderers did to throw the police off the scent? Report the crime themselves, or call in a tip? She swallowed down the bile seeping up her throat. Matt was right to be paranoid about their fellow campers. Any one of these strangers they were stuck here with could be a killer. Even Duke was far from harmless. She was fairly certain the dog would willingly attack any one of them given the command. A wave of panic hit. She desperately wanted to get out of this place. Gritting her teeth, she averted her eyes, determined to quash her burgeoning fears before she fell apart. Now was not the time to lose it, not when the killer was still an unknown entity.

  With a casual flick of his wrist, Sam tossed the knife back into the tub. Blair snapped the lid back in place and returned the tub to the storage compartment. "We’re all done here," she said, trying hard to hold her voice steady. "Let’s head over to our trailer and wrap this up."

  "I'm starving," Sam exclaimed. How about we take fifteen and grab something to eat first?"

  "I could go for that," Rob agreed.

  Matt gave an approving grunt.

  "What about Logan?" Whitney asked.

  "You can make him a sandwich and bring it back here," Blair said. "One of us will take it to him."

  Inside their trailer, Matt threw himself down on the couch and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Now you know why I don’t trust people, especially when I don’t know them."

  "That’s exactly what the killer wants," Blair said quietly.

  Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "I’ve been thinking it through. He wants us to turn on one another. It makes us weaker."

  "What choice do we have?" Matt threw up his hands. "Everyone’s lying to us—like Logan, for instance. On his honeymoon. With his kid’s babysitter! What a loser."

  "I still can't believe Whitney’s only sixteen," Blair commented. "Her parents must be worried sick by now."

  "That could be a good thing," Matt mused. "If the police are looking for her, they might be checking CCTV footage."

  "But even if they manage to track her here, they can’t navigate the road in to Bird Creek."

  "No, they’ll have to enlist the help of search and rescue. Until then, we’re on our own with an unidentified killer."

  Blair shivered. "I still think it could be the duck hunter stalking us. It’s a game to him, picking us off one-by-one."r />
  Matt clenched his teeth. "Then we won’t make it easy for him. If it’s a game of last man standing, I intend to win."

  Blair blew out a frustrated breath. "You can't fight against a gun. We're defenseless if he strikes again."

  Matt walked over to the refrigerator and started pulling out condiments and sandwich fixings. "We don’t have to be defenseless. We can set up a watch, arm ourselves with knives—"

  "The knife!" Blair blurted out, jumping to her feet. She fumbled for her phone and quickly scrolled through the pictures until she came to the ones she’d taken of the body. After enlarging a photo of the knife in the man’s belly, she studied the brand name on the handle. "Petzl!" she announced with a triumphant air. "I knew it! It was a climbing knife in the victim’s belly. A hunter wouldn't use a knife like that. And the body was found a lot closer to our campground than to the hunters’ campsite anyway."

  "All of which points to Sam." Matt frowned as he slathered mayonnaise on the sandwich bread he’d laid out on the counter. "I was right to be wary of him from the get-go."

  Blair pulled at her lip. "It doesn't necessarily mean Sam had anything to do with the murder. He never locks any of the compartments under his trailer. Anyone could have pulled the knife out of there to set him up and make him look guilty."

  Matt screwed the lid back on the mayonnaise. "Why didn’t Sam notice it was a climbing knife in the man’s belly?"

  Blair shrugged. "He was too distraught to give the body more than a passing glance. I think finding Andy at the bottom of the mountain messed him up."

  Matt finished making the sandwiches and carried them over to the dining table on paper plates. Blair grabbed a bag of chips and two bottles of water and joined him. "We're going to have to do something about the water situation. If we’re stuck here for much longer, we’ll have to start collecting spring water and filtering it."

  Matt swallowed a mouthful of sandwich. "We’ll worry about that tomorrow. We need to start putting together a plan to get out of here. I’ll drive Sam out to the road after this and let him assess the climb."

  Blair stopped chewing and stared at Matt incredulously. "You can’t drive out there alone with him. What if he really is the killer?"

  Matt took a swig of water and set the bottle down on the table, a contemplative look in his eyes. "I'll take someone else along too." He reached for a handful of chips and dropped them on his plate. "From now on, we need to go everywhere in groups of three. No one goes anywhere alone with anyone else."

  They glanced up at a knock on the door.

  Matt squared his jaw and reached for the paper plates to clear the table. "Brace yourself. Here comes the search party."

  "Come on in!" Blair called out.

  Sam entered and kicked off his boots, munching on a granola bar. "I knocked on Harvey’s door. He's going to join us."

  "How's he doing?" Matt asked.

  Sam shrugged. "Just the same. He’s in shock. It will be good for him to get out of the RV for a bit."

  The door opened again, and Rob appeared, followed by a haggard-looking Harvey. Glancing around, he gave a tense nod and then seated himself in the chair closest to the door.

  Blair locked eyes with him. "Are you doing all right, Harvey?"

  He scratched his chin, frowning. "I just need some fresh air for a few minutes." He threw her an uneasy look. "You know, with the body being in there and all."

  "Once we’ve finished searching, we can talk about what to do with Sandy's body," Blair promised him.

  "No sign of Whitney?" Matt asked.

  "Not yet," Sam replied.

  "Why don’t you guys get started?" Matt said. "Blair and I will be right here if you need us."

  He patted a spot on the couch for Blair and she sank down next to him while Sam, Harvey, and Rob set about searching the trailer. Blair picked up her book from where she’d stashed it down the side of the couch and pretended to read, all the while monitoring the search proceedings out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't that she was afraid they might discover something in their trailer. But she was half afraid they might leave something behind. What if Sam tried to plant one of his climbing knives on them? Or if Harvey stashed Sandy's prescription drugs in a cabinet? Or what if Rob had managed to open the gun safe in the camper van and planted a weapon in their trailer? She knew her thoughts were running amok, painting increasingly far-fetched scenarios for her brain to worry over, but the truth was, there was either a killer stalking them, or walking among them. And at this point, she didn’t trust her fellow campers any more than Matt did.

  After what seemed like forever, Sam finally announced that they were done. Blair breathed out a silent sigh of relief.

  "All right, let's talk about what we can do to get out of here," Matt said. "One of the options is to try to find a way around the section of the road that’s washed out. It would require climbing up and over the mountain so Sam will have to assess it to see if it’s even possible."

  "The other issue we need to address is safety," Blair went on. "We don't know who the killer is, and we don't know who took Hazel. We're assuming that someone is stalking the campground, but we don't know that for a fact." She hesitated, clearing her throat before continuing. "Like I’ve said before, the killer could be any one of us."

  The others shifted uncomfortably, casting awkward sideways glances at one another.

  "For that reason, it would be best if we went everywhere in groups of three from now on," Blair continued. "So when Matt and Sam drive out to the road, they’ll take a third person with them and leave three of us here. For now, Logan’s out of the equation. He stays right where he’s at, for everyone’s sake."

  "Makes sense to me," Rob agreed. "Safety in numbers and all that."

  Matt looked around for approval. "Everyone in agreement?"

  The others nodded in unison.

  "I need to do something with … Sandy's body," Harvey said, his voice fading away.

  Matt puckered his brow. "Yeah, I was getting to that next. If it’s all right with you, I’m going to suggest we wrap her body in a tarp and lock it in the back of my truck."

  Harvey blinked solemnly back at him and then gave a hesitant nod.

  "Why don’t you use Logan’s truck instead?" Sam suggested. "He has a cover too, and he won’t be driving anywhere any time soon."

  Blair frowned. "Speaking of Logan, where’s Whitney?"

  19

  A hint of suspicion hardened in Matt’s face. "Whitney had better not be trying to figure out a way to free Logan. It shouldn’t take that long to make a couple of sandwiches."

  "We have the key to Hazel’s trailer," Blair reminded him. "Whitney can’t get in."

  Sam frowned. "Something might have happened to her."

  Matt strode to the door. "Blair and I will go check on her. The rest of you wait here in case she shows up."

  A steady downpour of rain flailed them as they hurried off down the road in the direction of Logan's and Whitney's trailer.

  "I really hope she’s okay," Blair said, pulling her hood down tighter over her face. "You don’t think the killer could have struck again, do you?"

  Matt grunted. "I’m more worried Whitney might be trying to help the killer escape. As far as I’m concerned, Logan’s still our number one suspect."

  By the time they reached the other campsite, the rain had turned it into a hopscotch of mud puddles. They picked their way gingerly over to the trailer and Blair rattled the handle before banging loudly on the door. "Whitney! Are you in there?" She waited for a moment or two and then tried again.

  Matt peered through the nearest window. "She's got all the blinds drawn. I can't see in anywhere."

  Blair walked around to the other side of the trailer and tented her hands over her eyes as she tried to peer through a tiny crack in the blinds. She didn’t detect any shadowy figures moving around inside, but it was hard to see much. She rejoined Matt who was jiggling the door handle again.

  "It’s not goi
ng to miraculously open," Blair said. "If Whitney’s in there, she’s deliberately ignoring us."

  Matt thumped his fist on the door in frustration before turning on his heel. "We’ll come back. Let’s check Hazel's trailer and make sure Logan’s still secure."

  With a sinking feeling, Blair followed him over to the adjacent campsite. They should never have left Whitney alone, not even for a minute. She was vulnerable and couldn’t be trusted—a dangerous combo.

  At Hazel’s trailer, Matt reached for the front door handle, his breath catching when the door swung open. "Brace yourself, this doesn't look good," he muttered. Blair hurried up the steps after him and came to a screeching halt in the doorway. Her jaw dropped. The rope that had secured Logan lay limp on the floor, one end still tied to the oven door. The severed zip ties that had secured his wrists and ankles had been tossed on the couch.

  "Figured as much," Matt said through gritted teeth. He strode into the bedroom at the back and called to Blair. "Looks like our enterprising teen climbed in through the damaged window. Probably stood on a camping chair or something."

  "Logan put her up to this," Blair replied. "He knows exactly how to manipulate her. They must be holed up in their trailer. Where else would they go in this weather? I just hope Logan’s not holding Whitney against her will."

  "He’s got another thing coming if he thinks he can hide in there like a rat. It won’t take much to break in if that’s what it takes to flush him out."

  After retracing their steps, Matt and Blair took turns hammering insistently on Whitney’s and Logan’s door. This time, they didn't let up until they heard Whitney's voice through a small slider window to the left of the door. "What do you want?"