by B. J Daniels
The sound of rushing water grew louder as the men dragged her along a trail of sorts. Her heart began to pound harder. She was terrified of water after almost drowning when she was thirteen on a vacation in Hawaii. The sound of the water made her legs go even weaker.
The men swore, forced to take even more of her weight between them. Where were they taking her? Surely not up a mountainside to drown her. She told herself that if they had wanted to kill her, they could have done that anywhere along the drive to wherever they were now, but it didn’t help stem the growing alarm inside her.
She was at the mercy of these men. She had no idea why they’d taken her. Worse, what they planned to do with her now.
They stopped near the bottom of the mountainside and she could make out what appeared to be several concrete structures. The man holding her up set her down, steadying her. The drugs had worn off some more. She could feel the cold, sense the deep damp darkness around her, as well as the isolation. Wherever they had brought her, there was no one else around.
Something loud made a scraping sound and then she was pushed forward a half dozen yards toward the smaller of the buildings. She was led toward an open doorway. She couldn’t see inside the blackness, but when she took a step, she felt a solid floor. The air was colder in there, though. A dank smell rose up, terrifying her.
Kate stopped abruptly, desperate to be back out in the fresh air. She hated cramped places. Worse, cramped dirty, cold, smelly places.
A hand shoved her hard. She pitched forward into the darkness. She fell, landing on her shoulder. A muffled cry escaped her as her cheek scraped against what felt like a rough concrete floor.
“What the hell did you have to do that for?” the larger of the men snapped. “At least untie her. What is wrong with you?”
“You really are of no help,” the smaller of the two said. She heard him approach, felt him sawing away at whatever was binding her wrists. Her wrists free, she flexed her hands and rolled over onto her back. Her first instinct was to make a run for it, but she knew she couldn’t get past both of them. She could see both men silhouetted in the doorway, both still wearing their masks.
That was fine with her since she feared that once she saw their faces, they would feel they had no choice but to kill her when they were done with her.
It was the when-they-were-done-with-her part that worried her. What did they want? Why bring her here?
“Leave her,” the smaller of the men said. She heard the scrape of the door, closing out even the starlight. Cloaked in blackness, she was alone.
She sat up. Her shoulder hurt, her cheek was scraped, but nothing felt broken. She worked to get the gag untied, happy to spit it out.
Listening, she heard nothing but the faint roar of the creek. Were they gone? Were they just going to leave her here? What if they never came back?
Tears burned her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. She wouldn’t lie here on the floor in the fetal position and wait for whatever they had planned.
The first thing she had to know was what kind of room she was in—and if there was any way out. She wasn’t going to die here. She wasn’t going to die. Not without putting up a fight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TUCKER SAT SLUMPED in a chair in his brother’s office. “Rip definitely said the word Madeline. Just like I told you.” He’d been over his story a half dozen times already, including why he’d gone there.
“But why kill Rip?” Flint said.
“I have no idea except that Rip was the one who got Madeline to lay off Lonny,” he said. He’d related what Jayce had told him about Lonny and how Rip had apparently squared things with Madeline so the blackmail stopped. “I suspect that Rip and Madeline knew each other better than we have been led to believe.”
“Rip was killed with a knife and your slashed tire. Madeline?” his brother asked.
He shrugged. “Someone at least wants me to believe that Madeline was behind it. The article of clothing on my steering wheel was a teddy in her favorite color smelling of her perfume.”
“But you’d just interrupted an argument between Jayce, Lonny and Cal, with Lonny and Cal leaving just minutes before you found your slashed tire,” Flint said, as if he needed the reminder. “If Lonny helped set you up with Madeline... That damned Lonny. I never liked him. He’s a whiner... So there is a good chance that they’re all involved? Do you trust Jayce?”
“I used to. Now I just don’t know.” Tucker didn’t want to admit it. Jayce had been his best friend since they were boys. But he reminded himself that he’d been gone for nineteen years. People changed. “In some way, I’m afraid they’re all involved, Jayce included.”
“So any one of them or all of them could have been in on planting your pistol in your pickup.”
“Isn’t it more likely that Madeline stole the gun? She used it to kill Misty, then her father and then framed me with it. Also, there were two place settings at Rip’s table.”
Flint nodded. “All true, but Madeline wasn’t working alone.”
“Maybe she was working with Rip and they had a falling-out,” Tucker suggested.
“A definite possibility, if we can trust his dying word. He might have been trying to tell you something about her.”
“I think he was aware of how much I already knew about her,” he said.
“The lab will run prints, DNA, but all of that is going to take time,” the sheriff said. “The problem with murder is that it often leads to another one to cover up the first. Rip was involved with Madeline from what you’ve said, but... Expecting a call?”
“Kate,” Tucker said, checking his phone again. It surprised him that she hadn’t returned his calls. “Sorry, it’s just that I haven’t heard from her. It isn’t like her to not get back to me.” He thought about what had happened between them at the cabin. Was that why she wasn’t returning his calls?
“If you’re worried—”
Tucker was, but he told himself he shouldn’t be. It was Kate. Kate, who prided herself on her independence. Kate, who just might need a little space right now.
“I might drive to Helena,” he said.
“Tucker, do I have to remind you that you aren’t to leave the county? Not to mention, there is a murderer out there.”
“There’s been a murderer out there for nineteen years.”
“But now that person has killed again.”
“You don’t want to believe it’s Madeline because a knife was used,” Tucker said, realizing it was why his brother hadn’t taken Rip’s dying word as seriously as he’d thought he would.
“Women kill in more civilized ways. Usually.”
“I suspect Madeline is the exception,” Tucker said. “So trust me, I’ll be watching for her. But I don’t think she wants to kill me. Why bother to frame me? No, I’m more worried about Kate.”
He knew it would sound crazy, but he had a feeling that if Madeline—even after all these years—thought that he cared for Kate that she would want to hurt her out of some warped sense of jealousy.
He shook his head. “It still amazes me. They must have been fooling people for years. I doubt anyone could tell them apart. I know I couldn’t and I thought I knew Madeline extremely well.”
He checked his phone again, feeling himself growing more anxious. It just wasn’t like Kate.
“Why don’t you call the hospital?” Flint suggested, seeing him on his phone again. “See if you can talk to Kate and relieve your mind. I don’t want you taking off. If I have to lock you up, I will.”
Tucker held up his hands in surrender. “I’ll call, okay?”
“Thank you. I need to get back out to the body shop. I have deputies out there looking for the murder weapon,” Flint said. “Go out to the ranch. I’ll let Hawk and Cyrus know you’re on your way. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, it’s a jail cell
. I get it.”
“Tuck.”
He looked up at his brother, saw the worry and knew Flint wanted to lock him up to keep him safe.
“I’d much rather sleep in my bed than on that cell cot again, so I’m heading out to the ranch. I won’t drive to Helena.” Not unless he couldn’t reach Kate, then nothing could stop him. Flint had to know that.
* * *
KATE MOVED AROUND the building where she was being held, counting off each step. Her fingers skimmed over the rough concrete walls. No windows, but after her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she’d found two places where the moonlight leaked in. One up by the roof, out of her reach. The other adjacent to the door. Both were small slits, nothing she could break through bare-handed.
The building was small and smelled like a locker room. She recognized that smell. A hot spring. Hadn’t someone mentioned that there used to be an old hot spring outside Gilt Edge? Was it possible that’s where she was? She thought of Tucker, her heart soaring at the thought that they’d brought her back because of him.
That didn’t make a lot of sense, she realized. Unless Madeline was involved. Her pulse jumped at the thought. Unless she was bait!
She thought of Tucker and fought tears. Her heart ached so much she could no longer stand. Sitting down, she buried her face in her hands. She would give anything to see him one last time. But if she were right, then it would be the last time for both of them.
Kate knew she shouldn’t be thinking like this. But hours had gone by and the two men hadn’t returned. She had to face the fact that they might never return. She had to face some other truths, as well. She’d been using her brother’s death to keep from living her own life. She’d been so focused on her quest and hadn’t even thought about how it would all end. Could she really kill someone? She’d always thought she could kill Madeline, but she wasn’t even sure of that anymore.
Not that she was going to get a chance. She’d made a promise to her brother at his funeral. She would get him justice or die trying. If she didn’t get out of here alive... It hurt that she wouldn’t get him justice. That Madeline and the people she was involved with were getting away with it all. That made her want to scream her heart out.
But she had already screamed until her throat felt like it was bleeding. No one had come because no one was out there. She wondered if she would die here, her bones found like Misty’s—so many years from now that she would have become only skeletal remains.
Realizing that she was wallowing in self-pity, she angrily pushed herself to her feet. As she did, she felt something cold and metallic on the floor. A screwdriver. She moved to the door and shoved the screwdriver into the small opening. Some of the old, weathered concrete crumbled to the floor.
Kate began to work faster, encouraged by how easily she had made the opening larger. Fresh air rushed in as she worked. She thought of Tucker and kept digging.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ONCE TUCKER HAD reached his pickup, he’d started to climb behind the wheel when he saw the new note tucked under his windshield wiper. Like the other time, he looked around but saw no one. Carefully he pulled it out, unfolded it and held it up to the light. As he did, he caught the scent of jasmine. His belly roiled.
It was the same handwriting as the other notes.
You should have left, but since you didn’t...I’m waiting for you. Remember our second date? Come alone if you ever want to see Kate again.
His chest aching with a fear that had plagued him for hours, he climbed behind the wheel and drove out of town, headed for the old hot spring. The place had been abandoned years ago, the road up to it privative at best. The original building had burned down in a lightning storm years before he was born.
While still private property and posted with no-trespassing signs, he and his friends had gone up there, anyway. That it might be dangerous had been part of the thrill. It was where he’d taken Madeline on what she called their second date.
The water coming out of the ground was boiling hot, but the pool that formed where it ran into the creek below the waterfall was the perfect temperature, especially on a winter night.
Before he might lose cell phone coverage, Tucker put in a call to Flint. He didn’t doubt that Madeline would kill Kate if the sheriff’s department showed up in force. But he was no fool.
His brother answered on the second ring. “Tucker?”
“I got another note from Madeline. She says she has Kate. Please, find out if that is true and call me right back.”
“Where are you?” Flint asked suspiciously.
“Please hurry.” He disconnected and tried Kate again. The phone rang four times before going to voice mail. He’d already left messages but decided to leave another.
“Kate, you’re starting to really worry me. Text me just to let me know you’re all right. Please. It’s urgent.”
A text came in right away.
He picked up his phone, praying it was Kate and Madeline was lying. He almost ran off the road as he read it.
How sweet. But your precious Kate doesn’t have much time. You’d better hurry.
He started to put the phone down when it rang.
“No one has seen Kate since she left the hospital alone earlier. Her car is still in the lot. Where are you?”
Tucker could see the road to the old hot spring ahead.
“She’ll kill you both. Where are you, Tuck?”
It would take his brother at least twenty minutes to get out here. “I’m at the old hot spring.” He disconnected as he pulled into the parking area. There were no other vehicles, but that didn’t mean that Madeline hadn’t hidden hers somewhere and was waiting for him.
He climbed out, telling himself he wished he had a weapon. But Madeline would expect that. Madeline already had the perfect weapon to use against him—Kate. Somehow she either knew or suspected how he felt about Kate. Which meant she’d been watching him this whole time. Or someone close to him had been watching him.
Tucker realized that he had no idea who he could trust. Or what he was about to walk into as he got out of the truck and started up the mountain to where the boiling water spewed from the ground and joined the creek. He could hear the roar of the water as he hurried up the trail.
Everything he’d learned about Madeline told him that she was a cold-blooded killer. He’d known deep in his soul that she wasn’t through with him. She hadn’t tormented him quite enough. Now she had the perfect weapon against him—and she knew it.
Kate. Just the thought of her in Madeline’s hands nearly killed him. He thought of all the things that made him crazy about Kate, all the things that he loved. Loved. His heart ached at the thought of her completely disappearing from his life as abruptly as she had come into it. He couldn’t let that happen. He’d die before he would let Madeline take Kate from him.
Kate was exasperating, infuriating, stubborn to a fault, opinionated and impossible. But he loved that about her. Just as he loved her laugh, her smile, the way she cocked her head when she studied him and those bottomless green eyes... He could lose himself in them for the rest of his life. But mostly it was the things that drove him crazy about her that had made him fall for the woman.
How had Madeline gotten Kate up here—if it was true and she had her here? She’d had help. Rip. Or someone who’d been closer to Tucker? He couldn’t imagine Lonny or Cal hurting anyone. Well, at least not Cal. And Jayce. Was Jayce capable of murder?
He remembered Jayce’s take-no-prisoners attitude in football games. The man was tough when he needed to be. But Tucker couldn’t imagine him killing anyone. Not Misty. Not Madeline’s father. Not Rip. But he feared that one or all of them were up to their necks in this.
The sky was lightening to the east, he realized as he topped the mountain. It wouldn’t be long before the sun came up on another spring day in Montana. His heart clutched at
the thought that Kate could already be dead. Madeline could have killed her. He could be walking into a deadly trap with no chance to save Kate—or himself.
In the growing light, he could make out what was left of the old hot spring buildings and pool. Nothing moved below him as he started down the rocky trail. The roar of the creek was deafening. If someone wanted to surprise him at any point, he would be a sitting duck.
Still, nothing could stop him. Madeline would know that. She’d be waiting.
* * *
KATE WORKED THE screwdriver into the concrete around the doorjamb. She could see light through the space she’d carved in the crumbling concrete. It surprised her that the sun was coming up. She breathed in the fresh air through the good-size hole she’d made.
She tested the door again. It moved some. Just a little more weakening around the jamb and she thought she could force her way out of here. She kept working harder, afraid that whoever had brought her here would come back once it was daylight.
Still, it made no sense why they’d brought her all the way back to Gilt Edge and left her in the mountains at some old hot spring unless, as she’d suspected earlier, she was bait for Tucker.
She tried not to think about it as she worked. Just a little more, she told herself even though her arms and back ached. Her knuckles were skinned and bleeding from coming in contact with the concrete, but she couldn’t stop. She was going to get out of here. She was going to save herself. Once she escaped.
Kate heard a noise and froze. Over the roar of the nearby waterfall and creek, she heard someone at the door fiddling with the padlock. It was still dark enough that they might not have noticed the hole beside the door frame that she’d carved out. It wasn’t large enough to crawl through, so it would probably go unnoticed. At least she hoped that was the case.
But what if it was someone come to rescue her?
She started to scream for help, but something stopped her. It sounded like someone was putting a key into the lock. No one who’d come to rescue her would have a key.