She heard a noise and turned to see Aaron entering the cave.
“You’re awake,” he said.
“Yes, I’m awake and hungry. What’s for breakfast?”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to make do with a granola bar.” He opened a grocery sack and took out a couple of breakfast bars and handed her one.
As they munched their bars and washed them down with the bottled water, Amanda wondered what was going to be on the agenda for the day. She couldn’t help but think of Matt and wondered if he would be worried when none of her phones answered. And what about the people at work? Had Jenessa called the police when she didn’t show up for work? Had she called her parents? Her parents must be worried sick.
“I told you we would talk today about the number of girls I have killed,” Aaron said.
Amanda wanted to scream at him. She didn’t want to know, but she knew she would have to listen to him or he would be upset. And then, who knows what he might do. He appeared to want to brag. She hoped she wouldn’t feel the need to throw up what she had just eaten.
“I’ll break it up into how many I’ve killed at each university I’ve visited.”
“Before you start, I need to go to the bathroom.”
He took a roll of toilet paper out of his backpack and handed it to her, along with a flashlight. “Go to the back of the cave.”
She didn’t really have to. She felt as though all her bodily functions had become paralyzed. But anything to prolong the narration of his crime spree. She wondered how long she could stay at the back of the cave before he came for her.
Matt had no sooner reached Heller’s office the next morning when the phone rang. He was exhausted as he had spent the entire night walking up and down the Creek Path, hoping to find a clue to Amanda’s disappearance. As the Chief of Police listened, his face lit up and he began to smile.
“We’ve got our first big break,” he said to Matt as he hung up the phone.
Matt looked expectantly at the other man.
“That was a security guard from NCAR. A car has been sitting in their parking lot all night near one of the trailheads. He thought he should report it in case a hiker might have fallen and hurt himself and was been unable to get back to his car. Take a guess as to the license plates.”
When Matt saw how Heller’s eyes lit up, his exhaustion disappeared and he knew.
“Griswold’s.”
“You’ve got it.”
“I’d like to go and check it out,” Matt said, standing up from his chair. “If it looks like he has Amanda Barton with him, I’ll call for backup.”
“Good idea. But we want to capture him whether he has Amanda Barton with him or not. We know how dangerous he is and we don’t want to endanger any more lives. In the meantime, I’ll round up some men and send them out there immediately as backup for you.”
Matt left Heller’s office and hurried out to his car. He was grateful the Chief of Police didn’t have a problem with him checking out Griswold’s car, rather than sending his own men. Maybe there was something in the vehicle, which would prove to be a clue to Amanda’s kidnapping.
He drove quickly to the NCAR parking lot. With the license plate number Heller had given him and the location of the car, it didn’t take him long to spot it. He parked a couple of spaces over, looking around to see if there was anyone nearby.
Swinging his long legs out of the car, he strode over to Griswold’s car. Something glittered in front of the back left tire and he stooped to see what it was. It was a bracelet and he recognized it immediately. He had seen Amanda wearing it the night he had taken her to Flagstaff House.
If he remembered correctly, when he had admired it, she had told him it was a gift from her father. He picked it up and examined it carefully. There were no scratches on it and the clasp was intact. He had a feeling Amanda had deliberately put it there as a clue.
He slipped it into his pocket. Where could she be? He saw a sign nearby that said MALLORY CAVE. The security guard said the car had been there all night. What better place to take someone you had kidnapped than to a cave.
His heart sank at the thought. It would also be a good place to rape and kill someone. He prayed that hadn’t been the case.
He called Heller with his findings.
“Don’t go up there alone,” Heller ordered. “Backup is on the way.”
“Tell your men to dress as hikers and come in an unmarked car. We don’t want to alert Griswold by having them show up in uniforms.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for you to show up at the cave? After all, Griswold has seen you.”
“I don’t think he’ll recognize me now.” Matt couldn’t help but smile. “When he saw me, I was disguised as a homeless man.”
“Forgot that. I think three men will be there in about ten minutes.”
In spite of his feelings for Amanda making him want to rush right up to the cave and find her, Matt said, “Okay, I’ll wait in my car, but tell them to make it as quick as possible. Every minute counts.”
He was too impatient to wait in his car, as he had told the chief he would. Matt decided to occupy his time by locating the security guard and talking to him about what caves were in the area where hikers might visit. He found the security guard by the entrance of the NCAR building. While he was talking to him, he kept a lookout for the arrival of his backup team.
“One of the biggest attractions to the hikers has always been Mallory Cave,” the guard told Matt. “But that has been closed off to the public because of the bats and the fungal disease they have contracted.”
“What is that?”
“White-nosed syndrome is killing the bat population and it is believed to be carried by humans. That’s the reason for the closure of Mallory Cave.”
What a perfect place to hide.
Matt was more anxious than ever for his backup to arrive so they could climb up to the cave. He thanked the security guard for the information and headed back toward his car. His phone rang and looking at the caller ID, he saw it was Heller.
“Koehler.”
“Matt, it was as you suspected,” Heller told him. “The bracelet does belong to Amanda Barton. It’s a sure bet Griswold has taken her to one of the caves there in the Foothills.”
“I’m with you. I talked to the security guard who told me Mallory Cave was closed. What better place to hide out.”
As he finished his conversation with Heller, three men in an unmarked car drove in beside him.
“Matt,” one of them said as they climbed out. “Are you ready for a hike up to Mallory Cave?”
“Can’t wait. You guys armed?”
“You bet.”
“Then let’s hit the trail.”
Amanda stayed at the back of the cave for a few minutes debating what she should do.
How far back did the cave go? Was there any place to hide?
She moved the rays of the flashlight around the cave. She was disappointed when she saw the flat wall of the cave connecting with the ceiling where a group of bats hung.
Sitting down on a nearby rock, she thought about Matt. She was never going to see him again. She was devastated at the thought.
Charlie was right. I am in love with him.
She envisioned his face and the way it always lit in a smile when he saw her. She loved that about him, along with his sense of humor. There had been a special chemistry between them since the first time they had met. She thought about what he had whispered when they were dancing. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Matt.
Somehow she had to get away from Aaron Griswold. But how?
Knowing she couldn’t prolong her stay at the back of the cave any longer, she slowly made her way back to the campfire Aaron had kept burning to stave off the
dampness of the cave.
“How did you happen to come to Boulder?” Amanda asked as she sat down by fire.
“I did some research on the Internet and found where the state universities were located. Then starting with the University of Illinois in Champaign, I worked my way west to Iowa City where the University of Iowa is located. Next I went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Then to the University of Wyoming in Laramie and then down here to Boulder.”
He paused as though considering his next words.
“I probably should have gone on up to Montana and Idaho before coming to Colorado, but I heard what a beautiful town Boulder was so I decided to come here from Laramie.”
Amanda had a feeling the next thing on his agenda would be to tell her how many girls he had killed on each campus and she didn’t want to hear it. She tried to think of a new subject to introduce into their conversation.
Instead, he said, “You’re certainly a good listener. I guess it’s because you’re older and more mature than those college girls. I lucked out when I ran across you on the Boulder Creek Path.”
Lucked out? Not as far as she was concerned.
However, she did have to admit that so far, everything was going better than she had expected. She was sure she had been reported missing by now. Her poor parents must be going crazy. She wondered if anyone had called Matt to tell him. She was sure if he knew, he would come back to Boulder immediately.
The thought of Matt searching for her made her feel a little better even though she knew it would be a long shot for him to discover Aaron had taken her to Mallory Cave.
She thought about the previous Sunday when they had biked out to Lake of the Pines and had lobster and wine with Dave and Michelle, then dinner with her parents. It was one of the most enjoyable days she had had in a long time, if ever. She was once again glad she had taken Matt to meet her parents and happy they had appeared to be so impressed with him.
If she ever saw Matt again, she was going to tell him she loved him. Even if she had been mistaken in what she thought he had whispered the night they were dancing, she wanted him to know how she felt about him. Hadn’t he asked her if she thought they could have a future together?
She wondered how things were going at the store. She hoped Jenessa was keeping up with opening and closing on time, making the bank deposits, and scheduling the employees for their shifts.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your question,” she said, aware she had missed what Aaron had asked her. “I was wondering about my store and hoping my manager is keeping up with everything.”
“I asked you if you were married. I see you don’t wear a ring, but I would think someone as attractive as you would be.”
“I was married for a year, but it didn’t work out, so now I’m divorced.”
“Maybe if we continue to get along so well, we could get married.”
She stared at him, trying to keep her thoughts from showing on her face. A slight shudder shook her body. She was stuck in a cave with a rapist, murderer, and psychopath. With no foreseeable way out.
Matt started up the Walter Orr Roberts Trail. He heard his backup team clumping behind him in their hiking books. As instructed, they were laughing and talking. Pleased with the camouflage, he only prayed they would find Amanda alive.
He didn’t understand Griswold’s actions in taking her to the cave. But from his study of serial killers, they didn’t always follow the same M.O. Was he keeping her captive and mistreating her in the process? He hoped he wasn’t repeatedly raping her. Just thinking of what she might be going through caused a terrible tenseness in his body. He wanted to find her alive, but not traumatized.
He complimented Amanda on having the presence of mind to leave her bracelet behind the wheel where someone might find it. And he was glad she had worn it when they had gone out to dinner, so he was able to recognize it.
They reached the Mesa Trail and turned left and then headed up the trail that was clearly marked Mallory Cave. Up ahead, Matt saw the trail became quite steep. It led through Dinosaur Mountain and its sandstone formations.
Matt turned around to look back at his team and saw a spectacular view of Boulder and the plains beyond. When they caught up with him, he proceeded on up the path. Ahead, he saw the red steps that would take them up to the entrance of the cave. Matt had a feeling they could get slick in wet weather, but thankfully, it was a beautiful sunny day.
He hoped their plan was going to work. If Griswold suspected for a minute they were policeman and not hikers they could be in trouble. Because of the narrow steps, they would all have to proceed single file. Now that Griswold had a gun, which he had taken from one of the guards, he could pick them off one by one.
“Just a minute,” one of the men called, “I want to get a picture of that view.”
The men paused as one of them took a small digital camera from his pocket and raising it to his eyes, snapped off a few pictures. It was all Matt could do to refrain from running up the last few steps and into the cave. He wondered what awaited them inside.
Amanda glanced over at Aaron as she heard the laughing and talking of what sounded like hikers. She saw he had heard them, too. But he continued to sit by the fire with a nonchalant expression on his face. She wondered if there was anyway she could get a message to them.
As though Aaron knew what she was thinking, he gave her a warning look and a slight shake of his head.
“Damn,” someone said. “That sign over there says the cave is closed.”
“I smell wood smoke,” another voice said. “Someone must be in there.”
“Maybe they’re having a marshmallow roast. Let’s have a look. I could use a snack after that climb.”
A group of men crowded into the cave and when Amanda saw the tallest one, it was all she could do to keep from calling out his name and running to him. She couldn’t believe he had found her. Her heart began to pound so hard, she was afraid Aaron would hear it.
“You two must be camping in here,” Matt said, looking around at the rolled out sleeping bags and containers of food setting on some nearby boulders.
“It’s chilly in here,” one of the men said. “Mind if we share your fire for a minute.”
Without waiting for an answer, the men surround the fire and Amanda could feel Matt standing behind her, while two other men moved in behind Aaron.
“Any marshmallows?”
“I don’t believe so,” Amanda said.
“So how long have you two been camping out here?” one of the men asked.
“We came up here yesterday,” Amanda said, looking at Aaron who appeared to be at a loss for words.
“I thought most women were afraid of bats,” one of the men standing behind Aaron said.
“Usually, I am, but my friend here has been explaining their role in ecology and I’ve decided they are too important in nature to be nervous about them.”
What are they doing? What is taking them so long to apprehend Aaron?
In the next moment, the two men behind Aaron had each leaned over and grabbed Aaron. Amanda felt herself lifted to her feet by strong arms, which she knew belonged to Matt.
“Handcuff him and read him his Miranda Rights,” Matt said.
“Aaron Griswold, you have the right to remain silent . . .” one of the men began as Aaron was handcuffed.
“Pack up their things and put that fire out,” Matt ordered. “We need to get them out of the cave and down to the car.”
The hike down was slow. With Aaron in handcuffs, one of them had to help him down the steep steps. Two of the men hoisted the backpacks over their shoulders and followed them out of the cave.
It was all Amanda could do to keep from throwing herself into Matt’s arms, but since he appeared so grim and business like, she resisted the impul
se and quietly followed the men out of the cave.
As they reached the parking lot, Amanda saw Matt’s black SUV parked beside Aaron’s car. The men took Griswold to the unmarked police car. Before they could put him inside, Aaron turned to Amanda.
“Amanda, I’ve really enjoyed our time together,” he said.
“Thank you,” Amanda said politely.
Before she could say more, Matt abruptly cut her off.
Experiment in Terror (Koehler Brothers Book 1) Page 17