Counter attack, p.26
Counter Attack, page 26
“I know. But think about it. She was around when Smith was killed, and she moved here just before Gina Norman and Trevor Martin were murdered.”
“I know we have to look at everyone, but those are coincidences.” She held up her hand. “I know—neither of us like coincidence, but sometimes, things like that happen.”
That left them with an unknown intruder who was here long enough to see the note in the bedroom and set up the whole thing. That just didn’t set right with him. But it was hard to believe Kayla was that intruder or the person who kidnapped Alexis.
Alexis frowned. “I’m just glad my grandparents didn’t encounter my kidnapper.”
A text chimed on his phone, and he checked it. “It’s Madden. Chattanooga PD sent Denton’s DNA profile to the company he told me about to see if they can find any family connections. He’ll send the report as soon as he gets it.”
58
Phame set up the chessboard with the White king surrounded by his bishops, knights, queen, and pawns. The king thought he was safe.
Except . . . the Black knight was closing in, leaving the White king in check. With nowhere to run, the White king was in checkmate.
Phame snapped several photos of the board and printed them out, then using a Sharpie, carefully wrote “I WON! You lose.”
Time to end this game even though it meant another trip to the cave.
59
First thing Friday morning, Alex had her CSI deputies sweep her office for bugs, and they found one in the lamp by her desk. Then she’d made it through the morning briefing where she learned Mark was meeting Nathan in an hour at the cave to look for evidence.
As soon as the deputies dispersed, she had Nathan on the phone. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going back to the cave today? And taking my deputy.”
“Good morning to you too.” When she didn’t respond, he sighed. “It’s Mark’s day off and he volunteered to go. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to argue with you about going with us.”
“There wouldn’t have been an argument.”
“Really?”
“Nope. Because I’m going.” Not that she wanted to go back into that dark hole. She had to do it or Phame would win. It was no more than getting back on a horse after being thrown.
“Mark and I can handle this. You have no business—”
“I know you can, and I know you won’t miss anything. But I was the one who could’ve died there. I want to see where I was held.”
“How do you plan to get there? Have you forgotten your wrist?”
“I’m sure the deputy who picked me up this morning will drive me. Besides, the pain is much better this morning.” And it was as long as she held her wrist above her heart. Surely she could block the pain long enough to get in and out of the cave. “Come on, Nathan.” She wasn’t above begging.
“All right,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you have a helmet with a headlamp?”
Rats. She’d forgotten she would need a helmet. “Do you have an extra? Until last night it’s been years since I was in a cave.”
“Yes,” he said reluctantly. “You may want to go home and change into old clothes and shoes.”
She agreed, remembering her pajamas from yesterday. “Why don’t you pick me up at the house?”
“Sounds good. See you in an hour.”
True to his word, Nathan was at the house in sixty minutes, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. He stepped inside the kitchen. “I’m parked here at the back door.”
“Good.” After last night, Alex had no problem taking every precaution for her safety.
“Where are your grandparents?”
“Gramps had a doctor’s appointment.” Alex set the alarm and turned to him. “I’m ready.”
Nathan was quiet on the drive to Eagle Ridge. They passed virgin forests of hardwoods turning vibrant fall colors without a comment from him. She turned to him. “You okay?”
“Just remembering yesterday’s drive. I kept thinking about Phame’s victims. I was afraid the search and rescue would turn into a recovery mission.”
“I’m sorry.” Alex had been so focused on her own feelings, she hadn’t considered how her kidnapping might’ve affected Nathan.
They topped a ridge with a pullout, and he pulled over and killed his motor. Below them a carpet of red maples and golden hickories stretched as far as the eye could see.
Nathan turned to her. “You have to promise me you’ll be more careful.”
“Last night was not my fault.”
“You baited a serial killer, Alexis.”
She gritted her teeth. “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but he made me so mad.”
“But that’s not like you. You’ve always been in control, had a plan and worked it. You’re letting this serial killer get inside your head.”
She took a breath to tell Nathan he was wrong and released it without saying anything. The website and video game had consumed her, so much so, she wasn’t thinking clearly. “You’re right.” It cost her dearly to say those words. “I underestimated this Phame character. It won’t happen again.”
“I hope it doesn’t.” He held her gaze. “I don’t think I can go through what happened yesterday another time.”
Her blood raced at the concern in his eyes. “Here’s hoping you never have to,” she said softly.
Just as he caressed her jaw, an SUV blew past them, horn blowing. Alex jumped back.
“Mark,” Nathan muttered and started his motor. “Guess we don’t want to keep him waiting.”
“Good thinking,” she said, covering her grin with her hand. He would have kissed her if Mark hadn’t come along, and she would have welcomed it.
Mark had already climbed to the mouth of the cave when they pulled up to the spot where the ambulance had waited for her yesterday. “I wish I could get closer,” Nathan said.
“I’m good.” She unbuckled her seat belt. “Just have to remember not to put too much pressure on my left hand.”
“You want me to bind it to your body?”
“I think it’ll be fine.” She didn’t tell him her wrist had low-level pain already. Maybe a couple of ibuprofens would take care of it. Alex waited until Nathan was out of the truck and getting their gear from the bed to find the pain relievers and take them.
When she climbed out of the truck, Nathan handed her a helmet with a headlamp and a vest with a bottle of water and protein bars in the pockets. Before she thought, she shook out her ponytail to redo it lower and tried to wrap the band one-handed. Her shoulders drooped. Just how did she expect to put her hair back in a ponytail?
“Ready?” he asked.
She held out the black hair elastic. “Could you—” She pointed at her hair. “It was too high for the helmet.”
“Sure.” He gently pulled her hair back and secured it with the elastic tie. “Is that low enough?”
“We’ll see.” She plopped the helmet on her head. “It’s good.”
“Ready now?”
“Ready.”
By the time they climbed up to the mouth of the cave, she didn’t have to remind herself to keep the wrist above her heart—the pain was enough.
Mark wore jeans and a sweatshirt as well. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“I wanted to see the place where I was held. Where’s Gem?”
“Home. The only time I took her caving when it wasn’t search and rescue, she whined the whole time.”
Alex nodded toward his fancy caving helmet. “I didn’t know you liked caving.”
“Been doing it for years.”
She hated the thought that popped in her mind—Mark would’ve had no trouble getting her to the cave. And if the drug she’d consumed in the cocoa was GHB, she would’ve been compliant and have no memory of it.
Alex shook the thought away. Mark had helped Nathan find her yesterday. She turned to Nathan, and he gave her a reassuring smile.
“Alexis and I will go in first,” Nathan said. “You can bring up the rear. Do you have another light, in case that one goes out?”
First rule in caving was always carry plenty of flashlights.
“I have two.”
He nodded and turned to Alex. “You ready?”
“Anytime.” At least her voice didn’t shake.
They flipped their headlamps on, and Nathan went in first. She followed, remembering the narrow passageway from yesterday. It was much better with light.
“You okay back there?” Nathan asked.
Mark answered in the affirmative first.
“Me too,” Alex said. But crawling was much harder with only one good hand than she thought it would be, and she should have put on knee pads. More than once, it took everything in Alex to keep from groaning, but she was afraid if she did, Nathan would send her back. Not that she wouldn’t almost welcome it. Even with the headlamp, the close passageway was claustrophobic.
Just when she didn’t think she could stand it another second, the tunnel opened up.
“I think we’re here,” Nathan said and rose to his feet. “Ow!”
“You okay?” Alexis asked as she practically fell into the cavern.
“Hit my head.” He turned toward Mark. “Be careful standing.”
Alex used one of the flashlights Nathan had given her to shine around the small chamber, and her breath caught. The light bounced off stalactites hanging from the ceiling in one corner, and on the other side stalagmites rose up from a shelf above the cave floor. Under other circumstances, the room would be beautiful.
Next to the stalagmites, two passages that led out of the cavern were tall enough for them to stand upright and at least three feet wide—not nearly as claustrophobic as the way they came in. But the passages could lead deeper into the mountain instead of out.
“Oh, man,” Mark said, shining his light toward the far wall. “Looks like this is a shelf.”
He walked to the edge and traced it with his flashlight. “There’s a twenty-foot drop at least.”
“I know,” Nathan said. He turned to Alex. “We were in this cave years ago, and I remembered the drop-off.”
That’s why the cave felt familiar, and she hadn’t been wrong about the rocks splashing. Alex eased over to the edge, and her knees threatened to buckle. More than enough room for her to have rolled off into the water below.
Alex uncapped the bottle of water and guzzled it. Then she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Let’s see if my kidnapper left anything behind.”
60
Nathan turned away from the drop-off. Just thinking about what could’ve happened if she’d gone over the edge sent chills through him. “Don’t forget to put on your gloves.” He waved his nitrile gloves before shoving his hands into a pair.
While Alexis and Mark pulled on theirs, Nathan swept his light back and forth over the cave floor. Even if they found something, it could have nothing to do with Alexis’s kidnapping. Caving was a popular sport around Pearl Springs.
“Hey! What’s this?” Mark said.
Alexis and Nathan swung their lights toward where he was bent over and then pinpointed the item he examined on the cave floor.
“A scrunchie?” Alex said. Her hair had gotten in her face when she’d crawled out yesterday, and she peered closer. “I don’t have any like that.”
Nathan bagged the elastic band. “It doesn’t mean it belongs to your captor.”
“True,” Mark said. “The path to the cave is pretty well worn.”
Alexis kicked at a rock. “I’m going to keep looking.”
“Good idea.” Nathan swung his light around the shelf and craggy walls while Alexis and Mark examined the cave floor.
Half an hour later by his watch, he was about to give up on finding anything. He swept the light over the walls one last time.
“What’s that?” Alexis said, pointing at the space he’d just passed the beam over.
“Where?” He looked toward where she pointed.
“There.” She pointed again.
Mark stepped closer to the wall. “I see it!”
Nathan moved closer to Alexis. “Shine your light on it.”
It looked as though a bag had been wedged between two of the stalactites that hung from the cave ceiling. “Can you reach it?” Nathan asked.
“If I climb up on this ridge with the stalagmites.”
“Wait,” Nathan said. “The kidnapper probably did the same thing. We need to check for any evidence he might have left behind.”
He shined a light on the area, not seeing anything unusual. “Go ahead.”
Mark climbed up on the flat ridge and then braced against a stalagmite. “Got it!” He hopped down. “It’s a note to Al—”
An explosion rocked the cave, knocking Nathan backward. He slammed against the cave wall, and pain jolted the back of his head as he slid to the rocky floor. When his head cleared, he looked around, thankful the light on his helmet still worked. A slab of limestone had slipped out of place. If it came down, they were all dead. Once again, they had underestimated Phame. Thank goodness he’d told his dispatcher and sergeant where he was going.
Another light cast an eerie glow in the dusty room. Alexis. Or Mark. Where were they? He called both their names, but he couldn’t hear his voice for the ringing in his ears. And neither would they.
Nathan needed more light. He rolled over on his knees and grabbed the light he’d dropped, flashing it around the room. Alexis lay faceup on the floor, unconscious. Mark sat beside the stalagmites, coughing and shaking his head. Neither of their helmet lights were working.
Nathan crawled to Alexis and felt for a pulse. When he found it—strong and steady—he almost lost it. Thank God.
Alexis fluttered her eyes open, and he turned her face toward him. “You’re okay.” He was pretty sure she couldn’t hear what he said, but maybe she could read his lips.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Coughing shook her body, and she rolled over and hugged her chest.
The cave floor trembled. They had to get out of here. But which way? The explosion had sounded as though it came from the mouth of the cave. It had happened right after Mark grabbed the bag, but they would have noticed C-4 and a cord if there’d been one attached. The alternative terrified him—someone must have followed them to the cave and triggered the explosion.
Nathan shifted his gaze to Mark and pointed at him before he put his hand to his ear. “Can you hear anything?”
The deputy shook his head. Nathan pointed toward the two passages and then toward the passage they’d used to get into the cavern and held his hands up in the universal question position.
Mark pointed toward the one they’d come in on and slapped his hands together like an explosion. That’s where Nathan had thought the explosion originated, so they couldn’t go back the way they’d come.
Then Mark pointed to the other two passages. “Which one?” he mouthed.
Good question. Either passage could take them deeper into the mountain instead of out. He pressed his palms together, then tapped his chest and pointed to Mark, who gave him a thumbs-up. The cave floor trembled again, and Nathan shut his eyes and sent up a flare prayer for direction. Literally.
He didn’t know if it was God or his own feelings, but he was drawn to the passage on the left. When he opened his eyes and looked toward Mark, he indicated the left passage as well.
Nathan nodded and leaned over Alexis and shook her shoulder. Fear flashed in her eyes when they popped open, then their eyes connected, and she relaxed. He didn’t know how he’d make her understand, but it didn’t seem that the ringing in his ears was as bad. “Can you hear me?” he yelled.
She frowned. “W-what?”
No use. He stood and pointed at the passage.
Alexis shook her head.
“You have to!” He extended his arm. “Give me your hand.”
She didn’t move and just stared at him. Nathan would get her out of this room before it fell in, even if he had to carry her out fireman style. “Take my hand.” He said it even though she couldn’t hear him.
She looked from him to Mark and then took Nathan’s hand. He pulled her to her feet then checked his watch. Ten forty-six? It seemed as though they’d been in the cave for hours.
“I’ll go first.” He tapped his chest, then pointed at her. “You’re next, then Mark,” he mouthed, pointing at the deputy, and they both nodded they understood.
Nathan glanced up at the ceiling to see if the slab had moved, and his helmet light flickered. No! It had fresh batteries—it should be good. He took the helmet off and shook it, and the light went dark. Must’ve been from the explosion.
Nathan put his helmet back on just as light came from Mark’s direction. He’d gotten his helmet light to work. Nathan gave him a fist bump as Mark fished another flashlight from his vest and handed it to Alexis.
Nathan took a deep breath and pointed his flashlight toward the passage. He didn’t know how far they’d have to hike to get out of the cave, but it started with one step.
After they’d been walking for a few minutes, he felt a jerk on his sleeve, and he wheeled around.
Wide-eyed, she gripped his arm. “Where’s Mark?” she mouthed.
Nathan looked beyond her. The deputy had been right behind them and now he wasn’t. Had he set the explosive and was now escaping out the other passage?
Surely he wouldn’t have been in the cave if he intended to blow it up. Unless something went wrong and it went off before it was supposed to.
“Do you think he’s hurt?” Alexis asked.
That was a more likely scenario. “Can you hear anything yet?”
She pinched her thumb and finger together.
A little. Good. That would make it easier to communicate. “We haven’t gone far,” he shouted. “I’m going back to find him.”
She gripped his arm tighter.
Nathan was torn between Alexis waiting here or backtracking with him. If there was trouble, he didn’t want her involved. But what if someone else was in the cave, and they’d attacked Mark? Regardless, he felt better having her with him. Finally he nodded.
