Kitabı oku: «Mountain Captive», sayfa 3

FOUR

Lacey awoke. She turned sideways. Jude was no longer in his chair. Even though he might have just slipped out to get something in his room, she felt less safe when he wasn’t close. His agreeing to sit watch was the only reason she’d slept at all. Early morning light shone in from the window. The storm had let up, improving visibility, but it was still snowing.

She heard a noise outside her door.

Her heart beat a little faster. “Jude, is that you?” She ran to the door and flung it open expecting to see him. There was no one on the mezzanine. Now she realized that maybe the noise had come from downstairs. She stepped toward the banister. Down below, she watched as a tall thin figure hurried through the lobby and slipped outside. He’d been wearing a hat, so she couldn’t see what color his hair was.

That had to be her attacker.

She stood on the mezzanine as she reached out for the wall for support.

Lacey’s heart thumped in her chest. The man had taken advantage of the letup in the storm to escape. Fear permeated her whole being.

A heavy silence enveloped her as she fought the terror that raged through her. Seeing the man brought back the trauma of the attack.

Jude came up the hallway and she fell into his arms.

“Hey, Lacey, what happened?”

“I saw him. He left the hotel. He was here all night.” Her voice must have given away how upset she was.

“Hey.” Jude gave her a tight reassuring hug and then stepped back to look at her. Jude led her over to the plush velvet chairs that were outside the hotel room on the mezzanine. “Sit down and catch your breath. How long ago? Maybe I can catch him.”

“It’s been a few minutes. I’m sure he’s gone by now.” She placed her hand on her heart and took in a deep breath. “Where did you go, anyway? I woke up and you weren’t there.”

“I just went down the hall to use the facilities.” The hotel was so old that there was only one bathroom per floor. He rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

His hand lingered on her shoulder, and the warmth of his touch soaked through the fabric of her shirt. She’d always thought of herself as a free spirit, someone who didn’t need anyone. But given what had happened to her, she kind of liked having Jude around. Just his presence seemed to smooth over the agitation and fear.

“If he is connected to the kidnapper, why hasn’t he come after me?”

She turned to face him. “There you go again being a detective.”

“I’m trying to figure this thing out.” Jude shifted in his chair.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe I’m just the easier target.” She slumped back in the chair. “I do know one thing. I don’t like feeling like I’m trapped in this hotel.” But going outside meant the tall thin man might come after her.

Ray walked into the lobby holding a box. He shouted up at them. “Storm won’t be the worst of it. It’s the aftermath. Be a few days before the plows dig us out and the roads are passable.” Ray must have heard what she’d said.

Jude let out a heavy breath.

Ray rested the box on the counter and pulled out a package. “Got some beef jerky here if you folks are hungry.”

Jude rose, leaned over the railing and held up his hands. Ray tossed him a package. “Fine dining at its best.”

Ray pointed to the box. “There’s more food in here if you want to top off the meal with some granola bars. Bottled water is in the kitchen.” Ray pointed to a door on the other side of the checkout counter. “Eddie and son have already helped themselves.”

“So they are both still here?” said Lacey.

Ray drew his head back, so his chin touched his neck and a look of confusion crossed his features. “Sure, why wouldn’t they be?”

Lacey shrugged.

Ray walked over to the window and placed his hands on his hips. “Four or five more hours. This should clear up enough to walk around town at least.” He turned back to face them, rubbing his chin. “Still won’t be any electricity.”

Ray, the bringer of bad news, ambled away.

Jude rose to his feet and held out a hand for Lacey. “Might as well make the best of it.”

She took his hand, feeling the strength of his grip and the calluses on his palms. She met his gaze for just a moment, his soft eyes resting on her.

After finding food and water in the kitchen, Jude and Lacey returned to the ballroom to wait the storm out by playing a game of chess. They played two games.

“That’s it. You beat me,” Jude said.

“So we’re even. You beat me last time. Want to go for a third game to see if we can determine who the true champion is?”

Jude yawned. “You know I think I might just close my eyes for a minute. I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Okay.” Of course, he was tired. He’d stayed up half the night watching over her.

She got up and wandered the ballroom toward a far wall where other books and games were stored on shelves. She pulled a book from the shelf that looked like it might hold her attention and then sat down in the easy chair opposite Jude, who was already snoring. He looked kind of cute sleeping with his mouth open. His wavy hair flopped over his forehead.

She’d never spent this much time with another person. Other than her little brother when he was alive. Pain shot through her as though a sword had been driven through her chest. So much had been ripped from her life. She knew that there was a part of her that just didn’t dare open her heart again to ever caring about another person.

She liked being with Jude. He was funny and easy to be with. But theirs was a temporary and fragile arrangement. All she needed was God, her job and her beat-up truck.

She thanked God for the brief reprieve she’d gotten from his company.

She read for a while, threw another log on the fire and then dozed herself. Her nap was interrupted by Ray towering over her.

“Put your snow gear on if you like. People are starting to dig out and emerge. Most people are congregating over at the school on the other side of town, up a few blocks. They have a generator and food. Any announcement that town folk need to hear will be made there.”

Jude had stirred awake, as well. It took them only minutes to race upstairs and get into their boots and coats. They both emerged from their rooms laughing.

“I didn’t realize how bad my cabin fever was until now,” he said.

Lacey and Jude bounded down the stairs and out into the open. Her elation changed to fear. The tall thin man was out here somewhere.

The snow had drifted in front of some of the doors of the shops and in the street, as well. Some snow still twirled out of the overcast sky. But she could see structures and people.

He tugged on her coat. “I have no idea where the school is. First let’s take a look around and see if we can spot the man you saw at the hotel. If that other guy did come down off the mountain, I doubt he’d be out in the open, but he’s my lead for finding Maria. I have to search for him and his car.”

Lacey tensed as a wave of fear rolled over her. “I didn’t get a good look at the tall thin man.”

“I’ll stay with you, promise.” He squeezed her arm just above the elbow and then winked at her, which made her smile. “I have to do my job even with this storm.”

It looked like she and Jude were going to continue to be together for safety if nothing else.

In her brief survey of the town as she’d driven toward the hotel when she’d first arrived, she didn’t remember seeing any buildings that looked like a school. She tilted her head toward the sky and let the flakes melt on her cheeks.

“Ray said the school is not on Main Street. I’m sure we can ask someone to get more specific directions if we can’t find it, but let’s have a look around.”

“Just describe the man you saw and say you’re looking for him. No one needs to know about Maria,” Jude said.

He stopped to ask several people who were outside their homes clearing away snow if they had seen the car or the man from the mountain. He offered a description. None of them had.

Lacey stared down the street. “What if we split up. I can go this way up the street.”

“Okay, but stay on this street so you’re in my sight,” Jude said.

Lacey worked her way up the street knocking on several doors. One was occupied by an old woman and another by a woman with kids hanging on her skirt. None of them had seen the man she described or the car. When she peered around the side of the houses she didn’t see a car that resembled the one that had run Jude off the road. The Davenport was the only hotel in town. If the man was in town, he must be hiding out in a house or maybe there was an abandoned building somewhere.

She walked past an empty lot where a house may have been at one time. When she glanced up the sidewalk, Jude was knocking on another door. The final house she came to was a weathered-looking blue Victorian. She ran up the creaking steps and knocked, waited and knocked again. She stepped down the stairs and peered into the big front windows. It didn’t look like anyone was home. Movement on the upper floor window caught her attention. A man with jet-black hair and a beefy build stared down at her. He locked her in his gaze and then slipped back into the shadows.

Her skin tingled. Why hadn’t he answered the door?

Jude was coming up the walk toward her. She ran to meet him, brushing off the rudeness of the man at the upper window. Some people were just antisocial. She met Jude in the middle of the block.

“There’s some more houses over there we can check out,” Jude said, pointing at a group of houses that lay just beyond an open field.

She followed him with a backward glance toward the blue Victorian house. They wandered toward a side street and then into an open field that was probably for baseball or soccer. The field was set apart from the rest of the town, but there were houses on the other side of it some distance away.

All around them she could hear the sounds of the town coming to life. She heard children laughing in the distance and snowmobiles motoring around.

They were midway across the wide field when the sound of a snowmobile caught her attention. She looked up to see a snowmobile headed straight toward them.

It took a second for it to register in Jude’s brain that the driver of the snowmobile intended to plow them down. He grabbed Lacey and pushed her toward a snowdrift, landing beside her as the vehicle whizzed past them. The driver had on a helmet with a dark visor.

Heart racing, he pulled Lacey to her feet.

Again, the roar of an engine surrounded them. The driver had turned around and was making a second pass at them, barreling toward them at a high rate of speed. Both of them crawled over the drift and ran toward a grove of trees.

The clang and rumble of the snowmobile engine engulfed them as they sprinted toward the safety of the trees. The grove wasn’t that big, maybe fifty feet across. The snowmobiler circled around it as though taunting them that they could not escape.

Out of breath, Lacey touched her gloved hand to her chest. “What in the world?”

He gathered her into his arms and held her close. Partly to quell her fear but also because having her close made him feel less afraid.

The snowmobile did another circle around them. The noise of the engine was menacing and oppressive.

“Either people in this town really don’t like outsiders, or someone is after us.” Her voice trembled.

He held her close even as the noise of the snowmobile echoed through the trees. The guy wasn’t just going to give up and leave.

He glanced through the bare trees at the snowmobile. “When he gets to the back side of these trees—” Jude pointed out across the field where the houses on the edge of town were visible “—I say we make a run for it.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

When he looked into her eyes, he saw the fear there, how shaken she was by all this. Jude touched her cheek with his gloved hand. “You can do this. Those houses are not that far away. I doubt he’ll come after us in broad daylight with people around.”

“It’s got to be the same guy who was at the hotel. Don’t you think?”

“Probably. Let’s just get to where it’s safe.” He watched the snowmobile circle around behind the trees. “Now, Lacey, now.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the trees.

Their boots pressed into the deep and drifted snow slowing them in their flight. Behind him, Jude could hear the snowmobile growing louder.

He hoped he had not made a mistake and put Lacey in even greater danger. He could see the backyards of the houses up ahead. But no people.

Gripping Lacey’s hand, he sprinted even faster. She kept pace with him. The mumbling roar of the snowmobile pressed on his ears drawing ever closer.

Then suddenly it stopped altogether.

Jude glanced over his shoulder. The snowmobiler had parked, still perched on the machine with the engine running. Then Jude drew his attention to the scene in front of him. They were still about fifty yards from the backyards of the houses. A man had come around with a snowblower and was trying to clear a path while his children played behind him.

The snowmobiler revved his engine and was turning away, disappearing on the other side of the trees, so the guy didn’t want any witnesses.

Out of breath, Lacey and Jude slowed their pace, reaching the houses on the edge of town. The snowblower was too loud and the man too focused to get his attention. Jude and Lacey approached the three children. Two were lying in the snow making snow angels while the third caught snowflakes on her tongue.

Jude’s heart was still racing as he walked toward the girl catching snowflakes. “Did you guys see that guy on the snowmobile?”

The girl, who was maybe seven, wiped moisture off her forehead. “Yeah.”

“I don’t suppose you know who owns that snowmobile.” Jude leaned so he was closer to the girl.

The girl studied him with dark pensive eyes. “Everybody has one. They kind of all look alike.”

It had been a long shot. There was nothing distinct about the snowmobile, no paint job or custom design that would make it stand out. The driver as well had been in a brown snowsuit and black helmet.

“Can you point us toward the school?” Lacey stood beside Jude, their shoulders touching.

One of the snow-angel makers, a boy, sat up, “That’s where everyone is going. We’re headed up there as soon as Dad makes a path.” The boy pointed to the man with the snowblower.

The girl pointed up the street. “You go back to the street where the restaurant is and then turn and walk up.”

“Thanks.” Jude trudged up the sidewalk which was still filled with snow. Lacey walked beside him. “Why are we going to the school?”

“I’m thinking it would be safer with people around,” Jude said. “Maybe I can borrow a snowmobile to get out of town and search that mountain.”

“You’re probably right.” She looped her arm through his. Maybe it was just because she’d had such a fright that she wanted to be close to him. All the same, he liked that she trusted him that much.

The houses were still mostly dark. He saw only a faint light here and there in windows from a candle or lantern. An overcast sky veiled the full intensity of the sun. It felt a little like they were under a dome.

They found their way back to Main Street where there were more signs of activity, more people digging out. Still no cars moved up and down the street. Some men shoveled around where their snowmobiles were buried beneath several feet of snow. The café where they had met was dark as they walked past it.

They trudged about two blocks before what was clearly the school came into view. A front school yard filled with very dated play equipment made of metal and a brick building with another smaller stick-built house next to it. He suspected that at one time the house had been where the schoolteacher lived though it might not be used for that now.

Light glowed from every window and there was a steady stream of people coming from different parts of town headed toward the wide concrete steps.

Lacey jerked.

“Are you okay with this?”

“I’m not sure what choice we have.” She tilted her head to look into his eyes.

She looked kind of cute with the snow falling all around her, her beanie hat, red hair framing her porcelain face.

“That guy on the snowmobile, whomever he is, doesn’t want witnesses. We should be pretty safe staying here,” he reasoned. He wanted to search more, but he knew he couldn’t leave Lacey alone.

“Well, one thing is for sure. I’ll go crazy if I have to hang out in that hotel,” she said.

He laughed. Both of them could agree on that. They headed toward the steps. Jude nodded at the other people going inside. Plenty of them were tall and thin. He wondered if any of them had come after Lacey and him intent on harm less than twenty minutes ago.

Or was the culprit hiding out somewhere in some dark home, waiting for another chance to strike?

FIVE

A tension twisted through Lacey’s chest, making it hard to breathe. Yes, there was a good chance whoever had entered her hotel room and then tried to mow Jude and her down with a snowmobile was among the people going into the school. And there was a chance he was the kidnapper’s accomplice.

They stepped into a sort of lobby area where there were cubbies and places for kids to hang up their coats. There were two doors on either side of them and a wide hallway in the middle with two large doors at the end. A woman in a sweater that had light-up reindeer on it stepped toward them. Her graying blond hair was piled on her head in a series of twists and braids.

“You two look lost,” the woman said, stepping toward them. “This must be your first Lodgepole snowstorm.”

“Yes,” Jude said. “I guess we kind of stick out from everyone else.”

The woman had a warm smile. “Not to worry. Most people in the classrooms are just socializing. We have coffee and tea set up. The rest of us are in the gym trying to put some hot food together to feed everyone.”

Lacey tugged on Jude’s sleeve. “We’ll come give you a hand with the meal.” That way they could stay together. Lacey had worked in enough small towns to know that the way to win people over was to pitch in with whatever work was at hand. Plus, if Jude wanted to borrow a snowmobile, he’d have to win the trust of the townspeople first.

The woman’s face lit up. “Oh delightful. We can use all the help we can get. I’m Terri by the way,” the woman said.

“I’m Jude and this is Lacey.”

“Follow me.” Terri spoke over her shoulder as she walked down the wide hallway. “Don’t tell me you two came here on your honeymoon to cash in on the winter activities.”

“Actually, we didn’t know each other until a day ago,” Jude said.

Jude shot Lacey a look, raising his eyebrows. She shrugged. So, they had given Terri the impression that they were a couple.

Terri pushed open one of the wide doors. They stepped into what was a sort of all-purpose room for the little school. There was a gym floor marked off for half-court basketball and a stage at one end. A piano sat in a corner.

Terri pointed to a door off to the side. “The kitchen is in there. There’s plenty of chopping and mixing to do.” She looked at Jude. “And in a little bit we’ll need to set up some tables and chairs.”

They entered the kitchen where several older women and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were at work. The boy, who was loading a dishwasher, was too chubby to have been her attacker.

“We’re here to help,” Lacey said to the elderly woman who appeared to be in charge.

The woman smiled and pointed over to where the girl was chopping vegetables. “We’re hoping to get some kind of meal for a crowd thrown together.” She eyed Jude. “You look like you would be good at cutting up chicken.”

Lacey set to work with the teenage girl chopping vegetables while Jude aided in dicing chicken. From the talk of the other women, the plan was to make some pots of chicken soup and some salads. The women were warm and welcoming. The older women had stories to tell about previous snowstorms. They asked Lacey questions about her work. Quite a switch from the earlier reception when she’d first come into town. Maybe it just took a while for people in Lodgepole to warm up to strangers. Nothing like a snowstorm to draw out the best in people.

She noticed that Jude still wasn’t volunteering much information. He must be tight-lipped with everyone.

As the ladies joked and laughed, she caught herself stealing looks at Jude who seemed to be enjoying the company, as well. He met her gaze for just a moment. Other people, strangers, had looked at them and thought they were involved. Her heart fluttered a little when he caught her in his gaze. Maybe there was an attraction there.

One of the older women tapped Jude on the shoulder. “You look big and strong. If you go down in the basement, there’s a pantry. I’m going to need one of those bags of flour to make my biscuits. I can’t carry such a heavy thing up the stairs.”

Jude glanced in Lacey’s direction. Whatever the reasons for the attacks, these people were not dangerous. She could stay in the safety of the kitchen until Jude got back. “Sure, no problem.”

Another woman caught Jude on his way out and handed him a piece of paper. “Before you go. I wrote down some other things we’ll need from the basement.”

Jude took the note and headed out the door.

Once Jude was gone, one of the older women sidled up to Lacey and knocked her shoulder against Lacey’s. “Hubba-hubba.”

“What?”

The older woman tilted her head to where Jude had just gone. “If I was a little younger. How wonderful for you. He’s handsome and he likes to help out in the kitchen.”

Heat rose up in Lacey’s cheeks. “No, we’re not...” Oh, what was the use? These women were convinced she and Jude were together. Maybe they were seeing something she wasn’t willing to admit. She and Jude had been thrown together because they were outsiders and now she appreciated the protection he offered until they weren’t stranded in this town and they could let law enforcement know about the attacks. But Jude was just as guarded as she was. Once the roads opened up, she suspected they would part ways.

Jude returned a few minutes later with the flour and the promise that he would bring the other stuff up. He disappeared again. While the pots of soup boiled, Lacey helped chopped vegetables for a salad. At least ten minutes passed with no sign of Jude. She grew worried that something bad had happened to him.

She excused herself and searched for the door the women indicated led to the food storage area. She headed down the stairs. There were rows and rows of shelves stocked with all sorts of canned goods as well as some in plastic tubs with labels on them like flour and sugar. Another shelf had first aid kits, water and thermal blankets. The town was clearly prepared for disasters like a snowstorm.

“Jude?”

It looked like there was a hallway on the other side of the storage room.

“Jude? Are you down here?” Above her, she could hear people stomping around and laughing. There was a scraping sound like tables and chairs being set up. She heard footsteps on the stairs she had just come down. She couldn’t see around the shelves. The footsteps came toward her. Fear encroached.

A young pregnant woman came around the first wall of metal shelves. “Oh, I didn’t know someone else was down here,” the pregnant woman said. “I was just looking for some napkins. We should be eating here pretty soon.”

“I think I saw some a couple shelves over.” Lacey helped the woman find the napkins. She listened to her footsteps tap up the stairs.

Convinced that Jude must have gone somewhere else, she was about ready to head back up the stairs herself when she heard a screeching noise deeper in the basement.

She stepped out into a hallway where she’d heard the sound. “Jude?”

Someone grabbed her from behind, cupping a hand over her mouth and dragging her down the hallway. She struggled to break free or at least scream for help. The man held her in his tight grip, dragging her farther down the hall.

She kicked and tried to twist free.

He let go of her. She felt herself being pushed. A door slammed. Cold enveloped her. She was inside a walk-in freezer. A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling. She banged on the door and shouted for a full five minutes. Her fists hurt from pounding.

Already the chill had sunk into her skin. She could feel her body shutting down. Her mind fogged.

Above her, she could hear people moving around. Settling in to eat a meal together. The cooking was done. It was unlikely anyone would come back down the stairs for at least twenty minutes. By then she would freeze to death.

Jude stared around at the throngs of people as they shuffled into the gym. Some stood in line to get their food. Others were already sitting down enjoying their soup. He didn’t see Lacey anywhere.

He’d gotten tangled in a conversation he couldn’t get out of for just a few minutes.

He popped his head in the kitchen. Only two of the women remained. “Have you seen Lacey?”

Both of them shook their heads.

“She might have gone looking for you,” one of the women said.

Jude hurried down the stairs to where the food and supplies were stored. He called Lacey’s name. He raced around the tall shelves.

A pounding noise led him down a hallway to a walk-in freezer. He swung the door open and Lacey fell into his arms. She was crying and shivering.

“Stay here, you’re going to be okay.” He ran back to the supply shelves and grabbed one of the thermal blankets. He enveloped her with it. She tucked in close to him as he led her up the hallway.

She backed up against the wall and slid down to the floor. He pulled the blanket over her shoulders and sat next to her.

“Someone pushed you in there?”

She nodded, still unable to speak.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. After a while, she stopped shivering.

“This has to be connected to what happened on the mountain. The people in this town might not like outsiders but they’re not killers.” She turned her face toward him and wept.

She swiped at her eyes.

He continued to hold her as her tears dampened his neck. He rested his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know what is going on here, Lacey. But you are safe now. I’m here.” And it was clear he needed to stay close to her no matter what, for her protection.

She pulled away so she could make eye contact, her gaze searching. “I thought I was going to die in there.”

“But you didn’t.” He looked into her eyes.

“That thing about your whole life flashing before your eyes is true.” She drew the blanket around herself. “I mean, it’s not like I saw everything that happened to me. But I could feel my body and my brain slowing down. And I just wondered if the life I’d lived mattered. To other people, to God especially.”

He pulled away. “God and I are kind of not on speaking terms.”

“But you were at one time?”

Jude took in a deep breath. He had to tell her the truth. “It’s a long story. Two people died on my watch back when I was on the force. I prayed I would be able to prevent it.” He shook his head as the bitter taste over what had happened, over what he could not stop, rose up inside of him. “There was a child who witnessed the murder-suicide. She will never be the same.”

“After my parents and my brother died, I just figured I could get through with just me and God.” She tilted her head toward the ceiling where they could hear the sound of people enjoying food and fellowship. She shrugged. “Now I don’t know. Maybe that was wrong thinking. I really thought I was going to freeze to death in there.”

The experience had made them both want to share more about themselves.

He hugged her and held her close. “I’m glad you didn’t.” He hesitated but then plunged forward even as fear wanted to steal his words from him. “This last day or so with you, Lacey. It’s been nice...in an unexpected way.”

She elbowed him playfully. “Thanks. You’ve been a good surprise too.”

Jude stared at the ceiling, tightening his arms around Lacey. Her soft hair brushed his cheek. While he relished this moment they had together, it was clear that wherever they went in this town they were not safe.