Page 50 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

The three of them headed out in an old beat-up pickup at four a.m. the following morning. It was probably about a thirty-minute drive to the turnoff, Shanna had recalled, when they’d met up the night before to hear what Jake had planned.

When Jake finally hung a left at the turn off that Shanna pointed out, the road ahead was barely visible.

How long would you say until we reach the property, Shanna?” Jake asked after they’d been driving for about fifteen minutes.

“At least another fifteen minutes, Jake. I’m thinking there’s only one other turn we have to make. But I was just remembering something. I was probably here with Wes at least a half dozen times. One time, Wes got a call. Instead of driving directly to the cabin where we usually parked before heading down into the caves, Wes continued to drive farther north along the road to another location, where there were probably about eight small cabins. Thinking about it now, at one time, it might have been some kind of resort. But the cabins looked like they were needing some repairs. Of course, maybe they were being used during the summer. We were usually here in late January or February,” she said. “The path to reach the caves was a lot longer, and definitely more treacherous, but we were able to get in there and still do a clean sweep of the place.”

Jake nodded, although Rick was looking slightly puzzled. “Exactly what do you mean by doing a clean sweep of the place, Shanna?” Rick asked, looking at Jake, who Shanna could see appeared grim.

“Let me answer that, Rick,” Jake said, sounding terse. “When we found that the trafficking ring had been operating in the tunnels at Dragonfly Pointe, most everything remained from the traffickers and the victims who were being held captive. The men that were holding them were particularly cruel and abusive. Not only were there items of clothing and signs of molding food and waste, but there were also bones that were discovered dating back several years earlier. With the tunnel’s proximity to the lake, we were lucky to find what we did to help identify victims by their DNA because of the moisture.”

“You’ll see other things here too, Rick, like chains and shackles. Some of these holding cells are pretty horrific.” Shanna swallowed hard. “That’s why I started finding creative ways of collecting…uh, things, when Wes and I did the clean ups.”

Rick nodded, reaching for Shanna’s hand as he stared through the window, looking shaken.

“And painted the images of each location using the debris that you found at each place in your oil paints using a technique where you were able to preserve the DNA,” Rick finally said softly.

“I thought it could be some kind of documentation. At the time, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, or even if Johnny was safe, but I had to do something,” she said, sitting up higher in her seat. “I think we’re coming up to the next turn, Jake. Take a right. We’ll be there in about ten more minutes.”

“I think I’ll slow down so that when we get there, we can drive by and park the truck farther along the road without looking too much out of place,” Jake said.

“Wes did tell me that there were a lot of hunters in the area during the winter,” she admitted.

Jake nodded. “I talked to a friend of mine who owns a resort closer to Wisconsin, and he’s the one who suggested the pickup.”

A few minutes later, Shanna motioned toward the left. “That’s the entrance over there. I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed that tall gate before.”

“There appears to be barbed wire fencing surrounding the property,” Jake observed.

“It seems to be set up like a compound,” Rick said grimly. “I wonder if we’ll even be able to access the caves that Shanna was planning on leading us to?”

“Damn,” Jake cursed softly. “Did you see that there’s a lock on the gate Shanna? Do you think that there’s a chance that they could be taking them elsewhere?”

“I don’t think so Jake,” she replied, thinking hard. “There were two other places in the area that Wes brought me to, but I’m positive that both of them are no longer being used. Especially at this time of year. This is the only location left near Lake Superior where there’s access to power.”

“Let’s try to see if we can find the other location you were talking about with the cabins,” Rick suggested. “Maybe we can gain some kind of access so we can solve our surveillance problems.”

“Yeah, that’s about the only thing we can do, I guess,” Jake agreed.

“Keep going Jake,” Shanna said. “It’s coming up soon.”

Maneuvering an icy curve, the cabins were suddenly visible in the distance.

“There they are,” she said, motioning ahead. “It’s been nearly two years since I was here with Wes. It doesn’t look like much has changed, except that the cabins look like they’ve had some updates.”

“It’s definitely closed up for the winter,” Jake decided. “No one seems to be there.”

“Wes said that the owners go away for a couple months for Christmas. See that home back there?”

“I was wondering how they got away with what appears to be no security on the property,” Jake observed.

“I’m not seeing anything either. Although, I think there might be some kind of pole and lighting system closer to the house with sensors,” Rick said.

“Wes drove straight past the cabins and parked near a shed that was near the top of the trail,” Shanna said, motioning at a barely discernable road on the left.

“I’m going to take my chances and head along this road then and park. Let’s see how far we can get before daybreak,” Jake said, reaching for some heavy-duty flashlights he’d brought along for each of them.

“At least the weather is cooperating,” Rick said, as Shanna hiked rather expertly ahead of them along the path another fifteen minutes later.

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