Page 72 of The House of Cross

The trail ended at a large lean-to tucked in the woods. Six men also wearing snow camouflage waited with snowmobiles. Two of the snowmobiles had pull sleds attached.

Toomey gestured to the sleds. “Get in.”

“We’re hungry,” Bree said.

“You’ll eat soon enough,” he replied. “Now get in the sled. Or die.”

Bree trudged to one sled. Sampson went to the other.

“Lie down,” one of the gunmen said.

Sampson lay down and was surprised that his long frame fit.

“Hands,” the gunman said, and zip-tied his wrists together and then the ankles of his rubber boots. He used a long, thick zip tie to bind the top to the bottom, limiting Sampson’s ability to raise his arms.

“My hands are going to get frostbite,” John said.

Another one of the gunmen threw a heavy wool blanket over him. A third buckled and cinched straps across his chest, pinning him to the sled.

Then they got out a heavy, black wool hood and pulled it down over his head. There was some kind of toggle in the fabric that allowed them to tighten the hood around his neck.

The snowmobiles started. The sled began to move. They were soon racing over the snow so fast he started to panic, feeling claustrophobic behind the mask; he wanted to see where they were going. He tried to keep track of the times they slowed and took sharp curves and when they climbed and when they descended.

But it was soon a blur. He started to wonder how long they’d been gone and whether they’d been missed. He remembered that Bree had said she was going to call Alex at eleven his time on the evening they were taken. How long would Alex wait until he decided something was wrong? Twelve hours? Twenty-four? And how long had they been unconscious?

Then he thought of Willow. He told himself,No matter what happens, I promise, I will not let you become an orphan.

Then he thought of Rebecca Cantrell.And Rebecca, I have only begun to realize this, but I love you.

CHAPTER 52

THE WEATHER AS WEdrove southwest from Jackson to Idaho was foul, creating the worst road conditions I’d ever seen: Snow. Sleet. Ice. Winds gusting to fifty.

We made it out of the Tetons without much trouble, but once we reached Idaho, it was a whiteout again. We crawled into Idaho Falls at two in the morning, got a hotel, and slept through the rest of the storm.

When we set out again, the roads were slick and treacherous all the way north to Leadore. It was nearly four in the afternoon when we finally made it to Salmon and five when we reached North Fork, where Verizon said Bree had last used her cell phone.

My wife and my best friend had been out of touch for morethan forty-four hours when we parked in front of the Danvers Country Store and went inside. An enormous man, easily six foot eight and three hundred pounds, was stocking shelves.

We all introduced ourselves, and I showed him pictures of Bree and Sampson, said cell phone records indicated Bree’s phone had last been used in the store’s parking lot.

“Must have been lucky,” Big Ed said. “Cell service is horrible.”

“Have you seen them?”

“Not me,” Big Ed Danvers said. “My wife, Lucille, did. She’s got early-onset Alzheimer’s and about had a nervous breakdown after they left. She’s still got the lows. She’s upstairs.”

Mahoney said, “Can we speak to her, sir? It’s important. Both John and Bree went missing after they were here.”

Big Ed hesitated. “You going to make her sadder?”

I said, “I sure hope not, sir. That is absolutely not our intent.”

Ned said, “We believe she can help us.”

He led us through a door, up a flight of stairs, and into a large apartment. Mrs. Danvers was in her pajamas and robe, curled up on a sofa, watching a movie.

Big Ed said, “These folks are with the FBI, Lucille. They want to know about the two who came the other day to ask about the twins. I’ll be downstairs.”

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