Page 4 of In Her Dreams
Jenna froze, straining her ears.For several seconds, there was only silence.Then, faintly, a sound reached her—a thin, wavering cry that might have been human.
“That came from the other tunnel, off to our right,” Jake said, turning his flashlight in that direction.
Without hesitation, Jenna changed course.“Hello?”she called out, her voice bouncing off the stone walls.“This is Sheriff Graves.Is someone there?”
The silence that followed was so complete that Jenna began to doubt what they’d heard.Then it came again—weaker, but unmistakably a woman’s voice.
“Help...please...”
They quickened their pace, following the sound.The tunnel twisted and turned, branching off occasionally into smaller passages that they ignored.Jenna kept calling out, and the voice responded, growing slightly louder with each exchange.
The beam of Jenna’s flashlight suddenly caught a gleam of metal ahead.As they drew closer, the light revealed a crude but sturdy cage set into a natural alcove in the rock wall.
“Oh my God,” Jake breathed.
Inside the cage, huddled against the far side, were two women.One appeared to be in her twenties, thin, with dirty blonde hair that hung in greasy strands around her face.The other was older, perhaps in her fifties, unconscious or sleeping on what looked like a thin, filthy mattress.
The younger woman shielded her eyes against their flashlights, her face pale and drawn in the harsh illumination.
“Are you real?”she asked, her voice cracking.“Or is this another hallucination?”
Jenna holstered her weapon and approached the cage, keeping her movements slow and non-threatening.“We’re real.I’m Sheriff Jenna Graves, and this is Deputy Hawkins.We’re here to help you.”She examined the cage door, which was secured with a heavy padlock.“What’s your name?”
“Ginger,” the woman replied, crawling toward the bars.Up close, Jenna could see how gaunt her face was, how her clothes hung from her frame.“The other woman is Jill.At least that’s what she calls herself.She’s been unconscious most of today.”
Jenna nodded.“Ginger, how long have you been down here?”
Ginger shook her head, her hands trembling as they gripped the bars.“I don’t know.Weeks?Months?It’s always dark.They bring food and water sometimes, change the bucket.”She gestured to a corner of the cage where a plastic bucket sat.The stench of human waste was strong in the air.
“Who are ‘they’?”Jenna asked, crouching to be at eye level with Ginger.
“They wear masks.Three men.They call themselves the Harvesters.”Ginger’s voice dropped to a whisper.“There was another person here—Omar.They took him away, I don’t know how long exactly.He didn’t come back.”
The name sent a chill down Jenna’s spine.The man in her dreams—it had to be him.“Did anyone tell you anything about why you were taken?”
Ginger nodded, her eyes darting nervously between Jenna and Jake.“Omar said they’re organ traffickers.They take people, keep them until they have...buyers.”Her voice broke.“Omar overheard them talking.They took him for his heart and lungs.”
Jake cursed under his breath.Jenna felt sick, but kept her expression controlled for Ginger’s sake.
Examining the lock, Jake said quietly to Jenna, “This is a master padlock, hard to pick.Maybe impossible.We need a bolt cutter.I think there’s one in the trunk of the patrol car.”
Jenna replied, “I need you to go back and get it.Out there, you can get cell reception.Call for paramedics and contact Colonel Spelling at the State Police.This is bigger than us.”She turned back to Ginger.“We’re going to get you both out of here.But it might take just a little more time.”
Jake hesitated.“I don’t want to leave you alone down here.”
“I’ll be fine.The kidnappers aren’t here now.The sooner you go, the sooner we can get these women to safety.”
Reluctantly, Jake nodded and began retracing their steps, his flashlight beam bouncing along the tunnel until it disappeared around a bend.
Jenna turned her attention back to Ginger, tilting the flashlight so that it shone on her own face.“Were you abducted from Trentville?”
“Kansas City,” Ginger said, sinking back to sit on the dirt floor.“I was walking to my car after a late shift at the diner.Someone grabbed me from behind and put something over my face.I woke up here.”She gestured to the unconscious woman.“Jill was already here.I don’t have any idea where she’s from.She doesn’t talk much, and she doesn’t make sense when she does.”
As if summoned by the mention of her name, the older woman stirred.Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then landing on Jenna’s face.A strange look of recognition crossed her features.
“It’s you,” she said weakly, her voice barely audible.“You’ve come back.”
Before Jenna could question her, Jill’s eyes rolled back and she slipped into unconsciousness again.
