Page 93 of Threat of Danger
He rode hard on the maze of trails, then past Taylor land to Silver Cave’s main entrance at the backside of the cliffs.
The iron gate was padlocked, the same as it’d been the last time she’d been back this way years ago. Worry sliced through Jess that he’d lied, that Kaylee wasn’t here, after all. But before Jess could ask, he pulled a key from his pocket. “Get off.”
He opened the lock, shoved her inside, and pushed the ATV in. Then he looped the chain again and reached through the bars. In another second, he had the padlock locked behind him.
“Hands.”
When she turned, he cut off the restraints and pocketed the remains.
“Start pushing.”
He had her push the heavy machine about fifty feet, past the first turn in the tunnel. She struggled to make the tires turn on the uneven rock floor, but at least the hard work warmed her up. She was no longer shivering.
“Leave it. Hands.”
She held out her hands in the front instead of to the back, hoping she’d get away with it.
She did. He snapped another plastic tie around her wrists. “Keep walking.”
He held his gun in his right hand, a flashlight in his left, showing Jess the way.
Every once in a while, the flashlight illuminated suspicious dark stains on the stone—could be blood, could be anything. Had he killed any of his victims here? Goose bumps covered Jess’s skin all over again, and this time, they had nothing to do with the cold.
“You are special to me, you know,” he said. “I can see I’ve taught you to be stronger. But I’ve learned from you too. The camper was a mistake. I barely sneaked it out of the woods without being seen. I was careful buying it, but still, what if the police found it and traced it back to me? But I’ve solved that problem.” He gave a pleased chuckle. “You can’t trace a cave.”
Jess stumbled and sent some loose rocks rolling. The sound echoed through the passageway.
“Help!” The cry came from deeper in.
Jess’s heart lurched. “Kaylee?”
“Jess? Oh God, Jess. Help, please! I’m in here.”
Then they turned another corner, and the flashlight’s beam hit Kaylee, huddled on the stone floor, chained to a circle of iron in the cave wall. She squinted against the light, tears streaming down her smudged face. She scrambled forward on her hands and knees as far as the chain allowed.
“Another thing I’ve learned from you,” the man told Jess. “I no longer use rope.”
Kaylee shrank back at his voice, then cried harder when the man stepped away from Jess, and Kaylee could see past the flashlight, see that Jess too had been captured and was bound.
For now.
At that moment, Jess couldn’t even care. She was too busy giving thanks that Kaylee was still fully dressed.Thank God nothing bad happened to her. Thank God nothing bad happened.
A dozen or so feet behind Kaylee, a plastic barrel stood next to the wall, maybe dark blue, difficult to tell in the dark. As the man moved around, the flashlight bobbed along. Jess couldn’t see much, but she could see that the barrel’s side was stained. It certainly stank, with a coppery, rotting, sweet odor that made her gag.
Then the light bobbed again, and for a second Jess could see past the barrel. Her stomach heaved so hard she thought she was going to throw up on the spot. For a long moment, she couldn’t look away from the wood chipper, not even when the light moved on and the machine faded to a dark blob.
The man nudged her toward the chains, but didn’t rush her. Instead, he panned the light around again and let her look her fill. He wanted to see her scared. He got off on his victims’ fear.
Jess had been scared out of her mind ten years ago. She had screamed and begged. She’d given him a good show, everything he’d wanted. But he wasn’t going to get that from her again.
She schooled her features as she turned back to him.
He shoved her harder. “Over there.”
At first Jess wasn’t sure what he meant to do with her; then she saw the second circle of iron and the attached chain.
“I’m going to tie you up nice and tight this time. This time, you’ll be the watcher.” He chuckled, the sound oily and evil. “At first.”
