Page 57 of The Perfect Revenge
She heard a sound to her right and jumped slightly.Then she realized what it was.Off the trail, maybe fifty feet away, was the rocky base of one of the surrounding mountains.What she'd heard was a small rock that had come loose and tumbled down.Without much choice, she headed in that direction as fast as she could.
Once there, she darted around the base until she was out of sight of the trail.Then she began scrambling upward, grabbing for any handholds that looked trustworthy while trying to use the nominal cover of the small trees growing up the side of the mountain for cover.
She had made it up about thirty feet when she slipped and slid down five feet.Her momentum was stopped when her left foot jammed against a rock that was jutting out.She stifled a cry and tried to regroup.But as she put pressure on the foot, she felt a twinge of discomfort in her ankle.She was pretty sure she’d sprained it.
She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the pain that was about to come when she tried again.That’s when she heard it.The heavy breathing of someone rounding the bend of the trail.She glanced back and saw Dallas.He was bent over, one hand on his knee, the other still holding the gun.
He was staring at the trail.Hannah could almost read his mind.She knew he was making the same calculation that she had: trying to run to the top of the steep uphill trail without any foliage as cover would leave her too exposed.He was concluding that she had to take a different path.Then he looked to the right, in her general direction.
She held still, waiting for his next move.After a few seconds, he began traipsing through the underbrush toward the mountain.He was headed to a spot about forty yards to the right of her location.But as he got closer, he was sure to search her area too.
She used the noise of him trampling through the brush to resume climbing, being even more careful to ensure that her hand and footholds were secure.Ignoring her tender ankle, she pressed upward, pausing only when she heard him do the same down below.
Glancing up, she saw that she was close to an outcropping where a thick rock jutted out.If she could get to it, she’d be able to lie flat on top of it and hide.It might also offer some protection if he fired at her from below.
She found the narrow trunk of a small tree and wrapped her hands around it, preparing to hoist herself up to where she could grab at the ledge of the stone shelf.But as she gripped the base of the trunk, it caused some dirt to shake loose.The debris, along with several pebbles, tumbled down the side of the mountain.They made a soft clinking sound.But it was enough.A moment later, she heard Dallas running in her direction.
“Hide and seek is over, Hannah,” he shouted gleefully.“I see you!”
She tried to shut him out of her head as she pulled herself upright enough to grasp the ledge of the rock shelf.There were no footholds here, so she’d have to pull herself up onto it using only her arm strength.She had a dark flash of thought, chastising herself for not putting more effort into pull-ups at the gym.
She clutched at the shelf, getting a good grip as she prepared to yank herself upward.As her fingers searched for hollows in the rock to grab, she glanced back down.Dallas was directly below her, maybe fifty feet down.
And he was raising the gun toward her
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Jessie clung to the grab handle on the inside of the helicopter.
As it shot through the darkened sky, cutting a path between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains, she tried not to give in to despair.She looked over at Ryan, who was seated across from her in the LAPD copter.His expression was one of fixed determination.
He was the one who had secured authorization from Captain Parker to get the helicopter after Jessie talked to Kat.According to her best friend, Hannah had left a voicemail saying she’d gone on an overnight camping trip with Dallas Henry, validating Jessie’s worst fears.
Kat said that they'd left from the Mishe Mokwa trailhead to get to the Backbone Trail.That was where the helicopter was speeding now.But the Backbone Trail was 67 miles long, and finding their exact location in the dark without reliable geotagging made finding a needle in a haystack seem like a breeze.Even more concerning was what Dallas Henry might be planning to do to her on that isolated trail.
“Have them check again!”she shouted at Ryan.
He nodded.She’d asked him to put out an APB, asking all law enforcement in the area to report any unusual activity or sightings they’d encountered since midday.That included info from the L.A.County Sheriff’s Department, the National Park Service, and even security companies protecting private land.So far, they hadn’t gotten anything useful back.
“This is Detective Hernandez of the LAPD,” Ryan shouted into the radio, “requesting any updates on unusual interactions on the Backbone Trail or possible sightings of a young, blonde woman, five foot nine, approximately 125 pounds.”
“We don’t even know if he really took her on that trail,” Jessie opined.“That could just be a cover story he gave.”
Ryan was about to reply when they heard a voice cut through their headphones.
"This is Chief Ranger Ed Tice with the National Park Service.I'm not sure if this will be of any use to you, but one of our rangers opened a sat phone channel about fifteen minutes ago, but didn't report in.The line is still open, and he's not responding.His last check-in was from the general area you're asking about.We're sending another ranger to check on his status.Could be totally unrelated, but wanted to make you aware."
“Not a coincidence,” Jessie said to Ryan with more certainty than she felt.“See if they can get a lock on the location of his sat phone and send it to us.”
Ryan relayed the request and was informed that they’d send the location data to the helicopter pilot.For Jessie, the next thirty seconds seemed to take a year.
“Got it!”the pilot shouted from the cockpit.“We’re close to the ping from the sat phone.It’s about four miles northeast of here.We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
It took even less time than that.About ninety seconds later, they were hovering over a curved section of trail.It was too dark to see anything, but then the pilot turned on a giant spotlight.
“It should be right around here,” he said.“We’re within a hundred feet of the phone.I guess it could be in the brush.”
“There!”Jessie shouted as the light passed over a figure lying on the trail.It was clear from his uniform that he was a park ranger.His left hand was clutching at his stomach.To his right was a phone, resting in the dirt.He seemed to be moving slightly.
