Page 109 of All You Want
“You go over it. I’m going to organize another search party. Tami could still be out there in the cold.”
“Not likely,” Shane says. “You saw the dog. She followed the scent trail until it came to where the vehicle was parked. After that, we followed the tire tracks until we lost them on the highway. Wherever she is, she’s not lost in the woods.”
“I can’t just stand around and do nothing.” My frustration boils over. “She’s in danger.”
“I put in a call for additional search and rescue,” Shane says. “They won’t be here until tomorrow morning. I’m sorry, but we need to know where to start, and for that, we need to figure out where Justin would have stashed her, if he’s the one who took her. It could still be someone unknown.”
“Then we need to follow every lead until we find her.”
“Agreed, but I’m hungry, and we have no leads right now.” Shane steps toward the doorway. “Want anything from the diner? Let’s see if Al and Dillon are ready to talk after a few burgers.”
I’m too pissed to say anything. What happened to duty and protecting the innocent? Tami is scared and lost out there. I hate to think what Justin’s doing to her. He could be hurting her or overpowering her.
She would want me to rescue her without fail, and whether Shane or anyone else helps me or not, I’m going to have to go with my gut.
As soon as Shane’s out of sight, I grab the keys to the jail and go toward Diana’s cell. Fortunately, the two drunk guys are asleep. I put my finger over my lips and unlock the cell.
Quietly, I let her put on her shoes and coat, and then we slip out the back. My personal pickup truck is parked around the corner, and fortunately, because of the snow, trick or treating is done for the night.
I escort Diana to the truck. “You better have the goods, and you better start talking.”
“I have an idea, but I can’t guarantee they’re there,” she says. “You have to keep your end of the deal, because I’m helping.”
“You can start by telling me what they planned for Tami, and it better not be another old story.”
“Oh, but it is. A very tall tale with a moral.”
Thirty-Six
~ Tami ~
The van leaves the highway and crunches over the newly fallen snow. The road is narrow and full of switchbacks, going around the sawback ridges full of tall trees. Even though the streams run east to west, the erosion caused by runoff exposes an older layer of gold that runs north to south—the legendary Mother Lode.
After every heavy snowmelt or rushing rainstorm, amateur prospectors are out in the gravel beds looking for any gold that eroded from the hillside. I’m not surprised there are private roads and trails leading deep into the forest along the smaller creeks and tributaries.
The van eventually turns up a narrow drive, winding around a large grove of trees. It drives through open wrought-iron gates decorated with the letter “W.” The gateposts are topped by fiery torches, but it’s what lies beyond the gates that shock me more.
A gray gabled mansion rises from the snow-covered hill flanked by tall trees. The building is at least three stories high with Victorian-style turrets. Most surprising of all, soft light streams from every window, and flickering oil lamps hang over the front porch. Thousands of snow crystals sparkle on the steep roof as moonlight breaks free of the mist.
“Like it, darling?” Justin’s arm around my shoulders feels like a dead weight, befitting the dead animal smell of the van’s intestinal interior. “It’s All Hallow’s Eve and the Night of Samhain, a time when the veil between the world of the living and that of the spirits is at its thinnest, and the most auspicious night for our wedding, my most beautiful of all brides.”
“Will you shut your blathering?” The guy in the passenger seat cuts off Justin’s meandering. “We need to send a ransom message to George King.”
Well, that’s more like it, I think. Of course, it’s all about money, and these two yahoos used Justin and his obsession to pull off the kidnapping. My only chance is for Justin to protect me, so I pipe up. “If we’re having a wedding tonight, shouldn’t we invite my parents? They’ll never forgive being left out.”
The driver slides the van’s door open. Thank God! I might be able to breathe after all. I let the crisp cool air of the high mountains wash over me with blessed relief.
“I’ll also need to invite my bestie, Linx Colson, to be my maid of honor. Really, Justin, dear, you should have planned this shindig better.”
“I didn’t exactly have your attention with your grand opening going on,” he mutters. “It was all I could do to lure that fox friend of yours to my hideout.”
“You mean you’re the one who took Larissa for the weekend?” I ask sweetly, now that the sweet mountain air permeates into the van.
“Yes, and you would have come willingly in exchange for her life, but your two nosy friends had to disturb my hideaway, and I had to go with Plan B.”
“What happened to Larissa?” A bolt of worry shoots through me. “Is she okay?”
I hope she hasn’t lost her sense of smell from being trapped with Justin, but then again, maybe it would have been a blessing in disguise to have a stuffy nose all weekend.
