Page 37 of Fighting for Mallory

They spent the rest of the afternoon mapping their route and memorizing the layout of the caves, but Detective Scope warned them that they could never know what to expect until they were in the caverns. Mrs. Scope supplied them with coffee and snacks, and when she commented on Luca’s pale, sweaty face and shaking hands, his friends insisted he lie down in a spare bedroom and rest. He resisted, but Hutch reminded him that he’d be of no use to Mallory or to them in the caves if he couldn’t stand on his feet.

“This isn’t a trip to the zoo, Luca. We’re going deep underground, and none of us except Clayton Wemys has experience. Justice does, but he’s not here.”

Whenever he thought about Justice, guilt consumed Luca. Ever since he’d chosen Hutch, Miguel, Tawny, Owen, and Luca to have his back when he’d become Laguna Beach’s Chief of Police, the group had vowed to support each other, and Justice had never let them down. He’d be here at the forefront of the search for Mallory if Brielle hadn’t been confined to bed rest. They should be there with him, doing their jobs and taking care of their friend and his wife instead of being clear across the country.

He coughed and grimaced in pain. “You guys need to go home.” Luca spoke to Hutch and River. “Justice needs you. With Tawny undercover and Owen in Massachusetts and the three of us here, he’s alone. He’s worried about Brielle and us. It’s too much. Maverick, Detective Scope, and I can handle this.”

Hutch and River glanced at each other. “Sorry, Luca.” Hutch offered a grim grin. “Justice ordered us not to come home without Mallory. So, you’re stuck with us. He has a whole slew of people looking out for him and Brielle. Now, go lie down before you keel over.”

Mrs. Scope met Luca in the hallway. She smiled and handed him the bundle in her arms. “Here are fresh towels, washcloths, a disposable razor, and a can of shaving cream. You’ll find soap in the guest bathroom. Be careful not to get your stitches wet. Best to run a sink full of soapy water and hand bathe.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for your hospitality.”

She waved away his thanks. “We haven’t had a full house since our kids moved out. Now, you rest after you get cleaned up for as long as you need to. Dinner will be ready by the time you wake up.”

Luca felt better after he’d washed the hospital stink from his body and shaved, but the exertion cost him what was left of his energy. When he entered the spare bedroom closest to the bathroom, he found his and Mallory’s duffel bags on the bed. Their newly washed and folded clothes lay in neat piles. Luca lifted one of Mallory’s T-shirts and held it to his nose. Her scent was gone, replaced by the smell of laundry detergent. Tears prickled his eyes. He breathed deeply, imagining the flowery odor of roses emanating from her soft skin.

An unbearable ache of loneliness and grief engulfed him, and he cried out Mallory’s name, muffling the sound in the fabric of her shirt. No matter how many times his friends reassured him that he hadn’t failed Mallory, the truth was she’d been taken on his watch. How stupid! How stupid to walk past a breezeway, making them vulnerable to a surprise attack! Luca pounded the mattress with his fist and stifled his agonizing cries of self-recrimination in Mallory’s shirt. Spent emotionally, exhaustion hit him hard. When he crawled beneath the comforter, he curled on his good side with Mallory’s now wet shirt. Sleep claimed him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Wake up!” One of Mallory’s abductors kicked her shin. She’d been roughed up during the attack on her and Luca, so if there was anything to be grateful for, it was that she hadn’t been kicked in her ribs where most of her pain radiated through her.

She’d been awake for a while now. The chloroform they used hadn’t been enough to keep her unconscious for too long. When she’d roused, everything had been pitch black. She became aware of a hood covering her face and head. She also realized her hands were tied behind her back with old-fashioned rope. Not so smart. She could find something abrasive to fray the rope. And even dumber, they hadn’t tied her feet. She could attempt to flee or fight as soon as they removed the hood.

Mallory had been thrown into a vehicle of some sort. It sounded hollow where she lay on cold metal, so she assumed she was in a van. She’d been rubbing the rope against the metal for some time now and thought she felt it give a little. Since she’d regained consciousness, she’d been trying to count minutes in her head. She also tried to keep track of how many turns they’d made, right or left, and listen for any identifying sounds. In that regard it had been terrifyingly quiet, with maybe the sound of a car passing them from the opposite direction.

By her calculations, from the moment she’d been keeping track of time, they’d stopped two hours later. After she’d been ordered to wake up, she feigned rousing and started to scream behind the hood. One of the men yanked it off and held a finger to his lips to indicate she should be quiet. At least he didn’t slap her. No, they were keeping her alive to sacrifice her in a week.

One week. Luca had one week to find her. She didn’t doubt for an instant that he was still alive. She’d feel it in her soul if he’d been taken from her. Mallory couldn’t lose hope. Tex was tracking her, and with any luck, she’d be located quickly. Who knew? Luca might be on their trail right now and waiting for the right opportunity to ambush them.

Her hope plummeted, though, when they forced her out of the van. Mallory could hardly see her surroundings in the inky blackness of the night. Her eyes adjusted and registered the remoteness of their location. Thick foliage and tall, sturdy trees blocked the moonlight. The trail sloped downward, and she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her. With her hope flailing, her heart sank, too. It would be impossible for Luca to have followed them here without being seen. Unless…

Mallory drew in a sharp breath. What if Luca was barely hanging on to life in a hospital? What if he couldn’t come after her? Still, she quelled the mind-numbing fear washing through her and steadied her nerves. Tex knew where she was. If Luca couldn’t rescue her himself, he’d send Hutch, River, and the entire U.S. Marine Corps after her.

One of her abductors pointed a gun at her and ordered, “Do not move,” as a second man untied her. She rubbed her chafed wrists, but only for a moment because now they tied her wrists in front of her and attached a long lead rope to them.

The first man spoke again. “You follow us. Do not attempt to escape, or it will be worse for you.”

He jerked the rope, and she tripped over tree roots as she fell in line behind him. The second man brought up the rear. They chose their path with seasoned practice, not needing any light to guide them. In the darkness, it was difficult to keep her bearings. Once again, Mallory counted time and steps, knowing only for certain that they were heading down.

About twenty minutes later, they approached a narrow opening on a hillside. Tingles of dread and fear crawled up Mallory’s spine, and she balked. She refused to take another step and tore at the rope binding her wrists with her teeth. The man in the lead yanked on the rope so hard that she tumbled to the wet earth. Unable to break her fall, she landed hard on her stomach. The smell of mold and moss rose, and she gagged.

“No!” she screamed, thrashing. “No! Please don’t make me go in there!” More than being claustrophobic, she had a morbid fear of being buried alive.

“You do not have a choice. You have a destiny to fulfill.”

“So, this is a cave of destiny?” she flung, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Her snarky reply earned her a vicious kick to her aching ribs, and she bit back a groan. “Look, I know all about you. I know you’re on some kind of twisted mission to weigh hearts. But this isn’t ancient Egypt. What you’re doing is wrong. It’s cold-blooded murder. And now the authorities know who you are. Let me go. You can disappear back into the shadows with no one the wiser.”

“Shut up!” the second man snarled.

“I will not shut up! Why me? Why do I have to die? Sacrificed to Osiris? For balance? For harmony? Listen, I’m not completely good like Captain Valentin or completely evil like my husband, if that’s why you killed him. In the religion I believe in, everyone will be judged on his or her heart, including you. Show me mercy, and you’ll be shown mercy.”

Her plea unmoved them. Before they dragged her to her feet, Mallory managed to remove one of her earrings and dropped it outside the cave. Unless their path took them near the surface again, she doubted Tex could track her signal. At least they’d get this far, knowing they were on her trail.

As they entered the mouth of the tunnel, darkness engulfed them, and Mallory shivered when a cold breeze swept over her. Her captors didn’t use cell phones with a flashlight app nor did they wear helmets with lamps attached to them. Mallory sensed the abyss below them and wondered how they were going to avoid falling into it. A few hundred feet beyond the entrance, they stopped. She heard a rustling sound, and the men struck matches that they held to torches jammed in crevices. In the torchlight, she saw that they were traveling along a narrow shelf of the cave. Patterns of rock she might have found beautiful under different circumstances lined the cave’s walls. Sometimes the ceiling pressed down on them, and panic hit her hard. Her heart raced in her chest, and her lungs tightened from an inability to breathe. Stars flashed before her eyes.

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