Page 39 of Fighting for Mallory

Her captors moved some distance away from her and engaged in a heated discussion, gesticulating wildly and glancing every so often back at her. Mallory finished her bottle of water and took another one. As she drank, she studied the cavern. It was a geological beauty with its high vaulted ceiling and rough layered walls. She wondered why it hadn’t been discovered and explored. Perhaps it had been, and they were somehow preventing others from visiting it. She hadn’t noticed a No Trespassing or Danger sign, but that didn’t mean one wasn’t there. Maybe the path where they’d left the van was blocked by a rope and sign urging people to avoid the dangerous area.

The men approached her. Their eyes reflected uncertainty. Should they trust her?

“I am Ali,” said the short one. “This is Omar.”

“I’m Mallory.” She offered a bright, reassuring smile. “So, will you allow me to have something to eat?”

Ali reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a protein bar. “You can have this.”

“Thank you.”

Ali and Omar watched Mallory gobble the protein bar and finish her second bottle of water. Was that amusement she saw on their faces?

“Now what?” she asked and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Now we leave,” Omar answered. He and Ali turned toward the tunnel they had followed earlier.

“Wait! Do you have any more protein bars?”

Each of them tossed her a bar. “Thank you.”

They grabbed their torches without acknowledging her and entered the tunnel. Mallory waited until the torchlight was no longer spilling from the darkness and followed them with a torch she lit from the river of fire. She chose a small rock and carved arrows on the tunnel wall to mark the direction. She lost sight of Ali’s and Omar’s torchlights, and her pulse raced. Mallory didn’t want the men to spot the light behind them, but not being able to see which of the many side caves and tunnels they traveled frightened her. She wasn’t sure if fragments of her torn shirt would be visible.

When she approached a fork in the tunnel system, Mallory pondered which direction to take. Unable to discern any clear footprints, she frowned as she tried to recall whether they had come from the right or the left of the tunnel leading to the cavern.

“Choose wisely, grasshopper,” she muttered and turned toward the left.

Mallory paced herself and carved arrows every fifty steps. A cautious elation lifted her heart when she found a piece of material from her shirt. She hastened her progress, especially as she seemed to be moving closer to the surface.

Lights bobbing in the distance brought her up short, and she stumbled over rocks partially buried in the earth. Unable to hide her surprise as she lost her balance, Mallory let out a startled gasp. She scraped her free hand on the sharp plates of rock and sliced open her skin as she caught herself from falling into the abyss on her left. In the torchlight she saw blood dripping from the wound.

Mallory’s mishap drew Ali’s and Omar’s attention. They swung their torches around and spotted her. Her heart sank. Yelling curses in their native tongue, they rushed toward her. Omar yanked the torch out of her hand and tossed it over the side of the narrow ledge where they stood. He and Ali grabbed her arms and forced her back to the cavern. Mallory struggled to free herself. She went limp like a rag doll, and they dragged her as she tried to kick them.

“Let me go!” She bared her teeth and bit their hands.

They snarled in pain but didn’t loosen their grip on her. When they reached the cavern, Omar wrenched Mallory’s arms behind her back. Tears of pain and frustration stung her eyes.

“Ow! You’re hurting me!”

Neither spoke to her. Ali tied her feet together and started to bind her wrists.

“No! Please,” she begged. “Please tear a piece of your shirt and wrap this cut before it gets infected. And tie my hands in front of me so I can at least eat the protein bars you gave me and drink some water. And,” here she took in a great breath of humiliation, “how am I supposed to use the bathroom?”

They hadn’t thought about that. With a sigh, Ali untied her feet. He ripped off the hem of his shirt, rinsed her wound with bottled water, and bound it. He gestured toward one of the tunnels. “Go in there.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Omar warned her. “With your hands tied, you can’t hold a torch and keep your balance on those treacherous ledges.”

“When will you be back?” Though trembles shook her, her voice remained steady and strong.

“In six days with the harvest moon.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze in front of Andre Lapeno’s home in Compton. A sad pall hung over the yard where a tire swing rotated slowly in the wind. Aside from an occasional dog barking or a baby crying, the neighborhood was oddly quiet. An LAPD officer met Judd and Faith as they pulled into the driveway. They followed him into the foyer of the house and stopped. The ransacked living room was a stark reminder of the gruesome murders of the Lapeno family.

“I don’t know what you think you’ll find here, sir,” the officer said. “CSU went over this place with a fine-tooth comb. All the evidence has been logged.”

Judd slipped on a pair of latex gloves and handed a set to Faith. “Thank you, Officer. Please wait outside.”

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