Burn Out (21 page)

“
You didn’t tell him about
the necklace we found yesterday?” Mack got up and cleared the
breakfast dishes away.

“
No. I think we need to
keep it under wraps until we check out Paul’s cabin again. Besides,
I gave Ken my word about not involving the police with the search
at the lake.”

“
What would he gain from
kidnapping Sam?”

“
I’m not entirely sure he
kidnapped her. Maybe she used him to get away.”

“
Well, there is only way to
find out.”

Lake Juniper, Thursday
morning

“
Huh, still no truck,”
Rachel said. “That’s weird. I had Red do a drive by at Paul’s house
several times last night just in case he decided to come home. Red
said Paul wasn’t home all night. Where is he?”

“
Maybe he hid his truck somewhere.
Jack said his cabin was located on forty acres of land. It’s a big
hiding space.”

“
Shall we go check the inside of
the cabin again?” Stacy asked.

Just as they were getting out of
truck, Rachel saw a figure running from the house. She stopped in
her tracks and pointed toward the house.

“
Somebody just left.”

Mike withdrew his gun and motioned
for them to stay behind him. As they made their way closer to the
house, Rachel stopped. “What is that smell?”

Before anyone could answer, the
whole cabin blew up in front of their eyes. No one had time to
react. The force of the blast blew them back several hundred feet
from the cabin. Debris from the impact scattered all around them.
Rachel looked at the house as it became a large fiery ball of
orange, then black thick smoke filled the air. Her vision was a
little blurry and her ears hurt. She could feel the intensity of
the heat all around her.

One minute she saw a figure running
from the small cabin and the next minute there was nothing but a
black hole of smoke and fire.

Rachel looked around for Mike and
Stacy. Mike was sitting up a few feet away from her. He looked
stunned just like she was. Stacy was to her right, propped up
against a tree.

“
You guys okay?” Mike
yelled.

Pieces of black debris still rained
down on them. Slowly her hearing came back to her. She checked all
over her body. Nothing seemed broken or out of place. “What the
hell just happened?”

“
Are you okay?” Mike made his way
over to her.

“
Yes, I’m fine,” she said as Stacy
crawled over to her. “Let’s just hope Sam wasn’t in the
cabin.”

“
Did you get a good look at the
person coming out of the cabin?”

Stacy asked.

“
No, I didn’t get a chance. It
could have been anybody.”

“
We need to get to somewhere with a
cell signal and call the fire department,” Mike said. “Rachel, you
go with Stacy and call for help while I go check out the other
cabin.”

“
No way. I want to go with you. In
case we find Sam.” Rachel saw the look on Mike’s face. He didn’t
want her to go with him. “Mike, I have to be there.”

“
Ok.” Mike tossed her the keys.
“There is a flashlight under the driver’s seat. Can you bring it
back to me before you leave?”

“
Sure.” Stacy headed for the
truck.

“
Are you sure you are okay? You
look peaked,” Mike asked Rachel.

“
Yeah. I’m fine. Just a little
shook up.”

Stacy came back with the
flashlight. “I’ll be back as soon as I get a signal and call the
police and fire department.”

Mike took the flashlight. “Be
careful.”

***

Stacy got in the truck and
headed down the long drive that connected to the highway. Even
though it was daylight and the sun was shining bright, the dense
overgrowth and tall pines shaded the sun and made it hard for her
to see. Especially since her eyes were still adjusting from the
blast. She flipped on the headlights and spotted someone limping
along the side of the road. She instinctively slowed down. The
person was obviously injured.
Was this
Sam? Did she somehow escape Paul and get hurt in the
blast?

Stacy tried to get a better
look. The figure was dressed in long pants and a baseball cap. It
was hard to tell whether it was a man or woman. Whoever it was
collapsed as soon as Stacy pulled the truck over. She quickly
checked her cell phone. Still no signal. Cautiously, she got out of
truck and walked over to the side of the road.

“
Are you okay?” She got a
little closer.

The figure emitted a low
moan that reminded Stacy of a cat when it goes in heat. She bent
down next to the person and repeated, “Hey, are you
okay?”

Suddenly, the person
grabbed her wrist and pulled her down hard. She looked into a pair
of eyes that made her spine tingle. It was Paul.

He forced her up and held a
gun to her back. Shit, she thought. She was in trouble
now.

“
Walk slowly to the truck
and get in. No funny stuff or I will shoot you. And I won’t think
twice about it.”

Stacy thought about her
options. She was still a couple miles away from the highway and
didn’t know the area very well. She tried to remember if Mike had
left the gun in the truck or had taken it with him.

Paul made her get in the
driver’s seat. “Let’s go. Pull out nice and slow.”

“
Where are we
going?”

“
Just drive. I’ll let you
know when you need to turn.”

Stacy pulled back out onto
the road. She wondered how long it would be until Mike and Rachel
knew she didn’t call the police.

“You feel up to going to the other
cabin?” Mike asked as he helped Rachel up.

Rachel got her balance and tested
her legs. She was a little unsteady on her feet and her ankle
throbbed.

“
We can rest for a bit,” Mike
offered.

“
No, let’s go. I’m ready.”
Rachel felt like their time was running out. Like Sam’s time was
running out, was more like it, she thought. She grabbed her
backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Looking back at where the
cabin once stood, she said a silent prayer.
Please let Sam be alive.

They retraced their steps from the
day before, carefully making their way around the lake.

“
Watch your step. Stay close behind
me,” Mike said as they headed through thick brush.

“
What do you think happened at the
cabin?”

“
I don’t know why Paul would blow
up his own cabin. Unless he was hiding something from
us.”

They found the cabin again. It was
still locked.

“
Now what?” Rachel
asked.

Mike pulled out his gun. “Step
back.” He aimed the gun at the lock and pulled the trigger. The
lock blew off and left a small hole in the door. He pulled the door
open and looked inside.

“
It’s dark. Hand me the flashlight,
please.”

Rachel handed over the flashlight
and he stepped inside.

“
What do you see?”

“
Looks like they are using this
place for storage.” He shone a light around the area. Rachel could
see a couple of ATVs and storage shelves that were neatly stacked
against wall. They held several rows of storage tubs.

Rachel and Mike walked deeper
inside. Rachel figured the room was about ten feet wide and thirty
feet in length. The flooring was made of old pine wood.

“
I guess this is where Paul stores
all his hunting gear,” Rachel said as she walked to the back of the
room. “He sure likes everything neat and orderly.” Rachel began to
look inside one of boxes.

“
I wonder why he built a storage
area so far away from…Hey, wait a sec. Did you hear that?” Mike
asked, shining his light near the back of the shed.

Rachel took a step back and
listened.

A faint noise seemed to come from
beneath the flooring.

“
What is that?” Mike shined the
light on the floor where Rachel was standing.

“
An animal? It sounds like it’s
coming from underneath.”

Rachel got on her hands and knees
and felt around the floor. She brushed away some debris. Her hand
felt something rough.

“
I think this is some type of
cellar.” She found a handle to the door and gave it a tug. The door
wouldn’t budge.

“
That’s strange. It’s almost
impossible to build anything underground in this area,” Mike said.
“This must have been built into a hill. It’s hard to see with all
the foliage surrounding it.”

“
I wonder if this was the original
cabin. It looks older.”

“
And turned this one into a storage
place. Makes sense,” Mike said. “Here, let me help.”

Rachel got out of the way and Mike
gave the handle a hard yank. The door slowly creaked open and he
pushed it all the way down.

“
Hand me the flashlight.” She
passed him the flashlight. He shined it down the dark
hole.

“
Jesus.” Mike let out a
sigh.

A small room, no bigger than six by
eight, held a small cot, jugs of water, a bucket and a shelf with
canned goods. It was the smell that turned Mike’s stomach. A mix of
sweat, urine and fear.

Rachel peered over the top of the
hold and felt a sense of dread. They were too late. Her gaze
followed the light of the flashlight. Someone was curled up in a
tight ball in the corner. Not moving. Mike quickly climbed the
ladder down into the cellar with Rachel right behind him. He got to
her first.

“
It’s Sam. She’s alive.” The
sweetest words she ever heard.

***

Rachel limped over to Sam. “Are you
okay?”

Sam looked up at her with tears in
her eyes. She nodded her head yes.

“
I’m Rachel Scott with Florida Omni
Search. We have been looking for you for a few days. Your mom asked
us to find you.”

“
Do you think you can make it up
the steps?” Mike asked her.

“
I think so.”

Mike helped her up. “You are going
to be okay.”

Rachel said, “Why don’t I go back
up first, then you follow with Sam the rest of the way.”

When they got outside, Rachel found
blanket in her bag and covered Sam up.

“
Where is the asshole?” Sam asked
shivering.

“
Paul? I don’t know,” Rachel
answered her. “We haven’t found him.”

“
I wonder what is taking Stacy so
long. She should have been back by now,” Mike said.

“
How did you find me?” Sam asked
Rachel.

“
We got a lead and went to Millers
Lake. I found your heart charm necklace.”

Sam looked shocked. “You found my
necklace?”

“
Yep. Your friend Tammie told me
about the necklace a few days ago. We just got lucky and found it.
I knew you must have left it there on purpose.”

“
The asshole made me wear it again.
It was his half of the necklace. He took me back to the lake a
couple of days ago to look for the money that Ken hid. I took a
chance when Paul wasn’t looking and hid it in the tree.” Sam took a
deep breath. “He had this silly plan that we were going to get back
together. I don’t know what happened to Paul. He just cracked. I
was afraid I would never see my kids again. I hoped one day Ken
would find the necklace and know what happened. That I didn’t leave
our kids.”

“
I think he knows that. After we
found the necklace, we came up here to talk to Paul. We haven’t
been able to find him yet.”

We need to head back up to the
cabin. Do you think you can walk?” Mike asked Sam.

“
Yes.”

“
Paul’s cabin actually exploded.”
Rachel explained to Sam what happened.

“
What? That crazy bastard blew it
up?”

“
We don’t know what happened. We
had just pulled up and were walking toward the cabin when it
exploded.”

“
That must have been the noise I
heard. The ground shook really hard.”

“
We don’t know what happened to
Paul,” Mike said. “A friend of ours, Stacy, went to call the police
after the house went up in flames.”

“
Hopefully she’s waiting for us
there,” Rachel said.

It took them longer to get back to
the cabin. Sam had to stop a couple of times for a
break.

The cabin finally came into view.
Or what was left of it. Sam gasped when she saw the large
smoldering black hole where the cabin had been.

Mike’s truck was nowhere to be
found.

Stacy tried to keep her cool while
she was driving. She wondered if he was going to risk going back to
his house. They were heading that way.