Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (38 page)

Luke slammed at
the steering wheel. “I never took her anywhere.
 
I don’t even know where she is.
 
That wasn’t me.”

“Then who was
it that took her,” Lin pressed on.
 
She was certain that Luke knew about the abduction, even if he didn’t
know where Sue had been taken. “Where are you taking me?”

They had
arrived at a traffic light and Lin realized that they were at the junction with
Hwy. 421.
 
She also thought that
Luke didn’t really know where he was going; she decided to take a chance. She
pointed toward an empty parking lot across the way at a small grocery store
that was closed.
 
There were no
houses nearby. “Let’s park over there and you can explain all this to me.”
 
She tried to sound confident.
 
To her surprise, Luke nodded and when
the light changed he pulled across the road into the lot.
 
He parked the truck at the side of the
building where it wouldn’t be easily visible from the road and cut the engine.

They sat in
darkness. The mist covering the windshield, combined with the swirling fog just
beyond the building, made it seem as if the two of them were in a state of
suspension—as invisible to the outside world as it was to them.
 

Finally, Lin
could take the silence no longer.
 
She
tried to stay calm, but she was growing increasingly impatient with the
situation.
 
“OK, Luke.
 
There’s no one here, and I don’t think
any traffic that might pass can see us.
 
For now, at least, we are alone, and you are safe from whoever is
looking for you.
 
Now, tell me why
you’re so afraid of the sheriff’s men.
 
Why did you run away when Mark Scott came to arrest you?
 
He’s not with the sheriff, he’s a park
ranger.
 
The feds are the ones after
you…”

Luke
interrupted before she could say anything more,
 
“Yeah, but the sheriff’s men control the
county jail.
 
That’s where they’d
put me—at least until they could transfer me to Charlotte.
 
I can’t be in that jail.
 
They’ll kill me.
 
They will.”

“Who’ll kill
you?” Lin pressed on, “What are you afraid of?”

Luke shook his
head and gripped the steering wheel.
 
Lin could tell that he was crying—openly sobbing—but he said
nothing.
 
Lin finally decided to
shift the subject.

“You said you
didn’t know where Sue was, but I think you do know who took her?
 
Who did that Luke?”

“I didn’t say
anything about her,” he came back angrily. “I know I had nothing to do with
it.
 
That’s all.”

Lin didn’t
believe him.
 
He was a very
frightened young man.
 
Somehow she
had to convince him to trust her.
 
To make him believe she could help him.
 
“Well, we can’t sit here like this all
night.
 
Eventually, it’ll be light
and there’ll be people around.
 
Then
the sheriff is exactly who they’ll call.
 
We know they’re already looking for you
anyway. Either you tell me what’s going on and let me help you or you’re going
to wind up in exactly the place you don’t want to be.”
 
She was putting all her effort into
this, hoping to get him to talk.
 
Instead, he jerked back and grabbed the gun once more.
 
Pressing it against her side.

“No, I won’t.
I’ll shoot you and then I’ll kill myself.
 
I’d rather die than let them take me.”
 
Lin felt a sense of panic rising within
her.
 
She couldn’t lose
control.
 
This young man was
desperate.
 
She had to remain
calm.
 

In a last ditch
effort to reach him—to get him to cooperate with her, Lin began to talk
to him about what she and Ted had done earlier that evening.
 
She started with Sue’s disappearance
from the park and then told about how she and Ted had thought maybe he, Luke,
had her and had taken her to his grandfather’s place.
 
Finally, she told him about the old man
shooting Ted through the barn door, about her taking him to the hospital and
calling the sheriff—the whole story.
 
Before she’d finished she saw that Luke had allowed the gun to slip
forward where it rested against the dashboard.
 
He’d placed his head on the steering
wheel and was sobbing openly.

“I should never
have left grandpa alone.
 
He was
just frightened.
 
He didn’t know
what to do.
 
Now they’ll send him to
prison—he’ll die there and it’ll all be my fault.”
 
Luke looked at her in despair.

Lin reached
carefully forward and put her arm around the young man’s shoulders. “I’m sure
the sheriff has picked him up by now, but I don’t think he’ll end up in
prison.
 
Remember, when they thought
he shot that girl and killed her friend? They were going to put him in a home
where he’d be safe and looked after, but they couldn’t because he changed his
story and there were no witnesses.
 
This time I saw him leave the barn with the gun.
 
This time they can do something.”

Luke didn’t say
anything, but he quit crying and looked toward Lin.
 
“Thanks for telling me about that,” he
said. “Now I know I have to do something.
 
I was telling the truth when I said I didn’t know where your friend Sue
was, but I do think I know who has her, and I have some ideas about where to
look for her.
 
Do you think, if I
find her, that’ll help my case?”

“Luke, I can’t
make any promises, but I do know that if you can help me find her.
 
I’ll speak up for you.
 
I don’t know how you got mixed up in
whatever is going on here, but I don’t think you want to hurt anyone.
 
Now let’s get out of here and try to
find Sue.”

Luke gave Lin a
strange look, but he reached to start the engine.
 
As he did so she reached for the shotgun
and moved it over toward her side of the truck. “I’d feel a lot safer if this
thing were put away somewhere,” she said—hoping she sounded braver than
she felt.

Luke smiled at
her and said, “Let me have it.
 
I’ll
put it in the gun rack.
 
I promise,
but I need to have it where I can get it.
 
We might need it later.”
 
Lin
relinquished the weapon to him and he did, as he promised, place it in the rack
behind the seat before putting the truck in gear and heading out.

They drove in
silence for a few miles, heading out on Hwy. 421.
 
Lin thought Luke might be heading for
the Parkway, for the interchange at Deep Gap, but instead, he turned on Hwy.
221, heading toward West Jefferson.
 
He drove in silence.
 
Lin
wanted to talk more—to
 
learn
more about what was going on here, but she was afraid of losing the rapport she
seemed to be building with her captor so she remained quiet.
 
As they progressed toward Ashe County
the fog seemed to lift a bit making it easier to see the road.
 
They passed a sign, indicating they were
in the Fleetwood community and then Luke made a turn left onto a dirt
road.
 
The road was muddy and
rutted.
 
The truck bounced a lot,
but Luke seemed to have good control.
 
They didn’t slip or spin.

 
Finally Lin got up the courage to ask
about their destination. “Where are we going?
 
What makes you think we’ll find Sue down
this road?”

“You don’t need
to know,” Luke spoke gruffly now, “It’s better if you don’t know about all
this—besides she might not be here.”
 
He said nothing more.

Finally, he
pulled off the road and opened the truck door.
 
He reached for the shotgun, removing it
from the rack. “OK.
 
We walk from
here.
 
Maybe you’d better stay
here.
 
You might fall with that boot
and all.”

“I’m going,”
Lin insisted, “I can make it and besides.
 
I’m scared to be left out here alone.”
 
She reached down and tightened the boot
around her still swollen and painful ankle, but she tried not to show that she
was hurting.
 
She opened the door and
left the truck.
 
It wasn’t raining
and the fog wasn’t as thick here, but she felt a damp chill penetrating her
body.
 
She wished she had a jacket
of some sort, but she didn’t.

Luke came
around and offered her his arm.
 
Together, they left the clearing and headed for a path that led into the
woods.
 
The path was narrow and Luke
was having a difficult time trying to balance the shotgun and walk beside Lin
to assist her.
 
Finally, she
stopped; tugging on his sleeve she asked, “Do you see any small limbs around
here, anything that would make a good walking stick?
 
I could use that for balance, and you
could go in front and keep a good grip on the gun.”

Luke apparently
agreed that was a good idea.
 
He
left her for a moment and ventured into the woods a short distance returning
with a stout limb about two inches in diameter. “Try this,” he said.

It helped a
good bit.
 
Luke was able to walk in
front of Lin, moving bushes and vines that crowded their path.
 
With the aid of the stick she was able
to follow more easily.
 
Her foot and
ankle were still quite painful, but she managed.
 
She didn’t want to think about the extra
damage she might be doing by not following the doctor’s orders.
 
She’d been on it a lot longer than the
half-day she was allowed.
 
Oh well,
she thought.
 
It’s too late to worry
about that now, besides Sue is out here somewhere and who knows what sort of
shape she’s in.
 
She pressed on,
working doggedly to stay close to Luke.
 
The further they went, the harder it was for her to keep up.
 
The woods became more dense and the path
was barely a trace.
 

“We’re almost
there,” Luke had paused and waited for her to catch up.

“Almost where?”
Lin asked, “Where are we going?”

“There’s an old
mine area just ahead.
 
That’s where
I think they may be hiding your friend,” Luke replied.

“Who’re they?”
Lin still didn’t know whom they were pursuing.

“Shut up,” Luke
whispered, “I hope no one else is here, but if anyone is they can hear us
now.
 
You wait here for a
moment.
 
I’ll go check this place
out.”

Lin waited,
hunched down behind some thick bushes while Luke forged ahead.
 
She could hear his steps as he moved
forward.
 
Then all was quiet.
 
Suddenly two blasts rang out in quick
succession.
 
Someone cried out.
Shotguns, Lin thought.
 
She was now
all too familiar with that sound.
 
Her first instinct was to scream.
 
To call for Luke, but she was afraid of discovery.
 
She remained where she was—staying
quiet but trembling from cold and fear.

She heard the
unmistakable sound of someone trampling about in the woods just ahead of her,
but she couldn’t see what was happening.
 
She could hear at least two persons with deep voices talking, but
couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying.
 
Then the voices were quiet and the
sounds were of someone moving through the forest toward her.
 
She looked around, trying to find a
place to hide but found only small brushy trees and thick shrubs.
 
Finally, she chose a medium sized
rhododendron and attempted to squat down behind it.
 
No sooner had she tried to conceal
herself than a tall, angular form burst through from the path.
 

“Here she is,”
a deep voice called, and a strong arm jerked her up on her feet.
 
She struggled, but she was no match for
this man.
 
She tried to get a good
look at his face, but he had a large hat pulled down to his eyes and his coat
collar was turned up.
 
All she could
really tell was he had a long beard.
 
There was something familiar about him though.
 
Where had she seen him before?
 
Just as she was trying to gather her
thoughts, another arm reached out and grabbed her from behind.
 
She screamed out for help, but there was
no one to hear her.
 

Her first
assailant drew back his hand and slapped her hard across the face.
 
She felt a warm trickle of blood oozing
from her nose.
 
“Shut up, bitch.
 
We’ve had enough of you—and your
friend.
 
You need to learn to mind
your own business.”