Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (43 page)

Lin realized
that she had very little energy in spite of the fact that she’d slept for
several hours.
 
She hadn’t eaten
since Monday; she remembered the hot roast beef sandwich she’d left in the
kitchen when Luke broke in.
 
That
must account for her weakness.
 
She
carefully made her way back to the water and gingerly picked up the bag trying
to make sure no water spilled.
 
She
made her way back, first stopping to give Luke some water.
 
His eyes were still closed, but she
noticed that he swallowed when she poured some water in his mouth.
 
There wasn’t much so she had to ration
it.
 
She gave most of what was left
to Sue, who murmured thanks but then sank back into a state of sleep.
 
Lin drained the last small swallow of
the liquid herself and leaned back against the wall once more.
 
She slid down into a seated position and
found herself drifting back into sleep.
 
Might as well rest, she thought, can’t really do anything else.

Lin didn’t know
how long she’d slept, but she awoke with a start at the sound of voices
immediately overhead.
 
This time she
could see the shadowy outline of what appeared to be three men standing near
the opening at the top of the pit.

“You got that
big ladder on your truck?” a deep voice questioned. “We ought to go down and
check on them.”

“No point,”
another of the men argued. “We’re not gonna move them anywhere are we?
 
Heck, they might be already dead—‘specially
the boy.
 
They been down there three
days already—no food, no water.
 
What’s to check on?
 
Might as
well leave them be.
 
No better grave
than this place.
 
No one will ever
find them.”

“They might, if
they come looking for us—looking for the ‘sang’” the first voice replied.

Lin held her
breath as she noticed Luke stirring down the way.
 
She hoped he wouldn’t wake up or make
any noise.

“Then we’ll
just move the stuff out of here—soon as we can get shed of that last load
we brung yesterday—we’ll find another place for a store house.”
 
This was the second man speaking.

A third voice
that sounded very familiar to Lin entered into the conversation. “We need to
get rid of the stuff that’s here today, tomorrow at the latest, and then let
the whole operation lay low for awhile.
 
Now that we’re rid of those nosy women and your “do-gooder” nephew,
things should blow over soon enough.”

“What about
that park ranger and that FBI agent?”
 
It was the second voice speaking, Lin thought.

“They won’t be
a problem much longer,” the third, more familiar voice replied, “they may keep
hunting, but if we get rid of this batch of ‘sang’ they won’t have any
evidence—even if they find this place which I doubt they will.
 
If they keep meddlin’ we’ll just take
care of them like we did the last one.
 
Now, you go get hold of your contact and make arrangements to unload
this stuff.
 
Call me when it’s
done.”
 
The men began moving away
from the edge of the pit; their voices slowly faded in the distance.

Lin sat back,
stunned at what she’d heard.
 
These
men had practically confessed to the murder of Bryan Lee, and their
conversation implied that they might’ve killed others in the past.
 
She swallowed hard.
 
Their intentions toward their captives
were also made clear.
 
They were
going to leave them there to die in that dank, dark hole in the ground.
 
They were already in their tomb.
 
Unfortunately, Lin realized that, unless
someone found them soon, they would indeed die.
 
Even if she’d had a rope or a ladder as
a means of her own escape, Lin knew she could never get Sue out, nor Luke.
 
No point in worrying about
that—there was nothing that would help them anyway.
 
Her fate was sealed along with her
friend and that young man, who was evidently related to at least one of their
captors.

Lin thought about
the foggy night when she’d almost been hit by the truck pulling out onto the
highway.
 
The man who’d approached
her then spoke of Eustace Hinson as his father.
 
No doubt he was one of Luke’s
uncles—and possibly also Luke’s assailant, as well as hers.
 
He’d most likely also been at least one
of Sue’s captors—she’d been unable to identify anyone.

These thoughts
led Lin to contemplate the third voice she’d heard, the most familiar one.
 
Even though she’d met Luke’s uncle that
foggy night, she’d only spoken with him once so she hadn’t recognized his
voice.
 
Where had she heard the
third man?
 
She felt sure she’d
spoken with him before.
 
The
exercise of trying to recall where she might’ve met her captor at least gave
her something to think about, something besides the situation in which she
found herself.
 
She leaned back
against the wall to focus on that.

About that
time, she heard a groan coming from where Luke lay.
 
She got on her knees and crawled over to
him.
 
He was awake, and obviously in
some pain.
 
He twisted about and
tried to raise his head.

Lin took his
head in her hands and tried to place it in her lap, “Quiet, Luke,” she said
stroking the young man’s too warm forehead, “try not to move if you can help
it.
 
You’ve been shot.
 
The bleeding seems to have stopped, but
if you move too much it’ll come back again.
 
Try to stay as still as you can.”

The young man
seemed to settle down.
 
He opened
his eyes and gazed up at Lin. “I’m sorry, I got you into this,” he murmured. “I
was scared and stupid.
 
I didn’t
know what to do.”
 
He tried to
smile, “I sure did the wrong thing, made a mess of things for sure.”

“Don’t try to
talk right now, Luke,” Lin stroked his forehead gently. “Just rest, I’m sure
someone will come soon.
 
Someone
will come looking for us and rescue us.”

Luke shook his
head, “No they won’t.
 
No one much
knows this place exists.
 
No one
ever comes here except my uncles and sometimes grandpa,” Luke’s voice was
slowly fading back into unconsciousness, “…just my family and sometimes Dave.”
Luke passed out again, his head slipping off Lin’s leg.

His uncles and
Dave, she thought, who is…then it hit her—she knew where she’d heard the
third voice.
 
It belonged to Deputy
Sheriff Dave Winkler.

Neal was
waiting in the front reception area of the Ashe County Sheriff’s office when
Mark and Zach arrived.
 
He took them
back to the conference room where Michael Jones was waiting to show them the
probable location of the ore pits on the larger map.

“I’ve marked
them on this smaller one, but it’s going to be harder to see in the dark, even
with a flashlight.
 
Thought you’d
want to get familiar with the area on this larger map first.
 
The newcomers studied the map carefully,
also making sure they knew where the local deputies would meet them.

“Thanks for
this, Michael,” Mark Scott said, “We’re going to need all the help we can
get—that weather is building up into a regular ‘Deep Gap’ fog—and
it was actually pretty nice today.
 
I can’t get used to how the weather changes so quickly around here.”

Zach spoke up,
“Well, it’s not going to get any better, and we have a flashlight.
 
We’d better get going, unless you guys
think we should wait until morning—wait for more light.”

“We can’t
wait,” Neal spoke intently, “Lin and Sue have been missing three full days now,
Sue actually a bit longer.
 
If
they’re in these ore pits…with no food or water…we have to go now.”
 
The other men understood his point.

 
Michael Jones grabbed a rain jacket and
tossed it to Neal. “This’ll keep you dryer than that light windbreaker you have
on, you can bring it back later.”

“Thanks,” Neal
said as he followed Mark and Zach outside.

It took another
full half hour to reach the church where they were to meet the local
deputies.
 
They couldn’t make good
time in the fog and misty rain. It was almost ten when they arrived at the
meeting place. The deputies were already there, waiting for them to
arrive.
 
They suggested that they go
inside the church where it was dry and take a few minutes to study the
map.
 
Neal was impatient to get going,
but he realized that was probably a good idea.

When the local
men had studied the map, they decided that they knew where these pits were
located. “We’re going to have to walk in—at least the last half-mile or
so, the woods are thick there and these vehicles won’t make it through.
 
They indicated an area on the adjacent
road where they should park.
 
Then
they headed out in their patrol vehicle with Neal, Mark and Zach following in
the park service SUV.

When they
arrived at the designated parking area, Neal realized more fully what they were
up against.
 
The path forward was a
mere foot trail leading through thick woods that would be barely visible in
broad daylight, never mind the dark and fog and mist they faced.
 
The five of them gathered closely together.
 
The local guys had walking sticks as did
Mark Scott.
 
Neal and Zach Taylor
decided they needed something so they searched the nearby margin of the forest
until they found some limbs of suitable stoutness and length to serve as makeshift
sticks.

“Remember, when
we get into the area where the pits are we’ll have to be super careful not to
fall into one of them.
 
We don’t
know exactly where they are or how many there are,” one of the deputies
instructed. “Best we stay close together and use these sticks to check our way
moving forward.”
 

The deputies
positioned themselves one at the head of the line and the other bringing up the
rear.
 
They each had large
flashlights so Mark decided to save the batteries in his for the time being.
 
Slowly they began moving forward along
the trail, feeling their way through the thick shrubs as they went.

***

The fog was so
thick it was difficult to see past the leader of the column.
 
He’d directed his flashlight down toward
the path in front of him in order to avoid being blinded by the reflecting rays
of light.
 
In spite of using their
sticks to push aside limbs and underbrush, they were all being pelted by wet
branches hitting their face and arms.

They tried to
proceed quietly, stopping from time to time to listen to the surrounding
forest.
 
The only noises were the
occasional hoot of an owl and the sound of water dripping from the leaves and
branches.

Finally, they
seemed to emerge into an open area and the leader signaled for everyone to
stop.
 
“I want to scout this area
first, see if this is the place and if I can locate these pits we’ve been told
about.
 
Mark, why don’t you come
with me?
 
The rest of you stay put
and remain quiet.”

The two men
moved out and soon disappeared into the fog.
 
Neal felt tired and anxious.
 
He realized how intent he’d been on
getting here, on finding Lin and Sue.
 
Now he was frightened—worried about what they might find when they
located the women.
 
He forced
himself to stay positive.
 
He
couldn’t bear to contemplate the worst-case scenario.
 
Lin was tough and smart, she wasn’t a
quitter; He was counting on her strong will to survive.
  

Neal’s focus
returned to the present situation when he realized their scouting party was
returning.
 
“This seems to be the
place,” Mark reported. “This whole area seems to be full of these old
pits—we counted at least four of them, more or less arranged as four
corners of a square.
 
We didn’t take
the time to search carefully, but we didn’t hear anything.
 
There may not be anyone here or…” he
didn’t finish this thought.

The local
deputy who’d led them out took charge of the situation. “How many flashlights
do we have?”
 
Mark and Zach produced
theirs. “That’s four, but we need to stay at least in pairs to protect each
other.
 
Mark and I have scouted the
locations so we should lead.”
 
He
pointed to his local partner, “You team up with Mark and I’ll take Zach with
me.”
 
He looked at Neal and started
to say something.

Neal spoke up
quickly, “No way, are you leaving me out of this.
 
This is my fiancé, the love of my life,
we’re looking for—I’ll go with Mark.”
 
He moved quickly to join the
ranger.
 

The deputy
nodded his understanding. “You guys check the two pits on the right side and
make sure you stick together.”
 
The
teams moved apart, walking in single file and following closely.

Neal positioned
himself between Mark and the local man.
 
Mark put out his arm to stop their forward progress. “I ‘ve located the
edge of the first pit here.
 
Move up
beside me but be careful.
 
Use your
sticks to locate the edge.
 
Then
we’ll walk slowly around it and shine some light down there.
 
Neal and the other man complied.
 
Soon they were edging along the rim of
the pit carefully.
 
Mark and the
deputy each focused their lights downward, seeking to illuminate the pit.
 
It appeared to be about twenty feet deep
and, so far as they could tell, was totally empty.
 
They circled it twice, trying to make
sure they’d not missed anything.
 
With each step, Neal felt his stomach tightening as he fought back his
fears.
 
What if this wasn’t the
right place?
 
What if they’re here
but…?

***

Lin opened her
eyes and for just a moment couldn’t recall where she was.
 
She lay still for a moment, waiting for
her eyes to adjust to the pitch-black darkness.
 
Gradually she began to see some shadows
and then she realized she was still lying at the bottom of the pit.
 
She tried to sit up but her neck and
shoulders were aching, probably from the awkward position in which she’d been
lying.
 
She reached out with her
arms seeking to know exactly where she was.
 
Her hands touched the warm sticky fabric
of Luke’s shirt—she must’ve fallen asleep as she sat beside him.
 
Further examination revealed that he was
burning up with fever.
 
Sue was
probably in the same shape.

Lin carefully
rolled on her side, away from Luke, and managed to get up on her knees.
 
She crawled over to where her friend Sue
was lying.
 
Her body was also hot to
the touch.
 
Fortunately both victims
seemed to be breathing evenly, if not deeply.
 
She wondered though if they were asleep,
or unconscious.
 
Lin couldn’t
tell.
 
She did know that they both
needed moisture so she made her way back to the pool at the base of the
wall.
 
It was not nearly as full as
it had been earlier but she managed to get a few spoonfuls in the bag and
delivered them to her companions.
 
Neither of them woke when she placed the water in their mouths but they
did swallow it.
 
She allowed the few
remaining drops to drip on her dry tongue and lips.
 
The fact that she felt no need to
urinate confirmed that she must be severely dehydrated.

Lin crawled
back to her place near Sue and shoved herself up into a sitting position
against the wall.
 
She felt so
frustrated.
 
She wanted to do
something, anything to save them, but she simply couldn’t see any way out of
this situation.
 
She’d never felt
such a deep sense of despair and helplessness before.
 
She closed her eyes against the darkness
and tried to focus on happier thoughts.

She conjured up
a vision of Neal, walking beside her on a sandy beach, a warm sun beaming down
on them.
 
She could almost feel the
warm touch of his hand on hers.
 
She
tried to imagine his arms around her driving away the pervasive feeling of damp
and cold.
 
She felt herself slowly drifting
back toward sleep—might as well rest…Suddenly, the sound of voices above
once more brought her to full attention.
 
Were their captors returning?
 
They’d mentioned getting rid of whatever they had stored here…she had to
be quiet.
 
Let them think she was
already dead.

Lin lay very
still.
 
She could make out the
voices but they were distant and she couldn’t clearly understand what they were
saying.
 
Maybe they would go
away.
 
That’s what her brain was
silently screaming—go away and leave us alone.

Suddenly, it
hit Lin that she was being ridiculous.
 
There was no point in being quiet.
 
Their captors had made it clear that they were going to just leave them
there to die.
 
What was the worst
that could happen if they discovered them still alive?
 
They might shoot them immediately,
ending everything.
 
Lin realized
that might be a blessing.
 
Better to
end this ordeal quickly for all three of them, rather than suffer the agony of
slowly dying from dehydration, infection, and starvation.
 

The other
possibility was that these voices belonged to rescuers.
 
She knew that Neal would’ve called the
authorities as soon as she’d failed to call him back and there was already a
search going on for Sue.
 
Lin
gathered her courage and decided to call out—to try to attract the
attention of whoever was out there.
 
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
 
Her throat was so dry she couldn’t even
manage a whisper.
 
She didn’t want
to miss this opportunity—she was desperate to end this ordeal, one way or
the other.
 
She got up on her knees
and crawled toward the spot where she’d collected water.
 
She knew there hadn’t been enough time
for more moisture to pool in the depression, but she also knew that it wasn’t
entirely empty.
 
She’d never been
able to get the plastic bag completely full; there’d always been a sandy, muddy
mix left at the bottom of the depression.
 
Not very appealing, but it was wet.
 
She reached the depression, leaned down, and put her face in the wet
residue she found there.
 
She tried
to suck moisture out of the mix without choking herself on the grit.
 
Finally, when her mouth felt somewhat
wet she sat up and spit the dirt out.
 
This time when she tried to cry out to whoever was nearby, she managed a
raspy “Help, we’re here.” Before collapsing back against the wall of the pit.

***

Mark led his
team carefully toward the second pit, following the same pattern of following
closely, then lining up along the edge and working their way around the
pit.
 
Once again, they heard no
sounds coming from the abyss.
 
The
flashlights swept the walls and the base—no signs of any people—but,
as their lights reached the far wall, they saw several huge bundles wrapped in
burlap stacked to a height of about six or seven feet and stretching about half
way round the circumference of the pit.