They’d beaten the police there. Cam thought they were forming a squad at the station to come out together, but at the moment, the two cars were alone.
“Where would the person who grabbed her have come from?” Cam asked.
“There are about a dozen cabins nearby, if you know the trails. They’d just need to know one of them,” Vera said.
“Would that be where he took her?”
“It might be.”
“Do you know anyone else up here?” Rob asked Vera.
“I don’t. Mike and I haven’t been here for years, and if we hiked, the other cabins were empty or else we avoided them. We were just . . . you know . . . being kids. We wanted privacy.”
Annie came back then, her dad in tow.
“Have you been here before, Senator Schulz?”
“Several times. It can be hard to find privacy in town, so Elle and I have come here now and then.”
“Did you see who grabbed her?”
“No. I didn’t even get out of the car. I left it running and waited and then heard her scream as she was dragged off. I never caught sight of them.”
Cam looked around. It was definitely roughing it—the place had only an outhouse. But she supposed she could see the privacy angle. There was a little fireplace and it was sort of romantic.
“Did you ever meet any neighbors?” Rob asked.
“Only one, and we didn’t travel that way again.” His chin tightened in distaste.
“And who was that?”
“Melvin Entwhistle.”
“That’s him! Show us which direction,” Cam said. She turned to Vera. “Can you watch us go—send the police our way when they get here. You shouldn’t get tangled in this.”
Vera’s face twisted and she nodded. Cam thought Vera looked scared to join them and relieved for a way out. She sat on a chair on the porch to wait as Cam ran to catch up with Rob, Annie, and Senator Schulz. She turned to look one last time and noticed something about Vera’s demeanor besides fear. She wasn’t sure she trusted Vera not to leave. On a whim, Cam picked up a long stick and dragged it along the ground as she went. She turned back to look and was glad to see a clear line in the dirt and leaves.
• • •
• • •
A
fog was creeping into the mountains as they followed Senator Schulz. Cam noted the senator’s shoes were probably not good for a hike—worse than her own even, which were hardly ideal. She’d worn boots, but the fashionable kind, not the hiking kind. The senator slid a couple of times before Annie sidled up next to him and gave him the little extra support he needed, at least where the trail was wide enough for two. A couple of times he paused at forks, but he seemed fairly confident which path to take, so Cam thought he knew where he was going.
“There,” Rob said.
“What?” They all slowed considerably.
“I think we’ve cleared the area the police trampled yesterday, but there are broken branches, like maybe somebody was struggling.”
“The deer will scratch their antlers,” Alden said cautiously.
“No, what I saw looked more like heels being dragged. Like somebody was trying to resist.”
Senator Schulz’s face fell. Cam thought maybe he hadn’t wanted to think about what was happening to his wife.
They’d hiked for about fifteen minutes before Senator Schulz put a finger to his lips. “There,” he whispered.
Cam could see a little red through the trees, the outline of a building that was barely visible. The trail went a longer route, but a person could weave through the trees if he or she was careful.
“Should we split up?” Rob asked.
“Why?” the senator asked.
“Well, if a pair of us looks in the back, then maybe we can see a way to rescue Elle, or at least see how dangerous it is.”
Senator Schulz nodded and Cam stared down at her own shoes. The boots had a heel and a narrow toe. They’d been okay on the trail, but she knew going into the deeper woods with Rob would be a bigger challenge. Still, it only made sense for Annie to stick with her dad. That was more explainable to whoever this nut was than what Cam and Rob were doing there. Cam handed Annie the stick and pointed back to show what she’d been doing. Annie understood and put it to the ground as she went with her dad.
Cam followed Rob into the tangle of bramble and shrubbery that grew under the trees. She was glad she hadn’t worn a skirt, as she got caught on thorns more than once, but not far off the trail the undergrowth thinned. It was probably only a hundred feet to the cabin, but it was very slow going, and then there was a space behind the cabin with no trees that felt really exposed, so they tried to see into windows from the woods. The angle was wrong though. To see in, they would have to get closer.
As Cam tried to edge out of the trees to dart to the cabin, Rob pulled her back.
“What?” she whispered.
“I just saw him. He’s pacing. It’s Entwhistle, but we don’t know if he’s alone.”
“Then we have to get closer.”
“Let’s try it from the side.”
It meant skirting the cabin in the trees some more, but when they got there, Cam was glad they had. There was buckbrush, with its gorgeous red berries, right next to the window, and if they stayed low, she thought, it would block them from view as they approached. Unfortunately, it was a window to a small bedroom and the door was mostly closed, so they couldn’t see anything.
“You hear anything?” Cam asked.
Rob shook his head, then gestured. He planned to go back behind the house again, edged up against it except where he had to skirt a spur of St. John’s wort, so nobody inside could see him. Cam nodded and followed, but they stopped when they heard Senator Schulz shout.
“Melvin! Come out and talk to me like a man!”
“Drat!” Cam said as she and Rob hurried to pop their heads up into the nearest window.
They could look all the way through the cabin—other than the bedroom, it was only one room, and they could see Melvin opening the door with a shotgun in his hand.
“Where’s Elle?” Cam asked.
“Over against that wall. I can see her feet. I think she’s tied to a chair.”
“What is it with this man and tying women to chairs?”
“You think that was him?”
“I think so. I got a look at his eyes. I couldn’t tell the color in the dim light, but when I think about it now, I’m pretty sure it was him.”
“Alden. You don’t want to be here,” they heard from the other side of the cabin.
“You’re right. I’ll just take my wife and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?”
“She has something of mine.”
“Why would she have anything of yours?”
“She got it from that brother of hers, and I mean to destroy it.”
“If she gives it to you, will you let her go?”
“I would trade for it, yes. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Cam thought he was delusional if he thought he was going to get away with this, no matter what. He’d already murdered two people. But she knew enough to know negotiating was better than not negotiating. She also knew enough to know she and Rob should just sit tight.
“I don’t know where it is. I’ll need to talk to Elle,” Senator Schulz said.
“Maybe I should trade . . . her for your daughter.”
“No! You can trade her for me—you can tie me up in there instead, but Annie stays out here.”
“Then maybe I should just shoot Elle now and nobody ever finds it.”
“No!” Annie yelled. “I’ll do it! Trade me, Dad.”
“I will do no such . . .”
“It’s okay. Elle can get whatever it is and then . . .”
“But he’s already killed two people,” Senator Schulz said.
“I haven’t killed anybody!” Melvin shouted.
Cam could hear the lowered arguing of Annie and her dad. Neither wanted to give in on this point. Cam secretly bargained to just leave Elle where she was, but in the end, she and Senator Schulz both lost to Annie’s will.
Cam started to run around the cabin, but Rob caught her around the waist.
“But Annie! I mean Elle, sure . . . but Annie?”
“Annie is stronger and more athletic, and I’d put good money on her being smarter. She might even be able to talk him down, but she can certainly coordinate better with us.”
“But the police will be here any minute. This situation is only going to get hotter.”
“Trust her, will you?” Rob said.
Cam trusted Annie. It was the nut who was going to tie her up right now she didn’t trust.
“While he’s distracted, let’s check the windows. Maybe there will be a chance to rescue her,” Rob said.
Since it felt better to be doing something than nothing, Cam nodded and worked her way back over to the bedroom to check. She heard the voices. The exchange was being made, with Alden forced to tie Annie at gunpoint because Melvin wasn’t willing to be unarmed. Thankfully, as Cam headed to the back of the cabin, she saw a shadow in the woods. She darted toward it, giving Rob a gesture to stay where he was.
When Cam reached him, she actually hugged him. It was Jake.
“What the heck is going on in there?”
Cam explained about the agreed-upon exchange, the plan to get the documents or whatever they were, and the promise to let Annie go.
“Don’t go in. Let this play out.”
“Cam . . .”
“No. How’s this? Go with Elle. Get the stuff. Take pictures of all of it really fast, and then let Elle turn it over. Annie has a good camera in her bag in the car.”
“This is
not
protocol.”
“But he’s promised to let Annie go if he gets the folder!”
“I suppose that’s a lot more likely to work than going in firing.”
Jake made his way to his fellow officers, who were waiting to round the corner, and told them the plan. They didn’t seem any happier about it than Jake had at first, but they faded into the woods, so Cam thought it had worked.
She traced her way back to Rob to let him know the plan, and he told her Elle had described a hiding place up the mountain that would take at least an hour to get to and back.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” Cam asked.
“I don’t know. And I don’t know why he doesn’t just go with them at gunpoint, but it works better for us.”
“He’s probably worried about his hostages diving off into the woods. More control this way.”
Rob frowned at her, “I guess. Though that’s only an illusion.”
“You don’t suppose he has other people out here somewhere, do you?” Cam asked.
“I bet he has backup.”
“We need to stick around, then, and listen, in case he’s calling for reinforcements or something.”
They watched as Senator Schulz and Elle walked back up the trail, knowing the police were going to join them. Jake, on the other hand, made his way down to where Cam and Rob were waiting. Cam was worried about Annie and was glad to have a police officer with them.
“None of these windows open?” he asked.
“Not on the three sides we’ve checked.”
“I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all,” Jake said.
“Me neither,” Cam said. “Hopefully he keeps his word.”
“I can’t see why he would,” Jake said. “Why let somebody go who knows the information? Or could press charges?”
“We don’t think Elle actually knew anything. Remember what she said—it was just Mike’s security. She hadn’t looked. Maybe she convinced Melvin of that.”
“But the charges about the kidnapping . . .”
“I guess he could be protecting somebody else,” Cam said.
Rob looked at her. “Then where are
they
?”
“Keeping their hands clean,” Jake answered for her. “Somebody important.”
“Like somebody running for office,” Rob said.
“Oh, geez. You two sure climb into some huge messes.”
“This wasn’t us!” Cam covered her mouth after she said it, as she knew her voice had bordered on being too loud. The three of them pressed against the cabin in silence and listened. The walking stopped, but Cam heard Annie jabbering. She thought her friend knew exactly what had made the noise.
“Shut up!” Melvin shouted.
Rob gestured to the side and Cam thought it was a good idea. It was time to hide again. She edged along the side of the house and when they heard the front door slam open, they broke into a run, Rob taking Cam’s arm so her boots didn’t get the better of her.
Melvin came around the house with his shotgun, and Cam saw Jake twitch. She was sure he was debating running into the cabin for Annie and locking it, but Rob held his arm. The cabin couldn’t take a shotgun aimed at it, and Annie and Jake would be sitting ducks. It was better he didn’t know they were there, at least until they saw Annie come sprinting out the door. Then Cam couldn’t help herself.
“Annie!”
Cam saw Melvin take aim, but Jake took charge.
“Find big trees, all of you! Melvin Entwhistle, Jake Moreno of the Roanoke PD. I have a police-issued nine-millimeter handgun with significantly better aim and a lot more bullets pointed at your chest. Stop right where you are!”