If she could get free, she might be able to make her way downhill and phone Tony or his office and warn them in time. What was Vicky really planning to do?
There had to be a way to cut the tape. How? Maybe she could use a nail protruding from the old building, if there was one. Or maybe she could rub the tape against a sharp edge, wearing through it. Either of these plans would help free her. She couldn’t see behind her. The way the tape held her head firmly against the chair, she had to use her peripheral vision. The only part of the log building she could see was so termite infested it barely stood. The weathered wood looked soft as a dirty gray sponge. Termites ignored her presence and continued their picnic.
Above her, curious birds circled. In her fevered imagination they were vultures waiting for her to die. Their shadows moved across the wild roses just beyond the clearing, drawing her eyes. Something silvery glinted in the changing light. She didn’t know what it was, it might be a piece of metal or glass. Maybe it was the lid to a can. Would it be sharp enough to cut the tape? Could she even get there?
She had nothing to lose. She tried scooting forward by throwing her weight back and forth. The force of her movement and the unusual weight took its toll. The termite-riddled board beneath the front legs split and the chair pitched forward until it found footing in the packed earth.
Theo was well and truly stuck. Tears leaked from under her swollen eyelids. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. Well, maybe she deserved a few tears. She took a deep breath instead. What to do? What to do?
She rocked sideways, back and forth on the old chair until it fell over on its side. Her left arm took the brunt of the fall. It burned and sent a crawling pain through her entire body. Maybe it was broken.
She tried to cheer herself up by joking that since it was already in the duct-tape version of a cast, it couldn’t get any worse. After a few deep breaths, the pain eased and she wiggled, hoping the chair would move. It budged a quarter of an inch, raising her spirits.
Like a crippled turtle dragging its shell, she inched away from the cabin. At the rate she was traveling, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours to reach her destination. She would put her top speed at ten feet per hour.
Little by little, the shiny bit lured her over rocks and ant beds. Although the sun lowered, the temperature did not seem to drop.
A cloud moved in front of the sun, throwing everything into partial shade. The shiny bit disappeared in the shadows. It was lost to her.
With daylight fading, Tony couldn’t be still. Knowing the boys were safe with Gus and every shred of evidence was being collected, he decided to join Mike and Darren. At last report, Dammit was still eager on the trail. Mike had to force him to rest.
Darren relayed their location and requested additional water for the dog and men. The water Mike carried in his pack Dammit finished on the last break. Darren also suggested light snacks would help them all.
Tony and Sheila headed uphill in the Blazer. They found the exhausted trio waiting at a fork in the road. The bloodhound’s quivering tongue looked like a giant pink dishtowel. Rivulets of sweat ran down the men’s faces and arms.
The paved road continued a zigzag path up the mountain and a pair of ruts veered away. It was impossible in this light to tell if either had recently been used.
Tony filled Dammit’s water bowl before he handed bottles of cold water to the men. The dog was not a dainty drinker. His giant tongue splashed water from the bowl, flinging it onto the men and up onto his wrinkled forehead.
“Which way?” Tony glanced around. Nothing appeared out of place.
“The ruts.” Mike gestured with his water bottle. “Dammit was ready to haul me that way until I forced him to take this break.” He shook his head sadly, breathing deeply. “He doesn’t know how to pace himself.”
“Is he having trouble finding a scent?”
“Not much.” Mike smiled. “I’m guessing Theo is touching the bushes or spitting on them because the trail seems so clear.”
Sheila handed the men energy bars.
Mike offered the dog a pair of biscuits. Dammit sucked them up like a vacuum cleaner before he began to chew. He stretched out in the tall grass panting. When his heavy breathing eased, Mike smiled and stood.
“Let’s all go together.” Tony stared down at the ruts as if they would supply much-needed answers. To him, the marks on the grass looked fresh. They were in deepening shadow. He felt a stir of hope mixed with dread. He didn’t know how far the ruts ran or if they dead-ended or connected with another road like the one they were on. Was Theo just around the bend ahead or on the way to North Carolina?
Darren drained the last of his water. “Let’s do it.”
Mike nodded and dumped the remainder of Dammit’s water. He put the bowl in the Blazer. “Thanks.”
Instead of climbing in behind the wheel, Tony handed Sheila his keys. “If I don’t walk for a while, I’m likely to explode.”
Clearly accepting his explanation for the truth, she climbed onto the seat and let them get a head start.
Refreshed from the short break, Dammit sniffed the scent sample again and surged forward, his enthusiasm undiminished. The three men on foot hurried to keep pace with him.
Theo was caught in a thicket of wild rose brambles. Her attempt to find a way out of the chair had ended with her sliding down the slope, past the can lid she might have used to cut her bindings. Now she couldn’t move in any direction.
Her cheek rested on the rocky edge of a precipice. Maybe being stuck in a cage of vegetation wasn’t that bad. It saved her from falling to the rocks below or beyond them to the town of Silersville.
As darkness approached, lights were coming on in the valley, twinkling like Christmas decorations. The town itself resembled a toy village, pretty as a greeting card, with tiny buildings and stores. She could see the park in its center and across from it her house. All the lights were on.
She imagined she saw Daisy in the yard and Tony and the boys playing in the park.
Where was Vicky now? What would she do next?
Straining to catch sight of her nemesis, she stopped, startled, when another yard caught her attention. It took her addled brain several minutes to decipher what she saw. Then she began to giggle. Tony might not know where the missing lawn ornaments had ended up. She did. Playing with possible reasons why they were in that particular spot, she entertained herself for a while. When everything near her vanished in the dark of night, she felt her hope of being rescued diminish as well.
Ants marched across her body as if she was a fallen log. Some of them nibbled on her but she guessed they were discouraged by the sheer quantity of silver tape. Knowing she wasn’t worth the ants’ effort was the last straw. Her forehead rested on some dandelions and her tears dripped onto the packed dirt.
A pair of raccoons wandered past. Not even their masked faces or their surprisingly human hands amused her. They stared for a while before continuing their rolling waddle to a fallen tree. Something inside the tree, insects or grubs, caught their attention.
Being dismissed by the raccoons brought a new discovery: she couldn’t cry anymore.
Above her, the evening star twinkled in the darkening sky.
As she stared up at it, she lost consciousness. When she became aware again, there were many bright stars overhead. Somewhere, she could hear the sounds of crickets and a mockingbird. Also a deeper tone, a dog baying. And men’s voices. She couldn’t tell where they might be. In the mountains, sounds echoed oddly and could come from anywhere, even long distances.
Tony felt as if they’d reached a dead end when the big dog dragged the men into a clearing and Sheila was forced to abandon the Blazer and join them on foot. In the headlights, the grass showed signs of recent vehicle and foot travel. Heedless of any possible evidence he might destroy, Dammit dashed across the vegetation to the cabin.
The bloodhound bayed and paused only briefly at the porch before sniffing the ground and charging downhill. The humans in his wake waved flashlights.
Tony spotted his wife.
Light danced from Theo’s glasses, showing them where she was. She lay on her side, half buried in a bush. A ladder-back chair taped to her back was all that prevented her from plunging farther down the mountainside. Dammit reached her first and licked her face, his huge brown body wagging with excitement. Mike congratulated the dog and pulled his training toy from the bag. They moved away, letting the others see to Theo.
“Theo!”
She didn’t move.
Tony charged past deputies and dog, flinging himself onto his knees, he leaned forward over his wife’s still body.
Was she dead? Tony couldn’t be sure. He held his breath and touched her neck. Her skin was warm but the only pulse he could feel was his own. Adrenalin fueled, his heart pounded in his chest. What if they were too late?
Theo’s eyelids flickered but didn’t open.
Relieved, Tony gulped air into his starving lungs and reached for the silver tape on her face.
“Wait!”
Tony turned, and Wade jumped forward waving his camera. He snapped three photographs, the flash blinding in the darkness, and stepped back.
Tony tried to juggle his flashlight and pull the tape from Theo’s face.
“Let me do that, sir.” Handing him her flashlight, Sheila knelt next to Tony. Her hands were covered with disposable gloves as she reached past him and eased the first strip of duct tape away from Theo’s mouth.
Theo whimpered.
Trying unsuccessfully to block out the sound, Tony checked his wife for obvious injury. Sunburn made her fair skin scarlet on the right side. He was relieved to find only hundreds of superficial injuries. Multiple insect bites swelled, between wide straps of tape, leaving welts on every inch of her face, arms and legs. At least he found no knife cuts or bullet wounds.
Her glasses were still on her face, the frames were twisted and the lenses smudged. Sticks, leaves and dirt clung to her blond curls. She was a mess.
Tony had never seen such a beautiful sight. “Who did this?”
Although weak and raspy, the single word was clear. “Vicky.”
“Vicky who?” Sheila looked confused.
“Vicky Parker. Her uncle is Nelson. She’s visited here only off and on.”
“Why ever in this world would she do this?” Sheila asked.
“Vicky is a vicious killer,” muttered Tony. The idea that his wife had been at the mercy of Icky Vicky Parker made him feel sick.
His deputies worked around him, letting him talk to Theo. Sheila used her radio to contact dispatch, identifying Vicky Parker as the culprit.
“Do you need an ambulance, sweetheart?” Tony didn’t want to move her if she was injured.
“No.” She panted softly. “Boys?”
“They’re with Gus. I’ll call them in a second.”
“Good.” Her lips could barely form the word. Tony thought she smiled. “Water?”
“I’ll ask Doc Nash.” Sheila reached for her phone.
Wade seemed intent on photographing everything from Theo’s condition to the trail of crushed vegetation leading to the porch. Camera busy, he stood behind Tony, clicking the shutter, the flash continuing like a strobe light.
“What do we do with the tape on her arms and legs?” Tony asked. “I don’t want to destroy any evidence. I can’t take a chance that bitch will get off on some technicality or screw up on our part.”
Wade thought for a moment. “If you try unwinding it, you’ll end up with a tangled mess and no prints.”
Mike, having rewarded Dammit for a job well done, joined them while they debated the best approach. “If you cut through all the layers and pull it off in chunks, would that work?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m sure as hell not leaving it on her any longer.” Tony reached for his knife. Before he made his first cut, he leaned forward. Theo’s lids opened slightly in her puffy face. He thought he saw her try to smile. Residue of gray tape clung to her skin, contrasting with the scarlet of her sunburn on one side and greenish pallor on the other. “We’ll have you free in no time.”
Tony sliced through the layers of tape holding his wife to the chair.
When the blood rushed into her hands and wrists, Theo jerked and screamed. Surprised, Tony rocked back on his heels as he realized how close he’d been to nicking her with his knife. With shaking hands, he massaged her hands and arms, soothing her pain. “I still have to do your legs.”
Sheila disconnected her call and handed Theo a bottle of water. “He says to sip a bit, not too much.”
Theo nodded and lifted it to her lips and managed to swallow a little water. She was unsteady but able to hold the bottle for herself.
Bracing himself for her next reaction, Tony jerked his knife through the next wad of tape, the one holding her legs to the chair. She didn’t scream this time. She spat a mouthful of water into his face and grinned as if proud of her accomplishment.
Everyone laughed. All was well. Theo acting sassy meant she would be fine.
Sheila tried again. “Why did she do this, Theo?”
“Icky Vicky Parker thinks she’s going to marry Tony.” Theo’s eyes drifted shut again. “Over my dead body.”
Her words echoed in his thoughts, making Tony recoil. The idea was not only ludicrous but repellent. He’d sooner marry Nellie Pearl. He reached for his phone and dialed Gus. “She’s safe. Will you put the boys on?”
Tony held the phone to Theo’s ear. As she murmured comforting words to their sons, he looked up at Sheila. The last few minutes were a blur. “Did I hear you radio Rex?”
Sheila nodded. “He’s already putting out a description of Vicky and her uncle Nelson, in case he’s involved or knows something.” Sheila spoke softly into Tony’s ear. “Rex knows what Nelson drives. He needs a description of Vicky’s car.”