FORTY-THREE
Heart racing with anticipation, Jenna ran to the front door, clinging to her backpack and rifle. Behind her, Kane was asking Maggie to care for Duke while they were away, and then his footsteps were thundering on the tile behind her. Throwing her gear into the back seat, she yanked open the front door of the Beast and jumped inside. Seconds later, Kane slid behind the wheel and the engine roared into life. With a squeal of burned rubber, the truck took off at high-speed, lights flashing and sirens wailing as Kane maneuvered the vehicle through the traffic. They reached the outskirts of town and the front of the Beast lifted as Kane pushed his foot to the floor. Fences and driveways flashed past as they headed for the onramp to the highway. The thrill of the chase had Jenna taking deep steadying breaths. She would never admit it to Kane, but the idea of dropping freefall from a chopper scared the hell out of her. As the lowlands came into view, she took in the vast vista. For miles, the long golden grass moved with each breath of wind as if it were an entity writhing across the open plains. She gripped the side of her seat as the speed increased. Kane’s concentration was on driving, and he hadn’t said a word since they’d left town. All Jenna could hear above the wail of the sirens was the roar of the engine and the whoop, whoop, whoop as the Beast flashed past other vehicles as if they were standing still. In the distance she made out the craggy rock formation that wound around the lowlands and once formed the sides of a river.
“Hold on tight. We’ll be making a sharp left after that clump of trees ahead.” Kane flicked her a glance. “Once we’re on the dirt road, kill the lights and sirens. We don’t want to give anyone a warning we’re on our way.”
Jenna held on tight as the Beast slid around the corner, sending up great clouds of dust and then bounced along an old dirt road filled with ruts and divots. Nature had reclaimed the old road a long time ago, but Kane pushed the Beast through the overgrown mass of branches and weeds. They bounced along, weaving past rocks and fallen branches. Up ahead, Jenna made out the chopper hovering high above the rock formation. “I see Carter.” She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Jo. A reply came in a few seconds and Jenna punched the air. “We’ve found them. Kalo just sent the laptop’s coordinates and Carter is setting down at the end of this road. It runs around the back of the ravine. The riverbed opens up on the other side.”
“Yeah, I know where I am.” Kane slowed to maneuver around a pile of fallen rocks. “I hope we get there before he murders anybody else.”
Jenna’s stomach clenched into knots. “The problem I see is, if it is the Bright cousins as we suspect, one of them will be acting as a lookout. He could pick us off before we even get to the mouth of the cave.”
“I thought of that and we’ll be repelling down to a position above the cave.” Kane squeezed her hand. “Any last-minute orders?”
Jenna looked into the eyes of a warrior and understood his question. “Use necessary force as always. Our first priority is getting those women out alive.”
“Copy that.” Kane gave her a nod and turned his attention back to the road. “I see the chopper.” He pulled up and leapt from the truck.
Grabbing their gear and leaving the Beast, Jenna climbed into the chopper with Kane close behind. Without warning, Carter took off and her stomach flip-flopped as the chopper rose high into the air. She could hear Kane over her com speaking to Carter about the location of the cave. Carter’s reply chilled her to the bone.
“I made out a vehicle, heading for the cave. I’d have missed it, but it threw up a cloud of dust. He must be in a hurry. When I came around for a better look, the vehicle had vanished. I figure he’s covered it with a camouflaged tarpaulin.” Carter’seyes were fixed ahead. “I didn’t see who was in the vehicle or how many people. Don’t take any chances. The late-afternoon shadows will hide you if you stick close to the ravine wall on approach.”
“Copy that.”Kane was organizing the ropes and pullies for their descent.
“I’ll supervise the drop.”Jo climbed out of her seat and slid open the door.
Jenna fumbled for her phone and sent a text to Rowley, to start moving in silently with Rio as back up. She swallowed the rising fear and waited for Carter to reach the drop point. The wind from the open door buffeted the chopper as it hovered in midair, high above the ground.
The noise was deafening now, and keeping busy to avoid the rush of anxiety, Jenna attached her harness and allowed Kane to check the fastenings. He stared into her eyes and talked her through the drop, making sure she understood the technique required for a fast descent. She gave him a small smile and nodded. It wasn’t the first time she’d jumped from a chopper, but he knew she hadn’t attempted a fast drop before, and by his concerned expression, she obviously couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. She pressed her com. “I can do this.”
“I know you can. Leave your com open so you can hear me. I’ll tell you when to slow down, okay?”Kane touched her cheek. “Ready?”
With her goggles in position and chinstrap fastened, she gave him a thumbs-up. Seconds later she stood on the skids beside Kane, waiting for the command to jump out into the unknown. Forcing her eyes to remain open, she fell back on Jo’s command. Freefalling high above the ravine, fear tumbled her stomach and she fought down a wave of uncertainty as the ground came up way too fast.
“Now, Jenna, now.”Kane’s voice came through her earpiece.
A rush of panic overwhelmed her as she flashed past him and the next second instinct kicked in and she went through the procedure to slow her descent. Breathless, she hit the ground and rolled. The next second Kane was beside her, hauling her to her feet and unclipping her harness. High above the chopper moved away. Kane’s gaze moved over her, and she smiled at him. “I’m fine. How far to the cave?”
“When we reach the top of this hill, we should be directly above it. It looks like a sheer drop to the old riverbed.” Kane scanned the area. “I hope we’ll be able to find a way down from here. Carter mentioned seeing an overgrown track alongside the cave. We’ll need to be very quiet and try to avoid loosening any rocks on the way down.”
It was windy at the top of the ravine and loose pebbles made the way uncertain. Jenna moved cautiously toward the edge and leaned over. The ground seemed to be a very long way down, but she could make out a track carved into the rock face. Long grass and weeds crisscrossed the black pathway, and in places the trail had crumbled away completely, leaving large patches of unstable ground. “Getting to the cave isn’t going to be easy.”
“Look over there.” Kane pointed to a spot in the shadow of the ravine. “Carter was right, our suspect has covered his vehicle with a camouflage tarpaulin. He’s smarter than I imagined. His vehicle is almost invisible from here. No one would notice it unless they drove right up to it. Carter could have flown over all day and not found him if he hadn’t thrown up dust on the way here.” He reached for her hand. “Don’t look at me like that, Jenna. It’s safer if I hold on to you. I’ll go first. If you slip, sit down. It will stop you from falling.”
Seeing the logic in his plan, she gave him a nod. “When we get to the bottom of the ravine we’ll be without cover, so we head for the vehicle. We should be able to hear what’s going on in the cave from there. I would assume it’s like most mineshafts and has a series of tunnels. From what Blackhawk was telling us, the killer could have used storage areas carved out from the rock and turned them into cells.”
“It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that people who would have mined here used the caves to live in.” Kane cut her a glance. “They’re good protection from the elements and safe enough if you put a gate on the entrance. Especially if they’ve been mining for gold, they’d need somewhere safe to keep it. It’s too heavy to be carrying around in your pocket all day.”
After a nerve-wracking descent down the slippery pathway, Jenna pressed her back against the rock face searching in both directions for any sign of the Bright cousins. Kane had moved out ahead of her and had reached the camouflaged tarpaulin covering the vehicle. He disappeared beneath it for a few seconds before his head popped out and he waved her forward. She moved quietly across the sandy bottom to the old riverbed and joined him under the covering.
Jenna used her phone to run the plate on the town car. “That’s not the Bright cousins’ vehicle, they both have trucks.” She waited a few seconds before the name popped up on her screen. “I knew it was him. My gut wasn’t wrong after all. It’s the man Rio and Rowley just interviewed and our other suspect—Tom Parsons. He fits the profile in so many ways, but then the Bright cousins up and vanished. Doing that and with the clothes and all, it made them look guilty.” She shook her head. “He’s so darn smart, making like he was a devoted family man to put doubts into my head, and he almost got away with it. I should trust my gut instinct more often.”
“I sure do. He was more like the Michelangelo Killer than we imagined. He’s well organized. Look at this.” Kane indicated to a water tank hooked up to a rain collector with a pump attached to a series of pipes. A generator hummed beside it, cables feeding out along the ground and into the cave entrance. “See the antenna up there? It’s probably linked to a satellite feed.” He moved around, slowly scanning the rock face, and then turned back to her. “I don’t see any surveillance cameras. I think we’re good to go.”
Heart racing with the adrenaline flowing through her veins, Jenna moved to the edge of the tarpaulin. “The gate is wide open. I’ll go right and you go left. Wait and listen at the entrance. It’s like an amplifier in there. We should be able to hear everything they’re saying. Problem is they’ll be able to hear us too.” She turned to look at Kane. “I’ll take the lead. Hang back. If he sees me, he’ll assume I’m alone. I’ll distract him away from the women. Looking at the equipment he has here, he could be packing for bear.”
“Just remember.” Kane’s voice whispered through her earbud. “There could be any number of tunnels in there for him to hide.”
Ignoring the sudden overwhelming desire to run in the opposite direction, Jenna straightened her spine. This killer was brutal and sadistic and she doubted she would ever get the images of his victims from her memory. Her mind filled with the faces of Susie Hartwig and Poppy Anderson. Determined to stop this maniac’s reign of terror, she slid her weapon from the holster, inhaled a deep breath, and moved like a ghost into the dim light of the cave.