Mountain Captive (Eagle Mountain: Criminal History #4)

Chapter Fifteen

Seven years ago

Chris sat at a coffee shop near the campus of the Rhode Island School of Design, her mocha latte growing cold as she struggled with a sketch of the older woman seated across the room. The deep lines and weathered skin of the woman fascinated Chris, but she was having a hard time conveying the depth and texture to the drawing on the page.

“Do you mind if I sit here? All the other tables are full.”

She looked up to see a smiling young man with a mop of sandy curls. She glanced around the room and saw that business had picked up since she had sat down an hour ago, and all the tables were occupied. “Uh, sure.” She moved a stack of books over to make more room.

“Thanks.” He sat and dropped his backpack on the floor beside his chair. “Are you a student at RIS-D?”

“Yes. Are you?”

He shook his head as he sipped his coffee. “I guess you could say I’m studying philosophy.”

“Where are you studying?”

“I’m part of a group led by a fantastic teacher. It’s an incredible program. And totally tuition free. I’m learning so much, and it’s such a great group of people.”

Goose bumps rose along Chris’s arms. She closed the sketchbook and slid it into her backpack. “Where is this program?” she asked.

“It’s wherever we want it to be. That’s the best part. I’m getting this incredible education, for free, and I get to see incredible places like this while I do so.”

Providence, Rhode Island, was a nice place, but Chris didn’t think it qualified as incredible. She reached for the textbooks on the table.

Her table companion put his hand on hers to stop her. “I’ll bet you would really like the program I’m in,” he said. “Being an artist, you’re used to looking at the world with more intention than the average person, am I right? My teacher could show you so much more. It would really enhance your art and your life.”

Chris pulled her hand away and picked up the books. The young man’s spiel was too familiar, but she needed to find out a little more before she ran away. She needed to know exactly what she was up against. So she forced herself to relax. “What’s your teacher’s name?” she asked.

“Have you ever heard of a group called the Vine?”

The name sent ice through her, but she somehow managed to remain seated at the table, a pleasant expression on her face. “I don’t think so. Is it some kind of winery or something?”

The young man laughed. “Not exactly. It’s a group of like-minded people working toward a better world. Our teacher is a tremendous thinker and leader.”

“What’s his name?” she asked.

The young man sipped his coffee again. “We call him the Exalted. He’s just so enlightened. And really caring. I’d like to take you to meet him. You’ll be blown away, I promise.”

Chris shoved the books into her backpack and stood, almost knocking over her chair in the process. “I just remembered,” she said, “I’m late for a class.”

She hurried out of the coffee shop and broke into a jog when she reached the sidewalk. The Vine was here, in the smallest state in the union, at a small art school where she happened to be enrolled.

She didn’t believe in coincidence. Walking across campus, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mother’s number.

“Is something wrong?” her mother asked. “You never call me in the middle of the day.”

“The Vine is here, in Providence. I just talked to a young man who tried to recruit me.”

“Did he know who you are?”

“No. He was just trolling the local coffee shop.”

“You need to come home. Now. Before they see you.”

“I’ll leave this afternoon. As soon as I can pack a few things.”

“What will you tell the school?”

“The usual—a family emergency.” It wasn’t the first time she had left a school or a job suddenly. It was an inconvenience and unfair. But it was better than letting the Vine get her in its clutches again.

T HE FIRST RAYS of the sun were burning off the gray of dawn as Rand crouched behind a boulder, looking down on the campsite he and the sheriff and deputy had visited yesterday. He and Harley had been sitting here, cold seeping in, for forty-five minutes, the camp so still he might have thought it abandoned if not for the faint growl of snoring from the closest tent.

He shifted, fighting a cramp in his left thigh, and Harley let out a low whine. Rand froze as two people moved out of the trees, toward the orange tent. He raised his binoculars and recognized Jedediah and an older woman. After a moment, the door to the tent parted, and the younger man with glasses emerged. The three conferred for a moment, then looked up at the sky. Rand followed their gaze and saw a bank of dark clouds moving toward them. A storm would make travel up here more difficult and dangerous, but maybe it would give him and Chris an advantage when it came time to flee. After a moment, Jedediah, the woman and the man from the camp turned and walked back the way they had come.

Rand stowed the binoculars and stood. He picked up the pack, and Harley rose also. “Let’s follow them,” Rand said.

The dog led the way but stayed close. He had alerted to Rand’s wary attitude and followed suit, picking his way carefully over the terrain and keeping silent. Without being told, he set a course that would intersect the route taken by the three they had been watching. When they were near enough to catch a flash of movement in the trees ahead, Rand stopped, and the dog stopped too.

They waited until the trio had passed, then moved forward cautiously, halting every few steps to listen. Rand froze and moved behind a tree when someone—he thought it was Jedediah—spoke, close enough that Rand could understand every word: “Wake up. The helicopter will be here soon, and you need to be ready to go.”

Rand didn’t hear the answer, but Jedediah and the woman left, leaving the dark-haired man behind, apparently to stand guard.

Harley whined. The hair along the dog’s back rose in a ridge, and he stood stiff-legged, tail and ears alert. “That’s where they’re holding Chris, isn’t it?” Rand said quietly.

He waited until he was sure Jedediah and the woman were gone, then crept closer. He needed to find a way to get rid of the guard without raising an alarm. He watched as the man took a seat on a rock near the mine entrance. He looked disgruntled, pulled from his sleeping bag by Jedediah’s early arrival, marched to stand guard without even a cup of coffee.

How to get rid of the man so that Rand could free Chris? He thought back to his military service. He had been a surgeon, not a soldier, but he had heard hundreds of stories from the men and women he cared for, and had seen the results of their efforts on both themselves and the people they fought. The classic approach for dealing with a lone sentry was to sneak up and overpower the guard. Even if the man was only half-awake, Rand didn’t see how he could possibly get close enough to do any damage before the guard shouted for help.

A sniper could take him out, but bullets made noise, and Rand wasn’t a good enough shot to be sure of hitting the man with a pistol shot from any distance. And the idea of killing someone who had done nothing to harm him repelled him.

He took out his binoculars and scanned the man carefully. If he was armed, the weapon was well hidden. Rand was taller and heavier, so in hand-to-hand combat, he had a good chance of overcoming the guy. He just had to get close enough to launch a surprise attack.

Rustling in the bushes to his right startled him. He turned, one hand on the weapon at his side, in time to see Harley disappearing into the underbrush. He resisted the temptation to call the dog back. What was he doing? This wasn’t the time to take off after a rabbit.

“Who’s there?”

The guard was staring toward the underbrush where the dog had disappeared. He must have heard the rustling too. The man moved toward the sound. A few more paces and he would be practically on top of Rand. Rand took a careful step back. He started to replace the pistol in its holster, then thought better of it and moved into the underbrush after the dog, both the guard’s and the dog’s movements helping to drown out any noise he made.

“Who’s there?” the guard demanded again. “Come out with your hands up, or I’ll shoot.”

He’s bluffing, Rand thought. The man didn’t have a gun. Unless he had drawn one just now. From Rand’s position in the clump of scrubby pinion trees, he could see only the side of the man’s head. He froze and waited, holding his breath, as the man pushed past him. Then Rand raised his pistol and hit the guard on the back of the head.

The man’s legs folded under him, and he toppled with a groan. Rand caught him before he was flat on the ground and dragged him backward, behind a shelf of rock and mostly hidden by a pile of weathered logs that was probably once a miner’s cabin. He felt for the man’s pulse—strong and steady—then used a bandanna from his pack as a gag and tied him up with rope he also took from his pack.

Harley returned and sniffed at the unconscious man. When the guard was safely silenced and trussed, Rand patted the dog. “I don’t know if you meant to distract him and make him walk over, but it worked.” He straightened. “Come on. We don’t have time to waste. Let’s find your mom.”

Harley raced ahead to the gate across the opening to the mine and barked. “Chris!” Rand called, keeping his voice low. “Chris, are you in there?”

“Rand? Harley?” Then Chris was standing there—or at least, a woman who sounded like Chris but was dressed in a shapeless gray dress that came almost to her ankles and a blond wig that sat crookedly on her head. “Rand, what are you doing here? Where’s the guard?”

“The guard is tied up behind some rocks. And I’m here to get you out.”

“There’s a lock on the door.” This, from a girl who appeared beside Chris—the same girl Rand had seen emerging from the woods on his visit to the camp with the sheriff and his deputy. Serena.

“This is Serena.” Chris put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“We’ve met before,” he said.

“You’re the man who tried to help Lana,” Serena said. “How are you going to get us out of here? The gate is locked.”

Rand moved over to examine the chain and heavy padlock. Then he turned his attention back to Chris. “I’m going to have to shoot the lock off.” He drew the pistol once more.

Chris looked alarmed. “Someone will hear you.”

“They probably will,” he said. “So you have to be prepared to run as soon as I get the gate open.”

Chris pulled the wig from her head and tossed it to the ground, then shucked the dress off over her head, revealing the jeans and top she had been wearing yesterday. “I’m ready.” She took the girl’s hand. “And Serena is coming with us.”

Serena pulled free of Chris’s grasp. “I’m too slow. I’ll hold you back.”

“No. I promised I wouldn’t leave you. You’re coming with us.”

“You’re coming with us,” Rand agreed. He hefted the pistol. “Stand back, then get ready to run.”

C HRIS COULD HARDLY believe Rand had found her, but she had no illusions that getting away from Jedediah and the others would be easy. They would have to have luck on their side.

Serena huddled against her. Chris clasped one of the girl’s hands tightly and pulled her closer. The child was trembling. “It’s going to be okay,” Chris whispered.

A deafening blast of gunfire shook the air. Chris flinched and wrapped both arms around Serena. “Come on!” Rand shouted as he dragged open the gate. “Hurry!”

They scrambled out of the cave and up the steep slope to the left, loose rock sliding beneath their feet. Harley bounded ahead of them, leaping from rock to rock like a mountain goat. Chris grabbed hold of clumps of grass to pull herself up, while Serena scrambled on hands and knees ahead of her. “This way,” Rand urged.

As they topped the rise, shouts rose behind them. “They’re coming!” Serena cried.

“Run!” Rand urged.

They ran, the dog bounding along beside them. Serena cried out and she stumbled and fell. Rand doubled back and scooped her up. He boosted her onto his back, and she clung there, gripping his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his torso. Chris looked forward again and ran.

Though she was in good shape from training for search and rescue, she wasn’t a runner. The rocky, uneven ground made it impossible to achieve any kind of regular pace. Every few feet, she stumbled or planted a foot wrong, and the thin air at this altitude soon had her gasping for breath. She could hear Rand laboring behind her.

She slowed, panting, and looked back the way they had come. “I don’t see anyone coming after us,” she said.

“Keep moving,” he said. “We need to put as much distance between us and them as possible.” He led the way, cutting across the top of the ridge, then plunging down a long barren slope. Thunder shook the sky, and fat raindrops began to fall. Chris’s feet slid out from under her and she fell, but she scrambled up again, ignoring the pain in her left ankle, and staggered after Rand.

At the bottom of the slope was an area of scrubby trees. They plunged into this cover as the rain began to fall harder, staying closer together. “You can put me down now,” Serena said.

Rand lowered her to the ground and straightened. “This way!” He pointed to their right, and they set off at a fast walk.

“Where are we going?” Chris asked.

“Back toward the mill,” he said. “There will be searchers and probably law enforcement there.”

“Will they help us?” Serena asked.

“Yes,” Rand said. “They will help us.”

“I’m scared,” Serena said.

“I am too,” Chris said. “But it’s going to be okay.”

The trees where they had sought cover thinned, and they emerged on open ground once more.

“Stop right there.” Jedediah and two men armed with rifles stepped out to surround them.

S ERENA HUDDLED BESIDE C HRIS , her shoulders shaking as she silently wept. Chris rubbed her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmured. Was that the right thing to say or only one more lie to a child who had been raised on lies?

Jedediah moved toward them. Harley put himself between Chris and the men with guns, barking furiously.

Jedediah aimed the rifle at the dog. “No!” Chris shouted, and lunged for the dog’s collar. “Harley, no!”

The dog quieted. Chris continued to hold him and glared at Jedediah. “You will have to learn obedience,” he said. “The Exalted will make sure you do.”

Serena began to weep more loudly. “I didn’t want to go with them!” she said. “They made me.” She sank to her knees at Jedediah’s feet. “Please forgive me! I would never betray the Exalted! He is everything!”

Rand stood a few feet away, a guard on either side of him. They had taken his pistol and his pack. He caught Chris’s eye, his expression questioning. She shook her head. Serena had certainly come with them willingly, but now she was terrified, saying what she had to in order to survive.

“Get up,” Jedediah ordered.

When Serena didn’t move, the fourth man pulled her upright and marched her away. Jedediah moved in beside Chris. She stood. Harley remained between her and Jedediah but kept quiet. “Move,” Jedediah said.

They trudged for almost an hour in silence, only the occasional crunch of gravel beneath their feet or labored breathing on a steep slope punctuating their steady pace. A steady downpour soaked their clothing and left them shivering. Thunder rumbled, and jagged lightning forked across the sky. Chris flinched with each mighty crack and wondered at the chances of being struck by one of the bolts.

They descended into a narrow valley and finally stopped beside a metal shipping container set against a large boulder. Jedediah nudged Chris in the ribs with the barrel of the rifle. “Get in,” he ordered. “You’ll wait here for the helicopter.”

Fighting rising panic, Chris moved into the container—a long metal box without windows. Her footsteps rang hollowly, a dull sound beneath the staccato beat of rain on the metal top and sides of the container. Harley trotted in beside her, the tick of his toenails signaling his path across the floor. Rand stumbled in last. As the door swung shut behind them, Chris caught a glimpse of Serena’s tear-streaked face as she stared after them.

The door closed, plunging them into darkness. Chris reached out a hand and Rand clasped it, a reassuring anchor in this sea of fear. The sound of a bar being fit over the door, followed by the drag of chains, signaled their imprisonment. She put her free hand over her chest, as if to keep her painfully beating heart from bursting from her skin.

They stood there for a long moment, saying nothing. Gradually, her eyes adjusted and she realized they weren’t in total darkness. Light showed around the door and broke through pinpoint holes in the container’s metal sides. The container was empty except for a metal pail in the corner, which she assumed was meant to serve as their toilet. Rand released her hand and walked over to the door. He ran his fingers along the gaps around it, then shook his head. “I don’t see any way to pry it open.”

“I doubt if we’ll be here long,” Chris said.

Rand returned to your side. “What was that about a helicopter?”

“The Exalted apparently has a helicopter now. He’s sending it to pick me up.”

“A helicopter won’t fly in this storm,” Rand said.

“It sounds like the rain is slowing,” Chris said. The drops were more intermittent now, and she only had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over their patter.

“What will happen to Serena?” Rand asked.

“I don’t know.” She clasped Rand’s hand again. His warm grasp calmed her. “You know she only said those things because she was frightened,” she said. “She was born to the group. She’s been told all her life that if she ever leaves them, she’ll be condemned for eternity. She’s just a child.”

“I’m not blaming her,” he said. He squeezed her hand. “Was it like that for you? Were you afraid to leave?”

“No. But I wasn’t born in the group. And while my father was a true believer—at least for a while—my mother never really was. She went along to be with my father. She said at first it wasn’t so bad. She liked the idea of living off the land with a like-minded group of people. But the more time passed, and the more she saw how the Exalted brainwashed people into obedience, the more resistant she was to remaining in the group. I remember she and my dad argued about it.” She fell silent, trying to judge if the rain was really slowing. “I won’t get on that helicopter with him,” she said. “I won’t.”

He put his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can to stop him,” he said. “For now, all we can do is wait.” He sat and she lowered herself to sit beside him. Harley settled on her other side. The metal floor and sides of the container were cold, and she shivered in her damp clothing, her wet hair plastered around her head. She laid her head on Rand’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She was still afraid, worried about what Jedediah and the others might do to her, about what would happen if she was taken away with the Exalted, and about where Serena might be right now.

The rain and Rand’s warmth must have lulled her to sleep. She started awake at the scrape of the bar over the metal door being lifted and Harley’s loud barking. “Harley, hush!” she commanded, and the dog fell silent once more. The door of the container opened wider, enough for someone to be shoved inside, then it clanged shut once more.

Rand was already kneeling beside the crumpled figure on the floor. “Serena, are you okay?” he asked.

Chris joined him, then gasped as Rand gently shifted the girl toward the light. One side of her face was swollen and bruised, and a thin trickle of blood trailed from the corner of her lip. “Did Jedediah do this?” Chris demanded.

Serena nodded and continued to sob.

Chris pulled her close. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “They had no right to hurt you.”

Serena sobbed harder. “I didn’t mean it,” he said. “Those things I said about you making me go with you. I was scared of Jedediah. I didn’t want him to hurt me.”

“I know.” Chris stroked the girl’s back.

“Bad things happen to people who disobey the Exalted,” Serena said. “That’s why my parents died.”

“I told you my mother and I left the Vine when I was about your age,” Chris said. “I was scared, like you. But things worked out for us. I make my living as an artist. I have friends and I volunteer to help others. I never could have done any of those things if I had stayed with the Vine.”

Serena sniffed and wiped her eyes with her fingers. “But they caught you. They made you come back.”

“They won’t keep me,” Chris said. “And they won’t keep you either.”

“How are we going to get away?” Serena asked. “There are more guards this time.”

“We’ll find a way,” Chris said. She couldn’t afford not to believe that. There was so much more at stake than her own safety. Serena’s and Rand’s lives were also at stake—two people who were becoming more and more important to her.