Chapter 31
Soaked through to her bones despite wearing a plastic poncho she’d grabbed from the trunk, Berkley couldn’t stop shivering as she approached the bottom of Sanctuary Falls.
She’d thought about trying to carry the fur coat, but it would have slowed her down even more and it would have gotten ruined in the rain anyway.
The kidnapper had demanded it, but she was trying to play the odds.
If anything, maybe she could use it as some sort of bargaining chip.
She didn’t have the diamond necklace so she would just have to lie about that one.
Hiding in the tree line, she scanned the dormant waterfall. It wouldn’t be active until March and the pool at the bottom of it was iced over, though it didn’t look completely frozen.
She was going to be completely frozen soon though and she wasn’t being hyperbolic.
Even though she was well past the deadline, she hoped the lunatic who’d kidnapped Kendall would…ugh, what? Show some grace? Damn it.
This was all a mess. She’d been racing to get here and had lost control, swerved into a ditch with no way to get out.
But she had to save her friend—she just hoped Nick had seen her note by now and that he and Krystal were on the way.
She patted one pocket, felt the box cutter in it. Her other pocket bulged with her pepper spray. It wasn’t going anywhere. Though she wasn’t sure it even worked anyway. Not with how soaked she was.
Squinting against the pounding rain, she scanned the front of the falls, couldn’t see anyone or anything that stood out.
The only way to get to the interior of the falls was from the back. A hike she’d made countless times. Again, just not in the winter or in the pouring rain.
Though she wanted to head straight there, she decided to go around, using the woods as cover. Someone was waiting for her and she couldn’t just face them head on.
They’d clearly planned for this, likely had a gun.
The Sanctuary Falls Sheriff’s Department was a decent size and their people had a lot of former military. She knew they were trained.
But she had no idea when backup would get here so she couldn’t depend on anyone but herself now.
Her boots made sucking sounds as she tried to hurry. She trudged through the thick muck, hiking upward to the west where the best entrance to the top of the falls was.
From her position, she could see the back of the falls now.
There was an overhanging boulder over it that created an open cave area.
It was partially open above, but the curve of it protected anyone inside from the rain.
In the picture of Kendall, she’d recognized some of the older graffiti in the background.
There was also a huge opening that connected to the front of the waterfall, but that was just a steep drop-off with no way to climb up it.
She just hoped whoever had taken her friend was expecting her to come to the front of the falls where they’d pinned the location, and not around the back entrance. The rain was slowing her down, but it might be the only thing that gave her the element of surprise.
Breathing hard, she crouched down between two pine trees planted way too close together. The rain was still coming down hard, but had let up enough for her to see…
Someone in a navy hooded jacket and thick waterproof pants stepped out of the hidden boulder area.
They glanced around, but didn’t pause when they scanned past where Berkley was hiding. Probably because she was slightly elevated and the rain was doing a damn good job of providing cover.
The hooded person looked around again, then stalked toward the main trail. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, given the bulky coat, but the person was tall. So she was leaning toward this being a man.
Her heart jumped in her throat. This might be her only chance to save Kendall.
Once the hooded person moved out of sight, she went for it. Instead of trying to hike down, she sat on her butt and slid down the muddy incline. She bit back a cry when she rolled over a jagged root and kept going until she could stand.
Heart pounding, she pulled out her box cutter and hurried toward the cave opening. The minute she stepped inside it was like entering an insulated box.
The noise from the rain was muffled, which only made the squishes from her muddy boots all the louder to her ears.
As she rounded the corner and stepped deeper into the cave, she paused at the distinctive scent of Black Opium.
Inhaled again.
Then she spotted her friend tied up in the corner and sucked in a breath. What the hell?