Chapter Thirty
Hope sat in a corner of a dark and stuffy room. There was no air-conditioning running and it totally sucked. She knew she
needed another shower, but that was the least of her worries. The crazy lady had been pacing around all morning, oblivious
to how miserable it was in here. She’d at least given Hope some water and crackers, but that was it and now Hope’s stomach
rumbled. What she wouldn’t give to be back home. Even the dingy old hotel room had been better than this.
They’d ditched the room when the crazy lady saw some cop looking at her car. That had thrown Abigail into a tizzy. She’d grabbed
Hope and half dragged her over to the window, opened it and climbed out. Hope had thought about not following and trying to
lock herself in the bathroom. If there was a cop then maybe someone was looking for her. But Abigail seemed to read her mind
and had her gun pointed at Hope, telling her to get out. If it had been Jake and Vicki, Hope might have taken her chances.
But not Abigail. There was something different about her that made Hope take her threats seriously.
Hope had climbed through the window and Abigail grabbed her arm, taking her down the road to a parked car. At first, she thought it might be someone else’s vehicle and they were going to steal it, but then Hope realized there were keys sitting under the driver’s side floor mat.
Someone was helping Abigail.
Abigail had used plastic cuffs to tie Hope’s arms back and shove her in the back seat. They’d driven to this large building
and now Hope was hidden away in a room with no windows. What would Abigail do next? She needed to escape. Somehow.
On the drive to their latest location, Abigail had started chatting more. Why, Hope didn’t know. Was she trying to build a
rapport or intimidate? Or both? Abigail claimed she knew Hope’s dad. Hope had said she was sorry. Sarcasm had been her way
of dealing with stupid people. It worked with her teachers and always got her out of class. Usually when she was sent to the
principal’s office, Hope would duck out and go smoke her vape which was one of the reasons she ended up in summer school.
But this time, the sarcasm just earned her an equal smirk from Abigail and the comment, “You think you’re real smart, don’t
you?”
Hope didn’t say anything. She knew Abigail wasn’t looking for an answer.
Hope had managed to move around the room a little bit even though she was tied to a chair. She had been able to wiggle her
butt and scoot closer to a counter with some drawers when Abigail had left her alone. The counter had a coffeepot, napkins
and utensils. Probably some sort of break room, like the teachers’ lounge.
Hope had been eyeing the knives, but once she was closer, she realized they were plastic.
She needed some sort of weapon. If no one knew where she was, then she was going to get out of here.
No way was she going to let this crazy lady stop her.
If she could ditch teachers, she could ditch Abigail.
Although teachers weren’t allowed to point guns at their students. Or tie them to chairs.
Now knowing that the knives weren’t very sharp, she started to look for other options. Hope knew that the drawers at school
often had things like scissors. Abigail was outside of the room texting on her phone, muttering under her breath and pacing
around. She wasn’t paying attention. Something was up and that made Hope want out of there even more.
She scooted a bit more over to some drawers. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she had to lean over and use her teeth
to pull it open. If there were scissors or something, how would she get them out? One problem at a time.
She glanced back to where Abigail had been. She was gone. Good. This was Hope’s chance.
She paused and listened. Nothing. She didn’t know where Abigail had gone, but she was going to take this opportunity while
she had it. The first drawer didn’t have anything useful. It was full of coffee filters and the gross powdered creamer. Pushing
with her feet, Hope was able to get the chair to slide back. She was glad she was on a smooth floor.
The next drawer also had nothing useful.
Then she managed to open the third drawer.
Her teeth were kind of sore from pulling on the handles, but she saw a box cutter and thank God, it was up front.
One Halloween, Hope had bobbed for apples and had done well.
She told herself this was similar. She waited again, making sure she couldn’t hear Abigail, and then she managed to get her head in the drawer and pull the box cutter out with her teeth.
The problem was her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were secured together.
She dropped the box cutter into her lap and lifted one butt cheek while tipping the chair back. The box cutter slid underneath her.
Like the school chairs, there was an opening in the back and she was able to get her fingers around the cutter and slide it
up her shirtsleeve. It was bulky, but it was her best bet to maybe get away. Hope didn’t think she could get the right grip
on it to cut the ties, but she’d keep it stashed. Somehow, she’d use it. She just had to wait for the right moment.
Then she’d run as fast as she could. Even though underneath it all when Hope misbehaved, she knew it was bad, at least she’d
developed some good skills for escaping. But she knew Abigail wasn’t her teacher and didn’t have any rules. But what Hope
liked about that was she didn’t have any rules either.
Maya stood back by her patrol vehicle and observed Agent Bernardo preparing to go in.
Agent Ross was helping him. Even though Maya had told them there would be no cell phone service, Ross insisted on trying it anyway.
Part of Maya wanted to keep trying to intervene.
She’d grown up in this forest. She’d worked, hiked and camped in these mountains.
There were so many things she understood and the big one was you could not rely on cell phones as communication devices.
She couldn’t even rely on her radio half the time.
When her best friend and training officer Doug had been fatally injured in an explosion, Maya had to run up a hill to get a radio signal. That had cost them precious time.
This was no different, but because it was a visitor center, everyone was assuming technology would work. Maya had pointed
out there was a reason the center had a landline. But she’d finally given up and backed away. She wasn’t in charge and all
she was doing was pissing people off.
She heard Juniper give a low growl. Nick was approaching. Juniper didn’t like anyone near her vehicle and handler.
“Agent Bernardo really does look a bit like Dad,” Nick said to her.
Juniper continued a guttural sound, letting Nick know he was on dangerous ground. “Juniper, it’s okay. Relax,” Maya said.
“She’s a good dog. She’d do anything for you.”
“Thanks. She’s the best,” Maya said, thinking that Nick thought of Eric as Dad. Maya still struggled with calling him that.
“And he does, look like . . . Dad. I hope this works.”
“You don’t feel good about it, do you?”
“I don’t. I mean, it’s a good plan, but they’re counting too much on technology. I wish they’d do something other than a cell
phone,” Maya said.
“Ross is certain it’ll work. Aaron thinks so too. I think they’re using some sort of satellite signal or something.”
“I hope so,” Maya said. “Abigail is ruthless. The judge at her bail hearing called her evil. He refused bail and that’s why
she was sitting in a federal prison detained until her trial.”
“When we catch her, she should go to Florence,” Nick said.
Maya gave a small laugh. Florence, Colorado, was where the supermax federal prison was located. Notorious criminals like El
Chapo resided in that prison. “I would agree, but knowing Abigail, she’d figure out how to charm her way out of there too.”
Nick cracked a smile. A first.
Agent Bernardo finished preparing. He had no weapon, but at least Kessler had insisted he wear a vest. Better than nothing,
Maya thought. But once again, Abigail’s knowledge was unusual. Most criminals wouldn’t know exactly where to shoot around
a vest for a kill shot. Abigail did. Frustration surged through Maya. Bernardo was possibly giving up his life for this.
Juniper sensed her emotions and stuck a golden eye up to the compartment and gave a soft whine.
Bernardo finished prepping and said a couple words to Kessler and Ross. Then he started walking toward the visitor center.
“Showtime,” Nick said.
“Yep,” Maya answered. She wasn’t sure she wanted to witness this show.