Chapter Fourteen
Dalton checked his watch for the third time.
At least fifteen minutes had passed since Debra and Roxanne had left to use the bathroom.
They should have been back by now. The other tour participants had already gathered around the Jeep, ready to go.
“I’m sorry about the delay, folks,” Dalton said.
“Looks like I need to go hurry the other two along. I’ll be back in a minute. ”
He crossed the road and headed up the path where he had last seen the two women. “Roxanne!” he called. “Debra! Time to get going.” He stopped and listened, but heard nothing but his own breathing.
He turned a complete circle, and tried to remember what they had been wearing.
Roxanne’s jacket was gray and purple, and she had on a black ball cap.
Debra had worn red. That should make her easy to spot, but there was no sign of her.
He pulled out his phone and called Roxanne’s number.
After a dozen rings, the call went to voicemail.
“Hey, Roxanne, where are you? It’s time to get going again.
Let me know you’re on your way back to the Jeep. ”
He pocketed the phone once more, anxiety growing. Even if Roxanne had gotten distracted by something, she should have answered his call. He set out to look for her and Debra, stopping every few steps to call out the women’s names.
He reached the top of a long ridge. From here, the ground sloped away to a field of fireweed, the bright pink blooms standing out against the yellowing foliage.
Another trail came up from this valley, and he spotted a pair of hikers on it and waved for them to stop.
They did so and he ran up to them. “Have you seen two women around here?” he asked.
“One has on a red jacket. The other is wearing a purple and silver jacket and a black ball cap.”
“I think we saw them a while ago,” the man said. “They were up on that ridge.” He pointed behind Dalton.
“Did you see which way they went from there?” he asked.
Both shook their heads. “But I thought I heard a scream,” the woman said.
Dalton froze. “When was this?” he asked.
She looked at her companion. “Maybe ten minutes ago?”
Dalton checked his watch again. Five minutes had passed since he set out to find Roxanne and Debra. “And you didn’t see any sign of them since then?” he asked.
Both shook their heads again. Dalton stared out over the fireweed.
Everything around them was absolutely still.
The way sound carried up here, with the surrounding peaks acting as amplifiers, he should have been able to hear anyone in distress.
The couple were still standing beside him, shifting from foot to foot. “Thanks for your help,” Dalton said.
“Yeah, well, hope you find who you’re looking for,” the man said. He and the woman started down the trail again.
Dalton hurried back to the group waiting around the Jeep. “Did you find them?” one of the women asked.
“No.” He pulled out his phone. “I need to make a couple of phone calls. But don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you.”
“Maybe we should spread out and search,” the woman’s husband said.
“No,” Dalton said, even as the others agreed they should search.
The last thing he needed was a bunch of people who didn’t know the area and weren’t accustomed to conditions up here to go stumbling around.
“Let’s get trained people to do that. We have a terrific search and rescue operation in Eagle Mountain. ”
Thankfully, he had a good cell signal here.
His time with search and rescue had taught him that people often made the mistake of not calling for help soon enough.
They thought they could find their own way out of the wilderness or walk down the mountain with a sprained ankle or get back to camp before dark.
He moved a short distance away from the group and dialed Roxanne’s number again.
Still no answer. Then he called his dad.
“I need you to come up to Lupine Falls and finish this tour for me,” Dalton said. “I’ll explain more when you get here.”
“I’ll be right there, son,” his dad said. “Are you okay?”
No. If anything happened to Roxanne, would he ever be okay again? “I’m okay, Dad. Just get here as soon as you can.”
He ended the call, then cradled the phone for a moment, fighting panic. He needed to think like a first responder now. What did he do next? He dialed 911. “This is Dalton Ames with Alpine Jeep Tours. Two of the guests on this morning’s tour are missing.”
Roxanne had the sensation of trying to swim through thick gray muck.
She fought to break through to the surface, chest aching, head pounding.
With a groan, she opened her eyes, and looked up into a face that was both familiar and strange.
“Hello, Mary,” the woman said. Her face swam into better focus.
Roxanne gasped. “Kara.” She tried to sit up, but a wave of stomach-churning dizziness forced her back down.
“You can call me Alice.” Kara smiled. “You didn’t recognize me, did you?” She touched her face. “The state paid to have my teeth fixed, then Billy sent me money to get my nose done.” She stroked her now petite, straight nose. “He wanted me to look my best.”
Roxanne’s heart hammered painfully and she struggled to breathe. “Where is Ledger?” she gasped.
“He’ll be back soon,” Kara said. “He’s out making sure no one followed us.”
Roxanne’s head was clearing. She remembered standing on the mountainside, searching for Debra. “Where is Debra?” she asked.
“You don’t need to worry about her.” Kara laid a damp cloth over Roxanne’s forehead. “That chloroform will probably give you a nasty headache for a while, but it will get better, I promise.”
Roxanne batted her hand away. She fought the nausea and forced herself to sit. But when she tried to swing her legs off the bed, she couldn’t move them. “Don’t strain yourself, hon,” Kara said. “Billy didn’t want you to hurt yourself thrashing around, so he tied you to the bed.”
Roxanne threw back the covers and stared at the chains wrapped around each ankle. She looked over at Kara. “Let me go, now. I promise I won’t tell anyone you’re involved.”
“Oh, I can’t do that, hon. Billy wouldn’t like it.”
Roxanne grabbed the other woman’s arm, hard. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “How could you be with William Ledger after what he did to us?”
Kara tried to pull free. “Let go. You’re hurting me.”
Reluctantly, Roxanne released her hold. Kara rubbed at her arm, where a bruise was already forming, standing out against long red marks that looked like scratches. “Billy loves us,” she said. “After we were taken from him, he missed us so much. He wrote me from prison and he sounded so sad.”
“He doesn’t love us,” Roxanne said. “He hurt us.”
Kara patted Roxanne’s leg. “He doesn’t even hold it against you that you ran away and turned him in to the police,” she said. “He’s forgiven you, and he wants us to all be together again.”
Roxanne shrank from the other woman’s touch, the nausea returning, but this time not from the chloroform. “You’re Betty Josephs,” she said.
She smiled. “You’re so clever to guess! That was all Billy’s idea.
He sent me the money to get the nose job and told me to dye my hair and how to get a driver’s license in a new name.
Then I could visit him in prison. It was so wonderful to see him again.
” Her eyes shone, and a shiver ran through Roxanne.
Kara no longer seemed connected to any reality.
“You moved into the tiny house to spy on me,” she said.
“Spying sounds so nasty.” Kara pouted. “I was watching over you, making sure you were all right.” She smoothed her hand over her hair. “I had to change my hair again. Do you like the red? I’m thinking of keeping it.”
“How did you find me?” Roxanne asked.
“Oh, it’s not as hard as you might think. I made up a story about looking for my long-lost sister and hired a private investigator who specializes in tracking down people who don’t want to be found. Billy was happy to pay the bill.”
“How did you find out I was on this tour today?” Roxanne asked.
Kara giggled. “I put a tracking device on your car. Billy gave it to me and told me what to do. Isn’t that clever?
When you drove to the Jeep tour company this morning, I thought at first you were just saying hi to Dalton.
But I cruised by there to check and saw you getting into the Jeep with lots of other people.
As soon as you were gone, I called Billy to let him know, then went in to the Jeep office and asked about the tours.
All I had to do was ask and the nice lady there told me all about the tour you were taking this morning.
From there it was easy enough for Billy and me to catch up with you and just wait for our chance to get you alone. ”
“Was Debra in on this?” Roxanne asked. Had the big coincidence of Debra being on the tour not been a coincidence after all?
Kara frowned. “That busybody has been in our way from the first,” she said. “I’m glad we got rid of her.”
“What did you do to her?” Roxanne asked, alarmed.
“Don’t worry. She won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“Did you put that doll in my house?” Roxanne asked.
Kara grinned. “Wasn’t that clever? Billy gave me the doll and the note.
” The grin faded. “I thought it would remind you of the good times when we were all together. It wasn’t meant to make you move out.
” She raked her fingernails down both arms, leaving white streaks where the nails dug into her skin.
“Billy wasn’t happy with me about that. He got very angry, until I agreed to help him find a way to get you alone. ”
She had helped Ledger kidnap her, just as she had all those years ago. “I’m going to be sick,” she said.