Chapter 41
Forty-One
Heart thundering, Jenna held on tight as the Beast left the road and bumped along the rutted grass alongside the forest without headlights.
Ahead, she could just make out the top of Rio’s truck sticking out of the thickest fog she’d ever encountered.
“How can you be sure we won’t drive into a ditch? ”
“Didn’t Tonie tell you she’d seen Durnell drive along here?” Kane pulled the truck to a halt and turned to her. “He must know this area of the forest. If he can do it, so can I.” He rolled out the door and grabbed a rifle from behind the front seat.
Jenna followed. She didn’t need a rifle and waited as Carter and Zorro arrived in a crunch of leaves and twigs. She kept pace with the men as they headed for Rio’s truck. She tapped on the window and Rio slid out. She handed him a com. “Kalo fixed these. We should be able to communicate okay.”
“I’m sure I saw movement in the forest as I drove up.” Rio ran a hand down his face. “I could be seeing things. This mist really messes with your mind.”
“What did you see?” Kane walked beside him as they entered the fire road access.
“It looked like a kid heading into the forest.” Rio frowned. “There’s a white pickup parked ahead on Stanton. It’s hard to see right now but it’s there.”
Nodding, Jenna looked at him. “It’s okay. The person who called it in saw a kid as well. It might be another projection. It tells us he’s our killer.”
When Raven’s truck emerged out of the fog, she waved and Raven jumped down with Ben. They went into a huddle. She turned to Rio. “What direction did you see the kid walking? That would be the logical place to ambush a Good Samaritan.”
“I’d say about twenty yards along Stanton and heading in at a ninety-degree angle to the road.” Rio frowned. “The mist has increased thickness so fast. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Kalo figured the killer might be using a fog machine.” Carter held up one hand. “Listen. The fog dampens sound but I’m sure I can hear a mechanical buzzing.”
Jenna nodded. “I can hear it too. He’s close by.” She touched Kane’s arm. “You take point.”
“Okay, we move out in a straight line, keep about six and no more than ten feet apart.” Kane looked from one to the other.
“We won’t take the trail; he’ll be waiting for someone to walk past searching for the kid.
Use the coms, no talking. Jenna and Raven on my right, Carter and Rio on my left. Move out.”
Trepidation gripped Jenna as she stepped away from Kane.
With only moonlight to guide her, she kept Kane in her sights.
Through the mist, she could make out his broad shoulders, but only just, and with each step, darkness closed around her, isolating her from the others.
To her right, she could faintly hear Raven moving like a ghost through the forest. Panic rushed at her as shadows appeared to move with each ebb and flow of the wall of mist around her.
She inhaled deep breaths to keep her cool and pushed away branches dripping with water, easing her way through the trees as silently as possible.
They’d traveled about fifty yards and found nothing.
Dead vines and underbrush tangled around her legs.
Underfoot, the ground sloped and then rose suddenly, making her stagger.
She grasped at wet trunks, trying to avoid the dripping branches she couldn’t see.
Moving through the forest had become a living nightmare.
She’d slowed down and could no longer see Kane and hurried to catch up.
Suddenly the ground under her collapsed.
Fighting to keep her balance, she grasped at wet branches that gave way to thin air and fell.
The ground came up hard and air rushed from her lungs.
She lay on the damp forest floor, gasping in the smell of rotting leaves.
Every intake of breath hurt. She touched her ear and found nothing.
Her com had fallen out and her team had moved on without her.
Frantic, she ran her hands over the leaf- and pine-needle-covered ground, grasping at small stones and dried berries.
If she called out, she’d ruin the mission.
Scanning the forest, Jenna moved slowly on hands and knees, searching for her com, but without using her flashlight she’d never find it.
Resigned, she stood and turned slowly but caught no sight of anyone.
Her cheek stung and one wrist hurt from the fall, and without her com, no one would be able to find her.
She swallowed hard and took a few steps in the general direction they’d been walking.
A flicker of light ahead caught her attention and she stopped mid-stride at the sight of a small boy looking over one shoulder toward her.
The image hovered for a second before the mist and darkness swallowed it.
Panic had Jenna by the throat. Ahead she could just make out the moonlight on a trail—the trail Kane had told them to avoid.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. She’d walked right into the Axman’s trap.
Frozen to the spot, Jenna’s flight response went into overdrive, when a pitiful voice drifted toward her.
“Help me. I’m lost.”
The mother instinct in her insisted she go and find the little boy, but common sense told her not to move.
Think. If I’m predictable, I’ll die. Jenna forced down the fear and drew her weapon.
Her team must be close by but not here in the danger zone.
She turned and headed in the opposite direction of the illusion.
Moving with care from tree to tree, she tried to keep her back covered with each step.
Kane would check in soon and discover her missing.
A thick white blanket of fog curled around her, so dense now the trees appeared to emerge from a white cloud.
She had options: She could call Kane and hope his phone was on vibrate or push her tracker ring, but with the possibility of both warning Durnell of their presence, she couldn’t risk the lives of her team.
Did he already have a victim in his sights, or had he somehow known she had stumbled into his kill zone?
It would be too easy to trip a wire or walk past a trail cam and not know in the dark.
She needed to keep heading away from the threat.
Placing her boots down as softly as possible, she kept moving.
A thump and then a strangled cry of anguish pierced the silence, followed by voices and the sounds of people crashing through the forest, dogs barking, and a scuffle—and then nothing. Frantic, Jenna raised her voice. “Dave, call out.”
“Here.” Kane’s voice sounded a long way away.
Picking up her feet, Jenna ran to her left, weaving in and out of trees. “Dave, I can’t find you.”
“Look for my flashlight.” Kane sounded closer and moments later a beam of light lit up the trees above. “We’ve found him.”
A wave of relief washed over her. She holstered her weapon and pulled out her flashlight.
The mist still hampered her, rising like a white wall in her flashlight beam.
Another wail cut through the forest and a dog barked.
The next moment, Ben, Raven’s dog, bounded toward her.
It stopped, sniffed her, and then leaned against her leg.
“Hello, Ben.” She bent to hug the dog and straightened. “Take me to Raven.”
Ben moved off slowly, sticking to her side as they weaved through the trees.
She could hear voices and see flashlight beams ahead as the trees opened up to a trail.
Beside her, Ben whined and she stopped dead at the horrific sight before her.
They were too late. Surrounded by curls of mist, a man sat slumped against a tree, his head a few feet away.
Blood still seeped from his neck and ran down his coat to pool on the ground.
She cast around as Kane emerged from the mist. “Dave?”
“What happened to you? Are you okay?” Kane turned and his gaze raked over her. He blew out a long breath and shook his head. “I’ve been trying to contact you. Did your com stop working?” He indicated to the forest. “Rio is out searching for you. We heard a noise but got here too late.”
Jenna swallowed bile and kept her eyes on Kane. “I fell and lost my com. I didn’t call out until I heard voices. More importantly, did you catch Durnell?”
“It’s complicated.” Kane turned and walked toward her. “Durnell is the victim.” He led her into a small clearing and indicated to a handcuffed man sitting beside a bloody ax, his head hanging down and his body shaking with sobs. “That’s the killer.”
Gaping in astonishment, Jenna moved closer to the man. Beside him, Carter and Raven had their weapons pointed at him. He wasn’t going anywhere. She passed her flashlight beam over him, recognizing him right away. “Mason Kitteridge. What have you done?”