Escape From the Badlands Page 17

  Charlie.

  Her body was electrified, moving on its own now, away from the shelter of rock.

  “No,” Shane said, pulling her back. “That’s what they want. It’s a trap.”

  Tears flowed down her face. “I have to go to Charlie. Right now.”

  He grabbed her face and held it between his palms. “I won’t let you get hurt.” His lips suddenly brushed hers, igniting tingles through her body.

  “This is about my sister, Shane. You shouldn’t be putting your life on the line.”

  He sighed, staring into her eyes. “Remember when you told me that God loves me?”

  She nodded, afraid to answer.

  “I’m not sure I believe it, but I know your love came from someplace special. I’m not deserving of it and I didn’t do anything to earn it, so maybe that really is a God thing. I know I threw that away when I left, but I’m not leaving now. Not anymore. I’m here and we’re going to get through this together.”

  He kissed her, and his mouth on hers pushed away a corner of the terror that threatened to drown her.

  God help us, Kelly prayed as she took Shane’s hand and they walked toward the flicker of light.

  SEVENTEEN

  Shane felt as though his senses were heightened with Kelly’s soft fingers clasped in his, the cool breeze washing over his face, the crunch of gravel underfoot. Something inside him was changing too, blowing through him like the crisp wind that pushed the clouds away until the sky was brilliant and clean. He did not allow himself to wonder about the determination he felt surging through his body. He marched closer to the cave, all the while planning escape routes if Ackerman showed his hand.

  And he would. There was no doubt in Shane’s mind that it was a trap. His goal was to play for time, to keep Charlie and Kelly safe until the police arrived.

  I don’t know how we’re going to do this, but we’re going to make it.

  He realized with a jolt that he was speaking not to himself, but to God. It made no sense.

  He shook his head to clear it, just as they crept around the last massive boulder separating them from the mouth of the cave. The cave opening was nothing more than a yawning black circle against the cliff face, until the lantern light was held aloft.

  It was definitely a woman. The darkness made it impossible to see her face, but her hair was long and dark, her figure slight. Next to her, holding her hand, was a child. Shane’s heart leapt to his throat. He’d hoped it was a ruse, a trick of the light, but the little voice that wavered through the night was real.

  “Mama Kelly?” Charlie called.

  “Charlie,” Kelly cried, the words sounding torn out of her.

  “Come closer,” the woman said, and Shane identified her immediately.

  They reluctantly moved forward a few paces, Shane keeping Kelly a step behind him.

  Shane decided to take control of the situation as best he could. “Betsy, enough with the theatrics. Why did you bring Charlie here?”

  She laughed. “I don’t have to answer that. My job was to get Kelly here, and that’s what I did. Too bad you came along too, Shane, but I guess that’s all for the best. Come in.”

  “No. You send Charlie out.”

  She gave an impatient sigh. “That’s not how it’s going to work.”

  “Mama Kelly?” Charlie whimpered. “Owww, you’re squeezing my fingers too tight.”

  Kelly bolted forward. “Get away from him.”

  “Come on in, Kelly, and you can have him.”

  Shane put out a hand to stop her, but it was too late. Kelly ran toward the cave. He followed as quickly as he could. Kelly moved into the circle of light and snatched Charlie. The boy tumbled into her arms, crying.

  She patted his back and murmured comforting words into his ear. “It’s okay, honey. I’m here now.”

  “That’s better,” Betsy said. “Finally, you’re behaving properly. You should never have come here, throwing yourself at Devin. The snake should have convinced you to go. What kind of mother keeps her kid in a place with snakes?”

  “You’re crazy,” Kelly whispered.

  As far as Shane could tell, there was no weapon in Betsy’s hand. What was her game? Was Ackerman hiding in the shadows?

  “Kelly is leaving,” he said. “There’s no need for all this. She planned to go in the morning. You didn’t need to go to all the trouble.”

  “Oh, she’s definitely going now,” Betsy said. “You, too.”

  Kelly hissed at her. “What did you do to Aunt Jean?”

  “The old girl is fast asleep. I dropped a little sedative into her chili pot this morning while she and the kid were out for their morning walk. She’ll be out like a light for a while. Guess Charlie doesn’t like chili because he put up a good fight when I snatched him after I finished the race.”

  Kelly looked at her in horror. “You did this because you thought Devin had feelings for me?”

  “Devin has feelings for lots of women,” she hissed, “especially the pretty ones.”

  “Betsy,” Shane said, keeping his voice calm, trying to soothe Betsy’s rage. “What’s really going on here? You didn’t go to all this trouble, taking Charlie and luring us here, just to get Kelly out of your way.”

  “So true,” a low voice said. “It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

  Shane gaped as Martin Chenko stepped into the pool of light, a hard hat on his head.

  Chenko laughed. “The look on your faces is just priceless.”

  Shane suddenly realized the full extent of his miscalculation as he took in the gun clasped in Chenko’s hand. He almost groaned out loud. “Gleeson was working for you. He was tracking Rose, and he brought Kelly into the race under your direction.”

  Kelly gasped. “Mr. Chenko? You’ve been after Rose all along? It wasn’t Devin?”

  “Of course not,” Betsy snapped. “Devin would never get involved in anything like that.”

  “You’re the one who killed that waitress,” Shane said to the man who had morphed from race producer to multiple murderer in the passing of a few moments.

  Chenko sighed. “Things got out of hand. I was asking her about Rose, if she’d seen her in town. I knew I was close. Unfortunately, my temper got the better of me. The irony is, I was right. Rose was close—closer than I thought. She saw me running away.”

  “So did my sister-in-law, Olivia Mason.”

  “I had no intention of hurting Olivia until I happened to cross paths with her when we brought the race here last year. We’d arranged with her husband to borrow some horses. I saw her watching me, and I knew it was just a matter of time before she put it together, even though I had a beard and my hair was different. I had no choice. It was easy to shoot her; your brother was passed out drunk. I killed her, put the gun in his hand and fired again.”

  “To make sure he had gunshot residue on his fingers.”

  “It’s the details that really make a plan come together,” Chenko said matter-of-factly. “When I found out who you were, I tampered with the bike and tossed that rock at you, but still I find you here in the middle of this mess.”

  Shane gritted his teeth. “My brother is in jail for murdering her.”

  Chenko cocked his head. “I’m sorry about that. It was the easiest way out. Please hand over your phone now, Mr. Mason.”

  Shane reluctantly tossed it to Chenko, who deftly grabbed it and put it in his pocket before he turned to Kelly. “None of this would have happened if your sister hadn’t run off with my child.”

  Kelly pulled Charlie closer. “Charlie.”

  “Yes. I gave her everything, took care of her, helped her get sober, and then when she was finished using me, after getting pregnant with my child, she took off.” His eyes rounded. “How is that right? How is it right for her to deprive me of being a father to my flesh and blood? I had a right to find her and my boy.” He cast a loving glance at Charlie. “He’s a good boy, isn’t he? I think I can see my mother in him, around the eyes.”r />
  Shane edged closer. All he needed was a little distraction. Cops were on their way.

  Just keep the gun away from Kelly and Charlie.

  “All I want,” Chenko said, “is Charlie and Rose.”

  Kelly stood and pushed Charlie behind her. “You’re going to kill my sister,” she breathed. “She’s the only one left who can ID you for the murder of that waitress.”

  Chenko waved the gun impatiently. “I’m a businessman. I look for the most efficient solution to any problem. Enough dillydallying. We’re on a tight time line here. Take out your phone and dial your sister’s satellite. She has it on at the moment and she’s close, maybe on her way to snatch Charlie and make him disappear again.”

  “How do you know where she is?”

  He clucked like a disapproving grandmother. “So naive.”

  “Gleeson?” Shane asked.

  “He thought he was helping me find my wife and child. His ex took away his access to his child, too, so he understands the injustice.”

  “But you neglected to tell him you killed a woman, and you’re going to do the same thing to Rose,” Shane said.

  “It’s not important what I did or did not tell him. Gleeson downloaded software onto the phone I gave Kelly. We’ve been tracking her calls. Rose must have suspected it, because she stopped calling, didn’t she? That might have been my fault. I sent a generic text to see if she’d respond. That spooked her, I think. My error for trying to rush things, but when I feared you were leaving, it created a sense of urgency.”

  Kelly looked down without answering.

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re using a GPS tracker. All you need is a target phone number. The last time she sent you a text, we harvested her satellite phone number and installed the tracker. Her GPS pings back to my computer as soon as she powers up her satellite, and there you go. Instant play-by-play. As soon as she contacts you again, we’ve got her.”

  “You have no right,” Kelly said, her voice trembling with rage.

  “And she had no right to take my child.”

  The chill in his words unsettled Shane even more than the gun.

  “We can come to some sort of agreement,” Shane started to say, playing for a few more precious minutes.

  Chenko shook his head. “We don’t have time for this. I’m sure you called the police before you came, so they are no doubt on their way. Text your sister and tell her to meet us at the abandoned mine at the top of Red Bluff. We’ll take care of our business there. She’s still checking her messages, I’m sure, even if she isn’t calling you.”

  “I won’t do it,” Kelly said, her face stricken.

  Chenko moved quickly. Before Shane could react, he edged closer and pressed the gun to Shane’s temple. “I think you will, or this man will die.”

  “Don’t do it, Kelly,” Shane said, anger thundering in his veins. “He’s using me to bully you into betraying your sister.”

  The anguish on Kelly’s face was clear.

  “Shane…” she whispered.

  He tried to communicate with his eyes. You and Charlie are the most important people in my life and I love you both. “Don’t give him what he wants, Kell.”

  “Doesn’t really matter anyway,” Chenko said. “If you don’t send it, I will. This will just keep your friend here alive for a few more minutes, maybe prevent the child from watching someone shot down in cold blood.” He kept the gun pressed to Shane’s temple.

  Kelly’s eyes slid from Chenko’s face to Shane’s.

  “It’s going to be okay, Kell,” Shane said. The police would be there soon. Or maybe Gleeson would turn up to help.

  With shaking fingers, and tears streaming down her face, she texted the message.

  “Very good. Now we will get out of here before the police arrive. Besides,” he laughed, “the racers will be here at sunup. We’ve got to get Betsy back by dawn. She may actually win this thing after all.”

  Betsy smiled happily. “He’s promised me a spot on the race staff.”

  “How cozy,” Shane said. “Think Devin will still want you when he finds out what you’ve been up to?”

  Her smile dimmed, eyes narrowing into slits. “He’s never going to find out.”

  Shane felt again the surge of determination. Somehow, some way, Shane would make sure he did.

  Chenko gestured with the gun toward the back of the cave, and Shane suppressed a groan. Of course Chenko wouldn’t take them out the front; there might be cops waiting. Chenko knew the cave intimately because he’d scouted it for the race. He would know how to get out without being seen.

  He saw the look of fear flash across Kelly’s face as Betsy pushed her toward the rear of the cave. “Where…?” she began.

  “Time to do a little spelunking,” Chenko said, snapping on the headlamp and prodding them into the darkness.

  The cave passage was slick with moisture, the temperature considerably cooler than the air outside. Kelly shivered, holding tight to Charlie’s hand.

  “An even fifty-eight degrees, no matter the weather,” Chenko said from behind her. “I admire that constancy. Inspires me in my daily life.”

  Kelly thought relentless was more appropriate. “You don’t even love my sister. Why not let her go? She won’t tell anyone; she’ll stay quiet to keep Charlie safe.” The word safe bounced up to the flat ceiling and down again, Betsy’s lantern light winking off the thousands of tooth-shaped formations on the walls, like tiny jaws waiting to chew them up.

  “We had an agreement, a business arrangement if you will. I cared for her, supported her, and in exchange she was to stay with me and our future children, too.”

  “Things change,” Kelly heard Shane say. “You can’t own people or force them to love you.”

  “A verbal contract is binding in this case,” Chenko said, his words sibilant, like a living thing in the darkness.

  “I want to go back to the trailer,” Charlie said.

  Kelly put an arm around him and helped him through the passage, which narrowed ahead. The air smelled of unopened places, secret tunnels and chasms that spidered out around them. The cold seeped into her bones, chilling her to the core.

  “Don’t worry, Charlie, my man,” Chenko said. “We’re going to have lots of fun together as soon as we say goodbye to your real mother.”

  Charlie gave her a questioning look and she forced a smile. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie.”

  Inside, Kelly fought panic. Chenko would take Charlie and hide him somewhere they’d never find him.

  Oh, God, help me. Help me, please.

  Chenko’s tone turned cheerful. “It was a stroke of luck, your coming to work at the clinic. Gleeson had been keeping tabs on you for quite some time at my request. I arranged with him to fake an injury, and Devin took him over. You were so eager to take the job.”

  She felt like a fool. In her eagerness, she’d delivered Charlie and Rose into Chenko’s hands.

  They continued on, slower now as the passage wound in lazy zigzags further into the darkness. At one point they walked across a path that dropped into a deep crevice on one side, and she held on to Charlie’s shoulders and pushed him in front of her, holding tightly to him. Then the way widened out, the floor bristling with hard rock formations that resembled little trees. She stumbled once and felt Shane’s hand on her arm, helping her up and giving her a comforting squeeze. She felt a surge of guilt at dragging him into the situation. He should have stayed outside, gone for help.

  A thought sickened her. The moment he had seen Chenko’s face, Shane became a liability, too. He would kill them along with Rose, and Charlie would be raised by this monstrous man. Her mind raced, trying to come up with some sort of escape plan, but there was only darkness pressing in from every side. Even if she could break away, she could not escape the rocky labyrinth, not with Charlie, and Chenko would kill Shane without a moment’s remorse.

  They entered a soaring chamber with stalactites feathering down like graceful fingers. Betsy held t
he lantern higher, but the light hardly pierced the darkness. In the center of the chamber was an irregular platform of rock, sparks of crystal gleaming where the light hit them.

  “Is it diamonds?” Charlie asked.

  Chenko laughed. “No, son, that’s…”

  He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence. A figure appeared at the top of the rock. Everyone froze.

  Gleeson’s silver hair shone in the gloom. “Chenko, it’s all over. “

  “Why, Mr. Gleeson,” Chenko said genially. “My loyal employee. Come to help?”

  “I’m not your employee anymore. I worked for you because I thought you had a right to find your son. I didn’t know that killing his mother was part of the bargain. You neglected to mention that you’d killed that waitress and Shane’s sister-in-law.”

  “Suddenly grown a conscience? You didn’t mind prying into the life of this young man here, spying on Kelly, or bugging a few phones. Now you’ve got objections?”

  Gleeson shifted enough that Kelly could see the outline of a gun in his hand. He shook his head in disgust. “I should have figured it out when you sabotaged Shane’s bike. You were trying to keep him out of the picture while you reeled Rose in like a fish on the line.”

  Kelly felt Shane stiffen beside her, moving slightly closer to her as if he could protect her from what was to come. Gleeson lifted the gun higher. “I don’t want to shoot anybody, so don’t make me do it. Let’s walk out of here like civilized people.”

  All eyes were riveted on Chenko. Kelly didn’t notice Betsy’s hand in motion until it was too late. She hurled a rock through the air. Gleeson’s attention was drawn instinctively toward the missile, giving Chenko the split second he needed.

  He fired three times in rapid succession. There was a scream and Betsy dropped the lantern, which rolled behind a ridge of rock, blotting out the light.

  Kelly felt Shane pulling her to the floor as she heard bullets ricocheting through the cavern, pinging against the rocks with thunderous sound. Something sharp scraped her cheek, but she didn’t care. She reached for Charlie to pull him under her, but his hand was suddenly yanked out of hers and she heard his squeal of fear.