Hill, Gerri: Angel Fire

“What do you think about—”

“Help! Help us!”

They turned, seeing a man dragging a young girl. She was covered in blood. They jumped up, hurrying toward him.

“What happened?” Leslie asked as she took hold of the girl.

Sam was about to do the same when the man pulled out a gun, using it to smash against Leslie’s head. Leslie fell limply to the ground, taking the girl with her.

“No!” Sam yelled, turning, grabbing the man’s hand, but he twisted away, wrapping an arm tight around her neck and pressing the barrel of his gun against her temple.

“Don’t think I won’t shoot you.”

Sam drew in quick, short breaths of air, but she stopped struggling against his hold. She turned her head, glancing to the ground where Leslie lay. She was bleeding from a wound to her head, unconscious. The girl who lay beside her appeared to be dead.

“Who…who are you?”

“Not your concern.” He pulled her roughly after him, his arm still holding her tightly around her neck. Up the steps of the RV they went, and Sam’s eyes darted to a drawer beside the television. Her weapon was there, but if she disabled him, she wasn’t sure she could get to it in time.

He flung her down on the small sofa, the gun aimed at her head. “Put some jeans on. Hiking boots too.”

She frowned. “What? Why?”

“I am not in the mood for stupid questions. Do it,” he yelled.

They had flipped a coin for sleeping arrangements, and she and Tori had won the bedroom as opposed to the fold-out sofa. She got up slowly, holding her hands up. She pointed into the bedroom. “My…my clothes are in there.”

“You have fifteen seconds.”

She had her back to him as she took her shorts off and slipped on jeans. Her hands were trembling slightly as she found her hiking socks and put them on, her mind whirling as she tried to figure out what to do.

“Hurry.”

She barely had time to put her boots on before he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Sweatshirt and a jacket.”

“Where…where are you taking me?”

“You don’t get to ask questions.”

She was a cop, yet she felt so helpless. If this was Tori, the man would already be dead. But she wasn’t Tori and she wasn’t about to try to disarm him. If she failed, she had no doubt he would kill her. So she did as he said, only it was Tori’s sweatshirt she grabbed instead of her own. That brought some comfort to her as she slipped it over her head.

He pulled her back outside and pushed her down to the ground. She looked over at Leslie, who still hadn’t moved.

“On your knees,” he said. “Cross your ankles. Hands behind your head.”

She did as she was told, her body trembling from fear as she raised her hands over her head and locked her fingers together. Was he going to execute her? No. He’d had her change clothes for a reason. He ripped down the rope they’d strung up to hang their towels on to dry. A sheath on his leg produced a large knife, and he cut the rope in half. He walked over to her, then jerked her up.

“Hold your hands out.”

Her eyes were locked on the knife, and she did as she was told, knowing once she was tied up any thought of escape would be gone. Her bound hands were tied to a nearby tree.

He took the remaining rope and tied Leslie’s hands to those of the girl’s. Sam stared helplessly as Leslie was tied up.

“Is she…is she dead?”

“The girl? Yeah. Your friend here, no.” He held his knife up. “Should I finish her off?”

“Please…don’t,” Sam whispered.

“And if I spare her, what do I get in return?”

“What…what do you want?”

He said nothing. He walked back toward the road from where he’d come. For a moment, Sam thought he was leaving. But he bent down, pulling out a large backpack from behind a tree. He slipped it over his shoulders and headed back toward her. He paused at the water spigot, moving his hands under the stream of water. Washing off blood. When he looked at her, Sam averted her eyes. She heard him walk near and he untied the rope from the tree.

“Lift your arms.”

She did, trying to decide if she was strong enough to fight him. He took the excess rope that dangled from her wrists and pulled it up roughly, halting her thoughts. He wrapped it around her waist, then tied to around his own.

“There. Now we’re attached. No escape.” He tightened the rope a little more. “And in case you’re wondering, I can kill as quickly with my bare hands as I can with my gun or knife.”

Sam met his eyes fully for the first time. She expected evil. She expected insanity. Instead, she found neither. Intelligent brown eyes looked back at her.

“What…what is it that you want?”

“A hostage.” He held up his knife again. “In exchange, I won’t cut your friend’s throat.”

Chapter Three

Tori ran her hands through her hair, noting that they were trembling. Her stomach was in knots and her chest hurt. Sam…please.

“Tori?”

She turned, meeting Casey’s concerned eyes. She nodded. “How’s Les?”

“They’re going to take her to the hospital,” Casey said. “She said a man came out of the woods dragging the girl. They didn’t know she was dead. When they went to help, he hit her with something. When she came to, she was tied to the girl.” She paused. “Sam was gone.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“You called your people, right?”

“Yeah. I’m supposed to wait for a call from some guy named Murdock.” She let her frustration show. “Goddamn, O’Connor. The bastard took Sam and I’m supposed to wait ? What the hell?”

“What else can you do?”

“What can I do?” she asked loudly. “I can fucking go after her, that’s what.” She headed to the motorhome as if to do just that, but Casey grabbed her arm.

“It’s dark, Tori. Come on. Where you gonna go, huh? Head north?” Then she pointed into the woods. “Or maybe head out there into the woods somewhere? I think that’s west. Hell, Hunter, or go south. Maybe he went that way. Or maybe he had a car and took the highway. Nobody knows where he went. The sheriff’s department is up to their eyeballs in crime scenes. They’ve got the house here. They’ve got the accident on the highway where four people were shot. I heard one of them say they found a car south of Taos with two bodies, both shot at close range. They’re thinking that may be linked to the accident. So you’ve got to wait, Hunter.”

“Goddamn, O’Connor,” she muttered, knowing Casey was right.

“You can’t just head out into the woods like a crazy woman, Tori,” Casey said. “We wait for a team to get here.”

“He killed that family like it was nothing,” she said, snapping her fingers. “What the hell do you think he’ll do to Sam?”

“He took her because he needs her. If he wanted her dead, she would be. So would Leslie.” Casey released her arm. “Now, anything disturbed inside?” she asked, motioning to the motorhome.

Tori swallowed down the lump in her throat. “She changed into jeans. Her shorts were on the floor. Hiking boots missing.” She closed her eyes. “And my sweatshirt.”

“Her weapon?”

Tori shook her head. “It’s still in the drawer. So is her cell.” She flicked her gaze to the approaching paramedic.

“Excuse me, but we’re heading out,” he said to Casey. “Did you want to go?”

Casey looked at her and Tori nodded. “Go on, O’Connor. Be with Leslie.”

Casey walked over to her and hugged her quickly. “Don’t do anything stupid, Hunter. Wait for the team.”

Tori managed a small smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Casey left and Tori turned her gaze back to the ever-darkening forest. She closed her eyes. Sam…please be okay. She had never felt so helpless as she did in that moment. She wasn’t used to feeling helpless and she wasn’t used to waiting. She was used to doing.