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"Stop the truck," Henson said from the back seat.
"Pull over," Blue said from the passenger seat.
I hit the brakes and pulled off the side of the road.
"What's wrong?" Blue asked, turning to look at Henson.
"There aren't any coordinates on these pages. She lied to us." He grabbed my neck from behind. "Did you think I was so stupid I wouldn't look at the pages."
I couldn't answer because he was choking me which may have actually been a good thing for me because he kept the obvious answer from escaping my lips.
"Let go of her," Blue said, "and hand me the pages."
Henson released his grip on my neck and handed the pages across the seat to Blue. I took some deep breaths and rubbed my neck. "I can explain."
Blue handed the pages back to Henson. "The numbers on those pages are the coordinates. Uncle Harry hid them by including them in his description. He didn't want it to be obvious that they were the coordinates."
Blue grabbed my right arm and squeezed so tight it brought tears to my eyes.
I turned to look at him.
"You'd better be telling the truth or you're dead once Randerran finds out."
"I know. I'm telling you the truth."
"Drive."
I pulled back on the road and drove to Chance's. On the drive, I realized that I'd come to think of the A-frame as my home, and I was really pissed that these guys were violating my space. I wanted this over with.
Jim knew I was in trouble, and he knew where we were headed. I had to trust he'd come to my rescue in some way. Cassie and I wouldn't know any of the details, so our plan was to try to eliminate as many of our captors as we could.
XXX
"I was starting to worry," Randerran said when we walked in.
"Henson has the pages with the coordinates," I said, hanging my coat back in the closet.
"Boss, she says these numbers are the coordinates, but I think she's trying to pull something on us," Henson explained, handing the pages to Randerran.
"Those are the coordinates," I said. "Uncle Harry hid them in the text. I explained that to Henson."
"It's true," Cassie said from her seat on the sofa. "Everly's the one who figured it out."
"Write down the coordinates," Randerran said, thrusting the pages into my face. I walked to the kitchen and pulled a pad and pen from a drawer. I turned on the tea kettle.
"What are you doing? I said write down the coordinates. “He pushed me toward the table.
"Sorry. I figured I could have a cup of tea while I wrote them down." I sat down and copied the coordinates onto the paper just as I had before. I tore off the page and handed it to him. "You can look up the coordinates online. You can see it’s in the right area."
"Make us something to eat," he said and walked out the back door with the paper in one hand and his phone in the other.
I heated up some canned soup. We didn't have any perishable stuff in the pantry because we'd been out of town, but we did have a substantial stash of jerky. Every time I went in and out of the pantry, I stuffed some jerky in my pockets. I figured if we escaped in the woods we might need survival food.
As I stirred the soup, I wondered if there was anything I could put in it that would incapacitate our captors. All our medicine was upstairs in the bathroom cabinet, and I didn't know enough about herbs to know if there was anything in the pantry that would work.
"The chopper will be here in an hour, Randerran said. "Be ready to go."
"Soups ready," I said.
"Put it in mugs," Randerran commanded.
I wanted to object to being treated like a waitress, but I figured a captive shouldn't complain. I filled mugs with the soup and set them on the cupboard. I took two over to the sofa and sat down next to Cassie to eat.
After I finished and set my cup in the sink, I asked, "Should I get my outdoor gear from upstairs?"
"No. You'll have what you need."
So far what I needed and what Randerran thought I needed were pretty far apart. "Can I at least grab coats for Cassie and me?"
"OK, but I search them first. No tricks."
While I was upstairs, I took advantage and used the master bathroom. It felt like regaining just a hint of control. I knew it wouldn't last long, but for just a moment I was the one in control again. I pulled out my lipstick and wrote "I love you, Chance" on the mirror.
I grabbed heavy socks, sweaters, and coats out of the closet and walked back downstairs. After allowing Yellow to check all the pockets, I took the clothes to the sofa. "At least we'll be warm," I said, handing half of the clothes to Cassie.
"Thanks. It'll help," she said.
"Are you sure you're OK?"
"I just seem to be really tired. I shouldn't be surprised. It's been impossible to sleep soundly under the circumstances."
"Rest while you can. We've got a hike ahead of us," I said.