He glanced at the floor. Focusing on the restrained captives pushed against the wall. The unmistakable look of fear mixed with surprise flooded all their faces. One by one the officers released the ropes that bound their legs and arms and helped them stand. Their legs were shaky and a nervous worry occupied every movement.
After Wayne instructed the officers to search the mine he guided the survivors to a safe area just outside. The officers returned a short while later, confirming that the two men they were hoping to capture were nowhere to be found.
“At least we rescued these four,” Wayne said.
Wayne watched from the opening of the mine as the medical officers tended to the four rescued captives. They were wrapped in blankets and holding bottles of water and being offered protein bars. Their hands shook as they peeled away the silver foil. Wayne wasn’t sure if it was because of the dampness in the air or their shock at being free. Probably, he thought, a little of both.
“We need to get these four to the hospital and get them checked out,” Wayne instructed. “But I also want them guarded at all times. I’ll want to speak with them further about what happened, but for now, let’s just let them feel safe.”
Everyone agreed that would be the best option.
Until then, there were a few items that his team found during their search of the mine tunnels and caves and they were quickly bagged for evidence. One of the kidnappers left a jacket behind as they rushed to escape and was of particular interest to Wayne.
With a gloved hand, he examined the jacket, searching each pocket, looking for something that may tell him who brought these four victims to the mine.
“Did you find anything?” Simon asked as he emerged from the cave after completing a search of the last tunnel.
“Nothing with a name, but I found this,” Wayne held the corner of a piece of paper between his thumb and index finger. “It looks like the corner of a piece of paper. It probably tore off when it was shoved into the pocket.”
“Is there anything on it?”
“Just a letter followed by some numbers. It looks like an invoice,” Wayne explained. “We’ll check it out at the station.”
“And the jacket?”
“Did the province let Kerry keep the fancy spectrometer machine thingy?”
“Yeah, she’s eager to use it again,” Simon said. “I think she’s afraid that Peter will call and say she has to give it back.”
“I want to have her swab the jacket and see what she can pull off of it. It’ll be faster than sending it to Toronto.”
“That’s not something you hear every day living in Lake Pines,” Simon jumped into the bow of the boat and Wayne followed him, the jacket for the kidnapper and suspected human trafficker securely sealed in an evidence bag.