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GINA LEANED OVER THE steering wheel to get a better view as she drove down the winding road through the woods. The dense, towering evergreens blocked most of the sunlight as dusk drew near. According to her online navigator, the development of cabin homes should appear after the next turn. She double checked the address from Violet’s employment application and thanked her lucky stars she had taken the files from her aunt’s office. Her plan had been to spy on several employees when they were not at work.
“Okay,” she mumbled to herself, feeling very alone. The car was too quiet. Her pulse raced with a combination of fear and anticipation. The first log cabin appeared on an acre lot covered with snow. “The next one should be hers.”
She drove slowly past the first cabin, and another wooded area, before Violet’s home came into view. Unpainted rocking chairs sat on the unoccupied front porch which was partially enclosed by a wood railing. Terracotta planters, containing dead plants, lined the edge of the broad steps leading up to the red front door. Gina found a silver truck parked next to a sporty white two-door on a shoveled driveway. The wind picked up, sending a whistle through her car, along with a sense of dread.
Not seeing anyone in the vicinity, she snapped pictures of the license plates as she rolled down the street, and then hid her vehicle on the side of the road beyond a cluster of pine trees. A quick check of the files would show the cars Leo and Violet had registered for the resort’s employee parking lot.
Gina opened Violet’s first. “White, two-door. License plate BCP1 . . . That’s hers.” She closed the manila folder and then opened Leo’s file. “Silver truck!” The license plate matched the one in his file. She slapped the steering wheel. “I knew it!”
Her fingers kept hitting the wrong numbers on her cell phone. Finally, she reached 9-1-1.
“Please do not hang up. You have reached the 9-1-1 emergency line.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” The woods surrounding the quiet road seemed to close in on her. Then a memory of Amy’s smiling face hit her. She’s just a kid with her whole life ahead of her. If . . . If she’s still alive. Leo knows the police are after him. He might do something desperate if he kidnapped Amy. She disconnected the call and typed a text to Brandy. “Leo at Violet’s house. Tell police at resort.”
Sitting in the car, her pulse racing, she suddenly had a lightbulb moment. The police might not have made it to the resort. Something is going on in town, or I wouldn’t have been placed on hold. It could take hours for the police to show up here if they decide another case has priority; they’re investigating a burglary here, not a kidnapping. No one knows for sure that Amy has been kidnapped. I feel it in my gut, but I don’t have proof.
“Amy,” she whispered into the silence. “Where are you?”
She caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye and turned in her seat to find the blue-eyed husky standing outside of her car. He stared at her and then turned his head back toward the cabin.
“Okay. This is not a coincidence.” Gina climbed out of her car and eased the door shut, not wanting to attract attention with any loud noises. She walked over to the dog and knelt to pet him. The wind chilled every inch of her body. “Is Amy in that cabin?” she asked, clutching her coat closer with her free hand.
She felt silly asking the dog, but she had heard rumors of a magical dog all her life. She became convinced he was the legendary dog after he escaped from both the pool building and her office. The husky nudged her hand with his nose and then ran toward the cabin. When he reached the corner of the driveway, he watched her advance several feet in his direction and then disappeared. Gina blinked repeatedly. “I’ll take that to mean Amy is here.”
I can’t walk up to the front door. Still yards away from the driveway, Gina scanned the landscape in front of her. Like most of the other cabins in the area, Violet’s backyard sat open for a view of the woods. She found a clear, yet obscure passage, from the street to the rear of the house. She inched her way between trees and shrubs, trying not to make a sound. Only ten yards in, she reached an area where she would have to pass between tall bushes growing too close together. Breathing in and sucking in her stomach, she slid between them. A twig scratched her neck. Without thinking, she reached for the cut and checked her hand for blood. Only a drop. She didn’t see the thin branch, sticking out of a bush near the ground, until she walked on it. Snap!
She jumped, then froze. Her heart pounded in her chest.
If they found her, she would have to run for her life back to the car.
She took a step into the thick of the bushes and heard the jostle of a doorknob followed by the scraping sound of a door pushed open over a metal threshold. Squeezing down between the branches, she listened carefully while she peered through a gap in the foliage. She had a perfect view of the front porch as Leo, wearing jeans and a thick coat, stomped down the steps in hiking boots.
He tossed a large duffel bag into the backseat of his truck. “Hurry up! We need to get on the road.”
Violet stood in the frame of the door. “What about . . . you know.”
“I’ll take care of Amy,” he said matter-of-factly. “My gun is on the dining room table.”
“Wait!” Violet put both hands up in a stop gesture.
Thank goodness. At least one of them is sane.
“I don’t want you to do it until after I’m packed and out of the cabin. Her spirit could haunt me if I’m in there during or immediately after her death. And don’t shoot her. The neighbors will hear.”
“You’re crazy, woman.” He shook his head as he stomped back onto the front porch and pushed Violet into the house on his way back inside.
Yes, lady, you are crazy. Gina wished she could scream the words aloud.
They had both disappeared from her view, along with her hope that one of them would be sane. She reached for the cell phone clipped to her waistband. Terrified by the idea that Leo was about to kill Amy, Gina’s hands shook uncontrollably, and she knocked the device into the bushes. Clumsily, she spread the branches apart and reached around until her fingers landed on the plastic protective covering. She pulled out the phone and prepared to dial for help.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was only seconds, someone answered. “You have reached 9-1-1. What is your emergency?”
“Leo, I don’t remember his last name, is going to kill Amy. I don’t remember her last name either. They are—”
The sound of a metallic click made Gina turn around. Violet stood only feet away, pointing a gun directly at her face.
****
“KEY.” CARTER HELD OUT his hand.
“You’re not driving my car,” Brandy said.
“Yes, I am. I’ve seen you drive. Besides, I’m not familiar with this town. I’ll need you to enter the address Gina’s aunt gave you into the navigator and tell me where to go.”
“My navigator is broken.” She unlocked her SUV and tossed him the keys.
“I have an app.”
They both buckled up, and then he unlocked his cell phone. He noticed he had a message from the hotel he had emailed regarding the picture of the maid. Afraid there could be another accomplice, he pressed his finger down on the screen. “Sorry for the confusion. Emily is the woman on the left in the picture. Our webmistress mixed up their names.” He handed the phone to Brandy. “It looks like we can strike Emily off the list.” He turned the engine over. “Now, let’s find Gina.”
Brandy entered the address into the navigation app. “What was that about?”
“I thought one of the maids might be involved when we found a picture of her with a different name, but it was just an innocent mistake.” He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road that led to town.
“Turn left at the corner. And hurry it up, grandpa. Gina’s still not answering her phone.”
He took the corner faster than he should have and fishtailed. He corrected the car and continued forward. “Gina doesn’t know there was a major accident on the road coming into town. She could be sitting in her car waiting for the police, and they aren’t coming.”
“Turn right and take this road for two miles. The address will be on the right.”
Those two miles took forever.
“There’s her car!” Brandy grabbed the dashboard and pointed to a vehicle parked on the side of the street. “You passed the address. Go back, go back!”
Carter thought he had seen Gina out of the corner of his eye. He shifted into reverse and pressed on the gas.
“That woman has a gun!” Brandy pressed the horn.
“There goes the element of surprise.” Carter spotted Violet leading Gina to the front of the cabin with a gun in her hand. His heart lurched. He slammed on the brakes, and they both jolted forward. The seatbelts tightened, keeping them from smashing into the dashboard.
“When you speed backward, there’s no surprise. Now do something!” Brandy pressed the horn again, and Violet yanked Gina in front of her. Gina lost her balance, fell onto the driveway, and crawled away. Violent pivoted and aimed the gun at her.
“No, you don’t.” Carter spun the car, so the front wheels faced the front of the cabin. He shifted into drive and pressed the gas pedal. “Get down!”
Brandy curled up on the seat, and he aimed the car at the woman with the gun. The closer they got the wider Violet’s eyes grew. She screamed and ran up the porch steps toward the door. Carter slammed on the brakes, placing the car between Gina and the woman with the gun.
“Get in!” He pushed the button that unlocked the car and watched Gina rush to the back door. She pulled it open and jumped inside. He began reversing direction before she could close the door. “Get down!”
“Am I glad to see you!” She laid flat on the seat so she couldn’t be seen through the window.
Leo ran out the front door, grabbed the gun from Violet and pulled the trigger, something Violet hadn’t been able to do. The front window shattered in front of where Brandy would have been if she hadn’t hidden from view. Carter felt a stinging pain in his upper arm.
Brandy screamed. “You’ve been shot!”
Carter felt the pain intensify, but he had to get them out of there. He pressed down on the gas and launched backward out of the driveway and then swerved the car to face the street. Shifting into drive, he caught sight of the flashing lights of two patrol cars. He sped forward to safety and then parked off to the side of the road to allow the police officers to pass them.
Brandy crawled back up onto the seat. “Roll down the windows so we can hear.”
Gina jumped out and flagged down a patrol car. “They kidnapped Amy! She’s inside.” She pointed to the cabin. “And they shot my boyfriend. Call for an ambulance.”
“I’m her boyfriend,” Carter told Brandy. His heart warmed with pride, then he inspected his blood-soaked shirt and felt light-headed.
“You’re surprised she called you her boyfriend?” Brandy laughed. “You saved her life.”
Within five minutes, the paramedics arrived, and the police officers escorted Leo and Violet to their patrol cars in handcuffs. Violet hung her head low as if hiding her face. Leo yelled at her, “This is all your fault!”
Gina stood by Carter’s side while a paramedic examined his arm. He reached out and squeezed her hand. She started to speak, but he shook his head. “Later. We’ll have plenty of time to go over everything later.”
A young officer escorted a crying Amy to the ambulance. Her mussed hair fell over an eye and mud smudges streaked her slacks. She kept rubbing her wrists, most likely where she had been tied up.
Gina left Carter’s side to throw her arms around the young intern. “I was so scared. Leo was going to kill you.”
Amy cried harder, and a new line of mascara trailed down her cheek to join the others. Her face, a black and purple makeup smudged mess, turned red with emotion. “I know. He told me.” She sniffled back another sob. “I hate this job. I quit.”