Essential Beginnings (29 page)

“Trevor, you don’t have to do this,” Henley spoke softly, grateful when he finally pushed her away from him. She wasn’t far enough to make a break for it, but at least he no longer had a knife to her throat. She placed a hand to her skin only to come away with blood. “The sheriff has told your father many times that he and the group were more than welcome up here. As a matter of fact, Sheriff Ramsey went to see Stanley an hour ago.”

“My father will never share lodging or supplies with Ernie Yates.” Trevor pushed her shoulder when she’d slowed down. Henley wiped her fingers on her sweatshirt, lifting the neck a little higher to put pressure on the small cut that was stinging like little bees. “They hated each other when I left town and they hate each other now even more.”

“You have to think this through,” Henley urged, her fear temporarily put on hold at the anticipation of coming up to where the alarm would be triggered. Trevor couldn’t have known where the sensors were or else he wouldn’t have activated the one on the other side of the perimeter. She tried to turn around to see if he was holding her gun or if he’d put it somewhere, but he pushed her shoulder when she’d tried to look. “The ash cloud is going to be here soon and no one is going to have an advantage if we’re all fighting with each other.”

“There won’t be any fighting when my father shows up with you. Yates and his sidekick would do anything for you,” Trevor boasted, walking right past the area that would send a signal back to the bunker. Henley could have cried, but she held it together as she thought of what she could do to keep them there. “I saw that for myself and my father will realize what an asset I am after I personally deliver you to him.”

Henley stopped and spun around, catching Trevor off guard. He still held his knife but her gun was nowhere to be seen. The darkness made it hard to make out anything other than his shape and his extended arm holding a blade. She did her best to compute what he was saying, but now was the time to clarify. It would only add extra minutes for those to come and find who caused the sensors to go off.

“Are you saying that your dad doesn’t know you’re here?” Henley wished she could see his expression. He was still too close to her for her to make a run for it, but she kept an eye open for any opportunity. “Trevor, taking me hostage by knifepoint isn’t the way to get his approval. We’re talking about life or death here for a lot of people. You aren’t the eighteen-year-old who left here because he didn’t get along with his father. You’re twen—”

“I was sixteen,” Trevor growled out before advancing on her. Henley backed up, but because the terrain was slanted she slipped and went down hard. That was one way to buy time, but the pain in her wrist took her attention for the moment. That was until Trevor wrapped a hand around her arm and hauled her to her feet, pushing her once again in front of him. “Nothing ever pleased that man, but producing you will take care of a lot of issues. I don’t plan on dying in a mine that doesn’t have a setup like Yates’ does. My father will see that this benefits all of us and I’ll get back into the fold.”

Henley cradled her wrist as they kept walking, all the while straining to hear any signs of someone behind them. She was choking back a sob that was more in anger than it was in fear by the time they’d reached the road. She’d given Trevor an opportunity to grab her when she should have been more careful.

There were several ways this could go—Stanley might see just how unstable his son was and right a wrong, Mav and Ernie might be able to get the people with Stanley to see reason, she could save herself and make it back to camp, or Trevor would lose what sanity he had left and actually follow through on his threat to kill her. She knew the odds weren’t in her favor when she saw an abandoned vehicle tucked away from the road.

*

Mav and the
others had gotten the notification that a second alarm had been triggered on the east side of the southern end of the valley. He and Kellen had immediately disbanded, leaving the sheriff jogging to his cruiser with the intention of driving out to the entrance in hopes of catching the intruder should he try to make a break for the main road. Jeremy, Dylan, and Jason stayed at their posts and Ernie proceeded to take everyone who’d been outside back into the lodge.

“This gatecrasher obviously didn’t leave the area the first go round, so maybe he cut back this way and is trying to get out without any bloodshed,” Kellen said, taking the lead and rounding the lodge to an open area right before the edge of the deep woods. Owen was their man for this, but Kellen would have to do since he undoubtedly had more training in this capacity than Mav. “There’s no way it was Ratliff or anyone in his group if the sheriff vouched for them.”

Mav didn’t express his thoughts on that. Felix didn’t necessarily say he’d taken a head count, so it was still possible that Ratliff was responsible. It was highly doubtful it was some random person seeking shelter. He or she would have revealed themselves and asked for help. There was definitely malice in the intentions of whoever the guilty party was.

Kellen finally stopped, kneeling down and flashing a light onto the landscape below. Even Mav could see the imprint of two sets of boots among the foliage. One set was smaller than the others, which didn’t make sense. They unquestionably had been looking for one person, according to the signs left on the soft ground near the mountain springs. Had this second person been hiding in the wings?

“We’re looking for two individuals,” Mav said carefully, taking a step back and holding his Rock River rifle at the ready. He scanned the area, unable to see more than twenty yards in front of him. He was in a vulnerable position if his conclusion had any merit. “One male, one female.”

Kellen must have caught the edge in Mav’s voice, because he stilled the motion of the flashlight and looked over his shoulder. There was reflection from the lone beam to aid in seeing the man’s face. He appeared more wary than he did that of man who was caught in his own lies of deceit.

“Beckett, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’ve been upfront with you about everything,” Kellen said softly, a sharpness invading his voice along with impatience. “Yes, I have a woman on my team who happens to be around a hundred miles from here with a good serviceman by her side. But I can assure you that these prints don’t belong to them. Wrong boots.”

“You were the one to follow the male down to the road while I cut around in hopes to cut off his path,” Mav pointed out, keeping a very close eye on Kellen’s hands. He was holding them away from his sides, the flashlight still on. “What would you have me think right about now, Truman?”

“I’ll admit it doesn’t look good,” Kellen offered up, still not making a move for the weapon on his hip. “And if I were in your shoes…I’d probably be thinking the same thing.”

Mav weighed his options. The longer they stayed in this position, the more time the two individuals had to make a clean getaway. The question was did they have what they wanted or would they eventually make their way back to try and take the bunker? He needed to make a decision and he needed to make it quick. “Henley’s not in the lodge.”

The words came through the two-way radio, even surprising Truman if his expression was anything to go by. Mav wanted to think he’d heard wrong, but Kellen turning his back on a weapon that was pointed his way told him another story all together. Fear like he’d never known descended over him and his chest compressed to the point of pain.

“Mav, are you copying? Henley is missing.”

“Go,” Mav barked to Truman, yanking the two-way radio off of his hip and responding. Kellen ran through the trees as fast as he could with the visibility given to them. “We’re on their track heading down-slope. Have Ramsey cut them off, but for god’s sake don’t shoot.”

Not even Mav would take a shot in the dark unless he was one hundred percent positive that he could hit his mark. Right now there was no way to make that guarantee. Ramsey would be making a crapshoot and Mav didn’t like the fifty-fifty odds of it being Henley that got tagged.

They were three-quarters down to where the access road was located when they heard the rev of an engine pulling out. Mav veered to the left, knowing there was a drop off but taking the chance anyway. His feet slid out from underneath him and he let gravity pull him down, folding his rifle to his chest and keeping his elbows high enough to avoid injury. His back bore the brunt of the rocks and branches, but his feet hit their destination well before Truman made an appearance.

It didn’t matter though. The vehicle’s taillights could be seen from a distance, driving toward town. Mav spun on his boots and started walking the other way with a hell of a purpose and a promise that whoever had taken Henley would be dead upon sight. His country had trained him to close with and destroy the enemy by fire and close combat. They put him out in the field for one purpose and one purpose only—to eliminate the enemy by any means possible, rapidly overcoming his will to fight by fire and maneuver. Truman called his name, short on his heels but Mav kept walking until he finally caught sight of the one thing he needed. Sheriff Ramsey pulled his cruiser up and Mav opened the passenger door while Truman hopped in the back.

“A beat-up old piece of shit Dodge Ram pickup is headed toward town. He won’t leave, so we need to find out where he’s going before the skies open up and we’re all buried in ash.”

“How do you know they won’t leave?” Ramsey asked, not bothering to look over at Mav as he stepped on the gas pedal. He knew these roads like the back of his hand and could maneuver them better than any longtime resident.

“He has Henley and he wants the bunker,” Mav stated bluntly, refusing to allow the fear of losing Henley to invade his mind. He said what made sense, and Truman grunted out an agreement. Mav would be of no use to Henley if he couldn’t function and that wasn’t an option, so he steeled himself for that he had to do. Whoever had taken her had made a fatal mistake and one he was about to face judgment for. “What he doesn’t know is that he isn’t getting either.”

H
enley felt some
relief at the horror that crossed Stanley Ratliff’s face when he saw what Trevor had done. It was just the three of them standing outside of the mine’s entrance, nothing at all like the mine up at the lodge. This was dilapidated and on the verge of caving in, and that was by just seeing the entry point. There was no way these people could survive here and she could convince Stanley of that if the look on his face was any indication.

“What the hell have you done, Trevor?”

“I heard you and Jarrett Moore talking this morning,” Trevor said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the same hand he was still holding the knife with. Henley could now make out the bulge near the front of his jeans where the butt of her Berretta was sticking out. She’d never be able to get it from where she was standing without him stabbing her, so she talked herself into being patient. It was hard when all that was keeping her standing was the will to live. Her left wrist was practically twice its normal size and throbbed to the point of unbearable pain. The stinging on her throat had subsided, but it was a definite reminder of how far Trevor was willing to go to follow through with his plan. “This place isn’t going to keep us alive, so we need to take Yates’ bunker. There’s only one way to do that.”

“I know this girl, you fool,” Stanley whispered harshly, looking over his shoulder as if he were afraid someone could hear them. “You can’t just kidnap someone and expect to get something in return. I know Yates and his boys. They’re more likely to put a bullet in your head than negotiate something like this.”

“It’s not like I can return her,” Trevor sneered, waving the knife in her direction. Henley was standing not even two feet from him, but she would swear she could feel the blade cut through the air. “You said so yourself that the bunker can’t hold everyone. So it makes sense to take it for ourselves and the only way to do that is barter for it.”

“I was also in on those meetings and there’s a good chance they won’t need that bunker,” Stanley pointed out, running a hand through his thick hair that had more oil in it than the vehicle they drove here in. Henley peered over Rat’s shoulder, hoping Jarrett or someone would appear. They would see how crazy this was and put a stop to it. “Which is why I’m telling everyone we’ll be fine here. We’ll have to rough it out, seeing as we don’t have natural gas or commercial generators like his, but we’ll make do.”