Purgatory Ridge (41 page)

“What now?” Cork asked.

“He said to wait.”

Almost immediately the call came. Lindstrom listened, then turned out the headlights but kept the engine running. A moment passed as Lindstrom listened further. “It’s only Corcoran O’Connor,” he said into the phone. “No, you said no cops. O’Connor’s not a cop. And, Jesus Christ, you have his family…. All right, all right.” Lindstrom put the phone down. “He knows you’re with me.”

“He’s here somewhere. Watching.”

“He says to leave the money behind the trash cans.”

Cork had seen them in the flood of the headlights when Lindstrom pulled in, two cans side by side, painted green and bearing the U.S. Forest Service emblem.

“I hope you don’t want to try something,” Lindstrom said.

“No. Do as he says.”

Lindstrom took the cases from the backseat and got
out of the Explorer. He walked to the trash cans, put the cases behind them, and returned to his vehicle. The phone rang. Lindstrom answered and listened. “Yes, I understand.”

“What about the exchange?” Cork asked.

“What about our families?” Lindstrom said into the phone. He got an answer and replied, “What assurance do we have?” He closed his eyes and then he hung up. “We drive away. Just keep driving east. If everything’s okay, he’ll call with their location in fifteen minutes.”

“That’s it?”

“What else can we do?”

“We sit. And when he calls again, we negotiate until he gives us our families. The money’s almost within his reach. He’ll be greedy.”

“Cork…” Lindstrom began, then stopped. “All right.”

They sat a minute. The phone rang.

“No deal,” Lindstrom said when he answered. “No more threats. No more promises. Just give us our families, now.” Lindstrom listened, then he looked slowly down. “Cork?”

Cork followed Lindstrom’s gaze. Dead center on Lindstrom’s heart was a small red circle not much larger than a BB.

“Laser sight,” Lindstrom whispered. “He says we head out now or we both die and he takes the money anyway.”

Cork looked hard at the dark outside the Explorer.

“The beacon.” Lindstrom sounded a little desperate. “The others can follow the beacon, Cork.”

“All right,” Cork said.

Lindstrom backed the truck out of the parking area, turned onto the road, crossed the bridge, and kept on going. After a quarter of a mile, the highway curved, and a small private access cut off to the right.

Cork said, “Pull in there and park.”

“What?”

“That private road.”

“He said to keep moving.”

“He can’t see us. And we’re too far for him to hear. Unless he’s got radar or something, he won’t know.”

Lindstrom turned onto the narrow dirt road and parked among thick pines.

“Call Agent Kay. Find out about movement of the case.”

“What if the kidnapper tries to call?”

“He said fifteen minutes.”

Lindstrom dialed the number Kay had given him. “It’s Lindstrom. We made the drop. Is the case moving?” He looked at Cork and shook his head. “We’re about a quarter mile past the drop site, pulled off the road. The kidnapper said he’ll call in fifteen minutes with the location of our families.” Lindstrom nodded at something that was said. “All right.” He hung up. “They’re stopped a half a mile short of the bridge, waiting to see which way the case moves. They’re positioning cars above and below us to stop him if they decide to make the arrest now. They’ll call us when they know.”

Cork looked at his watch a dozen times over the next few minutes. He seemed to be in a warp where seconds dragged out into hours. After five minutes, he opened the door to the Explorer.

“Where are you going?”

“I can’t sit.”

He walked to the road and looked at the empty curve behind them. The moon hadn’t yet risen above the Sawtooth Mountains, and the night was dark. Tall pines walled the highway on either side. When he looked up at the narrow swath of sky above him, he felt as if he were looking at another road, one across the heavens and covered with a dust of stars.
Where is this all leading?
he wondered.
Where is the end?

He didn’t feel comfortable with the time. He hurried back to the Explorer. “Any word?”

“No.”

“I don’t like it. Call Kay.”

“It hasn’t been but a few minutes.”

“If he’s smart, he grabbed the money and ran. Get on the phone. Find out if the case is moving.”

Lindstrom did. According to the beacon, the case hadn’t budged.

“I don’t like it,” Cork said. “Do you have that Colt Commander you were carrying at the marina?”

“The glove compartment.”

Cork reached in and pulled out the Colt. He checked the clip.

“What are you doing?” Lindstrom asked.

“Something’s not right. That case should have been snatched by now. I’m going back to see.”

“Cork, if you screw this up, he’ll kill them.”

“He might anyway.”

Cork was out of the Explorer and heading toward the road. He heard the other door of the Explorer slam, and Lindstrom was quickly beside him. “We’re in this together. I’ll take my gun back,” Lindstrom said. “I’m
probably a better shot with it than you. But you might want this.” He handed Cork a flashlight.

They kept to the road until they were within a hundred yards of the flowage, then Cork moved into the cover of the trees. He wished there were a moon, something to cast light. As it was, he couldn’t make out the picnic ground at all, even when they were just across the bridge from it, no more than forty yards.

“He has night-vision equipment,” Cork whispered. “That’s why he could see us so well when we parked.”

“Which means he has all the advantage,” Lindstrom said. “When we come across the bridge, he’s sure to spot us.”

Cork could hear the easy trickle of water below them. He knew that because of the drought, the usually deep flowage had been reduced to a shallow ribbon. “Let’s go under the bridge.”

He crept down the bank. At first, the ground was hard and rocky. Halfway across, he stepped among reeds and into mud up to his ankles. His feet came out with a loud suck. He paused and listened. All he could hear was Lindstrom breathing very near at his back. He went ahead, through the running water, through the muck on the far side, and finally again onto hard ground under the bridge embankment. Lindstrom brushed his shoulder. Cork went down to his knees and crept up the slope. At the top, he laid himself flat on the ground and peered across the parking area. He could just make out the trash cans.

“What now?” Lindstrom whispered. He had the Colt steadied in front of him with two hands, in a prone position for effective firing.
Thank God for his military training
, Cork thought.

“Can you see anything?” he asked.

“The cans. Barely,” Lindstrom replied.

Cork wasn’t sure at all what to do next. He didn’t want to risk rushing in. On the other hand, he felt in his gut that something was already wrong, and the sooner he knew what it was, the better. Then he heard the trash can rattle, and Lindstrom drew back the slide on his weapon. A moment later, the quiet of the picnic area was shattered by the crash of metal as one of the trash cans fell over. Lindstrom pulled off a round. Cork flipped on the beam of the flashlight. Caught with his handlike paws full of litter, paralyzed by the light, stood a fat raccoon. Out of the natural mask nature had given the little thief, two eyes blinked. The raccoon dropped to all fours and scurried away.

“We might as well see what there is to see.” Cork stood up.

Lindstrom followed him to the trash cans. The cases were still on the far side. Lindstrom picked one up. “It feels empty,” he said.

Cork shined the light as Lindstrom set the case on the ground and opened it. The money was gone. In the center of the case, pulled from its hidden compartment, lay the transmitter. A note was with it. Lindstrom lifted the paper well into the light so they both could read what was written there.

The note said, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

I
T WAS
S
COTT
, Grace Fitzgerald’s young son, who finally suggested the means for freeing Stevie from the grip of the bars on the fish house window.

John LePere had stood on an empty wooden crate and tried to force the bars apart. Unfortunately, he’d done a good job in choosing the hardware to make the fish house secure, and the bars wouldn’t budge. He took a section of old board—three feet of two-by-four—wedged it above Stevie’s head, and attempted to pry at least one bar loose from the bolts that anchored it to the window frame. He ended up splintering the board. Jo did her best to comfort Stevie, but as time dragged on, her little boy gave in to his terror. He was sobbing uncontrollably when Scott said quietly from behind the huddled adults, “What about this?”

He held out to them a can he’d found on the nearly empty shelves—motor oil for marine engines, one of the few items Bridger hadn’t removed. “Maybe you could slide him through,” he suggested.

Jo took the can and gave Scott a grateful hug. The boy looked away, embarrassed. “Stevie,” she said. “I’m going to take your shirt and pants off, sweetheart, and then I’m going to put something really slippery all over you. It will feel icky, but I think it will help you squeeze out of those bars. Okay?”

Stevie was still sobbing, but he managed to choke out, “‘kay,” so that Jo knew he understood.

“That’s my good boy.”

LePere supported Stevie’s body while Jo unbuttoned and removed her son’s shirt. She unsnapped his jeans and pulled down the zipper. She had to pull off his shoes to get his pants off. At last, she took a shard of glass from the broken mirror and made a slit in the cardboard side of the oil container. She poured the viscous fluid over his back and rubbed it completely along his sides and chest and stomach. Finally, she dripped the last of it down the bars that held her son prisoner.

“Okay, I think we’re ready. Here goes, honey.” She gave LePere a sign and he lifted Stevie so that the boy could turn his shoulders. Gently, LePere eased him forward. Stevie made a hurting sound. LePere glanced at Jo, who nodded for him to continue. LePere’s face was contorted with concern as he worked Stevie through the bars toward freedom. Once his chest was clear, Stevie nearly shot through the window. LePere held tightly to his ankles.

“I’m going to let you down slowly,” he called to Stevie. “As far as I can. Then I’ll let you drop. I’ll tell you before I do that.” He inched forward until his arms were through the bars up to his shoulders. “Okay, Stevie. I’m going to let go. You shouldn’t drop more than a couple of feet. Roll when you hit the ground. It will help.”

Jo heard a small thump as Stevie fell. She shoved up beside LePere on the crate. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

Stevie didn’t answer.

“Stevie?” she called. She tried to see below the window. The moon had just begun to rise over Lake
Superior and in its light the ground looked silver as if covered in frost. She couldn’t see her son. “Stevie, answer me.” Her voice was cold with a desperate fear.

They all turned suddenly as the door to the fish house rattled. Stevie cried from the other side, “I can’t get it open, Mommy.”

Jo rushed to the door and pressed herself against it. “That’s okay, Stevie,” she said, nearly weeping with relief. “That’s okay.”

“What do I do?” he called in his small, frightened voice.

Run
, she wanted to tell him.
Run fast and far
. But there was another mother and child, and Stevie was their only hope.

“He needs to get into the house,” LePere said to Jo. “If the door’s locked, there’s a key on a nail under the top porch step.”

Jo dropped Stevie’s clothes through the window and as he put them on, she explained very carefully to him what he had to do. She heard the crunch of his little feet on the gravel as he hurried away, then she heard nothing. She hopped onto the crate at the window. From there she could see the whole scene—the dock, the cove, the dark profile of Purgatory Ridge, and the house, all coated with moonlight. In the sky to the west, above the Sawtooth Mountains, Jo saw flashes of light. A minute later, she heard the distant growl of thunder. She couldn’t see Stevie at first. Then he emerged from where the dark of the front porch had swallowed him, and he ran back to the fish house.

“It’s open,” he told them.

“Inside the house,” LePere said, this time addressing
Stevie directly through the door, “there’s a kitchen area. As you face the sink, there are drawers on the right side.” He paused and glanced at Jo. “Does he know right and left?”

“He knows.”

“Okay, Stevie. In the top drawer on the right-hand side is a ring of keys. There’s a key for the lock on this door. Bring the ring and I’ll help you find the right key. Okay?”

“Okay,” Stevie said.

Atop the crate at the window, Jo watched her son cross the yard again. The light of the moon gave him his shadow as a companion.

“How much time do we have before Bridger comes back?” Grace asked.

“Not much,” LePere replied. “How’s he doing?”

Jo said, “I can’t tell. I think he’s in the house, but I don’t see a light on.”

LePere slapped the wall angrily. “The switch is in an odd place. Damn, I should have explained that to him.”

“Find it, Stevie,” Jo whispered.

As soon as she said it, she wanted to take it back. For she saw headlights swing toward the cove from far up through the trees near the highway.

“He’s back,” she said. “Bridger is back.”

At that moment, the light in the house came on, making the place like a bright beacon in the dark on Purgatory Cove.

A
GENTS
O
WEN AND
E
ARL
of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension stayed at the bridge over the Upper Goose Flowage to help the FBI oversee processing of the crime scene. Wally Schanno and Lucky Knudsen coordinated a search of the area that included Goose Lake and Little Red Cedar Lake. Both lakes had resorts and public campgrounds on their shores, a lot of ways to access the water. Everyone agreed that the kidnapper had probably made his escape via one of the lakes and had driven the back roads from there. What they didn’t say was that a search would take time and, even if it uncovered something, would probably be too late to do any good.