Stolen Secrets (16 page)

Chapter 61

After helping Mom
get Dylan to bed—he was wearing one of Leigh’s hats and Bryce’s basketball shorts—I went back to my room. The full moon shone on the red rocks, looking creepy and beautiful at the same time.

I opened my diary, lit my candle, and pulled out my Bible. I try to have devotions at least once a day, reading from the Bible and writing my thoughts. Mom had given me a book of thoughts by a Christian singer, but I couldn’t relate to a lot of it. The singer talked about “trials” and “disappointments,” but when I read closer it was more about a dog that had surgery or a house addition that took too long. When your dad is killed in a plane crash, that’s a real trial.

I glanced out the window and noticed something moving in the barn.

A lone figure stepped out, closed the door, then started running toward the rocks.

Chapter 62

Ashley burst into my room
and grabbed my arm. “Come on.”

I followed as she raced downstairs.

Mom stuck her head out of her office and asked where we were going.

“Showing Bryce something,” Ashley said, then banged out the kitchen door.

She ran toward the barn, and it took me a few seconds to catch up. “I don’t think he did it,” she said.

“Who did what?”

“Danny. I don’t think he attacked Tracy and Cammy.”

“They’re lying?”

She ran into the barn and hopped on the Ashleymobile. “Follow me.”

Chapter 63

I roared out of the barn,
Bryce right behind me. We usually don’t drive much after dark, especially on the bumpy land behind us, but this was the only way we’d catch up with the guy. All the stuff missing from the freezer and Sam’s fridge—it made sense now.

We drove almost all the way to the rocks before I stopped. Wind whistled around us, and I had to shield my face from the dust and sand.

“What in the world—?” Bryce started.

I held up a hand and told him what I had seen and read. “I think the guy’s holed up out here.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Bryce said. “It could have been Sam. Or one of those gold robbers. Or a real mountain lion.”

I had a sick feeling. What if the guy was waiting to jump us?

Chapter 64

I was excited about trying
to find the intruder. But Ashley decided we should go home and call the police. We were headed back when something caught my eye. I saw a flash of white, then nothing. I slowed and pointed my ATV into the darkness.

Nothing.

A few minutes later we were back in the barn. We couldn’t find anything missing, but Ashley went to the freezer. Mom had stocked it the day before. Now it was empty.

“That’s it,” I said. “Call the police.”

“Wait,” Ashley said. “If this is Danny, he must be scared out of his mind. He’s just trying to survive.”

“The guy is wanted by the police!”

“But I don’t think he attacked those girls. And no one’s going to believe him. They’ll believe—” Ashley stopped and her eyes widened.

I turned to see Sam, his hands on his hips. “What’s going on?” he said.

Ashley gushed the story.

Sam ran upstairs to his office, taking the steps three at a time. We found him rummaging through a closet. He pulled a weird-looking telescope from a box and went to the back window.

“What’s that?” I said.

“Night-vision scope.”

Where did he get that?

He stared into the distance, then handed the scope to Ashley. He pointed at the rocks and she gasped.

“What?” I said.

She passed me the scope, and I aimed it out the window. I couldn’t keep my hands steady at first. Then Sam pulled my left hand farther out on the scope, and it was easier.

I could see like it was almost day, with a strange green tint to everything. A man walked across a ridge on the rocks.

Sam picked up the phone.

“Wait,” Ashley said. “I need to tell you something before you call the police.”

I still had the scope pointed at the guy. He was holding his arms out. Then suddenly they flew over his head. He lost his balance and fell out of sight.

Chapter 65

I told Sam what I thought
had happened to the food in the freezer and that I didn’t think Danny had actually hurt Cammy and Tracy.

He didn’t ask me why. He just glanced at me funny, threw the phone on his leather chair, and raced down the stairs. He hopped in his four-wheel-drive truck, and Bryce and I jumped in beside him.

When I told Sam about the mountain lion’s scream his mouth dropped open. “You came out here again, even though you heard a cougar last night?”

We bounced along. Bryce said, “Why would that guy be climbing on this side of the rocks if he’s staying in that big cave up there?”

“Most people don’t know it,” Sam said, “but a ridge runs along this side that leads through the praying hands to the other side. If he’s climbed here, he probably knows that.”

Sam grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment, and we got out. Afraid we’d find Danny’s body, I hung back.

A coyote yelped, and baby coyotes yipped in answer. They almost sounded human.

Were they warning us?