With chilling flashes of scent and sound, memories from her childhood exploded into her consciousness. Locked in her small bedroom. Pain. Terror. She tried to push them away as sobs wrenched her chest and tore from her throat. She stroked Sophie’s tangled hair, hanging on and rocking while she held her. Robo licked their faces.
Feeling the heat radiate from Sophie’s small body, Mattie fought to regain control. She brushed the child’s hair from her face and pressed her lips to her forehead. “Sophie, are you all right, sweetheart?”
“I’m . . . sick,” she said between sobs.
“It’s okay,” Mattie murmured, holding her close. “We’ve got you now. Here, let me see how we can get you out of here.”
Continuing to clasp Sophie against her, Mattie dashed the tears from her eyes and took stock of her surroundings. Earthen walls, a couple of canvas camp chairs, a small portable table with a lantern and . . . board games? A small battery-powered heater glowed in one corner, taking some of the chill off the small space. There was a bucket with a plastic trash bag liner in another corner, the source of the stench. The cot they were sitting on resembled an army cot, iron framed with a thin mattress. A stout dog chain locked around Sophie’s wrist anchored her to an old wooden shelf built into the opposite wall. The shelves held bottles of water, cans of soda, bags of various snack foods, and on the bottom shelf, two backpacks. One Sophie’s. And the other?
Candace.
Sophie had settled and lay inert in Mattie’s lap, slumped against her chest. “I got away this morning, but he caught me on the road. He was so mad.”
Anger flared in her chest as Mattie examined the abrasions the chain had made on Sophie’s narrow wrist. “Do you know who the guy is, Sophie?”
“No. He kept his face covered.”
No matter what, she would find a way to catch this guy, starting with the closest suspect, Gus Tilley. Tipping up the child’s face, she studied it, trying to assess the degree of damage inflicted on this small girl. “Did he hurt you, Sophie?”
Sophie squeezed her eyes shut as tears flowed down her wet cheeks. “He killed Candace.”
“Did he tell you that?”
She nodded, her face tight. “He said it was an accident, but he killed her.” Her eyes popped open and she straightened, fear giving her new energy. “He might come back. We’ve got to get out of here.”
The thought of Gus Tilley within mere yards of this lair gave Mattie the chills. He could slip away from Stella and imprison all of them. She gave Sophie a quick squeeze and helped her move off her lap onto the cot, pushing Robo over to make room.
She had to put on a brave front for Sophie. “Robo will warn us if he comes back, but let’s hurry and get you free.”
She studied the padlock at Sophie’s wrist. Grasping the steel lock, she knew it wouldn’t give. “Does the man leave the key here?”
“It’s in his pocket.”
The heavy-gauge dog chain looked like it might be something she could cut. Taking the Leatherman that Cole had given her last Christmas from a pocket on her utility belt, she extended the plier tool. She opened the plier wide and clasped the wire cutter at the joint on a link below the lock. Her hand wasn’t big enough to get a solid grip, so she used both hands, straining to snap the link.
While she struggled, the walls of the root cellar seemed to shrink closer, prompting a wave of claustrophobia so strong she wanted to scream. Breaking into a sweat, Mattie fought back, holding the feeling at bay and getting up on her knees to brace one hand on her leg while she bore down on the plier with the other.
“Can you cut it, Mattie?” Sophie’s breath hitched as she strained alongside her, trying to help.
Mattie sat back on her heels, her hands throbbing. “It’s too thick.” She scanned the chain links, looking for a flaw, until her eyes traveled to where it was anchored around the post on the shelf. Rising to cross over to it, she tucked the plier tool back inside the Leatherman and extended the knife.
“I’ll cut you loose,” she said, beginning to hack at the narrow post. The wood was old enough that it splintered away beneath her blade.
Sophie got up from the cot and moved to the doorway of the cellar, taking Robo with her. “We’ll watch out for that creep.”
Mattie marveled at her resilience. “Okay, but you shout if you see him and then get back on the cot to stay out of the way. Robo can take him down.”
Hacking with all her strength, and ignoring the hammer of her heartbeat at the base of her throat, she continued to whittle the post until it was thin enough that she could grip the chain and rip it loose. The shelf tipped at a crazy angle when the post broke but had enough additional support that it didn’t come tumbling down. Flooded with relief, she gathered the chain in loops as she hurried toward Robo and Sophie at the door.
“Wait!” Sophie scurried over to the cot, threw the blankets back, and grabbed a small stuffed toy that looked like a Husky. Clasping the gray dog with white markings against her chest, she said, “Let’s go.”
“Can you walk, sweetheart?” Mattie said, guiding the child out into the sunshine, holding onto the looped chain.
“Heck yeah,” Sophie said. “I can run.”
After leaving the dank cellar, Mattie felt like she could breathe again. She looked down at the spunky girl and trailed her finger along her cheek, dirt smudged and clammy with fever. Sophie’s freckles stood out like copper flakes against the pallor of her skin. “Running won’t be necessary. Let’s get into the cover of those trees, and I’ll see if I’ve got a cell phone signal.”
Robo bounded about as if on a lark while Mattie and Sophie scooted into the grove of aspen. Still worried that the kidnapper could be nearby, she drew her cell phone from her pocket and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw she had two bars. Swiping to her quick dial list, she tapped the icon that would connect her to Stella.
“Yes, Mattie! Where are you?”
“I’ve got her! We’re coming down.”
“Hallelujah, and thank all those who look after small children!”
“You need to slap a pair of cuffs on Gus Tilley.”
There was a pause before Stella spoke. “Based on what evidence?”
She thought of the two backpacks left in the cellar, Sophie’s and Candace’s. Frustration took over. “For being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she snapped.
“You gotta do better than that, Deputy,” Stella said. “I’ll meet you on the road.”
Chapter 26
Cole stood at the kitchen cabinet pouring coffee into an insulated travel mug. Somehow he’d managed to sleep for twenty minutes, his dreams filled with nightmares about Sophie. She’d been running through a forest, Gus Tilley chasing her until he morphed into a monstrous wolf with enormous teeth. The wolf took her down and ripped a gash in her throat, her blood spilling while her face registered surprise and then shock. He’d finally awakened when the wolf picked up a scalpel and slit open her belly.
He couldn’t shake the nightmare. There was something not right about Gus Tilley, and he planned to go to the sheriff’s station and see where they stood on the man. It was time he demand some action.
His cell phone, plugged into its charger and lying on the counter, lit up and started ringing. He hurried to pick it up and saw it was Mattie calling. His heart lifted with hope. “Hi, Mattie.”