CAPTURED INNOCENCE (27 page)

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Authors: Cynthia Hickey

BOOK: CAPTURED INNOCENCE
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“Nothing. Just the wind.”

Inside the closet,
she searched the wall for a light switch and almost shouted with joy when she found one. A flick of the switch, and she clicked off her flashlight. Boxes lined the upper shelf of the closet. She counted twenty. She’d never get through them in time.

“Conley, help.”

“Wow.” He appeared at her side. “You start at this end. There’s bound to be something here.”

Box after box contained receipts, drawings, letters, etc. Anything
and everything pertaining to construction or police work. Jo despaired.

“Here.” Conley clutched a fistful of folded letters. “Names, dates; it’s all here. Even a map. Thank you, God.” He stepped back into the office and spread the parcel map on the desk. “Do you think X marks the spot?”

“Why would he do something so simple?” Jo peered over his shoulder.

“Not everyone would know what this X meant.”
He grinned at her. “Now, we can save them, Jo. We know exactly where to look.”

“Very clever, Hook.”
Logan stood framed in the doorway, a revolver aimed at them. “You’ve proven a worthy adversary. Blake should’ve done away with you a long time ago.” He swung the barrel of the gun toward Conley.

Jo shoved against
Conley’s shoulder.

Conley
collapsed to the floor.

She screamed his name.

###

             
Fire seared through his shoulder. Conley groaned and moved to sit. His forehead banged against something above him. The drone of tires alerted him to the fact he was in the trunk of a car, bound hand and foot. Nothing new for him. He’d pray and wait for his opportunity.

             
Rocks hit the under carriage of the car. The vehicle bottomed out in what Conley guessed was pot holes. He suspected his destination was the boat house. Well, he’d already seen it and hadn’t admired the view.

             
The car skidded to a stop. Dust crept into his prison. He clamped his lips tight against the sneeze and closed his eyes, remaining unresponsive.

             
“Let’s get this over with.” Blake grabbed Conley’s ankles.

             
“You should have taken care of him weeks ago. Then our whole operation wouldn’t be in jeopardy.” Logan gripped Conley’s shoulders. Pain radiated down his arm. By sheer will-power and prayer he kept his breathing low and even.

             
The two men dragged him to the dock and tossed him into the shallow water. The frigid water took his remaining breath away. Conley squirmed like a fish, struggling to reach the surface. He sank. His knee bashed against a rock on the bottom.

             
Fighting against approaching unconsciousness, Conley sawed the rope binding his wrists against the sharp edge of the rock. The murky water grew dimmer. Despite the agony radiating through his upper body, he increased the motion of his hands.

             
His lungs burned before the fibers broke through, and he pulled himself hand over hand to the rotting beams above his head. He lay on the dock and gasped for air. Each breath torture. Each thought of what might be happening to Jo, sheer anguish.

             
With numb fingers, he struggled with the rope around his ankles. Violent shivers shook his frame, making him clumsy. Finally the ropes fell away. Free, he lurched toward the road, the picture of the map clear in his head.

24

              Jo peered through the window as Logan and Blake tossed Conley’s body into the water. She screamed his name through her gag and threw herself against the back passenger door of the car until her arm ached from the bruising. Her throat burned from unshed tears. The ropes binding her hands behind her back cut into her flesh.

             
“Sit back and shut up.” Logan sneered at her as he slid behind the wheel. “We’re going to take you somewhere familiar, girlie. It’ll be like going home.” He cackled and started the car. “Only this time, we don’t know when we’ll let you out.”

             
Blake stared out the window, his jaw set in a firm line. He’d avoided Jo’s eyes since Logan had called him. She shrieked and kicked the back of his seat. His head jerked forward. A curse escaped his lips.

Jo
was no longer the meek woman he’d known in the past. She wouldn’t go down without a fight. Her heart lay like a cold stone at the realization of Conley being thrown away like yesterday’s garbage. She choked back a sob. She’d never told him she loved him. But, she did. With every thing in her. The realization of being too late hate at her, gnawing until her body ached with the pain.

She’d tried to shove him out of the way of the gun. Her world
had fallen to the floor of Logan’s office along with her husband. She failed.

             
Nightmarish visions of Conley drowning, trussed like an animal for roasting, haunted her. Her chest tightened. She focused on her breathing trying to stave off an asthma attack. The inhaler in her pocket poked her thigh, taunting her with its closeness.

Too soon, they stopped.
The two men dragged her from the car. She struggled until they let her fall into a heap on the gravel road.

             
“Once we get her into the pit,” Logan said. “We’ll track down that traitor of a mother of hers and throw her in too. Harold will thank us. Then, we’ll sell the kid.”

             
“Let’s just do this.” Blake grabbed one of her arms.

Jo jerked away and tried to tell him she could walk under her own steam. Garbled, unintelligible words shoved through the gag.

Blake whipped the cloth from her mouth. “Do you have something to say, sweetheart?”

             
“You’re a pig. Don’t touch me.”

             
Blake shoved his face inches from Jo’s. “I have the power to save your life.”

             
“I’d rather die.”

             
Logan moved dead branches to reveal a wooden trap door. He swung it open.

Blake put his hand in the middle of Jo’s back and shoved her into blackness. “Have it your way.”

              She fell into a thick inky darkness. Her head struck something hard. She lost consciousness.

###

              Jo’s shove saved Conley’s life. Instead of a bullet hole, his side sported a painful, bleeding graze. He leaned against a tree and struggled to catch his breath. The Harley looked miles away instead of fifty feet. Thank God, they hadn’t made it back to retrieve it from the bushes.

             
He shoved away from the rough bark of the oak and staggered down the road. Using the hand on his uninjured side, Conley fished the keys from his pocket. Still numb from cold, his fingers fumbled the key as he tried inserting it into the ignition.

             
The engine roared to life. Heart in his throat, Conley sped in the direction of the Lake Estates, praying he wouldn’t be too late.

             
By the time he got to general area he believed the pit to be, night had fully fallen. He had nothing with him. No flashlight, no weapon. Nothing but his mind and skills. It truly would be a battle of him and God against evil minded men.

             
A scream drifted on a breeze. He was close. Closing his eyes, he listened, hoping for another cry. There! Jo called Blake’s name.

             
Conley rolled the bike behind some bushes, then stared at the keys in his hand. With them poking between his fingers, he could form a claw. The only weapon he had.

             
Let’s do this. He ran at a crouch in the direction he’d heard Jo’s cry.

###

              “You’re a freak, Blake! An evil man.” Jo stared at his dark form, outlined by the moon. From the bottom of the pit, he loomed over her. She remembered the terror that image used to instill. Not anymore. She waited while he closed the door.

             
“Ma’am, are you here to help us?” A young girl’s voice came from Jo’s left.

             
“I’m here to try.” Jo slid her feet along the floor, trying to prevent from running face first into the wall. “My hands are tied, though. Do you think you could help me first?”

             
“Yeah.” Fingers brushed Jo’s skin. Several long minutes later, her hands were free.

             
“Is there anyone else down here?” She squinted, trying to make out shapes in the darkness.

             
“A boy and girl. They’ve been here longer than me and don’t talk much.”

             
“Have they hurt you?”

             
“A fat man tried, but when I bit him and kicked him in the gonads, he just hit me and threw me back in here to learn a lesson. Said he’d teach me later but he hasn’t been back.”

             
A nervous giggle erupted. “Good for you, sweetie. What’s your name?”

             
“Heather.”

             
“I’m Jo. Let’s see about getting out of here.”

             
“I’ve started digging notches in the dirt, but I’m not making a lot of progress, and my fingernails are broken.”

             
A young girl ten times stronger than Jo had ever been. Maybe that’s why the kidnapping ring chose younger children. Less chance of them fighting back. If only Conley were there to help them. She’d have to give into her grief later. Now, she needed to get the children free and to a neighboring town. A place where the authorities would listen to them.

             
“Are there a lot of bugs down here?”

             
“Not really,” Heather answered. “A few, but not too bad. I don’t mind them. Why?”

             
“When I was little, the place they kept me was full of bugs. I still have nightmares.” Jo shuddered. At least these children didn’t suffer the same horrors she had.

             
She ran her hands over the walls, amazed at how much progress Heather had made. There were notches two feet up. Jo gripped one above her head and started to climb. Too short. One foot kept her from touching the door and freedom.

             
She started digging, biting back the pricks of pain that came with broken fingernails and splinters in her skin. Heather had dug for days. Jo could dig for one.

             
Her feet slipped, sending her to the floor in an aching huddle.
Come on, God, a little help here for me and the kids.

             
“That happens sometimes,” Heather said. She touched Jo’s shoulder. “Want me to balance you? I could put my hands against your bottom for leverage. I know it’s personal, but I’ll do anything to go home.”

             
“Sweetheart, me too. Touch away.” Jo climbed back up and smiled when Heather cupped her bottom.
Oh, Conley, this would bring a grin to your face
.

             
The latch opened. Moonlight spilled in.

             
“Hey, good-looking.” Conley’s gorgeous face peered down. “Who’s that with you?”

             
“You’re alive!” Her heart leaped. “Pull me out.”

             
“Hold on. There’s a ladder. Move out of the way.”

             
Seconds later, the ladder hit the ground with a thud. Jo waved the two silent children forward and they scurried up the ladder after Heather. The poor babies. Shock registered on their faces. Jo prayed they’d find the counseling they needed and leave this horror behind them.

             
“Blake and Logan are gone. We have to find them,” she said.

             
“Let’s get these little ones somewhere safe first.” Conley scratched his head. “All I have is the motorcycle.”

             
“Then, go,” she said. “We’ll hide in the woods while you go get help.”

             
She could see his reluctance. She felt the same. Cupping his face, she kissed him, putting in all the emotion she’d held at bay for so long. “Go. I love you, Conley Hook. Come back for me.”

###

              “I will. I promise.” He turned and sprinted for the bike while she and the children dashed for the trees. Her declaration spurred him on, despite the blood soaking his shirt. Knowing she relied on him to save her helped him ignore the pain.

             
A mile down the road, highlights pierced the night. Conley groaned as the car passed then circled back. He’d never outrun them. But, he could try.

             
Where was the closest populated area? He needed a phone. At the least, he needed witnesses. Blake and Logan wouldn’t kill him in front of people. There! A gas station sign called to him like a lover. He raced toward it. A glance over his shoulder showed he’d barely make it before the car hit him.

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