Gem Stone (6 page)

No. She had to believe Misty was close by.

Anything else was too horrible to contemplate.

Moving silently, Gem slipped around the back of the house. She was still a ways away from the backyard. Searching the area, she realized how deceptive everything looked at night.

The men had to have a vehicle somewhere. They weren't dressed to walk miles. Maybe theirs was the truck she'd seen earlier. If she could locate it, that vehicle would be the first place to check. Chances were good Misty would be in the cab. She winced at the visual that jumped into her mind.

Gem had to find her. And fast.

Keeping to the opposite side of the road from where she'd seen the men, she backtracked and raced to the closest neighbor's house. Hiding in the shadows, she raced from outbuilding to house to garage until she had a clear view of her current home. John stood on the front porch while Doris stood beside him, wringing her hands. The icy stranger, the leader or boss man, was with them but looked to be leaving. She didn't trust him one bit. Though his ID looked official, that was worth fifty bucks in her world.

Loser.
Kidnapper.

Guilt prodded her. She shouldn't have taken Misty out this evening. But Gem had no idea things would go bad – and certainly, not this bad. There'd been no explanation of the EPA men's visit beyond looking for kids that had caused trouble at the creek tonight. What were the men doing there anyway? What kind of trouble did they think the kids had been into? Not that they would tell her if she asked. Adults never gave the kids respect or information. Even so, these men should have given John an explanation.

That she and Misty had been followed back to Misty's room was likely…but why?

She really hated adults. They did bad things just because they wanted to and kids like her were just pawns in their games. Well, she, for one, was frickin' tired of it.

"Gem…"

She froze.

"It's me, Mark."

Her shoulders sagged with relief. "Did you find Misty?"

"Not yet. I found their car."

"Where?" she hissed, excitement making it difficult to keep her voice down.

"It's parked down the road a bit." He pointed the way he'd come.

"They probably stashed her in the trunk." She peered through the darkness in the direction he pointed.

Mark sucked in his breath. "
Shit.
You could be right. There was no driver in the car."

"Let's go."

There was barely enough moonlight for her to follow him, but they were both used to skulking around when necessary. They sped toward the car, only to find hiding spots when they found that all three men from the living room had returned to the vehicle and stood there talking.

"Crap." Mark groaned softly. "Now what?"

"Can we get close enough to hear them?" Gem whispered. She crouched behind a row of mailboxes but she couldn't even see the vehicle's license plate from there.

"I'll swing around and come up on the other side of that house. Maybe from there I can hear what they're talking about – but I don't know."

"Go." She watched him disappear and began to chew her nails while she waited for him to show up on the other side of the house. She couldn't see any other cover so crouched as low as she could.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow detach itself from the larger shadows beside her.

Reid gave her a small wave. She nodded her head and within seconds he'd slipped down beside her. Long and lean, he barely enlarged the shadow she hid in.

"What the fuck's going on?"

Gem shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'don't know.'

"Where's Misty?"

Pointing to where the men stood, she whispered against his ear, "I think they have her, but I'm not certain."

He looked shocked, then poked his head around the other side of her to stare at the car. "Smoked windows. Black, standard government issue…but an older model. So it might not be legit; it could be easily obtained to give the impression it's a government vehicle."

At her questioning look after he'd shared that information, he added, "It's a hobby."

She gave him an admiring nod. Good hobby to have.

"Now what?"

Just then Mark's tall frame appeared on the far side of the house. Gem nudged Reid and pointed to Mark.

Careful to keep in the shadow of a tall cedar hedge, Mark dropped to the ground and slunk closer to the men.

One of the men turned and stared straight at him. Had he heard something, or was he just nervous? Gem held her breath, but after a minute he turned back to the others. Mark inched forward yet again.

She sucked in her breath then considered how to lure the men away from their vehicle.

"We need a distraction," Reid said. "Give me a minute." Reid took off back the way he'd come. Gem frowned.
What the hell was he up to now?

The men reached to open the car doors.
Shit.
They couldn't do that. They couldn't leave until she'd checked the car for Misty. She had to stop them. Just then, Mark hopped to his feet. "Hey, you two guys looking for me?"

The two hired muscles moved toward him in a threatening matter. The one she thought of as Dumpty said, "Yeah, I'm hungry. We eat kids like you for breakfast." Humpty snorted his agreement.

"Yeah. Well, I don't doubt – given the size of your gut – that you do overeat, but I got to tell you, I don't taste good at all. But feel free. If you can catch me, fatso," he taunted as he backed up. He smirked, his white teeth flashing in the darkness.

Dumpty lumbered in his direction. Mark waited until Dumpty was almost within touching distance, gave him the finger and bolted.

"Son of a bitch." Dumpty ran after him, while the two other men leaned against the car and laughed.

Crap.
How to get rid of those two assholes? As Gem watched, her brain worked furiously.

Reid walked up to the men. "Hi. Did you two find Misty? I've been looking everywhere for her."

The two men walked around the front of the car, effectively stopping him from looking in the car windows. "No. The sheriff has been called in, so we're leaving that to him."

Gem snorted under her breath.
Like hell.
She wouldn't leave her worst enemy's fate to law enforcement.

Reid walked past them and their car, as if heading to the house. He glanced inside the car. Almost to the end of the rear passenger windows, his steps faltered. Then he jumped to the driver's side and pulled the door open, reaching for the trunk latch. The men jumped him.

Reid screamed.

Holy Shit.
He had the highest, girliest scream Gem had ever heard. She raced toward them.

"Rapist. Sex offender!"
she screamed at the top of her lungs. Reid broke free. "Run!" she screamed. "Run, Reid."

He didn't need any urging and bolted behind the closest house. Humpty raced after him. The boss grabbed Gemma. Stephen came at a dead run. "Hey, what's going on?" he shouted.

"We have to check their car for Misty," she yelled.

"Get the hell away from there." The third man grabbed her by the arm, yanked her away from the car and spun her around. Gem pulled her arm free from his grasp and ran around the car to the trunk. "Pop the trunk, Stephen."

Stephen pulled open the driver's door and then reached for the trunk button.

"Don't you touch the car…"

Lights came on from the closest neighbor. Didn't mean anyone would come and help though, as Gem certainly knew – but at least they were attracting attention. The other houses were too far away.

She launched herself on the back of the gorilla as he made another lunge for Stephen, all the while screaming, "Get the trunk open!" She tried to hang on to the brute, but his suit was slippery and fit snug enough she couldn't grab much material.

Then she couldn't say anything because the mammoth male she'd jumped, spun her off his back, turned and pinned her back against the car. Her head slammed against the roof, hard. She was going to have a bump in the morning. Hell, she'd be covered in bruises.

Reid ran up, panting, and even in the darkness, she saw the tension in his face. She glanced behind him. No one. The road and acreage was empty, just like it always was. Good. He'd lost the guy chasing him.

It was hard to breathe with her ribs squished by the mammoth. He smelled too, of some horrible over-strong aftershave. Then he lunged after Reid and she could breathe again. She tried to make a run for it, only to be snatched up in a bear hug and squeezed. While she gasped for air she clawed at the arm banding her ribs. She screamed, "Pop the trunk, damn it!"

Stephen raced to the trunk. Reid jumped out from the front of the car and joined him. "She's not in here."

"
Shit.
Where could they have taken her?"

"Somewhere close," she gasped. She raked her nails into the man's arm. She couldn't get through his jacket deep enough to cause any harm though.

"Have to find her. Hurry."

Stephen asked, "What about you?"

"I'm fine; get going."

The teens scattered. She frantically wiggled to get free again.

"You're not going anywhere. Not while I'm here." Her attacker shifted to get a better grip. She squirmed and with one final twist, she freed a hand and shoved her fingers into his eye.

His grip loosened just a fraction. "Bitch!" he yelled as he reflexively lifted one hand to his eye.

That was enough. Gem broke free and ran. She didn't dare turn to see if she were being followed. She assumed she was. Gasping for breath, and hating the stitch already forming in her side, she ran through the field. Running flat out, an idea hit her. There was one other place close enough that they could have stashed Misty in that short time they'd had. Not many people knew about it. She should have thought of it earlier.

Stupid. Stupid.

She glanced behind her, but the asshole had given up the chase – if he'd even started. Big guys like him could rarely run far. She gave three sharp whistles, alerting the other kids about where she was. In the far distance, police sirens sounded.
Thank God.

Never at ease around cops, she'd be happy to have their help tonight.

Keeping to the darkness, she tried to pace herself, but her breathing was labored and pain stabbed her side more with each step. She didn't dare stop. She had to find Misty.

The cop cars rounded the corner. One stopped by the black vehicle and the other passed it, heading toward the home.

Gem stopped. "Help! Over here," she screamed. One of the cops raced out of the vehicle in her direction. Gem stepped forward slightly. A sound rustled behind her.

Without making sure what or who made the sound, she screamed and ran as if they were all after her.
Maybe they were.
She didn't look back.

Racing forward, she headed to the spot she had in mind.
Please let Misty be there.
Stumbling in the near darkness, she pushed herself on…behind a tree, under the deep branches of another, around to the left to the path. Then through the tall grass, past several large boulders, around the large tree and finally, she reached the place.

An old pump house, or well house – whatever the hell that was – stood up on the bank beside the creek, partially hidden, surrounded by trees and overgrown bushes. The smell of the mud and water hung heavy in the night air. The creek used to be a large river but something to do with redirecting the flow further up the source – for hydro power or some such thing – had dropped the level to creek status.

She ran up and pulled on the door. The knob turned, but the door refused to open. A new lock hung on the hasp.
Since when?
She'd been here a last week and there'd been no lock…

"Gem?" The voice came from the shadows. Mark.

"Here," she called back and then she slipped behind the pump house to hide. She didn't know for sure who'd arrive first, the men, the police or Mark. The darkness and cool night air distorted the voices coming at her. Her name was called out again.

This time Mark was almost on top of her. He was breathing hard as he arrived at her side. Right behind him was Reid, followed by several cops.

"Oh, thank God." She turned to the pump house and called, "Misty. Misty it's Gem. Are you in there?" No answer.

She moved to the front of the pump house and pointed out the lock. "This is new. Please, someone get this off. I think Misty's in here."

Multiple voices rose higher and higher as everyone asked questions. Finally, she'd had enough. She gave one strong sharp whistle that brought everyone to silence. "First we check, then we ask questions."