“He probably has a concussion,” one of the men said.
“I’m calling 911.” Another hiker got on his phone. “Hi, my friends and I are at Sun Point parking area, and a man has been beaten pretty badly.”
“Grayson. Fugitive Recovery Agent. Let me talk to Rowland. Thanks.”
“Grayson is the one who is injured, and he wants to speak with Rowland. Okay, just a second.” The man handed his phone to Grayson.
“Are you okay?” Rowland asked, concerned.
“Yeah.” Grayson let Rowland know what he’d found about the women.
“What are the women’s names and the vehicle’s license plate number. I’ll have them checked into. I’m on my way to pick up the kid. There was no sign of Younger?”
“Uhm, he knocked me out.” Grayson told him the women’s names.
“Hell. Where’s the teen?” Rowland asked.
“He’s still in the forest with Kendra. He’s a little tied up.”
“And knocked out via a bear slap?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“He’s still alive, though?”
“Yeah. He’ll be fine to go to jail. There’s no ID on him. Ah, hell. Ivy said the teen had sent her a photo of himself.”
“Can you contact her and have her send the photo to me?”
“Yeah.” When his head stopped aching.
“Good. The license tags came back to Mimi Younger. She hasn’t reported it being stolen. We’ll check with Mimi and see if she has allowed the teen to drive her car,” Rowland said.
Then they could question her too.
One of the men there offered Grayson some water. And he thanked him and drank it. “I’ve got to get back to my partner. A teen tried to kidnap a woman on the trail,” Grayson said.
“We’re going that way. We’ll help you get there,” the one hiker said.
Rowland said, “EMTs and police are on their way.”
Grayson hated looking like he needed help, but he appreciated the hikers’ offer.
6
Anne was finally coming out of the chloroform fog she was in as she lay on the dirt path and grabbed Kendra’s hand. Kendra held her hand and squeezed with reassurance, hopeful she would be okay.
“What…what happened?” Anne asked.
“I stopped a man from kidnapping you. I’m Kendra. And you are?” Even though Kendra knew her name, she wanted to make sure that Anne recalled it.
“Grateful to you. I’m Anne Whittaker. What happened?”
“A teen chloroformed you and taped your mouth and wrists. How are you feeling now?” Kendra helped her to sit up.
“Woozy. Like I could sleep. I have a headache. I swore I saw a grizzly bear.”
Kendra ran her hand soothingly over her back. “You could have a concussion. EMS is on its way. They should be here soon.” She wanted to check on the teen too, but she had to stay with Anne for now. Then Kendra heard someone walking down the trail. Others were trying to keep up with him.
