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Shaking my head in refusal, I say, “I’m going in on foot. We don’t have time to wait.”
“I’m going with you,” Samantha says, standing at my side. “We only believe there is one killer running around, so we can do this.” Samantha looks at Dillon. “We have to do this because we don’t have time to wait.”
I hiss in frustration, “I’m going after Mallory and Paul with or without backup.” Moving toward the door, I check I still have the flashlight and two extra clips for my gun, and then head out, with Samantha, Dillon and Gardner hot on my heels.
41
Mallory
My head is spinning as I slowly start becoming aware of the situation I’m caught in the middle of. I briefly wonder where Paul is and if he’s close, and especially if he’s hurt. This whole situation doesn’t feel right. Nothing is being done that was done in the other murders. The killer had been profiled as watching the couple have sex before going in for the kill. None of that has happened. No drugs showed up in the toxicology screening for each of the victims, and I know that I’ve been drugged, along with Paul.
The area that the dart hit, hurts and I’m fighting the urge to itch the entrance point. So fa
r no one is aware that I’m awake and I’m hoping to keep it that way for as long as possible, but I do need to try and see if I recognize where I am because I do know that I’m not inside a cabin. At least the cabins belonging to the lodge. No bright light teases at my closed eyes, so hopefully it won’t be obvious when I try and find Paul. My nose twitches at the scent of freshly cut wood, but I don’t think I’m outdoors.
Keeping my breathing steady, I slowly open my lids halfway and when I don’t see anyone, I open them fully. My vision is blurry until I blink a few times and it becomes clearer. I was right about one thing. I’m no longer in Paul’s cabin. I can’t be too far away from it though because a vehicle would have been heard, and Joshua would have come running. He would have least checked it out, that I do know.
Tears come to my eyes when I think of Joshua. He’ll be looking for me, and maybe Paul if he wasn’t left at the cabin.
A moan reaches my ears and I quickly turn my head, which isn’t a good idea. Dizziness washes over me and sickness rolls through my body.
I’m not sure how long I slept for, but I come awake again to, “Mallory,” hissed from somewhere over my left shoulder.
“Um,” I mumble. “I feel drunk.” It’s the only way I can think to describe how I feel—nauseous and disorientated. It isn’t a nice feeling and one I haven’t felt for a very long time. Hadn’t had any wish to feel it again either.
“Mallory, you need to wake up,” Paul whispers, frustration in his voice. “She’s outside on the phone.”
“She?” I blink my eyes open and this time the world stops spinning, but I don’t move. “Do you recognize her?”
“No,” he growls. “She isn’t happy that her best laid plans have gone haywire. I think we startled her when we started to leave the cabin.” He sighs. “She has our weapons and is under the impression we’re cops.”
“We’re obviously in the middle of nowhere, otherwise we’d be gagged.” I slowly move the best I can with zip ties cutting into my ankles and wrists. Moving into a sitting position isn’t the easiest of things and I take a moment to breathe. “How old do you think she is?”
“Young. No older than early twenties.” Paul groans. “She’s panicked, which isn’t good.” More groaning and then he’s sighs. “Try and scoot your hands underneath you to bring them in front.”
I should have thought of that.
By the time I have my hands in front of me, I’ve broken into a sweat and my wrists feel raw. Blood is on one of the ties around my wrist, but only a small amount. Worth it to not feel like my shoulders were about to snap out of place.
“We’re in a new build. I smelt the fresh wood when I came around the first time, but now I see it.” I tilt my head upwards and don’t see anything but the roof. Frames are up inside but have yet to have been completed. “I don’t see any tools. Nothing.”
“I’ve looked.”
I freeze when I hear a vehicle and my eyes snap to Paul’s. The sound isn’t coming closer, it’s moving away. “Is she leaving?”
“Having seen the girls slight frame there is no way she could have carried me from where I’d dropped at the cabin to a vehicle, and then inside here.”
“I was wondering about that.” I’m thoughtful. “We’ve always assumed that the killer is alone, however what you’re saying means she has to have someone helping her. Her father, a brother, another son or daughter from the ‘swingers’?”
“Whatever is going on, we need to find a way out of these restraints.”
“Joshua will know something is wrong. He’d felt it before we’d all met at the lodge. He will have wanted to check on me by now.”
“Yes, Sam will be worried about me too. We had an agreement to check on each other every hour.”
I bring my hands up to my face but there is no way I’m going to be able to get free of the plastic ties. I wiggle against the wall and rest my head. “Hopefully a crew will be working at first light, and find us, if Josh and Sam haven’t by then.” Deep inside I know Joshua will be looking. He won’t stop until he finds me because I wouldn’t stop until I found him. I’d go insane if a killer had taken him.
Tears brim on my eyelashes and I feel relieved that it’s dark so that Paul can’t see how much I long to have Joshua holding me in his arms. I want to tell him how much he means to me. I haven’t gotten the chance to tell him that I’m going to work as a consultant, just as soon as I can cut the official ties with the bureau. He has no idea the plans I’ve made inside my own head and haven’t had chance to discuss with him.
