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“Cecil knows these woods better than I do. He and Regis practically lived out here.” He listened a moment longer. “Okay, let’s go again. Easy. We’re gonna make it.”
That was what everyone said before they died.
As they skulked through the woods, Violet’s morphine began wearing off and the pain returned, but her faculties were clearing up too. “Where are we going?”
“I think there’s a chapel on the other side of the hill. Used to be a little settlement down there of miners. But when they all moved, the chapel was abandoned.” His breathing was labored, and she paused.
“How bad are you hurt?”
“Not terrible. Let’s keep going. We can hide there.”
“Can we call for help?” She winced as she tripped over a log. “Does Cecil know about the chapel?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible he stumbled on it as a kid. It’s how I found it. Used it as a hideout.” He ushered her along again. “Not any cell service out here. It’s remote if you can’t tell.”
At the crest of the hill, she spotted a tiny wooden chapel with an old rugged cross on top.
I’ll save you.
The fleeting thought from the past returned. She hadn’t imagined it; it was real.
But God hadn’t saved or rescued her. She was still drowning in the dark.
Stumbling, they approached the old chapel. Jimmy opened the door, and she darted inside.
“How long do we wait here?”
“Till light. When we can see better, I’ll head up the hill and back out to the road until I get cell service. Call in the sheriff. Maybe they’ll catch him by morning light.”
“How far are we from the road?”
“Far.”
Violet looked around the chapel. Only about five pews left. Two on one side, three on the other. A cross hung on the back wall by a set of descending stairs. “What’s down there?”
“Basement.” He peeped out a window. The clouds hung heavy, concealing moonlight.
“Probably need to get away from the windows, Jimmy.” Violet tightened his coat around her and gawked at her filthy legs. “You think there’s a bathroom down there?”
“Outhouse.”
Eeew. Everything hurt, and she rubbed her lower back and temple at the same time.
“Pain meds wearing off?”
She nodded. “But I’ll deal.” She rubbed her right wrist, which he’d bandaged in the ambulance. Sprained. Her sides were tender and sore.
“Bruised ribs I imagine. You’re breathing okay. Probably not broken or floating.”
“How did Cecil ambush you?”
“He stepped out in the road, and I swerved. Hit the tree. He opened the passenger door, sliced Chris’s throat while I was coming around the van. I got the jump on him, but he’s fast.”
“I can attest to that.”
“We struggled, and I rammed his head into the side of the ambulance. When he went down, that’s when I got you out.”
Things were coming back now. “Why didn’t you radio for help?”
