Page 8 of Shadowed Rubies
A miserable moan just behind me let me know that the woman was waking up. I blinked in the direction of the sound, but my eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness in the cave.
Once Kevin had the opening closed off to his liking, he turned on a lantern that illuminated the cave with a light glow. I looked around the makeshift room and discovered a sleeping bag, pillow and a cooler, but didn’t see anything that looked promising to use as a weapon or as a way to free myself.
After scooting toward the woman to do an assessment of her injuries, recognition set in. My prison cell mate was none other than Molly Malone, the woman my brother had dumped so he could explore his relationship beyond friendship with Josie.
Great. This was about to get awkward.
10
Max
My search group worked together like we’d been a team for years. We stayed a few feet apart, walking side by side to sweep our assigned section. We walked and walked, but didn’t come across anything suspicious.
A painful blister was forming on my left heel, but I was in much better shape than most of the other people out here, so I wasn’t about to complain. We searched tirelessly, yelling for Dani and scanning the forest floor.
When my cell phone lit up with a call from Meg, I silently prayed she was calling to let us know they’d found Dani. Instead, she told me that on our next pass, our group should return to the parking area for a food and water break.
Although the other members of my search team hadn’t complained, they all looked relieved at the news that it was our turn for a break. My friend, Levi, was manning the refreshment station. I gratefully accepted an oversized banana nut muffin and bottle of water from him.
“I thought today was the grand opening for your bakery?” It was all the man had been talking about for months––other than his rekindled relationship with Meg and his newfound daughter.
He nodded at me with a grim smile before saying, “It seemed like the food could be put to better use here. Besides, half the town is out here anyway, so it wouldn’t have been much of an opening.”
I knew there still would have been plenty of people in town to buy his baked goods, but Levi was too good of a man to ignore a friend in need. Hoping to put a bit of a positive spin on it, I said, “Giving out free samples is a great idea. You’ll get us all hooked.”
After taking a giant bite of my muffin, I rolled my eyes skyward and let out a happy groan. The man really did have a talent for baking.
Before I could take another bite, Meg ran up to me. Her face was sheet white as she said to me, “Molly’s missing.”
I struggled to comprehend her words. “What do you mean? She’s with a search party.”
“She evidently went off on her own for a moment to relieve herself. When she didn’t come back after a few minutes, the others went looking for her, but she was gone. They’ve looked all around the area, but there’s no sign of her.”
The blood pounded like a bass drum in my ears as I gawked at Meg, willing her words to be untrue. The muffin fell from my hand onto the gravel parking lot. This couldn’t be happening. Molly was out here because of me. I’d insisted that she come to help with the search. If Kevin Durley had nabbed her, I would never forgive myself.
“I’ll kill him with my bare hands.” I ground out the words before stalking toward the woods to find my sister. It was personal now.
“You going off half-cocked on your own isn’t going to help anyone,” Meg shouted after me, but I was too angry to listen to her warning.
It wasn’t like Molly to get lost. She’d spent plenty of time in the great outdoors and her survival skills were on point. Kevin had her. I could feel it, and Ihadto do something about it.
11
Dani
Rather than looking at Molly as the woman whose heart my brother had recently broken, I forced myself to assess her as a patient in the dim lighting. It was impossible to know if she had suffered any internal injuries, but the bloody gash near her hairline was enough for me to be extremely concerned about her safety.
Turning to glare in Kevin’s direction, I said, “This woman needs medical attention.”
Kevin returned my angry stare before saying, “You.”
His vocabulary was up to three words now. I had to assume he meant for me to help her. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that he had recognized me and knew that I was a doctor. We’d never spoken a word to each other prior to this kidnapping, despite growing up in the same small town. I felt a bit guilty about that, but he’d always seemed so angry and bitter as he stalked through the hallways at school with his head down. He’d been older than me, anyway, so it never felt like it was my place to open a conversation with him.
Ironically, it was well-known that Claire was one of the only ones who was ever kind to the boy with the burn scars covering half his face. He had evidently become obsessed with her, so I guess it wasn’t too bad of a thing that I hadn’t ever reached out to him. I just wished someone had. Maybe it would have kept him from getting to this point, where he thought he had the right to steal people from their lives and hold them as prisoners.
Forcing my mind back to the task at hand, I said, “I can’t help her with my hands bound behind me.”
Kevin pulled a knife from the pocket of his dirty jeans and flicked it open. The snapping sound and sight of the sharp, shiny blade had me rearing back involuntarily. The odds of me being able to steal the weapon from him were infinitesimal. It was much more likely that he would get angry and use the knife to cut Molly or me.
