Page 57 of Vanished in the Mist
The pain was back in Tanya’s voice. Maybe there was a chance of reaching her after all, of making her realize the man who was keeping her here wasn’t her savior in any way.
Shanna tugged and twisted one of the bars, wincing at the pain that shot through her cut arm. “The man who brought you here was bullied? Is that what you were telling me?”
“He was.” Tanya’s voice gained in strength as she regurgitated what he’d no doubt told her over and over, feeding her what he wanted her to believe. “He was bullied, just like me. They ruined his life. He couldn’t…focus, keep a job.”
“He’s homeless.”
“I guess. But it’s not his fault. The kids who were mean to him in school, they’re the ones who did that to him.” She drew a shuddering breath. “They can’t bother anyone else again. That’swhat he said. And he wants to do that for me, too. I told him everything I knew about Jack and the others. He made plans so they won’t hurt me ever again. He’s very smart.”
“I’m sure he is.” Shanna did her best to hide her shock. The Phantom had apparently killed others, when he was younger. And now he was killing again. How many victims were there? She turned back to the bars, tugging and twisting harder now.
“Only Jack and Peyton are left now,” Tanya said. “I think. I’m not sure about Sam, if he got him yet.”
Shanna stopped and turned around to fully face her. “Got him? Tanya, did he tell you what he was going to do to each of them?”
The young girl’s face twisted with despair and tears started tracking down her face. “He told me…he said he’d teach them a lesson. I said… I said…go ahead. I was angry, upset. I never expected him to actually…do what he did. When he brought Tristan here, I—”
“Tristan? Tristan Cargill?”
She nodded and wiped at her tears. “He brought him here, made him apologize to me. I told him I forgave him. Everything was okay. When he was gone, I thought… I thought the Phantom let him go. But then Jessica was here and told me Tristan…that he’d been found in the lake. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” She broke down, sobbing.
Shanna held her, trying to reassure this terrorized, confused young girl. “It’s not your fault. He’s the one hurting people. But we can stop him, together, before he hurts anyone else. We just have to work together to get out of here. Okay?”
She hiccupped, but wouldn’t meet Shanna’s gaze.
Shanna sighed. She didn’t have time for a therapy session. As much as she empathized with Tanya for whatever horrible things she’d suffered in the months since she’d been abducted, helping her get better was only going to happen if Shanna could get her out of this place to somewhere safe.
“We have to get out of here, Tanya. As quickly as possible.”
“But there isn’t any way out. Not without the keys.”
“Start pulling and twisting the bars. If we can’t bend or break one, we’ll tunnel underneath them. We’re both thin. Two, three bars would be enough. What do you say? Let’s at least try. Girl power.”
Tanya’s lower lip trembled, but she drew a deep breath and something seemed to spark in her eyes lit by the glow of the flashlight.
Hope.
“How will we dig?” Tanya asked.
Shanna picked up the flashlight. “With this. It’s made out of metal. We can use it like a shovel. But first, we have to find the weakest bars, the softest dirt. Come on. Let’s do this. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Kaden slid to a halt a short distance into the mine shaft, shining his flashlight on the ground. There were footprints in the damp earth. One set was large and deep, like a big man might make. The other was dainty and small like Shanna would make. But something was prickling at the edge of his consciousness, telling him to stop. What was it?
The map. The map of the mines from Shanna’s computer. Stella had said this was the Cooper’s Bluff mine shaft. That shaft went on for a good quarter mile. After that, it opened into the woods. The Phantom had a head start. And the element of surprise. He had to have reached the exit by now. Then what? Would he go through the woods? Or head to the opening of another shaft and continue underground? Where? Where to? The possibilities were endless and he could spend all day trying to find Shanna, only to arrive too late to help her.
Or he could think this through. Figure out where she was being taken. The clues were there, somewhere, niggling at him. He just had to piece them together. Fast.
In spite of his misgivings, he couldn’tnotfollow. Shanna had gone this way. He couldn’t just turn around and—
“Kaden,” Dawson called out. “Wait up.”
He turned around, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the flashlights as Dawson and a group of six state policemen caught up to him.
Kaden pointed to the ground. “He took her through this tunnel.”
“We’ll find her, sir,” one of the officers said as they jogged past him.
