The dog sat up, clearly excited.
“You’re going to have to help me climb out.”
Katie wound the rope and then gently tossed it out of the hole. She made sure she kept her voice low but loud enough for Cisco to hear.
“C’mon, Cisco, grab it… you can do it.”
She held her end tightly after winding the excess around her shoulder. She didn’t see the dog, but suddenly she felt a hard tug from above.
“Yes…” Katie tried to make indentations into the wall of the hole and began to climb. “Yes…” she repeated. Slowly, she began to make her way to the top until she pulled her body onto the ground.
Cisco dropped the rope and ran to her, wagging his tail.
“Good boy…” She furiously petted him.
Katie was relieved as she silently reprimanded herself for not being more careful. She got to her feet and looked around. Knowing Buck’s cabin had to be close, she thought it would be better to hide Cisco. She wanted to make sure she was completely focused and she couldn’t be if she was worrying about Cisco.
She found a perfect hiding place in the trees between large granite rocks. No one would see him. She led Cisco to the hiding place and made sure he knew he was supposed to stay until she released him with the e-collar.
Katie’s emotions ran high as she thought about the safety of her dog and whether her uncle was close—and if he was still alive.
She continued her trek until she heard two voices talking in low tones. At first, she thought she was hearing things in the forest, but she sidestepped to the left and continued her advance to the voices. The smell of a fireplace, as well as what seemed to be remnants of food that had been cooked a while ago, grew stronger.
Katie barely moved and breathed shallowly but managed to see two figures talking. She recognized immediately Buck was one of the men. As she studied them longer, she knew Junior was the other man. Everything in her gut told her her uncle was close. There wasn’t anyone else on the radar who would have taken him and left Buck’s dog tags for her to find. Her uncle was definitely near. She prayed silently he wasn’t already dead and they were trying to figure out where to bury his body.
The two men turned and walked away from the cabin. At least that was what Katie thought it was. She took a chance and moved toward the building that had been built into theovergrowth of the small hillside. She moved with stealth until she reached the door of the forest cabin. It was locked, but there was a small square opening she could peek through. She looked to where the men had disappeared and back at the hole. Katie slowly peered through the opening but didn’t see anything. She moved her position until she could view the room she had been in when Buck kidnapped her, but still nothing. She was about to give up when she saw the side view of a man in a wooden chair with his arms secured back and something around his neck. Katie blinked and then looked again. There were some types of nails or screws holding the man.
Katie didn’t think it was her uncle at first until he tried to move. She saw his face in anguish and blood covering his shirt. Katie gasped and fought tears—at least he was alive. But she had to figure out a way to rescue him.
She moved back into hiding, contemplating her next move.
Katie didn’t wait. She immediately turned on her phone and sent a text to McGaven.
FIFTY-SEVEN
Thursday 0320 hours
McGaven and John stood at the command center on the construction property getting updates, but no news. They were frustrated, but still believed Katie had chosen the area to look for the sheriff.
McGaven’s phone beeped. “It’s from Katie!”
“What does it say?” said John.
“She says she’s found the sheriff and he’s in rough shape. She can’t get to him because of Buck and Junior.”
McGaven sent a text telling her to keep her phone on and they would find her and that she needed to sit tight. He nodded when she replied.
“What?” asked John.
“She’s going to sit tight and wait for rescue.”
John let out a sigh of relief.
McGaven gave the new information to Sergeant Hardy and Commander Jamison to regroup and to head out to find Katie by her coordinates—they would have to carry out thesheriff due to the fact that a helicopter couldn’t land in the dense forest. It would take a bit of time, but Katie was giving updates.
“Are you sure Katie said she would wait?” said John.
“I know what you’re thinking, but she’s keeping watch and she’s not going to move.”
