Gem Stone Read online

  "Don't hassle him. He looks like he'd cause a ruckus and I don't want to leave any blood behind from having to knock him about. This is a simple job."

  The initial relief that had overwhelmed Mark at the older man's words, changed to horror when he realized the man was trying to keep the area clean. Evidence free. Mark slumped back onto the bare floor of the vehicle and tried to think. Surely there had to be something he could do… His hands were handcuffed in front of him. He could get out of simple ones, but he didn't know about this set.

  "Let's go pick the girl up. She should be almost here."

  Mark stiffened. Damn. He'd hoped Gem and Reid had gotten away.

  "Let's get this over with," Humpty said to Dumpty, and stepped further back, letting Mark see the bright sunshine. At least they still had daylight on their side.

  Humpty left through the front driver's door. But Dumpty moved toward the open side door.

  Mark brought his legs, still tied together, up against Dumpty's knees as he went to step out of the van.

  "Shit!" The man stumbled and half fell out of the van. He struggled to get his bulk upright again. "Fucking kid."

  "A little resistance is par for the course. Jesus, you'd think you'd know that by now." Humpty walked to the open door to smirk at Mark. Then without warning, he slammed a hard punch into Mark's shoulder before walking away.

  Mark twisted in fury, his feet pounding the van wall. Hate burned a hole inside him as he realized he couldn't stop them from going after Gem. She wouldn't even see them coming. He could only lie there, helpless, as the men laughed and took off.

  His eyes widened.

  Took off? That meant he was alone.

  Panicking with concern for Gem, yet calm about what he had to do, he tested the bonds around his ankles. They weren't going to let go any time soon. Damn. Where was Reid? Reid would have the cuffs off Mark in no time. So would Gem, for that matter.

  Hitching himself forward on his belly, he looked around the door opening. Shuffling further, he searched for any sign he wasn't alone. Tugging and twisting to get his shoulders past the door, he dropped his head to look under the van. No legs showed on the other side.

  Taking his chance, he placed his hobbled hands on the ground in front of him and walked them forward until he was stretched out like a board, to the point his feet were the only part of him left in the vehicle. Then he pulled his knees up to his chest, and managed, by squatting, to awkwardly stand up.

  He didn't waste any time. As quickly as he could he hopped to the closest bushes. Hot and sweaty from the exertion, he couldn't stop a sigh of relief at having escaped. A quick glance back showed they'd have no problem tracking him down because his movements had churned up the dusty ground.

  Taking only a quick moment, he searched the area but couldn't see anything around to cut the ropes on his feet, so he kept going as fast as he could. There were miles of small brush clumps and dry rocky ground. He needed more cover, damn it.

  He fell several times; each time he picked himself up and carried on. Panic used up his air immediately and left stitches of pain stabbing into his ribs with every movement. The men would return any minute, possible with Gem. Getting away was the best way to help himself…and her. A large log crossed his path. Shit. He sat down and spun his legs over to the other side and hopped some more.

  A yell sounded behind him.

  Crap. His heart pounded and the surge of blood through his veins threatened to choke him. The next jump did him in. He landed awkwardly, twisted to try to catch his balance and fell over sideways.

  He rolled and rolled, gaining momentum on the way down to the creek. Damn it. He didn't cry out but groans erupted from deep inside as he hit rocks, then tree roots and more rocks before the last flip sent him face down in the water. He sank rapidly.

  Mark was normally a strong swimmer, but bound as he was, he couldn't kick and could barely use his hands.

  Water rushed in through his open mouth and he gagged. He managed to tug the cloth around his mouth over his head. Thrashing to get his feet under him, he tried to kick up hard enough to get air.

  Panic set in. His feet found a rock. He shot up from it to the surface. He'd never known the creek was this deep.

  Breaking the surface, he gulped air as his lungs expanded. He coughed slightly, kicking his bound legs back and forth like a dolphin to keep himself up.

  Shit.

  Yells and sounds of people crashing through the bush warned him of imminent recapture. He needed to hide. A log lay partially submerged off to his right. He dropped below the surface of the water, pushed off the rocks on the bottom and managed to snag branches of the log with one hand. He slipped under it to surface carefully on the far side where his face was hidden by the branches.

  Pressing tightly against the log to prevent his white skin from shining through, Mark waited and gulped in air. His biggest fear was that they had someone on both sides of the creek. Assessing his location, he realized this spot widened to a large pond with the creek trickling down the one side. It would make a great swimming hole if they could clean up the weeds and debris. Right now, though, the mess of tall weeds might save his ass.

  "Did you see him surface?" Humpty called out.

  It was Dumpty who answered. "No. He thrashed pretty good. I don't think he made it."

  "Then go after him."

  Shit. Double shit. Mark sunk lower, careful to not make a ripple in the water.

  "Hell, I'm not going in that water. Leave his body there. Saves us the trouble."

  "We don't want anyone to suspect anything."

  "What? Why not? He drowned. Accidental death."

  "With handcuffs and his feet tied together? Don't think that's going to wash with the authorities."

  "Look at this hick town, who's going to find him out here?"

  "I don't know. Don't think the boss is going to like this."

  "Good, then he can go in and take off the restraints himself, because I ain't. It's one thing to kill em, it's another to go fishing for corpses. That's just gross."

  "Jesus. You're the one that's gross. What a fucking idiot."

  "What. He's gone. That's all the boss is gonna care about."

  "We're still going to have to come back and either remove the evidence from the body or remove the body entirely."

  The voices faded slightly as the breeze bringing them to him, shifted slightly.

  Shudders wracked Mark's spine and he let his head drop slightly when he realized the men were leaving. Then again, they might be only pretending to leave. Either way he had a short reprieve. The leader wasn't going to leave without taking care of business. And if he did, it would only be long enough to confirm with his boss what that business would actually be.

  These goons were idiots. He figured he had a few minutes while they phoned their boss. And Mark knew the boss wouldn't leave a body in the creek. He'd make these idiots haul it out and bury it deep. And because of all their messups he'd probably stand watch until he was satisfied the job was done.

  With his hands clutching the tree trunk, Mark took a calming breath. Now to free my feet.

  Rubbing his legs together he managed to kick off his shoes and slip one foot through the wet, slightly loosened ropes.

  "Thank God for that," he whispered as his legs kicked free. But he needed his shoes to be able outrun those assholes if they found him. Taking a deep breath he ducked under and swam awkwardly to the bottom of the creek. Murkiness blinded him and his hands were still handcuffed in front. At the last of his air, he saw the shoes, snagged them and kicked upward.

  Coming up almost in the exact spot he'd been in before, Mark checked the banks. He was still alone.

  Now I have to get the hell out of here.

  He swam awkwardly with his hands in front of him, his legs kicking hard to propel him forward. At the shore, he clambered out and tried to stay on the rocks as he worked his way north for a few feet. He needed a way to get up the bank without leaving evidence of his
crossing. The damn cuffs on his hands had to go. The willow bushes along the bank allowed him to pull himself up the steep bank but they also constantly caught on his restraints.

  At the top of the bank, he collapsed to the ground, groaning at the burn in his chest as well as his wrists. Am I safe here? He raised his head and took a cautious look around. Maybe for a few minutes. He needed to rest. And to get his shoes on. Then he'd recoup and run his ass off.

  Then he heard Gem's voice. "Noooo––"

  The woods immediately filled with deafening silence.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Reid finally lost it. "I don't give a shit about these details. We have to do something now. Don't you freakin understand? They're going to kill him – and Gem." He bolted to the front door, opened it and disappeared.

  "Shit. Barry go after him." Sheriff Jerome watched as his youngest deputy took off behind Reid. Barry was only a few years older than the kid, maybe he could get him to calm down.

  Danny and Ian, walked out to the cruiser. Danny didn't know if he believed Reid about another kidnapping, but the kid was definitely panicked for his friends.

  It didn't make any sense. The EPA officers had no reason to take the kids. They didn't need to go to these lengths; they could have contacted the sheriff and he'd have picked them up and brought them in for questioning anytime. Theatrics weren't required. What had Reid said? Something about Gemma and Misty, that they'd seen the men doing something the night before? He pondered that.

  Speaking of Misty… His next call was to the hospital.

  Yes, Misty was there. It could take a few days for the drugs to work their way through her system. They were running tests on her now to determine just what she'd been given to help pin down her allergic reaction.

  Danny frowned as he hung up. None of this made any sense. He'd checked the men's credentials himself. Everything had been verified. But if this kid was right, and these strangers had kidnapped Misty in the first place and if – and this was a big if – the three men were now after Gem and Mark, then what was to stop them from making a second play for Misty? A clean sweep and three troubled and trouble-causing teens would just disappear. Four, if Reid was also a target.

  Who would care?

  John and Doris would be devastated. The project would shut down. A case file would open up, but without much to go on, it could probably lie unsolved for years. Did the kids have families? He didn't think so. Someone had mentioned they were now too old for continued foster care. More likely the foster care system didn't want them. Probably, no one outside John and Doris cared.

  He frowned, disliking the direction of those thoughts. He cared. Believing in John's version of these kids and their potential wasn't difficult.

  Early on, Mr. Crompton had been more than willing to explain the project and the kids involved. As much as he hadn't particularly liked the man, he hadn't disliked him either. He was the uncle to two of his deputies, after all.

  This time, Mr. Crompton had been polite, officious and cautious in his answers. He hadn't known about Misty's abduction case and had appeared more disturbed about damaging the home's image than finding the kidnappers or Misty's condition. Again, no one seemed to care.

  Barry walked into the parking lot, a firm hand clamped around Reid's upper arm.

  Danny motioned at Reid. "We'll drive. It's faster."

  Ian drove, Danny sat in the front. He turned to Reid in the back seat, "Reid, where to?"

  Reid's face, already red from exertion and agitation, brightened as he realized they were planning to help. He pointed the way. A few moments later, the car turned off the main road by the creek. They followed tracks from another large vehicle, through the weeds, until they came to a small, flattened clearing. If there'd been a vehicle here, it was long gone.

  The heat rose in waves off the dry ground. Danny remembered this spot from his own childhood. A popular watering hole for the neighboring kids. Although the creek was John's property, he hadn't minded others using it as long as the kids behaved. Now most of those kids had moved away. Oxford was a small rural community of middle-aged and older diehards and there was nothing much for the younger generation…in terms of jobs or a productive future.

  He swiveled around on his seat to look at Reid. "Is this where you were when they grabbed Mark?"

  Reid pointed a little way back down at the creek. "We didn't make it this far. But it's probably where they parked. I hid and watched them carry Mark. Then I ran for help" Disgust laced the kid's voice.

  The deputy parked the car and everyone bailed out to take a look. Ian shot Reid a cynical look then rolled his eyes at his boss. "He probably just made up the whole story."

  Curling his lip in denial, but with a restraint Danny appreciated, Reid turned his back on Ian and strode toward the creek.

  ***

  "No one's here." Ian snorted as he searched the high grass.

  "Not now." Reid headed straight for the creek. "They'd have taken off as soon as they could." What a bunch of idiots. Ian was the worst. Asshole.

  Reid loved crime. He just hadn't decided which side of that particular issue he wanted to specialize in. Crime paid, but juvie sucked. The more he hung around with the cops, the more he realized they needed all the help they could get. Dumbasses.

  At the top of the bank he studied the sand down by the water. Sliding and skidding to the bottom, he walked back and forth, looking for clues about the fate of his friends.

  "What do you see, Reid?"

  Reid glanced up, using his hand to shade the sun so he could see the sheriff standing at the top of the bank. "Not much. Lots of footprints and tracks but they all come to the water's edge."

  "Which could have been made by anyone then," Ian said. The tone of his voice clearly said he thought this was a waste of time.

  Reid turned his back on the cops. What did they care? He stared at the murky water. Branches and trunks clogged the waterway. If Mark had tried to dive into the water, he might have run into trouble.

  Thankfully, he couldn't see any bodies floating.

  What was that? He peered closer. Yes. Excitement jumped inside. Without a second thought, he waded into the water, quickly hitting mid-thigh depth.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I found something." Duh. Did they really think he was just going for a swim?

  Reid dove into the water. He was a good swimmer and could swim with his eyes open but the muddy water made it difficult. He snagged the length of rope from the bottom first, then popped up for air. And found himself on the far side of a downed tree trunk – staring at a strap of cloth tied in a loop. He whooped loudly.

  The men came running down.

  "What? What is it?"

  "This might have been Mark's. It's still tied like a gag and I found a length of rope at the bottom that might have been used to tie his legs together." He held up the rope for them to see. Swimming ashore, he handed the two items off to Barry. "I'm going to check for tracks on the far side going up the bank. I think Mark escaped."

  Reid dove back into the water. Navigating around the trees, branches, and rocks, he swam upstream looking for where he'd try to get out if it had been him trying to get away. Ten feet up were bushes almost standing in the water. He crawled out slowly, and noticed the scuffed marks in the wet sand.

  "Someone came out here," he called back.

  "Most likely just some kid cooling off in the creek," Ian called back.

  Reid muttered under his breath as he followed the tracks up the bluff. He slipped and skidded several times, unintentionally recreating the marks in the sand that he'd been looking at originally. At the top, he stopped to catch his breath. Not a long distance, but hard to get up with the sand sliding, causing him to slide back down again.

  "I'm just going to take a quick look around."

  And he disappeared into the trees.

  ***

  The vehicle drove down the road. Though tied up tight, Gem thought of all the things she'd do to these asshol
es when she got free. Her gaze bounded from the sliding door to the closed smoked windows and bounced to the front dash, trying to take it all in. Humpty and Dumpty. Figures. She'd known they were just thugs. EPA officers, my ass. And somehow they'd scared up this older maroon van. And they were moving. For some reason that scared her the most. Who knew where they were taking her. From the position she was in, she couldn't see much through the window.

  "Hey, look at that. Her eyes are saying the same damn thing her boyfriend's did." The porkier of the two men grinned down at her.

  Boyfriend. Her fears deepened. If they'd caught Mark or Reid, then where were they?