Scoot asks, "When did she tell you that?"
Shrugging Stump says, "We were talking one
night at Mel's. Why?"
Scoot asks, "Is it possible that someone
overheard your conversation?"
Stump says, "I guess it's possible. We were
standing at the bar and the place was pretty full that night."
Scoot says, "That must be it then. Let's go
talk to Jeffrey Whitmore."
******
While Scoot and Goose have a talk with
Jeffrey Whitmore, Bear, Stump, and Pinky clean out Stump's
apartment and then take a look around Sam's apartment.
When they walk in the door at Sam's, memories
flood Stump's brain. He looks over at the bed and he feels the rush
of blood to his nether regions. Damn! That woman causes him to get
harder faster than anyone ever has. Just the thought of her lying
naked on that bed makes him want her. And he does want her, he
wants her hard and fast, he wants her slow and tender, he wants her
in the shower, on the floor, against the door, he just plain wants
her. He shakes his head and takes a deep breath trying to get his
imagination back under control.
Tearing his eyes away from the bed he looks
around the room. He says, "Someone's been here. When I was here the
other morning, the place was spotless. She certainly wouldn't have
left beer cans lying around. Someone has been rummaging through her
clothes and the desk too." Then he spots the box of condoms and a
dark rage floods through him. He picks them up and is relieved to
find it a full box. He growls, "It looks like this party didn't get
too far off the ground. The box is full."
Pinky says, "I'll call the FBI and get them
over here to dust for prints. Do you see anything missing?"
Shaking his head Stump says, "No, I wasn't
here long enough to know if something is missing or not. When I
realized I was in Sam's apartment, all I wanted to do was
leave."
******
When Scoot and Goose return to the ranch from
meeting with Jeffrey Whitmore they have some very interesting
information to share with the team. Jeffrey told them of an old
Indian legend about a lost cave somewhere within the park that is
loaded with gold artifacts that were used by the ancient Indians in
their rituals. It is believed the cave was sealed by an earthquake
hundreds of years ago.
Because the park is a national preserve no
one is allowed to search for the lost cave within its boundaries.
Hundreds of groups have searched the areas just outside the park
for years and because so many thousands of visitors have searched
the open areas of the park, it is now believed the cave, if it
exists, is in one of the off limit areas.
They tell the others that Jeffrey Whitmore is
extremely distressed to learn of Sam's abduction. He confirmed the
information about her degree being in archeology and added she has
a minor in geology and agrees it might be the reason she was
kidnapped. He also agrees with Scoot that Stump needs to stay out
of sight for the time being.
Stump suggests, "I think we should make more
passes over the area and see if we can find the truck."
Scoot disagrees, "We don't have enough
information about the truck. All we know is that it is a dark
extended cab. We don't have a license plate or anything. Thousands
of dark extended cab trucks are in this area. Three of them are
here on this ranch!"
Determined to do something productive, Stump
asks, "What about all of the guys that work at the construction
site? Couldn't we go there and check out the tire tread on all of
the dark extended cab trucks and see if we can match the one we
found at the cave this morning? It is not all that common. Then we
could get a plate number off the truck and maybe even follow them
back to where they have Sam."
Scoot says, "Now that is a worthwhile
suggestion. You and Pinky head to the construction site and check
the trucks. I'm going to ask Leaf Leblanc to do some research about
this legend and see if he can get any details about where the cave
might be located. I want Goose to go to the hospital in Cody and
get checked for any signs of a concussion. Then Bear and I are
going back up to where we got the hit last night on the infrared
camera and see if we missed anything."
******
When Pinky and Stump reach the construction
site they start by pinpointing the trucks they want to examine, a
total of four. They have to be very careful to not been seen. The
parking area is a short distance down a path from the actual
construction area so Stump makes his way through the woods to the
site where he can watch for anyone that might be headed toward the
parking area. Pinky examines the trucks. Three of the four vehicles
he examines are an exact match of the tire tread. He radios Stump
to return and they leave the area with the license numbers, makes,
models and exact colors of the vehicles.
******
Once they are away from the area, Stump calls
Barry Farrady at the ranch and gives him the information. Barry
runs the license plates through their government databases and gets
the owner's information on each of the three vehicles. Because
Drake Security does a lot of work for the government and has the
highest security clearance they have access to all of the
government's databases. He calls Stump with the information he
retrieves.
"Stump, this is Barry. One of the trucks, the
black one, came back registered to a Jack Dempsey. His background
shows he is working as a construction superintendent at
Yellowstone. What's interesting is his previous job was as a museum
curator for the state of Wyoming at the Wyoming State Museum in
Cheyenne. He left after he was put under suspicion for theft of
artifacts from the museum. No charges were ever filed because they
haven't been able to recover any of the missing items."
Stump says, "Well, that falls right in with
our theory then. What about the other two trucks?"
Barry continues, "The dark blue truck is
registered to Zeke Marshall. He is a transient that works mainly
construction. He has a rap sheet a mile long, mostly misdemeanors.
He does have one felony assault charge out of Michigan."
Stumps heart begins pounding. Damn! He
asks,"What about the third one?"
Barry says, "The dark green truck is
registered to Jeffrey Whitmore, head ranger at Yellowstone National
Park."
Stump says, "That's interesting. I didn't see
Jeffrey around the site when we were checking the trucks. Thanks
Barry."
Pinky suggests, "Maybe his kid has a summer
job working at the construction site or something."
Stump adds, "That's possible. I remember
seeing a skinny black kid helping the masonry guys. That must be
it. We probably should get Scoot to ask him though."
When Pinky and Stump arrive back at the
ranch, the others are still gone. Stump pleads, "Pinky, let's make
a pass over the park and see if we can see anything, please. I
really would like to find her before those guys leave work."
Pinky says, "I don't guess it can't hurt
anything. Let's go. A severe storm front is forecast to move
through later today."
Stump calls Scoot to let him know where they
are headed.
******
Samantha is awakened early the morning after
her abduction by the older of the two men untying her feet. He
leads her to the bathroom, unties her hands, and leaves her alone.
She checks for her derringer and discovers it and the holster are
gone. Damn! After she completes her business, he leads her back to
the bed and attaches her to the headboard with a pair of handcuffs.
At least now she can move around a little bit.
She hears the men leave the cabin and drive
away in the truck. The truck evidently has custom mufflers because
it makes a unique rumbling sound. She looks on the floor around the
bed looking for some way to open the handcuffs. She opens the
drawer of the bedside table and doesn't find anything except a few
newspapers and a hand mirror. Damn! That's not going to help her
pick this lock. She is digging through the drawer when she hears
the helicopter. It's them. She's got to let them know she's here,
but how?
Samantha is panicking. Then it hits her, the
mirror. She grabs the hand mirror out of the drawer and stretches
as far as she can toward the window, holding the mirror at an angle
to reflect the sun. Please God, let them see it!
******
Stump and Pinky are flying over the opposite
end of the park from where they searched that morning. Stump is so
discouraged. They haven't seen a single thing that might give them
any indication of where Sam is being held.
Pinky says, "We need to head back. That storm
front is moving in fast."
Stump pleads, "One more pass, then we can go
back."
Excitedly, Pinky says, "Stump, look over
here. I think I just saw a flash of some kind from about halfway up
that mountain."
Stump moves to the opposite side of the
helicopter, scans the area with the binoculars and he sees it.
"Yes, I see it! Let's get closer."
Pinky flies toward the flash and as they get
near Pinky asks, "Can you tell what it is?"
Stump says, "It looks like a cabin. The flash
is coming from one of the windows. What do you think? Should I go
down and check it out? It might be nothing."
Pinky says, "It might be Sam. Let's check it
out. I don't want to get too close because she might not be alone.
I'll drop you in the woods above the cabin and you can work your
way down. Make sure to carry enough food for two. Why don't you
take my backpack and sleeping bag too? It might be a few days
before we can pick you up. The weather report is calling for as
much as three days of rain."
Pinky lowers Stump on the cable to the ground
and flies away back to the ranch. He lands at the ranch just as the
storm rolls into the area.
******
Stump makes his way down toward the cabin as
quickly as he can. He knows that if it rains they will shut down
the work at the construction site early. That means all of the guys
will leave early. If Sam is in this cabin, he needs to get her out
and away as quickly as possible. His heart is pounding with fear
and dread. What if Sam isn't in this cabin? What if Zeke and Jeb
have her? What if she's already dead? His stomach twists
painfully.
Finally, he sees the cabin. He makes his way
around to the front and doesn't see any vehicles. Carefully peering
in the window to the front room, he sees it is unoccupied. Moving
around to the back, he peeks in the window and sees her. Samantha
is lying on the bed, her back to the window. He knows it's her
because his member just sprung to attention and relief flows
through him. Damn but this is going to be a long two or three
days.
He lightly taps on the window. Sam turns
around and a huge smile slides across her face. She points at her
arm and he sees that she is attached to the bed by a pair of
handcuffs. He tries the window and it won't budge.
He moves back to the front of the house where
he picks the lock on the door and moves inside, weapon drawn.
Advancing into the bedroom, he quickly picks the locks on the
handcuffs, grabs Sam by the arm and pulls her out the door and up
the mountain behind the cabin as quickly as he can.
******
Samantha is so disappointed. They didn't see
the mirror. They flew away again. Tears slowly slide from her eyes
to the bed. Wait! What's that noise? She rolls over on her back and
she sees him, Stump is tapping on the bedroom window. Her heart
starts pounding with excitement and a smile slides across her face.
She points to the handcuffs. He disappears from view.
A few minutes later, Stump enters the room,
weapon drawn from the front of the cabin. Her heart is pounding
with excited relief and she says, "Thank God, Stump, please help
me."
He quickly picks the lock on the handcuffs
and they turn and run out of the cabin and up the hill into the
woods. Just as they reach the edge of the woods the bottom falls
out of the sky and the rain starts pouring down in sheets. Stump
keeps dragging her higher and higher, deeper and deeper into the
woods.
Samantha hears the truck coming up the hill.
She would recognize the custom pipes on that truck anywhere. She
breathes a sigh of relief. She feels very lucky to be out of the
cabin and with Stump. She knows without a doubt that he'll protect
her. She still doesn't know why those men kidnapped her or what
they wanted from her.
By the time Stump finally stops to rest,
Samantha's clothes are soaked through and she is freezing cold. She
is shaking and her teeth are chattering when she asks, "D...d...do
you th...th...think they will fol...follow us?"
Stump sees her chattering teeth and his heart
clenches. Then his eyes drop to her chest and his breath catches in
his lungs and all of his blood flows to his nether regions. Damn!
Her puckered nipples are perfectly outlined by her soaking wet
t-shirt. He jerks his eyes away and answers her question, "No, the
rain will wash away any nipple we left."
Laughing Sam asks, "Any what?"
Stump realizing what he said turns bright red
and responds, "Trail, the rain will wash away any trail we left."
He reaches into his backpack and pulls out a rain slicker. He hands
it to her and says, "Hear, put this on, it should help keep you
warm." He thinks to himself at least it will help to hide those
tempting nipples. "Come on, we need to move further away and find
some place to make camp, preferably out of this rain. It's supposed
to last several days so it will be a while before the guys can pick
us up."
Stump slows his pace and they continue
walking up the mountain for another hour. "Are you doing all right?
How is your leg holding up?"
Sam says, a little short of breath, "I'm all
right. It only hurts a little."
Then Stump asks, "Who kidnapped you Sam? Was
it Zeke and Jeb?" His heart is pounding with dread as he waits for
her to answer.