Authors: Jeff Strand
"I'm not asking for your help."
"Either way, you need it, and we're staying."
The third option was no longer realistic. Nicholas was too insistent. All they'd have to do is promise not to tell anybody about her, leave, and then call the police anyway.
So, either they were on the kidnapper's side, or they were being forced into this. If they were on the kidnapper's side, they could very well have instructions to try to kill her, to see if she could get away. Survive the attack, just like Gary did. If they were forced into this, did that mean that they were playing the roles of Doug and Scott?
Would Nicholas' blood cover the rocks next?
Did they even know how much danger they were in?
If they were innocent victims, then maybe she could warn them. They could work out some kind of plan, increase their chances of coming out of this alive.
But if they weren't innocent, and she revealed any part of her own dilemma to them, then she'd never see Gary alive again.
"You're risking your lives if you stay here," she warned.
"We'll take our chances," said Nicholas. "Would it be all right if we sat by the fire now? It's pretty chilly out here."
She almost said "sure," but caught herself. This was no time for polite behavior. She couldn't let her guard down in case they turned out to be working with Alan and Stephen. "Make your own," she told them.
"That's kind of heartless," said Nicholas. "We're only trying to help you out."
Rebecca didn't respond. The men looked at each other then began gathering branches for their own fire. She watched them intently, ready for them to rush toward her at any second, but they set up their own camp about thirty feet away from her without incident.
Once they'd finished stacking the wood, Nicholas took a few steps toward her. "Mind if we borrow some fire?"
"You didn't bring matches?"
"I think we left them in the car."
They definitely weren't regular old campers. Rebecca wanted to refuse, but then again, she'd be better off getting as much information out of these guys as she could, especially if they were innocent victims.
Still, she wasn't letting go of the spears.
"All right," she said. "Bring a stick."
Nicholas picked up a branch and walked over to her fire. He poked the stick in the flames and gave her a friendly but uncomfortable smile.
"What brings you out here?" he asked.
"I don't want to talk about it."
He nodded and looked like he very much wanted to say something else, but didn't. He stood there for a moment. "I guess my stick's burning."
"I guess so."
He pulled the stick out of the fire and returned to his own site. Rebecca watched him carefully as he stuck the burning stick underneath the pile of branches, setting the tinder on fire.
Nicholas
could
still be working with Alan and Stephen, but she believed that he was being forced into this, just like her. He had the appearance of somebody desperately wanting to blurt out a secret but not daring, not the appearance of somebody biding his time until the right moment to strike.
But what about Todd? Did the two men even know each other?
That's what she needed to figure out. If Nicholas and Todd were both victims, then perhaps she could signal something to them. She had to be careful, because somebody could still be watching them from the woods, and the men could be bugged (hell,
she
could be bugged).
If Todd was one of the bad guys, then she had to be even more careful.
She sat on her log, watching them for a few minutes until their campfire was burning nicely. They both crouched next to the fire, warming their hands. "Hey," Rebecca called out, getting their attention. "If you want to, you can take these other two logs to sit on, I'm not using them."
"Thanks," said Nicholas, walking over to her. Todd followed. Rebecca tightened her grip on the spear, still half-expecting them to lunge at her, but the men each picked up a log and returned to their camp. Only Nicholas thanked her.
They sat at their respective fires for a while, the two men speaking quietly. Rebecca couldn't hear what they were saying, but Todd's body language indicated a nervous rather than threatening tone, at least as far as she could tell.
She looked out at the woods. Nobody in sight.
What if Nicholas and Todd had no idea they were in physical danger?
She wanted Gary back more than anything, but could she live with herself if these men were slaughtered because she didn't give them any kind of warning?
It was an awful quandary. Was the risk of getting caught breaking the rules worth just letting them die?
She stared into the fire, thinking.
Until she was more certain about Todd, she wasn't going to take the risk. If she did decide that he could be trusted, she'd simply play it by ear. She wouldn't be giving up on Gary by breaking the rules. After all, she still had to survive the night if he was going to be released, and she'd have a much better chance of doing that if she had Nicholas and Todd on her side.
There were enough spears for everyone.
She thought about the game. If she was supposed to be following Gary's actions as closely as possible, then it stood to reason that both of the men were on her side. To match the original events, they needed a Gary, a Doug, and a Scott.
Unfortunately, she couldn't count on that. She'd been alone in the bar, even though all three of them would have been there the first time around. At least, that's what made the most sense. And she couldn't imagine that any of them would have started a fight over football, so somebody in the bar would have been the instigator, meaning the kidnappers weren't
that
anal-retentive about duplicating the events exactly.
Okay, even if one of them had started the fight, it definitely hadn't been Gary. So she'd played either Doug or Scott's role.
She could be playing one of their parts right now.
She could be the one whose blood covered the rocks. Maybe Nicholas was trying to save his wife.
She forced herself to stop analyzing the situation. It was just too confusing. All she had to do was figure out if Todd could be trusted then take it from there.
Rebecca stared at the fire some more, then came to a decision. She was going to let down her guard and go over and talk to them. See what she could figure out. Get to know them. If the three of them were going to survive whatever horrible events were going to take place, they had to at least start to form some kind of trust.
But, of course, she was going to bring the spears.
She tucked two of them under her arm, then picked up her log seat and walked over to their fire. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, of course not, sit down," said Nicholas.
She set the log down by the fire but still out of reach of the men. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long moment then Rebecca finally spoke. "If you're here to help me, you're not doing much by just sitting around."
Nicholas glanced over at Todd, then back at her. "You're right. We just, you know, thought you looked like you shouldn't be alone."
"Well, I appreciate that."
Nicholas bit his lower lip and stared out at the trees. He was definitely not one of the bad guys, and if they could find a way to talk alone...
"So how long have you two known each other?" she asked Todd.
Todd shrugged. "About twenty years, I think."
"Twenty years, that's right," said Nicholas.
"How'd you meet?"
"Our kids were beating each other up."
"Actually," Nicholas corrected, "my son was beating up your son."
"Yeah, with a bat. Real fair fight there."
"It was a cheap plastic bat."
"We've been over this thousands of times. Even cheap plastic bats hurt when you whack somebody over the head with them. If your son had a halfway decent father, he'd know how to fight fair."
Nicholas chuckled softly, and Rebecca smiled despite herself. The two men seemed to have genuine affection for each other. She wasn't going to leap to any judgments, but she suspected that both of them had been forced into this. They were Doug and Scott.
They were meant to die.
She'd keep talking to them to get a more definite impression, but before long she'd have to take the risk and try to communicate about their situation. Maybe they wouldn't be able to work out a plan, but they needed to know just how much danger they were in.
They chatted for a few more minutes about nothing important. Rebecca's impression grew more solid. These men were either long-time friends or excellent actors.
"So Nicholas, do you like to fish?" she asked.
"Of course."
"I found a really great spot," she said, pointing toward the stained rocks. "You should take my pole and give it a couple tries, you'll be surprised what you'll catch."
"Is that so? Maybe I'll test it out a little later."
"Why not test it now? Just a cast or two. It's really great fishing."
Nicholas nodded and stood up. "I thought I knew all the great spots in this pond," he said, as if suddenly remembering his cover story.
He walked over to the pond and retrieved Rebecca's fishing pole. He wandered over to the rocks, stood silently for a few seconds, then cast the line and reeled it in. He returned to the campfire, leaving the pole behind, and sat back down on his log, face pale.
"I guess you're right," he said, voice barely a whisper. "Somebody cleaned one hell of a big fish over there."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Having company made the day go faster, even though they didn't talk about anything important and left long stretches of silence in their conversations. Rebecca kept hoping that one of the men would take the initiative and try to discuss why they were really at the pond, but neither of them did, even when she tried to drop subtle hints.
Todd went over to "test the fishing spot" as well, and returned even paler than his friend. They both seemed disturbed, but neither seemed surprised. She couldn't be sure how much they knew about the coming attractions, but they were both expecting to see blood.
She almost tried to write a message in the dirt with one of her spears, but at the last instant couldn't bring herself to do it. If somebody was watching from the woods, it would be too obvious an attempt to break the rules.
So they just waited.
And then it was dark again.
* * *
"Is it an animal?"
"Yes," said Rebecca.
"Is it a mammal?"