Page 43

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

ASHER

A sher leaned back against the wall of the hut, desperate to figure out what on earth was going on.

Cora had drugged him, and was apparently preparing for some kind of ritual.

Lily and Cora were connected somehow.

Lily was with Karlin.

And Karlin was in grave danger.

None of the pieces fit together, and yet, he was surprised by how quickly his mind was working now, turning the information over in his head, trying to put together the impossible puzzle.

He had pressed his body carefully between the wall and the floor, expecting to pass out at any second, but instead, something strange was happening.

As the seconds wore on, he thought that he might actually be starting to feel better.

The onslaught of tiredness that he’d felt a moment ago was lessening, and he was beginning to feel the stinging pain left behind by the needle once more.

Hope stirred within his heart as a vague plan began to form.

God, please, grant me a sound mind. Let me stay awake. Help me to find Karlin.

“What ritual?” he asked, trying his best to sound like he was close to losing consciousness. He even managed to let a little bit of drool fall onto his chin.

To his surprise, Cora answered, leaning down to rest on her heels beside him. “The final one. This is a big day for my community. I wish you’d just gone with Paul, but I promise, you’re going to be fine, anyway.”

She didn’t meet his eyes. She seemed lost, as though her mind was somewhere else even as she helped him to lay down on his mat.

He complied, not wanting her to know that her drug had seemingly failed, but dozens of questions threatened to spill out.

He didn’t like the sound of a ritual, particularly one described as being ‘final.’

Both he and Karlin had dismissed the cult rumors out of hand, but now it was clear that their lack of interest had been a huge mistake.

It seemed impossible to believe that this ritual wasn’t connected to the missing teenage girls.

However the whole cult thing fit together, it was clear that Cora Trejo had gotten caught up in something terrible.

He wanted to know what it was, and to try and help her if he could, but for the moment, he had only one priority.

“Wait,” he said, laying his head obediently against the top of the mat. “Where is Ms. McKenna, exactly? Can you at least tell me that?”

This time, he didn’t have to fake stumbling over his words. His terror had done that work for him.

He could barely bear the quiet seconds that passed as he waited for her to answer. The very thought that Karlin might not be okay was enough to send him reeling.

At last, Cora spoke.

“All you have to know is that she’ll be fine, and so will you,” she said, getting to her feet and adjusting the belt of her jeans. “We just need you guys out of our way. Tonight, we only need one victim.”

His heart was pounding so loud that he was sure she would hear it.

The temptation to pull out his gun was strong, but he forced himself to remain where he was, breathing in and out as slowly and deliberately as he could. He watched as Cora’s combat-boot clad feet walked toward the door of the hut.

He would take a chance and ask one more question, and then he was going to have to put the rest of his plan into action.

“You–are you–are you going to kill her?” he said, closing his eyes as he slurred each word out slowly, guessing at the sex of the ritual victim.

Cora stopped short and turned to look back at him, but she did not move to speak.

Her eyes looked hollow now, like some dark, malevolent force had taken over the woman’s being.

“Cora? Cora, are you planning to hurt someone?” he pleaded, remembering at the last second to slur his words.

She didn’t seem to suspect anything. She didn’t seem to hear him at all.

Without another word, she turned again and walked out into the night.

As she opened the door, a gust of freezing wind swept into the hut, sending a shiver rushing along Asher’s spine.

He hardly noticed it.

The emptiness in her eyes had already chilled him straight through to his bones.

KARLIN

Apparently, knowing how to start a fire and actually doing it were two very different things.

Karlin’s legs were aching as she knelt in front of the old cabin’s woodstove, watching as yet another pile of kindling ignited, only to burn out a few seconds later.

It probably didn’t help that outside, she could hear a deluge of rain pounding on the roof and gusts of wind blowing over the top of the chimney somewhere above her.

The only consolation was that there was no thunder, at least, not yet. Thunder had terrified her ever since she was a little girl.

Her parents had never had much sympathy for her fears, but John had always tried to soothe her, explaining why there was nothing to be scared of.

She’d never been fully convinced–even now, her rational understanding of the science of thunderstorms did little to comfort her–but she was thankful that he’d cared.

She shivered in her damp clothes, wishing she still had her lab coat that she’d tossed aside back at the hut.

Actually, that was a lie.

What she really wished for was Axel.

He’d know what to do.

And best of all, he’d hold her in his arms, warming her straight through until she never wanted him to let her go.

She had to believe that he was out there somewhere, looking for her. She refused to let herself consider any other possibility. And in the meantime, she had to focus on taking care of her basic needs.

“Here goes nothing,” she said aloud, striking another match and lighting a few balled-up old newspapers she was using as tinder. They caught easily, filling the cabin with a pleasant warm glow.

But this was the easy part.

“Come on, come on,” she coaxed the fire, blowing slightly as the flames licked against the kindling. To her relief, they caught, and this time, the flame only continued to grow instead of going out.

Karlin plunked herself gracelessly onto the floor, figuring she should wait for a few moments before trying to add any actual logs.

She took a sip of water from a bottle she’d set nearby.

Now that the fire was starting to actually produce heat, she might be able to open a can and eat something for breakfast in a few hours.

Satisfied with her physical well-being for the moment, she reached into her pocket to take out the photo of John that she always carried.

Even though they had different biological fathers, she’d always thought they’d looked alike. John was blonde and she was a redhead, but they both shared the same bright blue eyes. And being born only eleven months apart seemed to have given them the same closeness as actual twins.

She held the photo to her chest, wishing desperately that he was here, too.

Aside from Axel, he was the one person who she knew truly cared about her. Unfortunately, it would be a while before he realized she was gone.

She pulled herself to her feet and eyed the old futon sitting against the back wall. Thoughts of bedbugs, spiders, and other nasties made her shudder at the thought of actually sleeping on it, but she knew that getting some rest might be the smartest course of action.

She wanted Axel to burst through the door and rescue her immediately, but she knew it was unlikely.

Even if he was still safe with Cora and Paul, the storm outside was fierce, and the cabin was surrounded by steep, rocky hills.

An even worse realization struck her at once.

Bajwa was in police custody, but he also thought Karlin was still with their patients, so she doubted he’d think to try and send in any backup. Even assuming the police allowed him to try.

Until Ned arrived at work on Monday, the patients would be on their own.

It was highly likely that Bajwa’s Jeep keys were still in his pocket along with his sat phone, which meant the others would have to get back to the main retreat site on foot.

At least she’d left the maintenance truck parked behind the staff cabins.

They could take that back down to the main Senera offices, but the road would be a nightmare in this weather.

Of course, this was all assuming that crazy, gun-wielding Lily didn’t get to them first. Then again, she, too, was on foot and would be hindered by the storm.

She took several deep breaths, walking over to the table and laying John’s picture next to the old scented candle. It had gotten totally soaked in her pocket.

She had to stay positive, or she was going to drive herself crazy.

At least the effects of DX8 had to have mostly worn off for her patients by now, and the hut was definitely warmer than this cabin. Like her, they were in no immediate physical danger–at least, not any danger posed by natural causes.

She leaned against the back of her chair, trying to get comfortable in some way that wouldn’t require her to lay on the old futon. Her head hurt, and her racing thoughts certainly weren’t helping.

Something else was still bothering her about the entire night, aside from the obvious.

Who had called the cops on Bajwa?

She had assumed immediately that it had to have been Axel, or maybe someone from Forge Brothers Security, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Could it have actually been Lily?

It seemed possible.

After all, she’d been on the retreat with Amira, and she knew what happened to her afterwards. Then again, Lily also knew that Bajwa hadn’t been at Senera when the trial took place, so why hadn’t she just called the cops on Karlin, instead?

Was she conspiring with Senera somehow, or was she on some other side of this thing all on her own, desperate to get rid of anyone, including Bajwa, who might put a stop to whatever ritual she was planning?

The stuff they’d heard about cults didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.

She got to her feet with a sigh. There was no way she was going to be able to rest, let alone sleep, with such a fascinating puzzle in front of her.

Instead, she grabbed a couple of logs from the little woodpile and tossed them onto the burning kindling.

Within a few minutes, the cabin began to warm.

With nothing else to do, she bowed her head and tried her best to stumble through a prayer that Axel, Paul, and Cora were safe, and then help would arrive soon.

She wasn’t sure God was listening, but if he was?

Now would be a really, really great time for him to work a miracle.

ASHER

Asher stared up at the ceiling of the hut, forcing himself to count slowly to thirty.

It wasn’t easy.

Everything in him was desperate to rush out there after her, guns blazing, but that wasn’t the plan. If he threatened her, she might just refuse to speak, but she could also lead him away from Karlin on purpose. He didn’t think it was worth the risk.

“Twenty-six Mississippi, twenty-seven Mississippi, twenty-eight Mississippi…”

He could almost imagine Karlin wrinkling her adorable nose at him and announcing that he counted like an eight year old. The thought made him smile in spite of his worry.

The second that he hit thirty Mississippis, he sprang up from his mat and slowly snuck out into the darkness.

Just as he’d hoped, Cora was still well within sight, peering into the window of Bajwa’s Jeep and fiddling with the door handle. As he’d suspected, it was locked, and the woman moved past it quickly.

He followed at a safe distance, wrapping his arms around his chest tightly as the harsh wind turned the otherwise harmless raindrops into freezing barbs against his face and neck.

Cora, on the other hand, hardly seemed bothered by the cold at all, even though she was wearing a cropped hoodie that revealed a couple inches of midriff.

He shuddered, imagining how the cold water would feel touching his belly button.

Totally yuck.

What was wrong with this girl?

Well, with any luck, he would find out soon enough. Despite his discomfort, he was thankful for the horrendous weather. Between the constant battering of the wind and rain, he could keep up with his quarry. There was no way she would be able to hear his hurried footsteps.

At first, she had seemed to be headed toward the main area of the retreat site, but it wasn’t long before she veered off onto another, narrower path.

The trail grew more winding and hazardous as they went, and soon, Asher had completely lost not only his bearings but any sense of how much time had passed.

All speculation as to where they were going fell away as they went.

All of Asher’s focus went to putting one foot in front of the other, trusting that somehow, Cora would lead him to Karlin.

If she didn’t, he had no idea of plan B.

If he didn’t keep walking, he could become dangerously cold very quickly.

Aside from that, he had to stay close, for the simple reason that it was dark and he had no clue where he was going. It would be way too easy to walk off an unseen ledge and fall to his death.

Even Cora, who had looked invincible when they started their hike, was beginning to look miserable. Her wavy hair hung in dark strings over her shoulders, her jeans were plastered to her legs, and her face looked almost blue.

Still, she pressed on, until at last they came to a small clearing ringed by bushes and tall cacti. She paused for a moment and he did the same. Without movement, he found himself shaking so hard that he could feel his teeth clicking together.

Fortunately, she started walking again quickly, seemingly spotting something in the thick flora that he couldn’t see from his current position.

Though he had paused just long enough to let her get a little ways ahead, he realized immediately that he’d made a grave mistake.

Up ahead, just around a tall clump of spiny cacti, was a red ATV.

Asher swallowed a bad word.

As usual, despite his best efforts to analyze the risks, he’d chosen the wrong course of action.

He should have subdued her immediately and demanded answers, not let her get away in hopes of her leading him to Karlin.

He was bigger than her, and as far as he could tell, she was armed with nothing aside from the syringe she’d already used on him.

He pulled out his gun and quickened his pace, trying desperately to catch up, but just when he thought he might be able to make up the distance, his foot slipped on a patch of muddy rock.

Those few seconds as he fell were all she needed to get onto the ATV, turn the key in the ignition, and race off into the wilderness.