Page 55 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

FIFTY-ONE

Katie felt more alone than at any time in her life.

It was complete darkness now with only the subtle outline of trees and surroundings.

There weren’t any twinkling stars or a full moon to help light their path.

She and Cisco stopped for a minute, camouflaged between trees to rest and recoup their strength.

They both drank some water and had part of a natural energy bar.

She wasn’t going to use the flashlight unless absolutely necessary.

Katie readjusted her pack and made sure her layered clothing, beanie, heavy scarf, and gloves were doing their jobs. She felt warm enough right now, but didn’t know what to expect.

She kept thinking about the chief shaking his head about Jack, as if to say he didn’t do it, which didn’t make any sense. He’d drugged them and taken the chief and John to die a slow death out here.

The question was…did Jack commit the murders, and if he didn’t, why was he so intent on silencing the chief and John as some type of witnesses?

Things still weren’t adding up, but either way her first objective was to find John.

She didn’t want to admit it, but there was no other reason than Jack took John to lure her and McGaven out here.

This type of behavior and the behavioral evidence at the crime scenes indicated two different types of people.

Jack didn’t exhibit a split personality, but Katie wasn’t a doctor or psychiatrist. Perhaps it was just very well hidden.

Katie glanced at her watch, noticing that there was a solid hour before she would even think of meeting up with McGaven. Prepping herself was key to be able to make quick decisions and staying alert to everything around her.

She and Cisco began another track and this time it seemed to be different with Cisco's change of demeanor. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. There wasn’t any way of reading the dog at this stage, to know if he was reading scent for a live person—or deceased.

The team made its way around clusters of trees, past several small structures that were dilapidated and seemed empty. John was Katie’s priority, but she had to remain vigilant of Jack’s presence. She hoped he had gone back to his vet office to spin some kind of story of where John had gone.

Katie still kept Cisco on the long lead and the dog’s pace started to accelerate, which was a good sign. She kept a jogging pace in the snow, which began to wear her energy down rapidly. The terrain was difficult and the snow made it even more challenging.

Cisco kept his nose down, seeming interested in a specific area. Katie’s heart pounded as she followed him, and she began to perspire, sweat rolling down her forehead, the cold turning her skin icy and uncomfortable.

Cisco sat, alerting Katie to a section.

She ran up to the dog and dropped to her knees. Assuming it was another buried building or storage, she began to clear away the snow. The opening was completely covered as if it had been disguised recently and in a hurry.

Katie kept Cisco away from the opening, not knowing what to expect or if it was dangerous—or even a trap.

She took a good three-hundred-sixty degree scan of the area; it was quiet and clear.

There were a couple sets of trees on either side of her, which helped to protect them.

About two hundred yards away were nothing but clusters of trees and it would be easy to hide among them. She kept that in mind.

“ Platz .” She told the dog to down; it would keep him in a safer position.

Cisco obeyed and kept his sights on the area as well as Katie.

Katie eyed the round opening and could see scratches and broken spots. They could have been recent marks, but it was difficult to ascertain when they were made. She lay on her stomach and peered over the rim, sweeping her flashlight below. She saw an outline of a body lying on its side.

“John. John?”

There was no movement. No answer.

Katie could barely breathe.

“John?” she called. “Please, John, let me know you’re okay.” Her voice cracked with grief. She couldn’t lose him. “John…”

“I’m here,” came a voice that seemed to echo all around her.

Cisco sat up as he heard the voice.

“Are you okay?”

“Define okay…”

For some reason, under the extreme stress, that comment made her smile. John’s dry humor was definitely his signature. “Can you move?”

“Some.” John’s voice was strained.

“Do you have any injuries?”

“No. But the drugs made me weak and nauseous.”

“Did Jack push you down there? ”

“Yes.”

Katie examined every inch of the area, her mind retracing everything that had happened since she arrived at the Echo Forest Lodge.

“I’m going to get you out. Hang tight.” She stood up and dropped her pack. Retrieving a fifty-foot rope with two carabiners, Katie got to work. She decided to secure the rope to one of the heavy branches nearby, so she tested it for strength and reliability with her body weight.

“John, can you pull yourself up?”

“I think so…”

“You can do this.” She pulled the rope and lowered it so it wouldn’t plunge down all at once and hit him. She hoped it was long enough. “Can you reach it?”

“Almost.”

“C’mon, John, you can do this.” Katie wasn’t so sure, but she was going to give encouragement no matter what.

The rope pulled taut.

“Got it,” he said.

Katie felt vulnerable and kept a keen watch all around them. She heard John grunt as he fell backward. “C’mon, John! You’ve got this. I know you do.” She dropped to her stomach again, aiming the flashlight beam, and saw him trying to tie the rope around his waist.

Once he’d secured himself he began to dig his toes into the well walls.

Katie grabbed the rope with her gloved hand and began to help by pulling him up.

Slowly, they were beginning to make some leeway.

She flopped down in a sitting position with her feet secured against the lip of the well and pulled with everything she had.

The muscles in her arms burned and she could feel her strength declining.

Cisco let out a low whine as if to say, “You can do it. ”

Katie slowly and steadily began to pull more rope toward her.

“Almost,” came a raspy voice.

“Keep going. You can do this!” said Katie, gritting her teeth. Her muscles were on fire and her hands stung, but she continued. Her back cramped, but she breathed her way through the discomfort.

As soon as she saw John, she gasped at his condition. His face was pale and he appeared older. His anguish was clear as he got his arms up and over the lip of the well.

Katie crawled to him and grasped his arms and pulled until he was to safety. “John,” she barely said.

He got to his knees and met Katie.

“John, you okay?”

He nodded. “I never thought…”

Katie hugged him tight. His body was cold, but he held her tight too, catching some of her warmth.

“I thought no one would ever find me…”

“It’s okay. I prayed that we would find you. But it was all Cisco.”

The dog got up and squeezed himself between them.

“Thanks, buddy,” said John, slowly petting the dog.

“We need to get you warm.” Katie shed her insulated coat to give him. Her two sweaters were still helpful, but she instantly felt the cold invade her space.

“No, you need it.”

“Put it on. We need to warm you up. Are you hurt anywhere? Any injuries?” She pulled her coat around him tighter, zipping it up as they stared into each other’s eyes intensely. “Oh, John, I’m so sorry. I wish I never took these cases and…” She hugged him tight, feeling him shiver next to her body.

He squeezed her harder. “I’m okay.” He took his hand, tracing her face. “Just when I think you can’t amaze me anymore—you do something like this.”

Katie wanted to stay in that moment, but she knew they were out in the open and needed to get moving toward Devin’s place and meet up with McGaven.

“C’mon,” she said. “Can you walk?”

He nodded.

Katie and Cisco guided him to an area to take a break while she updated him as best as she could. She used her right arm to steady him and help him walk.

They sat down on two tree stumps while Katie retrieved water and part of a natural energy bar from her pack.

“Stay here,” she said. To Cisco, she instructed, “ Bleib .”

Katie went back to the well and retrieved the rope and carabiners, rolling it all up and stuffing it into her pack. When she turned around to return to John and Cisco, Jack stood in the open area like an apparition with reflector strips down the sleeves of his coat, barely ten feet away from her.

She gasped.

Jack had a shotgun in his right hand.