Page 33 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

Kaden slid to a halt a short distance into the mine shaft, shining his flashlight on the ground.

There were footprints in the damp earth.

One set was large and deep, like a big man might make.

The other was dainty and small like Shanna would make.

But something was prickling at the edge of his consciousness, telling him to stop. What was it?

The map. The map of the mines from Shanna’s computer.

Stella had said this was the Cooper’s Bluff mine shaft.

That shaft went on for a good quarter mile.

After that, it opened into the woods. The Phantom had a head start.

And the element of surprise. He had to have reached the exit by now.

Then what? Would he go through the woods?

Or head to the opening of another shaft and continue underground?

Where? Where to? The possibilities were endless and he could spend all day trying to find Shanna, only to arrive too late to help her.

Or he could think this through. Figure out where she was being taken. The clues were there, somewhere, niggling at him. He just had to piece them together. Fast.

In spite of his misgivings, he couldn’t not follow. Shanna had gone this way. He couldn’t just turn around and—

“Kaden,” Dawson called out. “Wait up.”

He turned around, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the flashlights as Dawson and a group of six state policemen caught up to him.

Kaden pointed to the ground. “He took her through this tunnel.”

“We’ll find her, sir,” one of the officers said as they jogged past him.

“Why did you stop?” Dawson asked.

Shanna’s notes. The last ones he’d read. What had she said? “Keep it simple, stupid.”

Dawson frowned. “What?”

“Shanna’s research, her notes. She knew the mines were around here. She mapped them out. And she studied the topography and…she wrote down KISS.”

“Keep it simple, yeah, yeah. What of it?”

“Under that she wrote something about the bonfire clearing. No, not just something. It was specific. She wrote…” He closed his eyes, trying to picture the exact words she’d used. “Tanya. The bonfire clearing. Jack. Tristan. The cove.”

“And? What does it mean?”

“I think she was saying to stop making things so complicated. The guy we’re dealing with isn’t some criminal mastermind.

He’s a thief and a coward, likely stealing people’s food and supplies from the cabins in these mountains when they’re empty of tourists and hunters.

And for fun, or some kind of misguided sense of a divine mission, he’s punishing people he believes need to be punished.

Remember what Sam said the Phantom said about bullies?

But this guy cheats. He doesn’t fight fair.

He uses a stun gun, sneaks up on them. Hell, he probably used a stun gun on Tristan to drown him.

I’ll bet the cuts on his bones were postmortem. ”

“They were. The ME confirmed it.”

Kaden tightened his hand around his flashlight.

“Tanya was killed at the bonfire clearing. We know that. It’s only a mile or so past Cooper’s Bluff.

All the others being hurt or killed were at that clearing with her the night she went missing.

That bonfire area is his comfort zone. I’ll bet he takes all his victim’s there to kill them. ”

“Except Tristan. You found him on the opposite side of the lake, closer to the marina.”

“But I don’t think he was actually killed there. This guy has a pattern. Abduct someone using a stun gun. He probably uses the mines all the time to transport them where he wants to take them. He’s doing it with Shanna. Makes sense he did it with them too.”

“That’s a huge leap,” Dawson said. “We don’t know if that’s true or not.

And there’s no evidence to say that Tristan wasn’t killed right where you found him.

Take Jessica, for example. She was found outside the restaurant.

That’s nowhere near the bonfire clearing.

Is there a point to any of this speculation other than to say he’s been by Cassidy’s cabin, the restaurant, the cover, and the bonfire clearing? ”

Kaden swore and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to play investigator and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

Dawson put his hand on his shoulder. “Take a breath. The state police are hot on Shanna’s trail. They’ll find her.”

“But will they be too late?”

Dawson remained silent.

Kaden braced a hand on the rock wall of the mine.

“Think. Think. What would Shanna do if she was here? Where would she look for someone taken from the B and B down through the mine?” He straightened and turned around.

“Trust her. I have to trust the work she did, her notes. Tanya. The bonfire clearing. Jack. Tristan. The cove.”

“All right. We’ll do it your why,” Dawson said.

“Trust Shanna’s notes, her conclusions. She mentioned two places, right?

The clearing and the cove. We can cover more ground if we split up.

And we can get to both places way quicker over water than land.

You drive to the Tate cabin and get your boat.

Head out to the clearing. I’ll take the police boat to the cove and radio my officers to split up and cover both places. ”

“I’m not waiting around for your team.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

They took off running back toward the B and B.

S HANNA SWORE.

“What happened?” Tanya asked. “Are you okay?”

“I think I cut my hand. Wait. Let me get the light on again so we can see our progress.”

She carefully felt for where she’d left the batteries after removing them to use the body of the flashlight as a shovel. It took several minutes of shaking the flashlight and using her shirt to wipe out the inside before the batteries got a good enough connection to flood the cave with light again.

“Definitely bleeding. But it won’t kill me.” She winced at her poor choice of words. “Looks, Tanya. We’re getting there. Two bars dug out.” But it had taken far longer than she’d hoped. “There’s enough room for you to squeeze through. Go on. Hurry. Get out, run and hide before he comes back.”

“Wait, leave you? No. I’ll help you dig out another bar.”

Shanna put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “A lot’s been happening in the past few days. He’s escalating. We can’t risk that he won’t go ahead and kill you when he returns. Killers don’t leave witnesses behind.”

Tanya’s eyes widened. “But I don’t… I don’t want to leave you behind, either.”

“I’ll be okay. You’ll go get help, right? I need you to do that. If you don’t go, we both might be trapped here, with no chance. Go. Hurry. Save us both, Tanya. Go get help.”

Tanya’s shoulders straightened and a determined look lit her eyes. “Help. Yes. I can do that. I’ll find someone to help.”

Shanna shoved at the two loose bars. Somehow, they were still attached at the top of the cave. But the bottom parts were free. She shoved them to the side so Tanya could slip through. “Now, go on. Get out of here.”

“I’ll—I’ll come back. With help.”

“I’m counting on it. Hurry.”

Tanya whirled around and disappeared through the rotten tree.

Shanna braced her aching back against one of the many remaining bars.

What she hadn’t told Tanya was that the two bars they’d dug out were the only ones with any give at the top.

She’d tried to shake and move every other bar before choosing the two they’d dug out.

The rest were sunk into the boulder at the top with no movement, which meant even if she dug out more bars from the bottom, she wouldn’t be able to move them to the side.

And she was larger than Tanya. She couldn’t squeeze through the opening the younger girl had squeezed through.

She was stuck here with no way out.

Well, there was one way. She could dig two to three feet down, so she could wiggle underneath the bars without having to swing the bars to the side.

But that would take hours. The ground was hard, rocky, and her makeshift shovel was never intended for that kind of digging. Would it even last if she tried?

The only alternative was to sit here and wait for the Phantom to return. As soon as he saw that Tanya was gone, he’d know that Shanna was responsible. He’d kill her, for sure.

Which meant she no choice but to dig. And pray he didn’t return anytime soon.

She took out the batteries and set them aside. Then she started to dig.

Her fingers ached from curling around the flashlight, shoving it over and over into the hard dirt.

How long had she been scraping with little progress?

Ten minutes? Fifteen? More? There was no way to accurately judge the time in the dark.

But she couldn’t stop, no matter how slow going it was.

Tanya had never given up. She’d survived nearly a year in this dark hole. Shanna wasn’t a quitter, either.

After shaking out the pitifully small bit of dirt she’d just scooped out, she shoved the flashlight into the dirt again.

A thump sounded from outside.

She froze, and looked toward the cave opening.

“Ladies, I brought lunch.” The Phantom’s cheery voice preceded him as he shoved his way through the back of the rotten tree. “Did your light go out? Here.” Light filled the cave as he switched on a flashlight he was holding.

Shanna smiled. “Back so soon?”

His eyes widened. “Where is she? What have you done?”

She tightened her hold on her flashlight. “Lunch smells good. What did you bring?”

His furious shout filled the cave, echoing off the walls. He tossed the bags of food on the ground and yanked his knife out of the sheathe as he stalked toward her. “I trusted you. You’ve ruined everything. Now you’re going to pay.”

Her pulse rushed in her ears. He was going to kill her.

He shoved the key in the lock. “It’s time you learned all about Mystic Lake’s secrets. Let’s go for a swim.”