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Chapter Nine

Blake cleared his throat and glanced to Paul. "Paul, use your binoculars for a closer view of that blaze. Those trees are going up like matchsticks. There's no way any of the backup or additional search teams will be able to get here until those fires are put out."

"God damn it," Paul muttered as he watched the flames through his binoculars.

Kermit spoke, his voice angry. "We've seen fire behave like this before and not too long ago. The fire that destroyed Kelly's Mustang, and almost took Peter and others along with it, acted just like this. Stamper must have his own mix of accelerants he uses in his homemade fire bombs."

Paul answered, hearing the bitter echo of fatigue in his own voice as he said, "That damned fire will also nix our plans to have the EMTs here as soon as Stamper gives up or goes down fighting... "

"What about a helicopter pickup?" Jody asked, her whispery tone contained an air of despair. Watching what Peter was going through with Stamper was hard on all of them.

Blake shook his head. "With these high winds, rain, thunder, and lightning, no helicopter pilot in his right mind would attempt a rescue. Much too dangerous. It would be a suicide run."

Kermit growled, "So, what the hell are we going to do? Even if we find Skalany and Kelly, they will probably need medical attention. With Peter's declining condition, his need for a doctor goes without saying. We better have another backup plan in the works."

"The one and only backup plan just went up in smoke – literally," Paul snapped. "Look, I can't talk to the lake's search-and-rescue people until Stamper's out of the way, or else he'll pick up our transmission on a regular frequency the lake patrol uses. In the meantime, I suggest the rest of you stick to the plan. Check out the area in your grid while keeping an eye open for trip wires and other types of hidden triggers. We are all just foreigners in Stamper's little house of horrors, so stay sharp. Blaisdell out."

Blake fiddled with the detonator wire of one of Stamper's fire bombs he'd found and muttered, "It ain't easy fighting crime these days, my friend."

Paul managed a wan smile as Blake finished disarming the device, and then he used the wire pulled from the device to pick at his teeth like a tooth pick. Paul simply shook his head, causing Blake to smile back at him. "Don't give me that worried look, Paul. I know what I'm doing."

Paul smiled, then he felt the smile fade from his lips. "Let's keep our mind on ending this nightmare ASAP, so we can take everybody home, safe and sound."

Before Paul could say anything more, there was an explosion across the grounds on the opposite side of Stamper and Peter's location. It was right where Kermit was supposed to have taken up position. Paul grabbed his binoculars again and aimed them in that general direction, but he couldn't see anything except Stamper moving into the brush with his gun, then he stopped for some reason, returning to Peter, but Paul's stomach knotted up when he caught the look in Stamper's eyes. If he had to describe in two words, it would be homicidal madness.

Paul turned the binoculars in Peter's direction. Peter was mumbling to himself as if in a nightmare. His eyes were closed. He had no idea Stamper was approaching him looking like he was about to inflict more abuse. Paul tore his gaze away from Peter as he heard Blake trying to reach Kermit. "Kermit, report! Kermit, this is an order! Report!"

Paul caught Blake's concerned expression before turning back to watch Stamper and Peter. Paul's voice was low as he muttered, "This is going south way too fast."

oOoOoOoOo

"Don't fade out me now, Caine!" Stamper shouted at Peter.

Peter heard him from a distance and fought to come out of the haze he was in. He shook his head to clear some of the rainwater from his face and glared up at Stamper through half-hooded eyes. "I'm here. Stop yelling in my face," he said, his voice low and menacing.

Stamper grabbed him by the chin and squeezed. "I'll do whatever I damn well please."

He stared into Peter's unflinching gaze for a few moments longer before releasing him, then he started to giggle again. Peter closed his eyes, detesting the sound of it, but at least it kept Stamper off of him for a moment.

"I bet you won't argue with me again," Stamper said, beaming with smug superiority.

Peter's return to consciousness brought with it pain. Now, it was with him again, worse than ever before, especially his hand – the hand stabbed to the post. Still, he had to keep a dialog going with Stamper.

"My – my father says it is better to argue with a wise man than prattle with a fool."

Stamper came to a stop in front of Peter. "Your father must be a pretty smart guy. Too bad you didn't take after him more. I never knew who my father was. Too many men had been with my mother... "

Peter let Stamper ramble, taking the time to clear his thinking. His breath hitched as he remembered hearing one of Stamper's bombs go off very close to them moments before as he fought to stay conscious. Peter glanced to that area again and bit his lip as he wondered if Kermit had been caught in that blast. Surely Stamper hadn't found Kermit and attacked so quickly. And if he had, why wasn't he going out there to check his prey? There was an eerie, haphazard method to the way Stamper's insanity worked.

Peter took a deep breath and tried to figure out a way to make sure Kermit was okay. As much as he hated to consider it, his hand and the knife had to come off the post and there was only one way he knew to do that. Glancing at Stamper, the demented bartender and slayer of prostitutes, Peter saw the man was fiddling with his case again.

Sighing with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, Peter figured he wouldn't get a better chance to act. He closed his eyes for a moment, summoning all his inner strength, then he opened them to peek at Stamper. Seeing that his captor was still occupied, Peter took a deep breath, preparing himself for the pain ahead. When he acted, it would have be at the best possible moment, or else he might move right into death's waiting arms.

Peter stared in Kermit's general direction and imagined the ex-merc standing just beyond his line of sight. 'Damn it, Kermit, you better be alive. We'll find Kelly and Mary Margaret. Stamper's going down. You're going to be there to celebrate with rest of us at the end. End of subject.'

oOoOoOoOo

Paul could hear Stamper rambling about Kelly and his arrest via the radio when he came to a stop beside Blake, kneeling down as they took a moment to rest.

"I don't bear any grudges against Kelly for what happened to me," Stamper said, "She was just doing her job. I told her I could never hold it against her. I loved her too much for that. She's the one woman I've searched my whole life for. Even when they were carting me off to jail, I told her that we'd be together one day. And now we will be. I just need to get you out of the way, then me and Kelly can start our new lives together. She'll come around. I know it. She loves me too much not to."

"Pure madness," Paul muttered, glancing over to Blake.

They were in a place where Paul could use his starlight binoculars again to check on Peter. "Peter's not moving," he whispered. "Damn it, Peter's gone through hell and we still haven't found Kelly and Mary Margaret."

Blake looked just as frustrated as Paul felt. Paul said, "We're just spinning our wheels here."

Paul depressed the button on his radio and spoke to Chin. "How are you doing, Roger?" he asked softly.

"I've got to take a long route leading back around the car before I can move over to Kermit's general position. Hell, there's so many trip wires along the way it boggles the mind... but I should be able to get to him in the next five to ten minutes."

Paul closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Make it five, but watch for those damned trip wires. I don't want you getting blown to kingdom come, too. Report in when you've found Kermit."

"Yes, sir."

"Jody, are you listening in? It's time to check in. Tell me what you've found."

"Nothing. We've done a preliminary search through the house and there's nothing out of the ordinary. Captain, we've got to do something. We can't keep wandering around while Peter is – "

Paul's response cut Jody short. "Stick to the plan, Powell. Peter certainly is."

He took a deep breath and rubbed at his forehead. Blake's voice was low as he said, "Maybe it's time to reevaluate, Captain."

Paul chewed on his lower lip. "Blake, do you think you could jam the signal from that damned vest of his?"

Blake paused, considering Paul's question, then he shook his head. "Not with the equipment I have with me."

A sudden howling wind blasted through the area as if it were late for a meeting in hell. It was followed by a heavy deluge of rain. The weather was worsening by the minute and Paul knew from living at the lake for so long, if the storm intensified, trying to cross the lake in a boat would be out of the question.

Jody acted like she was oblivious to the storm bearing down on them, though she raised her voice to speak over the wind. "Captain, we have no assurance that Stamper will talk, even if we do capture him without setting off his toys. You've seen how he is. The man's beyond unstable. Now, Kermit is down and Chin is risking his life just by trying to get to him. I say let's take Stamper down, and then get as many people as possible up here to search for Kelly and Skalany."

Paul glanced in Kermit's direction again with his binoculars, but there was no movement.

"Captain?" Jody asked.

Their plan had fallen apart. Now, Peter and probably Kermit were injured, with others risking their lives to save the injured and the missing. He knew what his heart wanted to do, but he couldn't limit his thinking to just Peter and Kermit.

Chin's voice interrupted his thoughts, his voice soft as he traversed the roundabout route to Kermit. "Jody's right. We went through the cabin. There's nothing inside that gives any clue as to where they are. There was a lot of fresh wood cut outside the storm cellar entrance. He might have built something in order to bury Kelly and Skalany... you know, maybe he wasn't lying about hiding them here."

Jody's voice was tense as she said, "I don't think Stamper would keep the love of his life very far away from him."

Chin continued, "We also came across a case full of unused trip wires and triggers. I don't know how Stamper got access to all of this shit, but he's good. Really good."

"He's not good, he's crazy," Paul corrected Chin. "That's even worse."

"Yeah, well, there's that, too," Chin said with a sigh, sounding as close to the edge as Jody did. Maybe it was time to switch tactics.

Paul started thinking aloud, throwing out ideas. "From what Stamper's said and what you've found, Chin, I would have to agree he's got them buried, but I can't think of an area of ground that would be easily dug up and covered again. We've searched every possible location and there's no sign of dirt being moved."

"Digging in this soil wouldn't be easy, Paul. Not even with the recent rains," Blake agreed. He scratched at the collar of his shirt. "Maybe there's nothing around here to find. He might have stashed them somewhere else and is just saying they are hidden here."

There was a momentary silence before Paul spoke, "No, I don't think so. For some reason, being a man of his word is very important to Stamper. I think they are here... somewhere."

Jody said, "If we take out Stamper now, there's the added advantage of getting Peter out of harm's way. Let's not forget, there's a countdown running on him, too. Stamper is escalating in the intensity of his attacks. Peter won't last long at this rate."

Paul swung the binoculars in Peter's direction again, but the young man still wasn't moving. Stamper was fiddling with something in his case as he continued to ramble about Kelly. Jody was right. They had to stop Stamper before he did anything else to Peter.

"Chin, let me know the moment you find Kermit," Paul said. He wiped at the rain on his face as he sighed. They were two people down and still no closer to finding the missing women than when they first arrived.

oOoOoOoOo