Chapter 170
"I thought we'd be back by now. It didn't take this long to walk out here," said Regan.
Jodi pulled out her phone and looked at the map. "Yup, you're right. We went a bit off course. If we cut through here now, we should be right back on track." Jodi directed them back through the bush. "There should be a clearing right here and we can get to the horses and get out of here. We collected all the evidence of the illegal mine we could need."
"Yeah, we got the mine entrance, soil samples, the truck, the water pump. Dylan should have everything he needs." said Jaz as she stepped through the trees and into the clearing.
"Girls! Run! Get help!" Grace screamed as she saw them unknowingly walk into a hostage situation. They froze when they saw Grace on her knees with a gun to her head.
"Stop! If you run, I will put a bullet in your friend's head. Get over here with your hands on your heads. Investigating an illegal mine, well we can't have that." The man ordered. "Slowly. Now, kneel next to your friend. I am willing to shoot her straight through the head right now if you don't follow directions." The four women did what the man asked, and now he had five hostages.
"Oh my God! That man has a gun!" We need to help them. Call the police!" Kate screamed as she watched on Regan's hat cam.
"I'm texting Dylan now. He is the police. He said he sees it and is cutting through the gate right now to get there. It will take a while, you remember what that gate looked like. Then he has to go clear across the property. This is going to take some time. I hope he makes it."
"Where is Charlotte? She has the other camera. What is she doing?" Kate said while trying to switch the screen to Charlotte's camera.
"She doesn't seem to know what's going on. She is just sitting with the horses," said Russell.
"Can we text her?" Kate asked.
"I tried, but it's really remote and a regular smart phone won't work. We saw the satellite phone get handed over to Regan, who is now a hostage. I linked the camera feeds to a satellite hook up, so we can watch, but the regular phones don't work in the bush. There is a text warning Charlotte that her family is in trouble sitting in the cloud somewhere that will arrive whenever she gets service again." said Russell.
"Get this gate open now! Dylan roared. Something about seeing his wife and family on their knees as hostages brought a lot of rage to him. "I'm coming baby, I'm coming to get you!" Dylan yelled as he was using giant clippers to cut the heavy metal wire that kept the gate locked. Finally, the gate came free and Dylan was able to swing it open. "Let's go! Move out now!" He ordered the other officers.
One of the other officers drove through, picked him up and sped off across Kinsella's towards the mine site.
Charlotte was starting to be embarrassed for Grace. "She must have an upset stomach or something. She is taking a long time. No wonder she didn't want the camera with her," she mumbled to herself. "Should I go check on her? Is that weird? What if she needs help?" she said to herself out loud.
"Grace? Are you alright? Is your stomach upset?" called Charlotte as she walked in the direction Grace had gone, but she didn't see her, and she didn't reply. Suddenly, she saw a bit of movement through the trees. She looked through and saw her family all lined up kneeling on the ground, and she could make out a man with a metal object pointed at Grace's head. Tess, Jodi, Regan and Jaz were lined up on either side of her and the man looked angry.
"Oh shit! That's a gun! What should I do? What should I do? Oh my God, I have to help them." Charlotte was starting to hyperventilate at the fear of her family being in danger.
"I'm going to call the police." Charlotte said aloud as she ran back to the horses and tried her phone. No service. "Okay the sat phone. I'll use the sat phone. No! We gave Regan the sat phone. Fuck!"
Charlotte took her hat off and wiped her brow. "The camera! They're watching! Dylan knows! He's coming! Oh thank God, but it's far. Driving across this property will take a long time, maybe an hour. They might not get here soon enough."
"Oh God! I'm alone. I'm all alone. My family. They need me. Okay, Think Charlotte," she said to herself.