CHAPTER 33

X Marks the Spot

One minute I was lying on the bed in the cellar and the next I was waking up in Joe's bed, disoriented—the phantom metal collar digging into my skin—tightening like a noose around my neck. I rubbed my hand over the area, trying to ease the constriction that was no longer there. Instead of getting up, I lay there, dreading what this morning would bring.

Sunlight shone through the blinds, making me believe it was going to be a beautiful day, but I knew better. This day was going to be filled with so much darkness I was afraid I'd never see the light again. If all went according to plan, later today I would come full circle—right back to the cellar where I started. I only hoped, when I woke up tomorrow morning, I wasn't behind bars.

I didn't have to look to know that Joe wasn't in bed behind me. I carefully rolled over, testing my sore ribs, deciding I could make it to the bathroom and get ready without his help. While I was pulling my hair back into a ponytail, he tapped on the door. "You need any help?"

"No. I'll be out in a minute."

By the time I made it downstairs, dressed and ready for the day, my legs were trembling from the effort. He gave me a kiss and handed my coat to me. "I thought we'd go through the McDonald's Drive-thru instead of making something here."

The morning air was so cold we could see our breath as we pulled up in front of the speaker getting ready to order our food. In the cellar, I'd been so hungry that in order to cope, I imagined myself in this exact position, and now here I was—able to order anything I wanted yet I couldn't speak. The irony wasn't lost on me. The longer I stared at the drive thru menu, the angrier I became. I didn't even notice the tears falling down my face.

"What's wrong?" Joe caught my tears with his thumb and wiped them away. "Are you feeling okay?"

There was no way to explain what I was feeling. I barely understood it myself.

"How about I order for us?" He placed a large order that covered all my favorites. "Can you think of anything else?" I shook my head and tried to muster an upbeat smile. We picked the food up at the next window and pulled into a parking space to eat.

"Do you want the pancakes?" he asked as he pulled the container out of the bag and took the lid off before pouring syrup and adding a hash brown. I nodded and took the Styrofoam tray while he pulled out the Big Breakfast and dug in. After he finished, he leaned back in his seat, rubbing his belly. "I can't eat another bite." He looked at the two cinnamon rolls still in the bag. "You want them?"

I shook my head. I couldn't force another bite.

"We'll hold on to them for a midmorning snack." He folded the bag over and stored it in the console.

Just as he was about to start the engine, I put my hand on his forearm. "Thank you." I held his eyes with mine for a beat, making sure he knew how much he meant to me.

"Get comfortable." He smiled. "We have a long drive ahead of us."

We rode in silence, each caught up in our own thoughts. An hour later, we turned off the county road onto the narrow winding trail that led to the crash site. Ahead of us, several enclosed utility vehicles were being unloaded from trailers. "Let me find out what's going on," he said as he got out of the truck and jogged over to Ranger, Agent Kinkade, and the rest of the federal agents. As they talked, their heads kept swiveling back my way. I didn't like the idea of them talking about me. Since Joe left the engine running, I pressed the button to roll down the window, hoping to catch a few words.

"It's too cold out here." Joe's voice carried across the wind. "She's just getting over pneumonia."

"The UTV is heated," Agent Kinkade explained.

From several feet away, I saw Hector pushing a UTV big enough to fit four people off its trailer. I got out and started walking toward him. Halfway there, Ranger fell in step with me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "You alright, Babe?" I nodded absently.

"Stephanie?" Agent Kinkade approached on my other side. "Would you be okay riding in the UTV today? I think we need to get off the road to broaden the search area." Before I could answer, the roar of an engine caught our attention. We all watched as a black SUV pulled up and parked. I couldn't make out the driver because of the tinted windows, but when Agent Kinkade sighed, I got my first inkling of who was in the truck. The door opened and Barry stepped out. Since he hadn't been present yesterday, I assumed he was off the case.

Joe came around to stand in front of Agent Kinkade. "What's he doing here?"

"This is my case." Barry walked up to them in time to hear Joe's comment. He gave me a pointed look and then turned to Agent Kinkade. "You and I will ride with Ms. Plum."

"Stephanie will be riding with me." Ranger didn't wait for Barry to respond. He helped me into the back of the UTV and Hector got in beside me. Then he got into the driver's seat and Joe followed suit by getting in the front passenger seat. Tank, Lester, Bones, and Cal rode in the second UTV as Agent Kinkade and Barry got in another, along with a couple more agents. The rest of the feds followed as we took off at a slow pace.

I fidgeted in my seat as I toyed with the idea of not leading them to the cellar. What was the worst that could happen? I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. It could be years, if ever, before anyone stumbled upon the underground bunker. I was warming up to the idea until I realized that meant leaving the women down there—alone—without justice. I couldn't do it. They deserved peace and I was the only one who could give it to them.

We'd been driving for a couple hours when I spotted the tree. One minute I was fine, the next I was barely able to draw in air. It felt as if someone was squeezing my heart. "Angelita—" Hector twisted in the seat beside me, gripping my shoulders.

His mouth was moving, but all I could hear was the sound of my pulse echoing in my ears. I grabbed hold of his coat, clutching it desperately. I couldn't breathe. Help me, I tried to scream. "C… Can't breathe." I frantically rubbed at the burning sensation in my chest, gasping for air.

The UTV slid to a stop and Ranger gently lifted me out. "You have to slow your breathing," he said. "You're going to hyperventilate."

"Can't—" A wave of heat engulfed me, and I dropped to my knees, wheezing. My blood was pounding, pumping blazes of fire through my body and my vision was getting cloudy around the edges, narrowing my world until I couldn't see.

"Where does it hurt?" Joe asked as he knelt on the ground, taking his coat off to make a pillow. He bundled it under my head and carefully laid me back on the ground. "Is it your heart?" He placed his hand on my chest.

I couldn't speak. I was trapped in my mind—stuck back in the cellar. Durant's hands were all over me. I struggled to get away—breathing harder than I ever had in my life, but it didn't feel like I was getting any air at all. I turned to the side, vomiting my breakfast all over the ground.

"I'm taking her back to the hospital," Joe said.

"Back up!" Ranger yelled to the feds crowding around. He ran his hand across my damp forehead, brushing away the tendrils of hair that were sticking to my face.

"Here," Tank said as he took off his coat and draped it over me. "She might be going into shock."

"Give me some room," Bones ordered and then I felt something squeeze my arm. "Her BP's 157/112 and her heart rate's 160. She's having a panic attack. We have to get her to calm down."

Ranger put his hands on each side of my face, turning me to look at him. "Stephanie, listen to me," he calmly said. "You're going to be fine. I need you to breathe in through your nose and hold it while I count."

My mouth had been wide open, helplessly sucking in air. I tried to close it and breathe through my nose just as he asked, but when I did, I felt like I was suffocating. I gasped even harder. Ranger lightly squeezed my jaw, forcing me to focus on him. "Close your mouth and breathe in until I tell you to stop." His eyes never left mine. "One… two… three… Hold it… Don't let it out. Now exhale through your mouth. Good." He placed my hand over his own heart. "Do you feel that? Forget everything else and focus on that beat."

He counted several more sets of four and finally my breathing started to slow. "I'm okay," I said as my shoulders sagged.

Ranger held a bottle of water to my lips. "Drink slowly." He instructed. I took a few sips and let my head fall back onto Joe's balled up coat.

Bones broke off a piece of dark chocolate from a candy bar and handed it to Ranger. I opened my mouth like a baby bird, and he slipped it inside. "Let it melt in your mouth," Bones said. "It'll help lower your blood pressure. I'm going to call Dr. Powell and let her know what's happening." As he placed the call, I let my eyes close. I heard him rummaging in his bag again and when I opened my eyes, he had a syringe in his hand.

"Wait a minute." Joe put his hand out, blocking Bones from giving me in the injection. "What the hell are you giving her?"

"Bones is a trained Army field medic," Ranger said. "He's the best I've ever worked with. Stephanie couldn't be in better hands."

Bones ignored the debate about his credentials. "This is just a mild sedative," he told me. "Don't worry. It won't knock you out." After he gave me the shot, he checked my blood pressure again and this time his face didn't look as concerned.

"Is her blood pressure coming down?" Joe looked from Bones to me and back again.

"It is." Bones nodded. "I'll still need to monitor her for a while longer." I did my best to stay calm and pretend that the cellar wasn't practically underneath us. Half an hour later, I was allowed to sit up. Bones checked my blood pressure again and declared me recovered enough to stand.

As soon as I was on my feet, Joe turned me in the direction of the UTV. "I'm taking you back to the hospital."

"No," I said, digging my feet in. "I'm feeling better now."

"Are you up to continuing?" Agent Kinkade's concerned voice broke through the commotion. "We could try again tomorrow."

"She's fine, Piper," Barry said before I had a chance to respond. "She's not some kind of damsel in distress." Growls of outrage surrounded me, but I wasn't insulted. Unknowingly, Barry had given me a compliment. He was right, I wasn't some damsel who needed saving. I'd gotten out of the cellar and away from Durant all by myself and I needed to remember that.

"What happened?" Joe watched me curiously. "Why did you suddenly get upset?"

I scanned the surrounding trees until I found the one with the scary face. I grabbed Hector's hand and started walking in that direction. Everyone else fell in line. With each step, my feet got heavier until I felt as if I was slogging through quicksand. I ran my fingers over the bumps in the bark, tracing the holes in the trunk where the eyes and mouth were. I looked at Agent Kinkade. "This is the tree."

She inspected it with new understanding. I think my description was finally making sense to her. She looked around the area. "You said the truck was parked near the tree?"

"There." I pointed to the pile of brush to the left of the tree. "That's where I found the truck."

Her eyes narrowed as she turned her head slowly in all directions, looking for the place I'd been held. Seeing nothing, she asked, "How long did you walk before you found the truck?"

Before I could answer, Barry stepped into my personal space, forcing me to back up. "Maybe she was beamed up by aliens." He stuck his lower lip out, putting on an exaggerated pout. "And when they finished with her, they dropped her off at this big bad scary tree."

I ignored his sarcastic comment and pointed to an area several yards away where I thought the trap door was located. Everyone started walking in that direction except for Hector. He clasped his hand in mine, hanging back at the tree with me. I wasn't getting any closer to the cellar than I had to.

They would take a few steps and then turn to look at me with puzzled expressions, trying to gauge if they were going in the right direction. They were trusting me even though they saw no visible signs of a dwelling where I could have been held. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like Joe was standing right on top of the hatch. "Stop, Joe!" I yelled. He stopped immediately and jerked his head toward me, brows drawn together. "It's right there," I said, pointing to the ground under his feet.

He looked down, studying the area intently. There was nothing remarkable, just brown, brittle pine needles and other forest debris covering the ground. I sighed in frustration. They were never going to find it without my help. Hector put his arm around me as we walked toward them. I stopped several feet away.

Ranger closed the distance, quietly asking, "Are you sure, Babe?" I nodded. It was there… I knew it was.

"There's nothing here. It's just a bunch of pine needles." Joe looked up, frowning when he saw Ranger's arm around my shoulders.

"Is it an underground bunker?" Ranger asked.

I nodded my head. I didn't blame them for not seeing it. The camouflage made the trap door blend in with the land. Ranger left me with Hector and joined Joe to inspect the ground. I wanted to get out of here, but if I didn't show them where it was, we'd be here all day. I took a fortifying breath and followed, stopping just shy of where I believed the door was located.

I used my foot to brush the pine needles away. Some scattered while others stayed in place. Everyone looked at me, confused about what I was doing. I continued kicking at the ground, until I'd revealed the beginnings of an angular shape. It was oddly quiet; the only noise came from the occasional chirping birds as Ranger and Joe got down on their knees and started sweeping their hands over a larger section. Once the area was cleared of everything that wasn't glued down, we were left with large rectangular outline that still had pine needles adhered.

Ranger and Joe looked up at me, eyes full of sorrow and regret. They were just starting to understand what I'd known all along. Durant had mastered the art of disguise. If I hadn't gotten out, I would have died down there because no one would have ever found the cellar—or me.

Seeing it brought back memories of my escape. I remembered the fear. It was so real, I felt like it was happening all over again. I felt the rush of blood beneath my skin and started shaking uncontrollably. My chest fluttered, and my breathing got harder.

Crazy thoughts zipped through my head.

What if I hadn't made it out of the cellar and this was all an elaborate dream my feverish mind had concocted? Was I going to wake up on the musty mattress, screaming when they opened the door? Or worst of all; maybe I wasn't going to wake up because I was already dead. That thought scared the hell out of me.

While Ranger felt around the edges for a way to open the door, everyone else drew their guns. I took a step back, automatically putting space between me and the cellar. Hector fell in step with me, unwilling to let me out of his sight. When Ranger found the side that opened, he hesitated and looked at me. For once, his eyes were filled with so many emotions… apology, concern, worry. I didn't know which was the most dominant. I gave him an infinitesimal nod, letting him know it was okay to go ahead. And then he slowly raised the door.