Chapter 7
A Trail to the Treasure
Sleep deprivation was not doing Dr. Emily Appleton any favors. She nodded off in the large black suburban for an undetermined amount of time until she felt the vehicle slowing. She remained as still as she could, listening intently as the two men in the front seats discussed where they would spend the next night, and that they needed gas. Emily had ever so slowly worked her thin cell phone out of one of the gloves she was wearing. Her hand was hidden by the books in her lap, and it was set to silent mode. She pressed the buttons slowly, visualizing the menu and opening a blank text message. She remained this way until the men got out of the suburban to stretch their legs, locking Emily inside. She lifted her head and pretended to continue reading, unobtrusively checking the screen of the phone before whispering a prayer and pushing the send button. With this done, she tucked it down the front of her blouse and resumed her research. She had worked out several symbols and Major had seemed pleased, though the pace she was working at unnerved him. He felt that she was being deliberately slow to hinder their progress—he was right. Stubborn Emily wasn't about to let this maniac get his hands on the treasures of Mount Shasta if she could help it. Working slowly was the only way she could think of to make him angry without further endangering her own life. A very little bit of hope glimmered in Emily's heart. The message had been sent and any second now…
***
Ben flinched in surprise as his cell phone chirped an alert and vibrated, making a much louder sound against the wooden dining room table. He was deep in a book he was using for research—amongst at least a dozen others between him and Abigail— combing for more information on the treasure his mother's life depended on them finding first.
"What is it?" Abigail asked as Ben reached for the phone.
"A text message," Ben muttered as he opened the phone and clicked to read it. All the color drained from his face and Abigail demanded to know what was wrong.
"Mom!" Ben cried. Riley came running from the other room and Abigail tipped her chair in her rush to read over Ben's shoulder. He quickly decoded the text shorthand that Emily had used and read aloud, "Safe for now…unharmed…Cheyenne then Shasta…I love you…Mom." Ben swallowed the urge to cry as Riley went running for a laptop and Abigail ran to tell Patrick, who had been trying to rest unsuccessfully at Ben and Abigail's house and had resorted to sitting in the sun room with a book. When Abigail told him that they had heard from Emily, he immediately followed her back to the dining room and Ben showed the message to him as Riley announced that he had chartered them a private jet that was leaving as soon as they could get to the airport and every occupant of the room rushed to pack and get out the door as fast as they could. If they could beat Major to Cheyenne, they could intercept him using Riley's GPS tracker and possibly save Emily before Major decided he didn't need her anymore. Adrenaline and hope drove them as they boarded the small jet less than an hour later.
Sitting on the plane, Riley stared out the window and tapped his foot nervously. Ben rested his hand on his friend's arm and Riley flinched back to reality.
"What's on your mind?" Ben asked.
"Jacqui. I couldn't get a hold of her before we left to tell her we were going to intercept them in Cheyenne. She's never not answered me before. I just can't help thinking something's wrong," Riley said.
"If Jacqui is anything like the other women in our lives—like I think she is—she's probably way ahead of us, already in California warning the authorities," Ben said.
"Jacqui's intelligent and resourceful, Riley. I'm sure she's fine," Abigail said.
"Emily's all of that, and it still didn't keep her out of danger," Patrick said.
"We're almost there, dad. We're going to get there and we're going to find her," Ben said.
"What if they find her cell phone?" Patrick demanded. "They'll kill her!"
"They can't," Ben said patiently. "They need her to translate any symbols they come across at the site."
"That won't stop them from doing it! They could just find another expert to abduct and ruin someone else's life," Patrick said. He unbuckled his seat belt and stood, moving to the other side of the plane to sit as far away from them as he could. Abigail looked at Ben, who was taking a deep breath and perhaps choosing the words to say before getting up to follow him. Patrick had something in his shaking hands and Ben sat quietly, waiting for his father to make the first move.
"Dad…" Ben began. Patrick revealed what he was holding: an antique pocket-watch. He gingerly put it in Ben's hands and spoke while Ben turned it over in his hands.
"That watch went with me to every expedition or treasure hunt, or fool's errand I went on. Your mother gave it to me for our wedding anniversary and it hasn't left my side since," Patrick explained. Ben gently popped open the face of the watch and engraved on the inside was a message in elegantly scrolled text: "To Patrick, my love and my treasure, love, Emily." Ben read it softly aloud and Patrick bit his lip before gesturing for Ben to flip the watch over and open the other panel. In this tiny hidden compartment were two neatly tied locks of hair; one golden blonde and the other dark brown. Ben swallowed and took a deep breath.
"You see…you were both with me, everywhere I went…even when I left you both behind," Patrick wept. "I owe your mother so much…I don't want to let her down." Ben lost the battle to keep from crying and finally let the tears roll over his cheeks and father and son shared a companionable silence for the duration of the flight to Cheyenne.
When they arrived, Riley offered to drive so that Ben and Patrick could continue to research while they traveled. Abigail held Riley's laptop in her hands, watching carefully for the dot on the roadmap that represented Emily's cell phone as it moved along the highways.
***
When she was allowed to use the restroom the next time they filled gas, she quickly texted again, telling them the name of the place they'd be staying, but no sooner had they pulled into Cheyenne but Major changed the plans and they went to a different place farther to the western end of the city. Emily didn't have another opportunity to covertly use her phone and her heart sank. How would they ever find her now?
Roscoe and Jacob were bringing things into the small 2 bedroom cabin while Major supervised. Emily watched from the sofa, tired from the traveling and more than a little hungry.
"Dr. Appleton," Major said, suddenly turning to her. "You insist on pressing your luck and my benevolence." Emily looked up at him in insulted confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"The translation, Doctor. You must have more by now," he insisted.
"You haven't given me adequate resources to use," she said, "so yes, it's going slowly but I told you this last night. Nothing's changed and I've translated as much as I can with the limited resources."
"You aren't being completely honest with me," he said, tipping Emily's chin up with his left hand. He suddenly raised his right and struck her with his flat hand, sending her spilling over the sofa and knocking her cell phone out of her shirt. He crushed it under his shoe and then jerked Emily off the sofa, handing her off to Roscoe who appeared just as suddenly from the hallway.
"We'll see if Roscoe can't persuade you to be more diligent in your work," he said. "I'm retiring for the night. Until the morning, Dr. Appleton," he said, his misplaced politeness suddenly frightened her as he leisurely disappeared into one of the bedrooms and Roscoe dragged her into the other.
Jacob forced down another swallow of soda as he sat on the sofa, trying hard to stay where he was. Roscoe was not to be trifled with but Emily was sobbing and screaming and he wanted more than anything to make Roscoe stop, but if Roscoe laid into him, it wouldn't do her any good either. Major strode back into the common area of the cabin and sat down beside Jacob. He switched on the television, muffling Emily's voice. He pressed an envelope into Jacob's hands and then spoke.
"You've developed a soft-spot for our guest, haven't you," Major said casually.
"She's pleasant enough," Jacob lied. "What's with the envelope?"
"Some photos that were taken by an associate of mine that is waiting for us in California," he said. "Take a look." Inside, he found snapshots of the park at the foot of the mountain, the entrance to a cavern, the mountain itself, and then a picture of a pretty, strawberry blonde woman with a dusting of freckles bound and gagged, sitting on the floor of what looked like one of the mountain caverns.
"You know what I can do. Don't push me Jacob," Major said. Jacob noted that sometime during this conversation, Emily had stopped screaming. He swallowed the lump in his throat and then looked up as Roscoe emerged into the room, sweat on his brow and bearing a fist full of papers.
"She'd finished the translation. Here are the notes," Roscoe said. Roscoe picked up his bag and announced he was going to sleep in the suburban, where it was quieter. When he had gone, Major stood, gesturing toward the other bedroom.
"Well, I'm off. Go, comfort her if you think you can. We leave at first light," Major said. Jacob waited until Major's door had closed and then clicked off the television, picked up his backpack and cautiously entered the other bedroom. Emily didn't move, but her eyes were open and that was a good sign as far as Jacob was concerned. He immediately pulled a first aid kit from his pack and then a washcloth and two bottles of water. He used one of the bottles to soak the washcloth and then approached Emily. He carefully untied her, his heart breaking when she didn't resist or move when he freed her. The smell of sweat, blood, and other things permeated the air and Jacob forced himself to take shallower breaths to keep from getting sick.
"Dr. Appleton…" Jacob said softly. Finally, Emily's eyes moved and she looked at him, tears streaking her cheeks and blood drying on her lip.
"There you are," he said, "It's going to be all right. He can't hurt you anymore." Emily whimpered quietly as Jacob gently washed her face and then gingerly wiped what looked like Roscoe's boot prints on Emily's bare midriff, waist and hips. Her clothes had been shoved out of the way of what Roscoe wanted and Emily wept as Jacob tried to help her dress. Once he had this accomplished, he gave her some of the water out of the other bottle a little at a time. Major had not provided anything for Emily to eat or drink since breakfast and after tonight's event, Jacob knew that her upset stomach wasn't holding anything down easily. When the water stayed down, he gave her what little food he had left in his pack and then wrapped her in the quilt on the bed.
"Rest now, Dr. Appleton," he said, sitting down on the bed and leaning his back against the headboard. "I'm not going anywhere." Exhausted Emily didn't answer right away.
"Jacob?" she murmured. Surprised to hear her speak, Jacob looked at her.
"Thank you," she shuddered. Jacob nodded, lightly stroking Emily's hair.
"Ben Gates is your son?" He said to her as she was falling asleep. She nodded weakly. There was a pause before he spoke again. "What would you say to him, if you could talk to him tonight?" It was an innocent enough question, but he suddenly had Emily's undivided attention. Jacob had Emily's broken cell phone and had managed to salvage the address book.
"What are you doing?" Emily said softly, her voice hoarse from screaming.
"I'm getting you out of here," Jacob said, getting up off the bed. He took a can of spray lubricant and liberally oiled the window in the room, which faced the wooded area behind the cabin. "Can you stand?" he asked. With his help, Emily climbed out the window but that had been the extent of her energy and she collapsed into his arms again. Jacob folded the blanket around her again and swept her up with a strength Emily would not have guessed that he had. With this, they vanished into the twilight.
Jacob waited until they were a good distance from the cabins to kneel down, setting Emily on the ground, but letting her lean against his shoulder. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Ben's number.
"Who is this?" Ben grumbled groggily as Abigail shifted her weight to let him sit up.
"You don't know me yet, Mr. Gates. My name is Jacob Bonner…and I need your help. Odysseus Major has my sister, Mr. Gates," Jacob said.
"Did you say Bonner?" Ben said, his voice a little clearer.
"That's Jacqui's last name," Abigail whispered.
"Why couldn't this wait for morning?" Ben said.
"I have someone here who can't wait for morning," Jacob said gravely. Ben was suddenly wide awake and pushing back the covers.
"Put her on the phone," Ben demanded. "Now."
"What's going on?" Abigail whispered again. There was a rustling on the other end of the line and Ben's heart leapt to his throat when he heard his mother's voice.
"Ben?" she muttered sleepily.
"Mom…" Ben said, his voice somewhere between desperation and relief. "What did he do to you?"
"Did you get my—"
"Yes," Ben interrupted. "We got it, Mom. We lost your cell signal in Cheyenne—we're here, Mom." Emily started to cry and Ben added, "Oh, God, Mom, please don't cry!" There was a rustle and Jacob was back on the line, giving Ben directions to a nearby road that was far enough away to not be seen by the cabins. Another 45 minutes passed before Ben and Abigail pulled up to where Jacob waited with Emily snug in his arms.