Author's Notes: Sorry about the long wait. I'll not bore you with the details, but suffice to say I have not been sitting around and eating bon-bons. I hope that this chapter will make it up to you. I thank all of you that have reviewed or have added this as a favorite. That means a lot, thanks.
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They were on their way towards Humbolt-Toiyabi National Forrest. Charlie had come through again; at least that was what Don was hoping. It seemed that his brother was correct so much of the time that the idea Charlie being wrong rarely crossed Don's mind.
Don sat quietly in the passenger seat and Nick was driving the SUV, leading a procession of four police cruisers with lights flashing. Charlie was working in the backseat with his laptop, attempting to crunch the information into a definitive search quadrant.
"Don," Charlie didn't look up from his computer. "I've pulled up some statistics put together by the National Park System. They track the estimated number of people that use the trail system and it would seem to me that if Doug were taking Colby into the mountains he would select a lesser used trail."
Nick spoke up from the driver's seat. "Yeah, except a lot of these parks have maintenance roads and other spots that the average person wouldn't know about."
"True, but if Doug is confident that we've taken his false trail he wouldn't have much reason to take that kind of precaution."
"But we still don't know if this is his destination." Nick glanced in the rearview mirror at the mathematician; Charlie's dark head still bend over the laptop computer.
"Nick, it took me a while but I've learned to trust Charlie's math and his instincts. He might not have a crystal ball, but sometimes I swear he's got one."
"It's your call." Nick focused on the road, hoping that they were headed in the right direction.
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In another vehicle David, Warrick and Greg were talking as both David and Greg looked over maps of the area.
"Lots of ground to cover."
David looked up from his map, "It is, but hopefully Charlie will have an idea on how to narrow the scope of our search."
"So Charlie uses math to figure out everything?" Warrick chuckled lightly. "How's that work when it comes to picking up women?"
"Judging by his girlfriend, it works. Maybe he'll give you a copy of the book he wrote on developing relationships based on trust metrics." David smiled as he went back to his map.
"If that gets me girls I wish I paid more attention in calculus."
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"Stokes." Nick answered his phone. "What! Are you sure? Ok, we should be there in about fifteen minutes."
No sooner had he snapped his phone shut Don was questioning him. "What?"
"Park Service reported an Accord matching the description of Doug Carter's just tried to crash through a roadblock."
"Did they stop him?"
"They reported that he went off a road and they are working to free him from the wreckage. They said he was alone in the car."
Don fell silent. The implication hung heavy in the air. If he was alone that meant that he had already dealt with Colby.
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The blindfold over his eyes had proven more difficult then the one in his mouth. The bark on the pine tree was relatively smooth and so there wasn't much to snag it on. Of course now that it was off there wasn't much to look at.
Sitting with his back against the tree and his arms stretched backwards around the trunk and cuffed together Colby realized that there was no possible escape. "Oh wait, sure I could try to pull my hand out of the cuff and break bones and severe tendons. I'm sure the pain would be tolerable." Colby's inner voice spoke to him sarcastically.
Looking at the shadows starting to lengthen, he estimated the time at around 6pm. "Looks like I'll be spending a night in the mountains. Hell I'll probably be spending eternity here." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. He hoped that Don had discovered that he was missing and hadn't just wandered off again. Hoped that David had checked the security tapes. Hoped that Charlie would figure out where in the hell he was. Hoped that he wouldn't die chained like a damn animal.
Colby shivered slightly, the lighter shirt he was wearing had been fine for the desert temperature but the coolness of the higher elevation was already noticeable. "At least it's not raining," he thought.
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Don had called David and filled him in. Now he was watching out the window as the vehicle climbed steadily into the National Forrest. Flashing lights on a park vehicle cut the gathering shadows as the sun sank slowly into the West.
Nick pulled up and flashed his badge. "How much farther?"
"About half a mile, the road curves sharply."
"Thanks."
Silence descended again and in moments they came to the scene of the accident. Don was out of the vehicle before Nick had even come to a complete stop. Heading over to a group of three park rangers, Don pulled out his identification. "Where's Doug Carter?"
"He's still in the car, emergency workers are cutting him out right now."
"Is he conscious?"
Another ranger responded, "Not while I was with him. I was trying to get him to pull over when he skidded around the corner and rolled it over the edge. Lucky it didn't happen fifty yards further back, they would be cleaning it up with buckets and shovels."
Nick and Charlie had both approached and were listening to the comments. Charlie flipped open the small laptop again. "Can you show me where you started to pursue him?"
"Sure." The ranger walked over and looked at the screen. "Right about here. I saw him coming off of the road here and when I flipped on my lights he took off like a bat out of hell."
"So where does this road lead to?" Charlie was moving the on screen map to see the destination.
"One of the trail head parking lots is up that way. There is an old fire road too, but it dead-ends about one mile in."
"Great." Charlie began typing more in. "This is really going to narrow down our search grid."
The third ranger shook his head. "This is one of the more advanced trails. Not just your average walk in the park kind of trail."
"According to co-workers, Carter did a lot of hiking out here." Nick spoke up. "Any place you might take someone if you were wanting." He trailed off, not sure how to finish the thought.
"Look around" said one of the rangers with a half laugh. "This entire park is a perfect dumping ground."
Before Don could respond back, a group of men bearing a rescue litter. Hurrying towards the ambulance they were attempting to treat the patient as they moved.
As they loaded Carter into the back of the ambulance Don grabbed one of the attendants. "How bad is he?"
"Bad. We've got a pulse, but he stopped breathing on us. We've got a tube down him and he's on oxygen. I don't know if he'll make it."
"We need to talk to him." Don sounded as desperate as he felt. "He abducted an agent. He's the only one who knows where the agent is."
"Sorry. If he makes it we will let you know." He shut the door to the ambulance behind him.
Don watched the ambulance drive off as the shadows deepened. Evening was approaching quickly and darkness would soon overtake the mountains.
"Don?" Charlie's voice was excited. "I've got a search grid that takes into account the time factor for how far Carter would have been able to travel based on the when he grabbed Colby."
"Great, where do we start?" He motioned for Nick and the Park Rangers over. "Charlie has a search grid for us."
"The area marked within this red boundary would be the outer limits of where Carter and Colby could have traveled."
"What's the distance on that?" One of the rangers was glancing at the small screen.
"Just over a mile square."
"Christ, that's over 640 acres."
"I know it's a lot, but in order to be sure I had to take into account the all the possibilities." Charlie felt somewhat defensive; he was used to having more support for his theories.
"Well we will get started at first light." The older ranger informed the group. "Can you get use a copy of the search perimeter?"
"Morning?" Charlie questioned. "Can't you get started tonight?"
"Sure, if you want to get someone hurt. Stumbling around on the side of the mountain in the dark is a recipe for disaster."
Charlie turned to look at his brother, crestfallen. "Don."
"Charlie, Colby's tough. He'll be fine." Don's voice was gentle; he could tell that Charlie was worried about their friend.
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The stars had popped out and were shining dimly; the light pollution from Vegas kept the sky from ever becoming fully dark. It was dark enough in the trees and Colby couldn't make out much detail more than seven feet away.
It had gotten cooler as the sun went down and the cramps that had begun in his shoulders had spread to his back. No amount of his limited movement would ease the pain. Attempting to shift into a more comfortable position he had felt his side begin to bleed again.
Closing his eyes and trying to wish away the pain, Colby thought about the various times in the past that the team had come through for each other. He hoped that this would be another one of those times.