Black Hills

leading her miles from wherever he had her mother, but there was no choice.
    Her wedding ring smeared with blood. The hacked-off hank of her beautiful hair.
    She forced herself to slow, to breathe. If she rushed she might miss a sign or follow a false one. He might be watching her still, so she’d have to take care in the markings she left for Coop.
    He’d given her two hours. Had he taken her mother from home? It seemed the most logical. Wait until she was alone, then take her. On foot or by horseback?
    On foot most likely. A hostage would be easier to control on foot. Unless he’d forced her into the car and . . . No, no, don’t think that way, she ordered herself as panic bubbled into her throat. Think simple. Under it, he’s simple.
    Two hours from her cabin—and he’d want to push her, want it to be close. She put a map in her mind. Somewhere accessible and solitary from the cabin and from the farm. If she was alive—She was alive, she had to be alive. He’d have to hide her. A cave would be best. If he . . .
    She stopped, studied the tracks, the carelessly trampled wildflowers. He’d backtracked. She drew a breath, then another, steadying her nerve, and did the same until she found where he’d laid the false trail.
    She scuffed out his prints, used her penknife to mark the bark of a tree so Coop wouldn’t make the same mistake. She picked up the trail again, then picked up her pace. She had an idea where he was leading her and knew she’d need nearly all the time he’d allotted.
     
     
     
    JENNA WORMED AND rolled. She’d lost all sense of direction, could only pray she was inching her way to the mouth of the cave. He’d blindfolded her before he’d left so her dark was complete. Whenever she had to rest she lay still and tried to judge if the air was any fresher. But all she smelled was dirt, her own sweat, her own blood.
    She heard him coming, screamed against the gag, struggled against the rope.
    “Just look at you, Jenna. You’re a real mess. And with company coming.”
    When he yanked off her blindfold the lantern light burned her eyes. “She’ll be along soon, don’t you worry. I’m going to clean up a bit.” He sat cross-legged on the cave floor, and with a travel razor, a broken piece of mirror, began to shave.
     
     
     
    AT THE REFUGE Lena waved to Eric. “Hey! What did you think of Creepy Guy?”
    “I never saw him. He must’ve gone right through the center, or changed his mind.”
    “Oh. Well, what did Lil say?”
    “About what?”
    “About the guy. When she came over.”
    “I didn’t see her either.”
    “But . . . She was going over. I don’t see how you could’ve missed her.”
    “Maybe she got hung up.” Eric shrugged it off. “She wanted to help Matt when he got to the cougars. Listen I’ve got to get back to—”
    Lena simply grabbed him by the sleeve of his T-shirt. “I’ve just come from Matt. She’s not there, and he’s waiting for her.”
    “She’s around somewhere. So okay, we’ll look around. I’ll check the commissary, you check her place.”
    “She knows Matt’s waiting,” Lena insisted, but she hurried over to the cabin. She knocked, then pushed open the door to call out. “Lil? Lil?” Baffled, she walked straight through, and out the back. Maybe the office, she thought.
    When she jogged down the steps, she heard the jingle of the phone. Relieved, she glanced back, expecting to see Lil striding along with the phone to her ear. But there was no one. She turned back, following the ring.
    She snatched the phone off the ground, flipped it open.
    “Hey, Lil, I just saw my mother off, so—”
    “Tansy, Tansy, this is Lena. I think something’s really wrong.” She began to run toward the office cabin. “I think we need the police.”

    ON A STRETCH of road between the farm and the stables, Coop tightened the lug nuts on the spare tire of a minivan. The two kids inside watched him like owls while they sucked on sippy cups.
    “I really appreciate this. I could’ve changed it, but—”
    “Looks like you’ve got your hands full.” He nodded toward the windows. “It’s no trouble.”
    “You saved me a lot of cursing.” The young mother beamed a smile. “And took care of it in probably half the time it would’ve taken me, not including breaking up the fights inside. We’ve been running errands all day, so they missed their nap.” Her eyes sparkled with a laugh. “Boy, so did I.”
    After sending the kids a wink, he rolled