Out of the Depths Page 15

  Trudy Lynn hefted the cane and took a defensive stance, then thought better of it. She’d walked away from similar circumstances twice. There was no sense tempting the Lord and trying for a third victory when she could just as easily flee. Whatever was charging toward her could have the canoe and everything in it. But it couldn’t have her. No siree. She was out of there. Now.

  She fought her way through the knee-deep brush to the base of the incline and began to scamper higher. Brambles tore at her arms and caught in her hair. Pliable twigs snapped back and whipped against her cheeks, stinging like the horse nettle that grew wild in the meadows and along the fencerows.

  Behind her, the noise had ceased, at least temporarily. Trudy Lynn wasn’t about to stop long enough to sneak a peek and see if she could tell what was back there. Uh-uh. No way. She was almost to the crest. To Cody. Nothing could stop her now. Not even the unseen demons that had driven her to begin that haphazard climb.

  One hand grasped at protruding tree roots while the other flattened, palm down, on a horizontal patch of soft moss. She threw herself over the top of the bank with more proficiency than she’d dreamed possible and landed with an “Oof”, not twenty feet from Cody.

  He was staring into the distance. He didn’t do anything when she said, “Cody?”, except put a finger to his lips.

  “Shush.”

  Trudy Lynn tried to wipe the sticky red mud off her hands and knees as she clambered to her feet. The task was hopeless. “Why didn’t you answer me? Huh? Do you know how worried I was?”

  “Be quiet. Listen. Hear that?”

  “No. I’ll tell you what I did hear. A monster of some kind. It made enough noise for ten men. Sounded like an elephant was clomping around.” She held out the cane. “I brought this along in case I needed to defend myself. Do you want it?”

  “No.” Scowling, Cody held up his hand. “Will you please be quiet? I thought I heard voices a minute ago. I was trying to decide which direction they were coming from when you showed up and started jabbering.”

  “I was just asking a simple question. You don’t have to bite my head off.” The stern look he sent her reminded Trudy Lynn of a similar expression she’d seen on her father’s face, especially whenever her exuberance had become too overwhelming for him.

  She grimaced. “Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet.”

  Nervousness kept her from maintaining her silence for long. “Well? Do you hear anything? I don’t. I sure heard plenty before I came up here after you. I don’t know what it was. It kept getting closer and closer. I…”

  Cody had faced her and stepped close. Very close. He grasped her upper arms firmly. Trudy Lynn gazed up at him just as he bent to place his lips on hers.

  She’d closed her eyes to savor the moment until she realized this kiss was lacking the emotional wallop of their earlier efforts.

  She blinked, confused. Cody was frowning and surreptitiously watching the woods. He wasn’t being romantic. He was only kissing her to shut her up!

  She pushed away. “Why you…you…”

  Suddenly, a faint sound reached her. Cody had heard someone calling out. She held her breath. “I hear it, too,” she said, straining to listen. “It’s coming from over that way, I think.”

  “Can you recognize the voice?”

  “I don’t know. It…it sounds like…Jim!”

  “Are you sure?” Cody asked.

  “Positive! He’s hollering for help.”

  “Okay. Then we’ll…”

  He clamped his jaw closed. Might as well save his breath. Trudy Lynn already had taken off. The cane lay at his feet. She was tearing recklessly through the woods toward who knows what, and she was totally defenseless.

  FOURTEEN

  Cody grabbed the cane and started after her. “Wait! Use your head.”

  She slowed. Whirled. Stared at him. “I am. Come on. We have to save Jim.”

  “Not if it gets us into hot water.”

  “Don’t be silly. Listen. He sounds pitiful.”

  “He’s also the one who stole from you.”

  “I know. But…”

  “No buts,” Cody said, joining her and taking her arm to keep her from running off before he’d had his say. “If that really is Jim, his voice is loud and strong. A few more minutes won’t matter. We can’t just barge in on whoever’s holding him and expect them to hand him over because we ask politely. We need a plan.”

  “You mean we need to follow your plan, don’t you? Well, it just so happens I have a few ideas of my own.”

  “Fine. What are they?”

  Fidgeting, Trudy Lynn chewed her lower lip. “First, I’m going to find out exactly where Jim is.”

  “Okay. Then what?” When she stiffened and averted her gaze Cody knew she’d been bluffing.

  “Then, I’ll have enough information to make a sensible decision,” she said.

  “Fair enough. We’ll reconnoiter together.” He loosened his hold on her arm. “Agreed?”

  “Okay. Agreed.” She gestured toward the cane. “Are you going to be able to make it?”

  “Unless I have to climb trees or leap canyons.” It pleased him to see her start to smile.

  “I thought you were going to say, ‘leap tall buildings in a single bound.’”

  “I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You were pretty impressive when Buford was trying to drown me.”

  Cody couldn’t help noticing how pink her cheeks had grown. Embarrassment confirmed her candor. Coming from someone as stubborn and hardheaded as Trudy Lynn Brown, the compliment meant a lot. When he was around her he didn’t feel defective or disabled. Not anymore. She didn’t baby him, yet she wasn’t cruel or off-putting, either. She might not always agree with him but she always accepted him.

  That conclusion gave him pause. Perhaps he’d do well to give her the same consideration.

  Up ahead, Trudy Lynn paused and raised her hand, then ducked behind the broad trunk of an oak.

  Cody joined her. “What do you see?”

  “Some kind of building. I think that’s where the calls for help are coming from.”

  He leaned closer to her shoulder so he could peer past. The sweet, clean fragrance of her hair was so appealing, so distracting, he paused to take a deep breath before stepping back and saying, “I think so, too. Somebody’s tacked plastic to a rough framework. Looks like a makeshift greenhouse.”

  “Out here? There isn’t any electricity. Even if they had their own well they couldn’t pump water without a generator.”

  “Maybe they have one.” Cody’s senses were still on overload from being so close to Trudy Lynn. That would never do. He needed to be vigilant. Ready for anything.

  “Right, maybe they do,” she whispered. “What now?”

  “I don’t know. You’re supposed to be the one with the rescue plan.” If he hadn’t been trying to remain secretive he’d have laughed aloud at her look of consternation. “Okay. Tell you what. Let’s circle around and check everything carefully before we stumble into an ambush. You go one way and I’ll go the other. When we meet on the opposite side, we’ll talk. How does that sound?”

  “Logical,” Trudy Lynn muttered.

  “I thought so. Be careful. And stay out of sight.”

  “You, too.”

  Cody nodded. “I will.”

  Part of his heart kept insisting he shouldn’t let her go by herself. Another part countered with the certainty that he’d be a lot more levelheaded once they were apart. Clear thinking was critical. Everything else was secondary, at least until they figured out what was going on.

  Rocks the size of footballs, and smaller, lay hidden beneath the dead leaves littering the forest floor. Cody picked his way carefully. By peering through the trees he could catch reassuring glimpses of Trudy Lynn now and then. Every time he did, his heart responded by hammering harder.

  Struggling to keep up a pace equal to hers, he lost sight of her until he rounded the far corner of
the greenhouse. There she was! He raised the cane to signal and saw her wave back as he took a step.

  Suddenly, something hit his ankle. Raked across it. Sent pain shooting up his leg.

  Arms flailing wildly, Cody twisted his body to protect his injured knee and hit the ground on his side. Hard.

  As he fell, the world around him exploded. Green leaves above were riddled and shredded. Bits of bark rained down like dusty hail. The blast echoed across the hills like the rumble of thunder.

  Cody clung to the ground. The knifing pain across his ankle told him he must have stumbled over a trip wire that had set off a booby trap. Were there more? There must be.

  He raised on one elbow before the dust had settled and shouted to Trudy Lynn. “Don’t move. Stay where you are.”

  “What happened? Did somebody shoot at us?”

  The quaver in her voice touched his heart. “No. I fell over a wire or something. Don’t worry. I’m okay.”

  “You don’t sound okay. Where are you?”

  Cody could tell she was drawing nearer despite his warning. “Stand still!” he shouted. “I’ll come to you.”

  In the confusion he’d lost the cane, so he worked himself up a hickory, hand over hand, till he could regain his balance. Gall rose in his throat. The trunk of an adjoining oak bore scars from the basketball-sized shotgun blast. It had struck at eye level. Right where his head should have been—would have been—if he hadn’t fallen!

  The urge to reach Trudy Lynn and protect her from the same unthinkable threat overpowered him. No pain registered. No rational thought reached his consciousness. All he cared about was getting to her. Before it was too late.

  Trudy Lynn saw movement ahead, about where Cody should have been. Was he really all right or had he lied to keep her from coming to his aid?

  The latter was most likely. That man was too brave for his own good. And way too bossy. She wasn’t helpless, nor was she foolish. These hills were her home. She could tell natural plants and rock formations from anything artificial. If there was a trap set in her path she’d be able to spot it early and avoid it. In that respect, she was probably safer moving around those woods than Cody was.

  “No. You stay where you are. I’m coming,” she shouted.

  Dropping into a crouch she started to inch forward while carefully perusing the leaf-strewn forest floor. Every sense was heightened. Every muscle tense. Her temples throbbed in time with her rapid pulse and her stomach lurched, bringing bitterness to the back of her throat.

  Ahead, she caught glimpses of Cody’s blue T-shirt. He was moving, too! The thought of losing him tore at her heart. She didn’t care if he wasn’t as fond of her as she was of him, she wasn’t going to let him continue to risk his life for her sake.

  “I said, stop,” Trudy Lynn screeched angrily. “Freeze. I’m almost there.”

  Her skin prickled as if a thousand tiny insects were crawling on it. She lifted her foot to take another step. Hesitated. Pulled back. The leaves ahead didn’t look quite right. The ridge piled across her path was too even.

  Scanning the area she saw no easy way to bypass the strange formation without backtracking. That was out of the question. If she did manage to avoid the trap, assuming it was a trap, Cody would probably blunder into it before she could reach him.

  Picking up a piece of a fallen limb she poked gingerly at the leaves. Nothing happened. She bent lower. Probed more forcefully. Still nothing. Oh, well. Sighing, she turned away as she tossed the broken branch aside.

  Her eardrums popped. A shock wave knocked her off her feet and sent her sprawling, facedown, into the suspicious leaves. Intense sound followed a split second later. This blast was lower-pitched than the shot Cody had triggered. It reverberated like the growling of angry beasts, ready to devour anyone or anything in their path.

  In the background, Trudy Lynn heard a bellow of pain that cut her all the way to the core. Cody!

  “No!” she shouted, “No!”

  Her heart ached. Tears filled her eyes. Cody had been hit. She’d failed him.

  Cody yelled when he saw the flash of the ground blast, saw Trudy Lynn go down. Common sense abandoned him. Half hopping, half running, he raced toward her.

  “Dear God,” he prayed without reservation, “Help her. Don’t let anything happen to her. Please!”

  In the deepest reaches of his soul he realized he did believe. Disillusionment and disappointment had clouded his faith but its basic tenets remained. He was the one who had given up. God hadn’t.

  He saw Trudy raise her head and look at him. Tears streaked her face. Her lips were quivering.

  Cody closed the remaining distance and threw himself down beside her, gathering her into his arms. “Oh, honey.” Unshed tears blurred his vision. He didn’t try to hide his overwhelming relief. “I was afraid…Did it hurt you?”

  She clung to him. “I don’t think so. Are—are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” He tightened his grip and stroked her hair, brushing away crushed leaves and other blast residue. “That was close. Why didn’t you stop like I told you to?”

  “Because I thought I’d be able to spot traps better than you would.” She rested her forehead against his and sighed. “Guess not, huh?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “You can let go of me.” She sounded unconvinced.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever let you go again.”

  He realized his confession had flustered her when she quipped, “We’d get awfully hungry and dirty if we stayed out here for the rest of our lives.”

  “Yeah. I suppose you’re right.” Slowly, reluctantly, he got to his feet and gave her a hand up. “All we have to do is figure out how to get ourselves out of this minefield in one piece.”

  “After we rescue Jim. Don’t forget him.”

  “I’d like to,” Cody said, grimacing and staring at the greenhouse. “He’s quieted down. Probably figures whoever set off those traps is history.”

  “I suppose so.” Her brow wrinkled. “If there was anyone else in there, don’t you think they’d have come out to investigate? We didn’t exactly sneak up on them.”

  “We sure didn’t. Okay. You stay here and wait for me. I’ll work my way over there and see who or what’s in the greenhouse.”

  Trudy Lynn latched onto his hand. “Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not going anywhere without me.”

  “Yes, I am. I’ll have enough to do keeping myself out of trouble. I don’t need to be worrying about you, too.”

  “Fine. Don’t worry. But don’t think you’re going to get away without me again. We split up once and look what happened.”

  “If we’d been together, one or both of us could have been killed. Use your head. What makes more sense, a small target or a big one?”

  “I’m not real fond of becoming either.”

  Cody was about to continue arguing when he heard a disturbance in the distance. Leaves were rustling. Dry twigs were snapping. One quick glance at Trudy Lynn’s widening eyes told him she’d heard it, too.

  She tightened her grip on his fingers. “That’s the noise I heard down by the river. It’s coming this way!”

  “I know.” Cody stepped forward and pushed her behind him. The forest was silent except for the approaching threat. Jim chose that moment to let out a howl that would have made a demented hyena proud.

  An enormous ebony shape burst from the brush and charged at them.

  Trudy Lynn started to scream, then choked it off when she recognized the beast.

  Sailor gamboled up and shook himself, sending a shower of river water and forest refuse in all directions.

  Jim cut loose with another heartrending wail.

  Sailor’s ears perked up. His big head swiveled, nose pointing to the greenhouse, hackles raised.

  “Easy, boy,” Cody said. “It’s okay.”

  Sailor apparently disagreed because he sprang into action and made a beeline for the plastic-covered structure.

  Cody shouted,
“No!” in unison with Trudy Lynn.

  The Newfoundland ignored them both. In seconds, he’d reached the side of the plastic-covered structure and made his own door by charging through the flimsy wall as if it were tissue paper.

  “Follow that dog,” Trudy Lynn said, tugging on Cody’s hand. “If he made it safely, we can, too.”

  Trudy Lynn shinnied through the Newf-sized hole ahead of Cody. The sight that greeted her inside was so funny she couldn’t help laughing in spite of the seriousness of the situation.

  Jim was tied to a toppled chair and lying on his back, feet kicking in the air. Sailor stood over him, lapping his face, while he sputtered and cursed.

  Green fronds on thick, segmented stalks were everywhere, some growing, some stacked in bundles after a recent harvest. The air was humid, cloying, with a pungent trace of wet dog.

  “Come on, boy,” Trudy Lynn said, tugging on Sailor’s collar to ease him away. “That’s clean enough. We’ll let you wash him off again later if you want.”

  Jim was blubbering. “Get that monster off me.”

  “You don’t want to be rescued?”

  “Not by that.” He spit. “Untie me.”

  Cody joined Trudy Lynn to look down on the captive youth. “Not so fast,” he said. “Your cousin and I almost got ourselves killed out there. Before we let you loose I’d like to know just what we’ve stumbled into.”

  “Oh, like you don’t know,” Jim grumbled. “Give me a break, man. Everybody knows marijuana when they see it. What’d you think all this stuff was, okra?”

  “The question is, who tied you up and why?”

  “Never mind that. Just get me out of here before they come back.”

  “They, who? Buford’s out of commission. Who else should we look out for?”

  “What happened to him?” Jim was clearly frightened.

  Cody chuckled and elbowed Trudy Lynn. “Some woman who doesn’t know her own strength gave him a bad headache. He’s stuck in the hospital for observation but he’ll be released soon. I suggest you cut the macho act and start talking. Otherwise, we may decide to leave you right where you are.”