Kitty's House of Horrors
Page 49
“Consider them flushed,” I said.
“Then we have the offensive, at least for a little while,” Anastasia said. “What do you think they’ll do?”
I took a deep breath. Took a flyer. “I think they’ll come here. They’ll want to find out what happened to Valenti, and then they’ll want to take us down fast. They may not bother with the horror show anymore.”
“Agreed,” Grant said. “Then we should move fast. Get out there and find their hunting blinds. Clear them out, leave them without equipment. Then we go back to our original plan to get out and call the police.”
“It’ll be dawn soon,” Gemma said. She sounded small, like a scared kid. Did Valenti and his crew even think of her as a kid? Or just as a monster?
Anastasia said, “We have a few hours. We’ll be fine, Gemma.” An unspoken trust me finished the sentence. Gemma pretty much had to trust her, didn’t she?
“Lee, you’re a hunter. You can use this?” Grant handed him Valenti’s sniper rifle. He took it, and he smiled a little. A fire lit his eyes.
“Did your voodoo magic show tell you where these blinds are?” I said to Grant. “Exactly where?”
He didn’t answer right away, but Tina said, “I saw them. We both did.” Jeffrey nodded.
Grant’s lips thinned to a line. “I was hoping you had.”
We broke into teams. Lee, Tina, and I would go after the blind by the outgoing trail. Tina would help guide us, based on the images Grant had produced. After destroying what we could of the blind and the weapons we assumed we’d find there, we’d continue on to get help. If we encountered more silver-tainted barriers, like the razor wire, Tina could help clear the way. If need be, I could run ahead while Tina and Lee waited. Jeffrey, Anastasia, and Gemma would look for the blind closer to the lodge. Anastasia took the handgun so both parties went armed. Originally, Grant wanted Gemma to stay inside. She refused, wanting to stay with Anastasia. So Grant would wait at the lodge in case the remaining hunters came back.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” I asked him. It was a stupid question. Of course Grant could take care of himself.
“I’ll be fine,” he said.
Were there really only seven of us left? Maybe Conrad had gotten away okay. Maybe he’d found help.
We stood on the porch, getting ready to head out. I felt the need to add instructions. “Remember, we’re not going after Cabe and Provost. We’re going after their stuff. It’s probably best if we avoid them entirely.”
“But, you know, if you get a shot off,” Lee said.
“Kitty’s right,” Grant said. “Don’t take stupid chances. And there are probably still traps out there. Be careful.”
Words of the day, really.
Chapter 17
Tina walked close behind me, within arm’s reach, because she didn’t have good night vision and needed me to guide her. Lee walked a few paces to my right, carrying the sniper rifle in both hands, like a character out of a Vietnam War movie.
I concentrated on listening, smelling—spotting anything out of the ordinary. A place in the shadows with the wrong colors or an odor that didn’t belong. So far, nothing. But I remembered the pine pitch Valenti had used to mask his scent. Any minute now, I’d hear the hiss of silver-tipped arrows flying.
We’d traveled maybe two miles from the lodge, but it had taken an hour, since we’d moved so carefully, soundlessly, and full of paranoia. I kept glancing at Tina, hoping for some sign that she knew where the site was, that she was leading us somewhere. And for part of the time she did look like she was searching, stopping and studying the landscape, as if trying to recognize a landmark. Mostly, though, she looked scared, her face tight, brow furrowed.
Even if we didn’t find the hunters’ shelter, that would be okay. If all we did was hike within cell phone range and call the cavalry, I’d be fine with that.
After another half hour of cautious walking, Tina put a hand on my arm.
“We’re looking for a tent,” she said. “Camouflaged, under a pair of trees. I think it’s near here. This looks familiar.”
We all looked outward, scanning the trees. I took in a long, slow breath—and smelled canvas.
I couldn’t see it until we were almost standing next to it. Just like Tina had said, it was a low tent slung between trees, a darker shadow standing out against a natural backdrop. We waited outside it a long time, like we expected it to come to life and swallow us. Lee aimed the rifle.
“I don’t hear anything,” Lee said. “Do you?”
I didn’t, and I couldn’t smell anything living inside. I supposed it was time to get a closer look at what we were up against.
The tent was little more than a tarp slung over a rope tied between the trees and staked out to form walls. It was draped with camo netting, like a hunting blind. Lee pushed back the flap with the end of his rifle—the Vietnam War movie again. My heart raced, waiting for the screaming guy with the grenade to jump out. But nothing happened.
Inside was just enough room for a low camp cot and a small, collapsible metal table. Next to the cot was a steel cage, square, just big enough to hold a person. I didn’t want to know what they planned to do with that. Under the table sat metal crates—ammo boxes and the like. On top of the table were a camp stove, a bottle of water, some packets of freeze-dried food, and a tiny portable TV showing a black-and-white image of the trail leading away from the lodge. I wondered how many other cameras were out there. They couldn’t have had one in the lodge’s interior, or they’d have known what had happened to Valenti. So they weren’t omniscient. That was something.
Leaning against the ammunition cases was a crossbow, sleek steel and black, modern and dangerous, and a cylindrical container of bolts to go with it. Silver tips. This was the weapon that had killed Jerome.
Suddenly, I wanted to break something.
“What do we do now?” Lee said.
I didn’t know. This was so big, so organized. I was just trying to live my life and do my thing, and suddenly I was furious that I kept getting interrupted by crap like this. I didn’t just want to howl, I wanted to roar. The sound an animal made when it went rabid.
I took a deep breath and tried to push that feeling away.
Concentrating on calm and not on the knot in my gut, I said, “We need to get rid of this stuff so no one can use it anymore.”
“Then we have the offensive, at least for a little while,” Anastasia said. “What do you think they’ll do?”
I took a deep breath. Took a flyer. “I think they’ll come here. They’ll want to find out what happened to Valenti, and then they’ll want to take us down fast. They may not bother with the horror show anymore.”
“Agreed,” Grant said. “Then we should move fast. Get out there and find their hunting blinds. Clear them out, leave them without equipment. Then we go back to our original plan to get out and call the police.”
“It’ll be dawn soon,” Gemma said. She sounded small, like a scared kid. Did Valenti and his crew even think of her as a kid? Or just as a monster?
Anastasia said, “We have a few hours. We’ll be fine, Gemma.” An unspoken trust me finished the sentence. Gemma pretty much had to trust her, didn’t she?
“Lee, you’re a hunter. You can use this?” Grant handed him Valenti’s sniper rifle. He took it, and he smiled a little. A fire lit his eyes.
“Did your voodoo magic show tell you where these blinds are?” I said to Grant. “Exactly where?”
He didn’t answer right away, but Tina said, “I saw them. We both did.” Jeffrey nodded.
Grant’s lips thinned to a line. “I was hoping you had.”
We broke into teams. Lee, Tina, and I would go after the blind by the outgoing trail. Tina would help guide us, based on the images Grant had produced. After destroying what we could of the blind and the weapons we assumed we’d find there, we’d continue on to get help. If we encountered more silver-tainted barriers, like the razor wire, Tina could help clear the way. If need be, I could run ahead while Tina and Lee waited. Jeffrey, Anastasia, and Gemma would look for the blind closer to the lodge. Anastasia took the handgun so both parties went armed. Originally, Grant wanted Gemma to stay inside. She refused, wanting to stay with Anastasia. So Grant would wait at the lodge in case the remaining hunters came back.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” I asked him. It was a stupid question. Of course Grant could take care of himself.
“I’ll be fine,” he said.
Were there really only seven of us left? Maybe Conrad had gotten away okay. Maybe he’d found help.
We stood on the porch, getting ready to head out. I felt the need to add instructions. “Remember, we’re not going after Cabe and Provost. We’re going after their stuff. It’s probably best if we avoid them entirely.”
“But, you know, if you get a shot off,” Lee said.
“Kitty’s right,” Grant said. “Don’t take stupid chances. And there are probably still traps out there. Be careful.”
Words of the day, really.
Chapter 17
Tina walked close behind me, within arm’s reach, because she didn’t have good night vision and needed me to guide her. Lee walked a few paces to my right, carrying the sniper rifle in both hands, like a character out of a Vietnam War movie.
I concentrated on listening, smelling—spotting anything out of the ordinary. A place in the shadows with the wrong colors or an odor that didn’t belong. So far, nothing. But I remembered the pine pitch Valenti had used to mask his scent. Any minute now, I’d hear the hiss of silver-tipped arrows flying.
We’d traveled maybe two miles from the lodge, but it had taken an hour, since we’d moved so carefully, soundlessly, and full of paranoia. I kept glancing at Tina, hoping for some sign that she knew where the site was, that she was leading us somewhere. And for part of the time she did look like she was searching, stopping and studying the landscape, as if trying to recognize a landmark. Mostly, though, she looked scared, her face tight, brow furrowed.
Even if we didn’t find the hunters’ shelter, that would be okay. If all we did was hike within cell phone range and call the cavalry, I’d be fine with that.
After another half hour of cautious walking, Tina put a hand on my arm.
“We’re looking for a tent,” she said. “Camouflaged, under a pair of trees. I think it’s near here. This looks familiar.”
We all looked outward, scanning the trees. I took in a long, slow breath—and smelled canvas.
I couldn’t see it until we were almost standing next to it. Just like Tina had said, it was a low tent slung between trees, a darker shadow standing out against a natural backdrop. We waited outside it a long time, like we expected it to come to life and swallow us. Lee aimed the rifle.
“I don’t hear anything,” Lee said. “Do you?”
I didn’t, and I couldn’t smell anything living inside. I supposed it was time to get a closer look at what we were up against.
The tent was little more than a tarp slung over a rope tied between the trees and staked out to form walls. It was draped with camo netting, like a hunting blind. Lee pushed back the flap with the end of his rifle—the Vietnam War movie again. My heart raced, waiting for the screaming guy with the grenade to jump out. But nothing happened.
Inside was just enough room for a low camp cot and a small, collapsible metal table. Next to the cot was a steel cage, square, just big enough to hold a person. I didn’t want to know what they planned to do with that. Under the table sat metal crates—ammo boxes and the like. On top of the table were a camp stove, a bottle of water, some packets of freeze-dried food, and a tiny portable TV showing a black-and-white image of the trail leading away from the lodge. I wondered how many other cameras were out there. They couldn’t have had one in the lodge’s interior, or they’d have known what had happened to Valenti. So they weren’t omniscient. That was something.
Leaning against the ammunition cases was a crossbow, sleek steel and black, modern and dangerous, and a cylindrical container of bolts to go with it. Silver tips. This was the weapon that had killed Jerome.
Suddenly, I wanted to break something.
“What do we do now?” Lee said.
I didn’t know. This was so big, so organized. I was just trying to live my life and do my thing, and suddenly I was furious that I kept getting interrupted by crap like this. I didn’t just want to howl, I wanted to roar. The sound an animal made when it went rabid.
I took a deep breath and tried to push that feeling away.
Concentrating on calm and not on the knot in my gut, I said, “We need to get rid of this stuff so no one can use it anymore.”
