Missing (6 page)

     “You said your things were knocked over. Was anything missing?”

     “No. Nothing at all. That’s what was so weird. Why would something… or somebody, do that unless they wanted to take something?”

     “Something or somebody? Do you get the sense it was an animal of some type, or a human?”

     “I honestly don’t know. I just got the sense that whatever or whoever it was, was pure evil.

     “What did you tell Marty when you got back?”

     “As I said, I could tell he was a bit disappointed. I wanted to make it up to him, so I asked him if we could do the picnic in the compound instead. He said sure, so we spread the blanket out under one of the apple trees and had a really good time.”

     “And you still don’t know what, or who, was out there?”

     “No. I just know it was evil, whatever it was. And now Sarah’s missing out there, and I feel so bad for not warning everybody.”

Chapter 8

     Darkness was falling fast and it was apparent to everyone now that something was terribly wrong. On two fronts.

     Mark was in full-out panic mode. So was Sami, but they both managed to hide it well. They owed it to Sarah to give her search their best effort, and they could only do that by keeping their heads in the gam
e
.

    
Frank was trying to manage two emergencies at the same time. And as talented as he was as a security man, it was taxing his skills.

     And his patience.

     “Sami, this is Frank. When they left, did Hannah or John pass any information to you that indicated they might not follow their normal schedule? Perhaps they extended their tour and took longer.”

     “If they had plans to come back later, they didn’t share them with me.”

     “Have you been monitoring the ham radio, in case they’ve tried to call us?”

     “Yes. But I don’t know if either of them ever memorized the frequencies we monitor. They’re all pre-programmed into the unit, and we never have to dial them in.”

     Frank cursed aloud under his breath as he beat his way through the heavy underbrush looking for any sign of Sarah.

     Another stupid mistake. He and John had a lot of things to fix when this night was finally over and everyone was back home safely.

     “Bryan, what’s your location?”

     “I’ve finishing up the second sweep now. I’m roughly a hundred yards due east of the east wall.”

     “After you finish, make a bee-line to Salt Mountain. Get as high up as you can on the mountain and look to the south and to the east. See if you can see any smoke. If you can, try to get an approximate distance and bearing on it.”

     Bryan swallowed hard.

     In the control center, a look of terrible sadness overtook Sami’s face.

     Both of them knew the implications of Frank’s words.

     But neither of them would accept those implications as even a remote possibility.

     Not yet.

     “Ten-four, Frank.”

     “The rest of you, stand by at the compound when we finish this sweep. We’ll check everyone’s batteries and then move the search line to the south for the next sweep.”

     Marty knew not to take his crew close to the compound. Its location was still a well-kept secret to most of the residents of Kerr County. He had a hand-held radio in his truck’s glove box tuned into the compound’s frequency.

     John had given it to him during his last visit, so he could announce his future arrivals.

     Marty was therefore the only one in his group of reinforcements who could communicate with Frank and Sami.

     Marty asked Frank on their way east from the Trucker’s Paradise, “Frank, this woman who was camping in the mountains and wandered away… where do you want us to conduct our search?”

     Frank knew that Marty was trying to keep it secret that Sarah lived in the secret compound rumored to be in the area. He appreciated Marty’s efforts.

     “Marty, she may be north and east of Salt Mountain. Please start your party in a straight line north, extending from the center of the north side of the mountain. They should work their way due east until they get to the second service road. If they haven’t come across her, they should turn due south and start a second sweep.”

     “Ten four, Frank.”

     “And Marty, after you get your team started on their first sweep, can you meet me at the rendezvous point and drop off any flashlights and batteries you can spare?”

     Anyone close to Marty and overhearing Frank’s words on the radio wouldn’t have a clue where the “rendezvous point” was.

     But Marty had a pretty good idea. He guessed the main gate at the compound.

     And he was right.

     Frank was back on the radio.

     “Okay, you guys, once you’re finished with the current sweep, head due south to the main gate. We’ll replace everyone’s batteries and give flashlights to whoever needs one. Then we’ll disperse again in a new search line. Only this one will be much tighter than before. The sun will be down before we finish this sweep, so we’re going to place each man fifteen yards apart.”

     Frank got to the main gate at the same time Marty did.

     Marty rushed from the cab of his truck and asked, “You don’t have a clue what happened to her?”

     “No. And that’s not all the bad news. John and Hannah are missing too. They were due back from San Antonio on an Army helicopter two hours ago.”

     “Holy crap. Any distress signal, or SOS transmission?”

     “Nope.”

     “How long will the Army wait before they send out their own search parties?”

     “My guess is that they’re already searching.”

     “Won’t they send somebody here, to see if they’ve arrived?”

     “Not if they were in contact with the pilots. They have much better range on their radios than we do. It’s entirely likely they were in radio contact with their helicopter the entire trip. If they had engine trouble or some other malfunction and had to land, then the pilots probably notified San Antonio. And San Antonio wouldn’t have any reason to contact us to see if the chopper arrived.”

     “So, you think that’s what happened? The chopper malfunctioned and got delayed?”

     “I sure hope so. Ordinarily I’d have someone in a vehicle, speeding full steam toward Kelly Air Force Base to find out. But right now I can’t spare any men. We have to give Sarah our top priority for now.”

     “Understood. Can I have a fresh battery for my radio?”

     “Sure. Call Sami at the control center and she’ll have somebody run one out for you. And Marty…”

     “Yes?”

     “Thanks for your help.”

     “Don’t mention it. You guys are the only family I’ve got left.”

Chapter 9

     Hannah awoke for the second time, still in a daze and still in a world of pain. She still couldn’t move the lower part of her body. Couldn’t even feel it, as a matter of fact.

     The huge piece of wreckage that covered her hips and legs kept her from even seeing whether her lower body was still intact. The tingling she felt occasionally came in waves, first barely perceptible and then very intense.

    Had her lower body been severed in the crash? Was that why she couldn’t feel her legs and feet?

     Was the tingling merely her body’s way of trying to convince her she was still whole? Or was her hip bone as far as her body extended now?

     Was the weight of the huge chunk of metal which covered her from the pubic bone to her ankles the only thing keeping her from bleeding to death from legs that were no longer there?

     She’d had little formal training in medicine while in college. She’d always been amazed when she told people she was an astrophysicist, how many thought that had something to do with medicine.

     Many of her friends had asked her casual questions about their ailments, as though she were formally trained in the medical field.

     The truth was, the few medical courses she took in college were merely block fillers: elective courses she took because they interested her and she needed the credits. She took two semesters of basic medical principles and first aid techniques. Another on emergency medicine.

     She tried her best to remember. Her abdomen was sensitive to the touch, and was warm and hard. That meant internal bleeding, she was almost positive. And that wasn’t good.

     She tried again to cry out. But her lungs just wouldn’t inflate enough to allow her to do it. Even now, three hours after the crash, she was still breathing in very short, very labored breaths. Whenever she tried to inhale deeply, the stabbing pain from her fractured ribs made her feel like passing out.

     She looked once again at the arm.

     Oh, she tried not to. The pain it caused her was even worse than the pain in her abdomen or the pain in her lungs.

     This pain was in her heart.

     But the arm kept drawing her back. It wouldn’t let her
not
look.

     It was as though the limb, peeking out from beneath a  chunk of Army green fuselage that had to weigh a ton or better, kept calling her name.

     Hannah studied the arm again, desperate to know. She’d known John for years now… considered him one of her best friends.

     And she knew he had tattoos. She remembered seeing the words “Semper Fi” tattooed on his shoulder once when she was giving him a haircut.

     But even as well as she knew him, she couldn’t say for sure if he had the letters “USMC” tattooed on the inside of his right forearm.

     Like the arm that peeked out from the piece of fuselage.

     She hadn’t seen John since the crash. Hadn’t seen anyone, in fact. As far as she knew, she was the only survivor.

     And she knew in her heart she wouldn’t survive long without help.

     Suddenly there was a sound. Of what? It was a scratching noise, barely perceptible.

     No. It was a dragging sound. Coming from the area past the arm.

     Hannah strained to see who or what was making the sound, but the sun was setting and the area around the crash site was getting dim.

     Finally, around the side of what was left of the propeller assembly, a weak and damaged figure emerged.

     It was the crewman who’d strapped them into their seats just before they left Kelly Air Force Base.

     The one who told her it was bad luck not to smile for the man who buckled her in. The man who told her she was beautiful and who pointed out that he was single and looking for a mate.

     She’d been told that by many men over the years. But she was still flattered, and gently told the man she was happily married and had a child.

     She’d laughed when the man said, “Dang it!” as though he were genuinely heartbroken.

     She wondered if he’d be the last man to ever tell her she was beautiful.

     He dragged two legs behind him as he clawed his way across the ground. One was tied off with a tourniquet just above the knee. The leg below that was gone.

     The other leg was intact, but was crushed almost beyond recognition. She saw a piece of femur protruding through the flight suit on his upper right leg, and found herself trying to remember how to treat an open fracture.

     She could tell by the paleness of his face that he’d lost a lot of blood, and that he was quite probably in shock.

     Still, as he saw her his face seemed to change. He seemed to gain motivation to keep crawling toward her.

     As he drew closer, she was able to squeak out a few words: “Are you okay?”

     The question seemed ludicrous in the face of the obvious.

     But he didn’t seem to notice.

     It seemed, in fact, that it took her words several seconds to even register.

     Then in a tone perhaps meant to reassure her, or maybe to console her, he mustered, “I’ve been better. How about you?”

     She said, “I can’t feel my legs. I don’t know if they’re still there.”