Paranormal II: The Summit Part 36

The whop-whop-whop of a chopper announced the arrival of the Warren County sheriff's department. Considering the terrain the department covered, the helo was probably kept on ready alert. Beefy Sheriff Crawford ducked beneath the blades and met Autumn and Ben in the front yard of the house. A second chopper began its descent before they had the chance to begin a conversation, this one marked with the letters FBI on the side.

Autumn was only a little surprised to see Burt Riker step out and make his way toward them, careful to stay low as the long helo blades began to slow.

"I didn't figure you'd come in person," Ben said, shaking Riker's outstretched hand. "But I'm really glad you did. You'll find Ginny Purcell inside, along with two other women. I told you everything I know on the phone. Eli Beecher has my daughter and you know the plans he's got for her."

Riker nodded, his expression hard. "We'll have a team on the mountain in the next fifteen minutes, heading up the trail. They'll catch him, Ben. They'll bring her back to you."

"They'll have to stop at dark, which means they'll catch him but not in time. Autumn and I are climbing, taking the east-face route. We can make it to the cabin before Beecher gets there."

Riker's lean profile angled toward the range of mountains in the distance, taking in the rugged terrain, granite outcroppings and heavily forested slopes. "You're involving yourself in FBI business, to say nothing of the risk you're planning to take. I should probably stop you but I'm not going to."

Ben nodded. "I appreciate that."

They had already sorted through the gear to make sure they had everything they needed and that it was all in working order. The route started at the base of Angel's Peak, off the main road on the far east side of the mountain. They would drive in as far as they could, hike in to the base at first light and then start making the climb to the summit, using the route Autumn had taken before. The climb was difficult but not impossible, a mixture of hiking and climbing that required more stamina than skill.

Except for the Pinnacle and an even tougher spot called the Devil's Wall. The wall was a granite outcropping, an overhang that blocked the ascent near the top, an obstacle in their path that had to be surmounted to reach the summit.

Autumn had conquered the Devil's Wall on a previous climb, but had badly bruised an ankle on a rocky crevice and gotten a number of ugly cuts and a handful of nasty sc.r.a.pes along the way. She had narrowly missed a twenty-five-foot plunge to the end of the rope Max was belaying. She hoped to h.e.l.l neither she nor Ben took a serious fall on their climb to the top.

Autumn surveyed the mountain in the distance. The weather was pleasant now, but this far north a rain storm could hit without warning or it could turn cold. She had a fleece jacket in her gear bag. Since Ben hadn't brought any outdoor gear along, he raided Eli Beecher's camping stash out in his workshop, most of which the man had taken with him. An old jacket hung on the wall, a little tight across the shoulders for Ben but it would do.

The shop smelled of sawdust and there were several works in progress: a pine sofa and chair, a hand-rubbed coffee table. From what Sarah told them, Eli earned a small but adequate living from making furniture. It was an all-cash business he could run from his house. It looked as if Eli did finely crafted, very solid work, which fit Riker's profile, demanding a good deal of himself as well as the people around him.

Sarah also told them she and the two younger girls were being home-schooled. Rachael taught them the basics, with the occasional help of a neighbor woman. The family rarely went to town except to attend church and almost never invited friends over. It was obvious Eli liked to keep his women close at hand and under his domineering rule.

It was getting dark. Way too late to begin the grueling climb to the summit. She and Ben planned to spend the night in the SUV, then set off before dawn.

Though Riker had taken over the crime scene, he didn't ask where Sarah got the blankets or the bread and cheese she brought to Autumn and Ben. Promising to give the FBI agent a formal statement later, they left the authorities to deal with the girls, and Rachael-apparently wife number one. There was evidence to be collected in the kidnapping of two children and also in the matter of the s.e.xual a.s.sault of an underage girl.

Autumn leaned back in the seat of the car while Ben took the wheel. The ride to the trailhead seemed to take forever along the curvy road through the pitch-dark forest, up to the end of the road. They parked there, then curled up together in the cramped back of the SUV, pulling the borrowed blankets over them for a little warmth.

Neither of them slept well in the cramped interior, just off and on, maybe an hour or two. They were too wired to sleep, too worried. But the climb would be difficult enough in the daylight and they couldn't risk failure.

Too much was at stake.

As the first purple-gray morning light seeped over the horizon, they slung their gear onto their backs and started up the trail. They would make the hike up to the base in the near-dark, packing two lengths of rope and the tools they would need for the ascent: harnesses, cams, hexes, carabiners, chalk bags, helmets and whatever else might prove useful. Packed among their gear Autumn carried a lightweight pair of binoculars and Ben carried his Springfield automatic.

If Eli Beecher proved to be as ruthless as his brothers, they figured it was a good idea to have a weapon.

Moving swiftly over a narrow trail mostly obscured by a heavy summer growth of vegetation, they made the two-and-a-half-mile trip to the base of the mountain in record time. The sun was just cresting the tall peaks to the east, a thin streak of yellow that soon became a glowing orb. The ground was still wet, the rocks slick, and water beaded on the leaves of the earth-hugging plants. But near the bottom, the slope was not that steep and they were able to keep their footing.

The mountain itself, Angel's Peak, rose into the sky like the ancient volcano it was. Being far off the usual tourist paths, it wasn't a common destination. Part of the land around it was national forest, some of it Bureau of Land Management land, and there were a few private parcels that had started as gold mining claims back in the late 1870s.

Autumn figured the cabin for one of those, a place high up on the mountain where someone had hoped to find gold and make his fortune.

The real wealth was in the view.

She paused for a moment at the base as they strapped on their harnesses. Early-morning light in the mountains was amazing. It backlit the horizon and gave the vast, towering peaks a magical glow that made them seem almost enchanted. The landscape looked endless and deserted; the hazy mist floating over the ground made it appear surreal. Near the craggy peak that was the summit, a smoky ring of clouds encircled the mountain, only the topmost point escaping the wispy white blanket.

Autumn returned her attention to the task at hand, exchanging her hiking shoes for her climbing slippers. The extra pair she kept in the car had once belonged to Josh. The shoes were nicely broken in and fit Ben fairly well.

"Ready?" he asked, anxious to get underway.

"I'm ready."

Ben nodded, his jaw set with determination. Neither of them knew what problems they might encounter along the route. They only knew that whatever obstacles arose, they had to overcome.

Ben's daughter needed him.

They couldn't afford to fail.

Thirty.

Ruth Beecher climbed the trail in the early-morning light, walking behind the man, trudging, for the third day in a row, up the mountain path leading to Eli's sanctuary in the woods. For the past two nights they had slept in sleeping bags around a small campfire. If she hadn't been with Eli, it would have been fun.

But she didn't like the way Eli had been looking at her lately, the way he made her feel. For years, he had ignored her, except to a.s.sign ch.o.r.es or punish her for something she did wrong. Now that she was older, things had changed. His eyes seemed to follow her wherever she went. He stared at her as if she had something he wanted. And once they reached the cabin, it was going to get worse.

Ruth knew about the sanctuary. Sarah and Eli had been married there two years ago when Sarah had turned thirteen.

Now he wanted to marry Ruth. Instead of being his ward, as she had been for the last six years, tonight-on her birthday-she would become Eli's wife.

Her stomach churned. She wished her birthday would never come. She wasn't exactly sure how Eli knew what day it was but maybe she had told him when she was a little girl, back when she remembered things like that. Or maybe he just knew. He had known her parents, he said. He'd told her they had sent him that day to her house, the day she had gotten in the car with him. They told him to take care of her because they didn't want her anymore.

Ruth barely remembered that day or the parents she'd once loved, hardly remembered anything at all before Eli and Rachael and her home in the mountains. She wasn't his daughter, she knew. He had always made that clear. She guessed it must be true about her parents not wanting her because she still lived with Eli and Rachael and her real parents never came for her.

For years she prayed they would. At first she could even remember their faces, but Eli told her she had to forget them. He was her family now, he and Rachael.

Then Sarah had come. Ruth had loved Sarah from the moment she walked into the house. She was always so sweet and smiling, at least when Eli wasn't around. She was his second wife, she said. Sarah told her once that she hadn't wanted to marry Eli but her father and mother said it was the right thing to do. That the leader of their church, Samuel Beecher, had spoken to G.o.d and he had commanded that Sarah marry his son. And so she did.

Sarah was having a baby now. Ruth wasn't quite sure how that happened. It was a forbidden topic in their house. But she knew it had something to do with sleeping in the same bed with Eli.

Sarah had tried to explain the things a wife had to do for her husband, how she had to sleep with him and let him touch her, but Eli had heard them talking and he had gotten angry. He had whipped Sarah for speaking of private matters and Sarah had cried.

Ruth had cried too. She didn't want to marry Eli. She didn't want to marry anyone, though she wouldn't mind having a baby. She didn't like the idea of being fat, but having a baby to cuddle and care for, having a little girl or boy to love sounded good to Ruth.

Since she had come to the mountains, she couldn't remember ever having anyone to love, except for Sarah. She kind of hoped she and the little girl that Eli had brought home one day might get to be friends, but Mary was always so frightened she just stayed off by herself. Ruth wondered if she had been as frightened as Mary when she had first been brought to the house.

"Hurry it up, girl. And watch where you're walking. You don't want to break a leg up here, do you?"

For an instant, Ruth thought the idea had merit. If she couldn't reach the sanctuary, Eli couldn't marry her. He couldn't touch her, do the things she was afraid to imagine he might do.

"I said, get your skinny backside up the trail. We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to get to the cabin by nightfall."

"Yes, sir," Ruth said. "I'm coming."

But she was praying they wouldn't reach the cabin at all.

Autumn wedged a hex into a narrow crevice, then attached a carabiner and hooked her rope through it. Once the rope was in place, she slid a hand into the chalk bag around her waist, then reached up toward a thin slice of granite protruding from the rocky face, providing a st.u.r.dy grip for her fingers. She swung her leg up, hooked a heel and hauled herself up. Another few feet and she reached the end of the pitch, a narrow ledge where the three-inch trunk of a pine tree protruded from the side of the mountain, the perfect place to anchor herself as Ben made his climb up the pitch.

She watched him moving upward, the tightening of muscle over bone, the movement of suntanned skin across his shoulders, the flexing of the long muscles in his thighs and calves. A fine sheen of perspiration coated his body and she could hear his labored breathing as he reached for a handhold, then found a foothold and used his legs to push himself up.

He looked magnificent, tall and masculine, every woman's fantasy, and she couldn't help thinking how much he had come to mean to her.

She shook her head. Her time with him grew closer to ending. It didn't matter. She would do whatever it took to help him. His needs were more important than her own. She loved him that much.

The words slammed into her with the force of a blow, almost knocking her off the side of the mountain. She was in love with Ben. Not a little in love, she realized. But desperately, pa.s.sionately in love and when this was over, her heart was simply going to shatter.

She sucked in a shaky breath, then slowly released it, letting the calm settle in. Now was not the time to think of her feelings for Ben. Now was the time to think of Molly. The little girl was in terrible danger and they were the only ones who could save her.

She looked down the mountain at Ben, watched him maneuver the rope, reach down and retrieve the tool she had placed as he climbed higher. His job was to pick up the protection they used to make the climb and at the top of the pitch return the tools to the first climber-in this case, her.

As soon as he reached where she sat braced against the wall, her legs propped against the trunk of the tree, he positioned himself, providing an anchor for her as she prepared to climb the next pitch.

She checked her map, then stuffed it back into her pocket. "At the top of this, we get to hike a bit. Give us a chance to catch our breath before we start climbing again."

Ben just nodded. Autumn could only imagine how hard it was to concentrate when he was so worried about his daughter. But so far he was doing an outstanding job, making it appear he had climbed a dozen peaks just like this one.

The morning slipped past, the air drying, becoming a little warmer. So far they were right on schedule. There were half a dozen more difficult pitches, including the Pinnacle, before they reached the Devil's Wall. She looked over at Ben, saw that he was anch.o.r.ed and ready to belay her, and started to climb the next pitch.

Ben watched those small, powerful legs moving confidently up the route in front of him. Her skill was remarkable, the graceful movements of hands, arms and legs that searched out the tiniest grips and footholds and skillfully placed the protection they needed to stay safe, choosing the most expedient path. She was helping him reach his daughter, doing everything in her power to make sure he got to Molly before Eli Beecher could hurt her.

For Autumn there was no half way, no room for failure. From the beginning, she had been that way. She had never backed off, never given up, just kept moving forward. No woman had ever been there for him the way Autumn was and he had never loved her more than he did today. She was everything he wanted in a woman and so much more. Strong, loyal, beautiful, pa.s.sionate and a dozen other qualities he couldn't begin to name.

Whatever happened, no matter the outcome, when this was over, he was going to ask her to marry him.

He wished he were more certain that she would say yes.

"You ready?" she called down to him and he realized she had reached the top of the pitch.

He waved and called back to her, "Ready!" Then started to climb the route she had prepared for his ascent.

Oddly, as bad as the situation was, as worried as he was about Molly, the climb was a thrill. There were times he found himself looking down at the world from a thousand feet up on the side of a granite slab. The views were spectacular, like nothing you could experience from the ground. Jagged, craggy distant peaks reached into the sky, some still topped with a dusting of snow. Deep green forested valleys spread out beneath him, cut by thin ribbons of water like threads of gleaming silk.

What he didn't like was the precious time that was ticking away as they make their way, inch by grueling inch, toward the summit of Angel's Peak.

The hours were slipping away. Even after they got to the top, they would have to locate the cabin-and pray Eli Beecher hadn't had time to get there ahead of them.

Burt Riker stood next to Doug Watkins in the front yard of the Beecher house. It was almost noon.

Last night, Rachael and Sarah had been taken into protective custody. By now, little Ginny Purcell had been reunited with her parents, who had flown into Seattle this morning for the teary reunion. The child had been emotionally abused by her abductors, but she had suffered no s.e.xual or serious physical abuse. She was with her parents again and in time, the trauma of the kidnapping would fade.

It was nice when the good guys won one.

Riker almost smiled. The Purcells had Autumn Sommers and Ben McKenzie to thank for the return of their child.

And maybe some of the credit went to the stout detective with the shaved head who had taken a chance and helped them. Doug Watkins was there at the scene today because he had been involved in the Molly McKenzie abduction case six years ago and because he had information pertinent to the current situation.

"So let me get this straight," Riker said to him, continuing the conversation they had already begun. "You're telling me the Sommers woman helped McKenzie track down Eli Beecher through a series of dreams-is that right?"

The man was obviously uncomfortable with the subject, as he had been since the discussion began. "That's the way it looks. Apparently, this dream thing happened to her once before, back when she was in high school. When the same thing started to happen again, she went to McKenzie and eventually convinced him to renew the search for his daughter."

Riker grunted. He had worked with a psychic once and had a bit of luck but nothing like this. "Well, it got them this far so I guess there must be something to it."

Watkins seemed eager to change the subject and Riker let him. "When will your team reach Beecher's cabin?"

"The team on the ground-not until tomorrow at best. But we're putting another chopper in the air. They'll be looking for a place to set down or drop a team in from above, someplace that'll give them faster access to the cabin."

Watkins nodded. "You...ahh...said the dream part of this conversation was off the record. I don't think Ms. Sommers would want her story spread all over the media. Those guys would hound her to the ends of the earth to get that kind of news."

"They won't get it from me. This is going to go down as a case of a father's persistence. His determined six-year search for his daughter. How he put old clues together and uncovered new ones. How his search led him to Ginny Purcell."

"Yeah. I just hope he also finds his Molly and that she's unharmed."

"So do I," Riker said. He stared off at the distant mountain. "So do I."

The middle of the day grew hot, but they had dressed lightly, knowing the physical exertion would be enough to keep them warm. As the afternoon began to wane, the temperature started dropping. It was going to be colder than it was this morning, which Autumn thought might be good because it would keep them awake and alert.

They were pus.h.i.+ng themselves too hard, she knew, both of them nearing exhaustion, the last thing a climber wanted to happen before he reached the top. They had made it up the Pinnacle with only a few minor sc.r.a.pes and when Ben joined her at the top of the pitch he had actually grinned.

"That was something," he said.

"You're something, McKenzie." Leaning over, she kissed him hard on the mouth, then turned and started climbing again before he could react.

She headed up the mountain with renewed determination though her muscles had begun to scream. The good news was that they had come to a heavily vegetated slope they could hike up instead of climb, which gave them a chance to rest a bit and check their gear before they tackled the next pitch then faced the Devil's Wall.

Half an hour later, they were there, standing at the bottom of a sheer granite face with an overhang near the top.

Ben peered up at the ma.s.sive slab of rock. "Man, this baby is a monster."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"You said you took a beating when you climbed it before." He stared up at the wall. "I can see how that could happen."

"Some of the rock near the top may be loose. We need to be careful so we don't pull a chunk down on top of us."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ben said dryly.

They were wearing helmets. Autumn preferred to climb without one unless the terrain had a lot of loose rock or crumbling sandstone, but there wasn't room for error in the climb they were making. And this was a place that was dicey at best.

"Once we get past the wall," she said, "we're mostly in the clear. We should be able to make the rest of the climb without much problem." Should being the key word.