She shook her head briskly. “Just a random thought. It’s nothing.”
“Suit yourself.” Matt waved a hand. “Let’s see where the driveway leads.”
Still surrounded by fog, they walked past a parking area and onto a tree-lined path, paved with blacktop, wide enough for one vehicle but no more. As they continued, light from the streetlamps faded, allowing darkness to enfold them.
Darcy hooked her arm around Matt’s and whispered, “I smell incense.”
He stopped and inhaled. The air carried a sickly sweet aroma. “A religious ceremony?”
“Or to cover a worse odor. I burned incense if a customer smelled like . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Matt lowered his whisper even further. “You don’t have to mince words. I’m not squeamish.”
“That’s not it. The random thought came back. I’m starting to wonder . . .” She shook her head again. “Never mind. If I make sense out of it, I’ll let you know.”
Matt turned on the flashlight and aimed the beam ahead. The path led to a group of small modular houses that appeared to be aligned in a circle, their fronts facing toward the center. Low and small, they probably held only one room, two at the most.
He flicked off the light. “Let’s go.”
Following his memory, Matt led Darcy to where he estimated the path likely intersected a gap between two houses. He stopped and felt for an exterior wall. When his fingertips touched a metal panel, he whispered, “Now to the front. Stay close.”
Keeping his hand on the wall, he followed the surface around a corner to a door. Matt searched for a knob. His fingers brushed across a metal object that shifted with his touch. He grasped it and felt the shape. A padlock? “Check this out.”
Darcy’s hand joined his and fingered the closed lock and latch. “It is a prison. Someone’s locked inside.”
“And I didn’t see or feel a window anywhere.”
“I didn’t notice one when the flashlight was on.” She sniffed. “The incense is stronger. Where’s it coming from?”
“Probably a roof vent.” He pushed on the door, but it didn’t move. “A prison door is bound to be pretty strong.”
“Are you hoping to kick it down?”
“Not until I figure out if the prisoners should be here or not.” Matt took her hand and led her toward the center of the circle. As they walked, their shoes made a swishing sound. He bent low and felt soft blades of grass. This area had been tended carefully.
Matt bumped into something hard. He bounced back, but Darcy kept him from falling. While rubbing his forehead, he turned on the flashlight. A thick wooden pole stood in the way, reaching a few feet higher than Matt’s head, its base embedded in the ground. A pair of empty chains with cuffs on the ends dangled from connection points near the top, and another set of chains lay across the grass, attached to the pole at the base.
“A punishment arena?” Matt asked.
Darcy pushed his arm and guided the light over a pillory and something that resembled an altar, complete with a knee bench and elbow rest. “I’m not so sure.”
“What else could it be?” Matt trained the light on the pole’s dangling chains. “If we can find the key and get out of here, maybe we can avoid whatever Tamiel has in mind for us.”
Darcy grasped his arm. “Matt, we can’t leave. We need to set these prisoners free. They’re not criminals.”
“How do you know?”
“Just think about it and see if you come up with the same idea. Customers waiting in line. Houses with padlocked doors. Chains in a grassy plot. Incense.”
Matt stared at the manacles at the ends of the chains. “A slave market?”
“Slaves for labor camps . . . and other things.”
“Women?”
Darcy nodded. “Maybe even children.”
“Okay. I figured out the obscene word.” Matt grabbed a chain and jerked it, but the pole stood firm. Rage burned. His throat tightening, he growled, “Monsters!”
“Then we have to break down the doors and get the prisoners out of here.”
He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “They open at seven. What time is it?”
Darcy looked at the watch. “Six thirty-three.” Something beeped. “The phone!” She jerked it from her pocket and looked at the screen. “A text message.”
“Read it. Quick.”
She read the message out loud. “Change of plans. Arrive at the sixth door at exactly seven fifteen.”
Matt took the phone and shut it off. “It must have some kind of wake-up mechanism when a message comes in.”
“It didn’t wake up last time. A text came in when I turned it on in the car, like it was waiting.”
“True. Maybe he marks some messages with a higher priority level to make sure we get them right away.” Matt pushed the phone into his pocket. “That might mean he figured out that we had to turn off our phone to save the battery.”
“Doesn’t it also mean our phone’s always on, like in sleep mode? Maybe he’s been tracking us the whole time.”
“Not likely. If he knew we were sneaking out on him, he’d probably rub our faces in it, and he wouldn’t give us a new arrival time if he knew we were already here. I get the feeling some geek’s been helping him, like with the missile launch, but he’s gone now, so Tamiel’s flying solo.” Matt shrugged. “Just guessing, but since he keeps changing plans, it’s a good bet he’s having trouble.”
“So we’re probably under his radar screen, at least for now.”
“Right.” Matt looked up. The first hints of a reddish glow flared across the sky. “Let’s go.”
The two ran toward the first house. Matt’s flashlight illuminated the ground, making the going easier, though darkness still veiled the front door. When they stopped at the threshold, Matt lowered his shoulder and set his feet. Clenching his teeth, he thrust his body against the door. The lock clanked, and the frame made a splintering sound, but the door held firm.
Something shuffled inside. Indistinct whispers followed. A few seconds later, a woman called out, “What’s going on? They told us no customers today.”
Matt opened his mouth to reply, but Darcy touched his arm and whispered, “Let me.”
“Right. A woman’s voice.” He backed away.
Darcy tapped on the door. “I’m here to rescue you. A friend and I are trying to break in to let you out.”
After a moment’s pause, the voice returned, spiced with a skeptical tone. “Why don’t you just use the key?”
“Where is it?”
“Hanging near the door.”
Matt swept the flashlight beam along the wooden frame until it illuminated a key hanging on a nail well above his head. He grabbed the key, shoved it into the lock, and released the shank.
Darcy opened the door and peeked inside. Incense rode a warm draft through the gap. “I’m Darcy,” she whispered to someone in the shadows. “How many are in here?”
“Five of us,” a woman said. “And a boy and girl. They’re both four.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Twila and I have been here five years. Three others for about a year. The kids have lived here all their lives.”
Darcy put on a confident smile. “Well, get ready to leave. We’ll be back to break you out.”
“You’d better hurry,” the woman said, her tone still skeptical. “The boss will be here at seven.”
Matt spoke over Darcy’s shoulder. “We have to unlock all the other doors. We’ll go as fast as we can.”
A pair of bloodshot eyes appeared in the darkness. “Who are you?”
“I’m Matt. I’ll see you again in about two minutes.” He grasped Darcy’s elbow. “I’ll run to each house and unlock the doors, and you’ll come behind me and explain to everyone what’s going on. Tell them they have two minutes to get ready and to be absolutely quiet. When I get back to this house, I’ll lead them out and then go hous
e to house and gather the rest.”
The woman stepped out of the shadow. Her tied-back blonde hair allowed a clear view of her care-worn face. “And then where will we go?” she asked. “There’s a fence all around.”
Matt attempted a confident smile. “What’s your name?”
“Anna.”
“Okay, Anna, how tall is the fence?”
“Maybe twelve feet or so.”
“Way too tall.” Matt drew a mental picture of a high, chain-link fence and focused on the links at ground level. “Do you know of any weak spots? I mean, a loose place at the bottom?”
Anna nodded. “But it’s not real loose. I tried to pull it up once, but it moved maybe two inches.”
“That might be good enough. Between Darcy and me, maybe we can get you through.”
“If you can’t, we’ll all get whipped.” Anna turned and lifted her shirt in the back. Six red welts striped her skin from mid-back to waist. “Those were for scowling at a customer.”
Matt curled his fingers into a fist. “I’ll get you past that fence even if I have to bite through it.”
“I guess we’ll just have to trust you.” She stepped back into the shadow. “We’ll get ready.”
Matt turned to Darcy. “Listen. We’ll lead them to the fence, me in front with the flashlight, and you in back. We’ll make a train with everyone hanging on to the person in front of them.”
Darcy nodded. “Got it. When they’re all safe, we’ll come back to find the sixth key.”
“Right. I keep forgetting about that.”
Darcy patted his chest. “Because you have such a good heart.”
“Or a forgetful brain.” He set a hand on her back. “Let’s go.”
With the flashlight beam leading the way, Matt ran to the next house, grabbed the key from a nail, and unlocked it. While Darcy spoke to the people inside, he hurried to the third house. Now that the morning rays provided more light, he turned off the flashlight. Another red dawn had arrived. He had to make sure it wouldn’t turn into a disaster.
Running as fast as he could, he unlocked the third door, then the fourth, then the fifth, sixth, and seventh. When he arrived at the next house, the lock was already loose. A crack in the doorframe proved that he had arrived back where he started.
He pushed the door open. Anna appeared in the glow of a candle she held shakily in one hand. Wearing a bulging maternity dress, she blew out the flame. “We’re ready.”
“Quietly now.” Matt guided the occupants through the doorway. When everyone had exited, he snapped the lock’s shaft in place and hung the key on the frame. “Let’s go.” He grasped Anna’s hand and led the way to the second house, trailed by a line of four other women, two carrying small children. Everyone stayed perfectly silent except for the sound of feet brushing grass.
From house to house, Matt collected more prisoners—four to six women and at least one child at each stop, ranging from an infant to a six-year-old, though one of the “women” might have been no older than thirteen, barely more than a child herself. At each stop, he refastened the lock and set its key in place.
By the time he reached the final house, Darcy had already led its inhabitants outside. After he set the lock and hung the key on the nail, the newcomers joined the line—hand in hand in hand.
Matt pulled Anna closer. “Which way to the weak spot?”
Anna pointed toward the back of the compound. “It’s about a hundred yards that way. There’s some woods before you get there, so it’ll be dark.”
“Okay. Then we’ll—” Matt’s danger sense shot higher. Someone might be coming. “Let’s hurry!”
He flicked on the flashlight. With the beam again shining in front, he pulled Anna. As the line of women and children caught up to his pace, he slowly accelerated. After passing between two houses, he tromped through scrub grass and thorny bushes. The safety of the forest lay about ten paces away for those at the front of the line, but those at the back were just now reaching the edge of the circle.
“To the left a little more,” Anna whispered.
Matt turned that way and passed into a stand of thin pines. Like the head of a long snake, he weaved around the trunks, still leading the human train. Several seconds later, he reached a chain-link fence with barbed wire at the top, about a dozen feet high, as Anna had guessed.
While the others caught up, Anna crouched and pulled at the bottom of the fence. “See this?”
Matt inserted his fingers between the links and jerked as hard as he could. The bottom edge bent inward and created a gap about half a foot high. As he pulled, links uprooted from the ground, making the opening grow inch by inch.
“Children first,” he grunted. “Maybe they can fit now.”
Darcy grabbed the fence a few feet away from Matt’s hands and pulled. As the opening continued to grow, women began shooing children through. Soon, the smaller women were able to fit, and finally Anna. She squeezed her pregnant body through, helped by the women on the other side.
Matt and Darcy released the fence. It flopped down, still loose. Anyone could probably use this escape hole now.
Back at the circle, an engine rumbled, and headlights swept across the thinning fog.
“The boss!” Anna hissed.
“I’ll distract him.” Darcy ran. Matt lunged to grab her but swiped empty air.
Anna pressed her face against the links. “You two better get out of here while you can!”
“You get out of here! All of you!” Matt rolled the flashlight under the fence and pointed in the direction he had parked the car. “Head that way. Near the road, you’ll find a Mustang parked with two elderly people waiting inside. Tell them to come to the front gate and wait for Darcy and me. You and the others hide in the woods until we come and get you.”
Women and children ran into the dim forest, while Anna stayed. “What are you going to do?” she asked, each eye peering through one of the fence’s diamond-shaped holes.
“It’s complicated. No time to explain.” Matt ran back to the edge of the circle. A pickup truck sat at the opposite edge near the path leading to the gate, its headlights trained on Darcy. She faced the truck, her feet set and a hand on her knife’s sheath.
A burly man wearing tight jeans and polo shirt hopped out of the pickup, a shotgun in his grip. “Who are you?” he shouted as he stalked toward her. “And what are you doing here?”
Matt ran around the back of the houses, glancing at Darcy between each gap. With the trucker’s eyes on her, maybe he wouldn’t notice a sneak attack.
She drew the knife and pointed it at him. “I am here rescuing the women and children you’re holding as slaves.”
“Some rescuer you are.” He lunged and slammed the butt of the gun against Darcy’s head. She dropped to her knees, a hand over the wound. “Didn’t they tell you this whole place is fenced in? And we have a guard at the gate. I guess you must’ve snuck in before he got here.”
Blood oozing between her fingers, Darcy glared at him but stayed quiet.
The man pressed the barrel against her forehead. “You’re a pretty thing. I’m not sure if I should blow your brains out or put you to work here. You’d fetch double the usual price, at least while you’re still young.”
Matt charged from behind. He grabbed the man’s hair, jerked him backwards, and snatched the shotgun from his grip. The second the man landed on his back, Matt shoved the gun barrel into his mouth. His teeth cracked, and he let out a loud moan.
“Shut up,” Matt growled. “Not a word. Understand?”
His eyes nearly clenched shut, the man nodded.
Matt called to Darcy, “You okay?”
“Not really.” She struggled to her feet. After sheathing her knife, she staggered to his side and braced herself on his shoulder. Blood trickled down to her neck. “I’m dizzy.”
“Then lie down. I’ll take care of this . . .” A half dozen foul names stormed through his mind. He
finally growled, “This piece of filth.”
Darcy lay on the grass and curled on her side, facing Matt. “What are you going to do with him?”
“Just this.” Matt swung the gun around and thumped the man’s head with the butt. His arms fell limp.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Matt laid the shotgun at Darcy’s side, dragged the man to the closest house, and locked him inside. When he returned, he picked up the gun. “Feeling any better?”
She nodded. “A little.”
“Stay put for now. I’ll look around for the sixth key. It wasn’t any of the ones that unlocked the houses.”
The phone chimed in Matt’s pocket. He pulled it out and read the text message aloud. “You are supposed to be at the sixth address by now, but according to my tracker you are still waiting close by.”
Matt set the gun down and typed out a reply with his thumbs. “We’re here. Maybe your tracker is broken. Did you lose your techno-geek helper?”
After about a minute, the phone chimed again. “Your deduction skills are better than I imagined. Proceed to the circle of houses at the rear of the compound. I will meet you there in a moment.”
The phone beeped and blinked off. Matt pressed the Power button, but nothing happened. “Battery’s dead.”
“I guess you can ditch it.”
“At least until later.” He picked up the gun, laid it and the phone on the truck’s front seat, and turned off the lights and engine. After pushing the keys into his pocket, he knelt next to Darcy and examined her wound. A two-inch gash ran across her skin just below her hairline. “Does it hurt much?”
“It throbs, but I’ll be okay.”
“Let me try something.” He laid a hand over the wound and pressed his palm against it.
Darcy winced. “What are you doing?”
“I have healing powers. It’s part of the whole dragon thing. I healed my mother by touching her.” After a few seconds, he pulled away, leaving a smear of blood on his palm. “Is it any better?”
She shook her head. “But that’s all right. You’re probably exhausted.”
“That doesn’t explain it. I was exhausted when I healed my mother.” He offered Darcy a hand. “Can you get up?”