Trail Of Danger. Valerie Hansen

second man huffed wryly. “Hey, you ain’t the boss.”

      “Neither are you.”

      “Never mind that. What made you think it was a good idea to bring that one back here where she could see my face?”

      “Your ugly face, you mean. I had to do something with her, didn’t I? She was watching us when we...”

      “Shut your yap. You ain’t got a brain in your pinhead.”

      “Oh, yeah?”

      “Yeah.”

      Abigail felt a slight lessening of his grip. The more the two thugs concentrated on each other, the less attention they paid to her. It took enormous effort to relax her arm and give the impression she was no longer struggling to break free.

      “So, what’re we gonna do?”

      “How should I know?”

      “What about keepin’ this one? A bird in the hand?”

      “Too old. See?” The captor released her arm and started to grab her shoulders, apparently intending to turn her around for his partner’s inspection. Before he could get a fresh grip, Abigail continued her spin, kicked one of the men in the side of his knee and punched the other in the stomach.

      Neither blow was serious but together they were enough. Abigail ducked, dodged and sprinted away. Adrenaline gave her speed and made her feel invincible. For a few seconds.

      Then they were after her again. Shouting. Cursing at her and at each other. Abigail had barely enough breath to keep going. Her initial burst of speed was waning fast. Where could she hide? How close were they? She didn’t dare look back.

      The night became surreal. Surroundings blurred as if she were navigating a nightmare. An impressive antique carousel loomed ahead. Despite knowing the ride was closed, she imagined seeing its wooden horses prance and paw the air. Her brain whirling, her lungs fighting to fill, she made a critical decision.

      After vaulting over a low decorative fence, Abigail gained the circular platform with a leap and made a lunge for the closest steed. Her arms closed around its carved nose and she used her momentum to swing past to the second row. The horses grew uniformly smaller as she worked her way toward the center control booth. It had a door she could close. Even if it wouldn’t lock, maybe her pursuers would overlook her in there.

      Abigail jumped down and landed with both palms against the mirrored center pillar. Circled looking for the camouflaged door. Found it. Threw herself inside and pulled it closed behind her, stumbling backward as she did so and landing against a bank of switches.

      Suddenly, calliope music began, slowly rising in speed and volume until the air vibrated. Had she bumped something? Accidentally flipped a switch? Was her hiding place useless? Undoubtedly. And it was already too late to stop the music. The damage had been done.

      Stunned, she clamped her hands over her ears, pressed her back against a side wall and began a slow-motion slide to the floor as sheer panic began to dull her senses and render her helpless.

      The walls pressed in on her. Reality receded as her mind shut down, and she gladly accepted the enveloping darkness of unconsciousness.

       TWO

      Reed and Jessie had detoured past the Shoot-the-Chutes when the calliope music had begun to play, starting low and winding up to quickly gain intensity. During the day when the park was crowded and other attractions were operating, the distinctive tunes blended in. Tonight, the solo music was deafening. And eerie, particularly since the rest of the ride wasn’t lit or moving.

      Jessie would have tried to climb the sides of the water ride and plunged through the cascading stream if Reed had not guided her around. The screaming had stopped. As painful as it had been to hear someone in that much distress, this was far worse. Silence could mean the danger had eased, but he knew it was more likely that things had worsened. A screeching victim was a breathing victim. It was as simple as that.

      Reed approached a low fence that kept riders from cutting the line. A hand signal sent Jessie leaping over and he followed. Man-sized shadows shifted on the opposite side of the wide, round platform. Reed looked to his dog, read her body language and drew his sidearm. “Police. Freeze.”

      The figures froze all right—for a heartbeat—then parted and dashed off in opposite directions. Not only could Reed not pursue them both, he still didn’t know where the screaming victim was or how badly she may have been injured. Finding out came first.

      “Seek!”

      Jessie led him in a weaving pattern between horses while Reed radioed his position and circumstances. The K-9 went twice around the center pole of the carousel before stopping and putting her enormous paws up on one of the beveled mirrors.

      “Sit. Stay,” Reed commanded. The door release was cleverly hidden but he found it. “Police,” he announced, his gun at the ready.

      The hair on the back of his neck rose and perspiration trickled down his temples. He pulled open the narrow door and struck a marksman’s pose with his gun and flashlight.

      Instead of the panicking, wild-eyed victim he’d expected, he saw a small figure curled up on the cement floor. His light panned over her. She had long, reddish hair that made him think she was a teen until he took a closer look.

      He’d seen that face. Tonight. She’d passed him on the boardwalk not more than a few minutes ago. She was no kid but she wasn’t middle-aged either. Reed guessed her to be younger than he was by five or ten years, which would put her in her twenties. What in the world was she doing out here in the middle of the night in the first place?

      Holstering his gun, he bent and lightly touched her arm. Her skin was clammy. “Ma’am? Are you hurt?”

      There was no reaction. The woman didn’t even act startled when he held her wrist to take her pulse but he did notice that the fair skin looked irritated. “Can you tell me what happened?”

      Still nothing. He could hardly hear himself speak over the rollicking pipe organ music. A quick scan of the control panel showed one switch out of place, so he flipped it to kill the noise. Propping the narrow door open for ventilation he stood with one booted foot outside and radioed in the details as he knew them. “That’s right. She’s really out of it. I don’t see any serious signs of physical trauma but I can’t get a response, so you’d better start medics. The victim may have internal injuries or be drugged. I’m pretty sure she was the one doing all the screaming.”

      He paused and listened to the dispatcher, then stated his case. “Jessie acts like this is the same person she was tracking before, and I have no reason to doubt my K-9. Put a rush on that ambulance? I don’t want my victim to code while I wait, okay? I’m going to take a chance and move her out onto the carousel floor where she can get more air. Tell backup to hurry.”

      One more check of his surroundings and a long look at his dog assured Reed the area was clear. He bent and gently lifted the victim in his arms. She was lighter than he’d imagined. “Take it easy,” he said, speaking as if to a frightened child. “I’m a police officer. You’re safe now.”

      She stirred. Her lashes quivered.

      Reed placed her carefully on one of the chariot bench seats. It was too short for her to lie down all the way so he propped up her feet and lowered her shoulders, bringing more circulation, more oxygen to her brain.

      She blinked and stared directly at him. He had expected at least a tinge of leftover panic but there was none. The woman didn’t even flinch as she studied him.

      He gave her a minute to process her thoughts, then asked, “What happened to you? Why were you screaming?”

      “Screaming? I don’t think...” She coughed. “My throat hurts.”

      “I’m