Carolina Key Read online

Ch. 7

  Hope

  At 5:30 Lance walked into the kitchen. He carried enormous platters of smoked meat and the rich smell that normally made me swoon made me feel ill.

  “Hope, Officer Ken says he’s ready for you. The news people are here and they want to issue the Amber Alert for the 6 pm news,” he said.

  “Ok. Have you talked to Shirley since you’ve been home?” I asked.

  “I called but just got the machine. She’s probably sleeping. Her allergies are always bad during the summer and when you put a virus on top of that I’m sure she’s sleeping it off. I’ll take off tomorrow to tend to her when Grace is home safe and sound.” he said giving me a warm smile.

  I walked into the dining hall and looked around with a heavy heart. The room looked beautiful, completely transformed into an elegant ballroom. The crepe paper and helium balloons made it festive and the tablecloths and flowers were so pretty. Grace should be here tending to her campers. She always loved the banquet. This year her dress was an emerald green color and it complimented her brown hair so beautifully.

  “God, please help her…” I whispered to the emptiness.

  I managed to get through the Amber Alert. We didn’t have to say anything the authorities just wanted us there in the hopes that maybe Grace would see us and come home on her own.

  I forced myself to serve at the banquet. It kept my mind off of Grace and gave me something to do. It felt right to stay here with the other campers. When she came back I wanted her to know that I was here. If only I had known how close she really was…

  About 9 pm, after the banquet was over and I was still washing dishes, the doors opened and

  Philip and Ken walked in.

  “It’s time, honey,” Philip said. I took a deep breath, folded my apron and took his hand. He

  put his arm around me and we walked into the foyer of the great room where microphones had been set up and news people crowded around. Philip made his prepared speech and although I shed a few tears I was able to join him in asking the public for their help and Grace to please call home. I felt as though my heart was being seared with a hot iron. After the news people left and the campers held one last prayer for Grace’s safety, Ken suggested we go home.

  “If you are up to it, I would like to come by in a few minutes to search her room. Since she disappeared from the camp that’s why we have concentrated our efforts around here today but I

  think it is time we search her room. We have been monitoring her Facebook account and her cell

  and have not gotten anywhere. We are waiting for background checks on some of the staff and

  counselors. Have you seen Daniel lately?” he asked.

  I looked blankly at Philip.

  “No, he brought Lance back to camp and then said he was going to search some trails he knew of she might have taken for a run. Daniel never came back. Madison had to conduct the banquet and did a great job.”

  Philip said, “Listen Ken, I want to get Hope home, she looks all done in. Come by whenever you want. I need to get her home.” He put his arm around me and led me out to the car. I was so ready to be at home.

  We pulled in the driveway, and for a moment my heart leapt thinking maybe she had spent the day holed up in her room. I raced through the yard fence and was met by Grace’s dog, Sam. I petted her and she whined against me feeling my anxiety as her own.

  I let her in the door ahead of me, suddenly dreading the silence I knew would come. I walked into the kitchen to check the machine.

  “Honey, let me do that. Go upstairs and take a hot shower. Ken will be here in a few minutes and I know you aren’t going to get any sleep tonight. Take a few minutes to yourself, you’ll feel better. We’ll spend the rest of the time in prayer.”

  His deep voice was so soothing I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes. All I wanted to do was open my eyes and see my daughter before me. Reluctantly, I trudged up the stairs and ran a hot shower. I removed my clothes and was about to step in the shower when Philip pounded on the door.

  “Hope, get down here! You need to hear this!” he shouted.

  “What? What! Is it her? Is it Grace?” I screamed, and snatched up my bathrobe. I raced down the stairs, falling the last few steps.

  “It’s Shirley. Listen,” Philip said and switched on the answering machine. Her voice was just

  above a whisper and I had to strain to hear her.

  “Hope? Hope can you hear me? It’s Shirley. It’s about 7 am Saturday, and Daniel is here. He says he wants to talk about the coins without the police being involved. I told him I would make some coffee. Could you come over? I’m kind of scared to be alone with him. The gold coins are buried under the rock house.”

  The line was strangely silent then I gasped and tears entered my eyes as I heard Shirley scream,

  “No please! Daniel, dear God, no!” She began to sob and the line went dead.

  I looked at Philip, the horror on his face matching my own. The doorbell rang and Sam immediately started barking. I jumped and wrapped my arms around my middle. Philip went to answer the door and I sank down in a kitchen chair. I prayed for Shirley. I prayed for Daniel. I just wanted this day to end and to hold my daughter. I feared nothing in my life would ever be the same after this day. I was right…

  Officer Ken came into the kitchen and listened to the tape. He immediately called Officer Hodge to go to Lance and Shirley’s house. He said that as long as he was here he would search Grace’s room. I sat motionless in my chair while the men were upstairs. The phone began to ring. I ran to it and snatched it up. “Grace?” I said.

  “Hope?” a man’s voice began to sob. It was a horrible sound. I felt my stomach drop and a

  sickness filled me.

  “Shirley is dead. There is blood everywhere.” It was Lance and he was weeping into the phone harsh, pitiful sounds. I let the phone fall to the floor.

  “Oh, Lord please help me. Please help me.” For a moment I wasn’t sure if the voice was Lance or myself. I began to scream for Philip. He ran into the kitchen, Ken with him, his hand on his holster. Philip picked up the phone. Strangely, everything went black and when I woke up I was on my couch with an afghan over me. Philip was leaning over me.

  “Ken went to Lance’s. Shirley is dead. Hodge called. They think it must have been Daniel,”

  he said.

  “Oh…” I groaned. “If only I had been here this morning I could have helped her,” I said.

  “You could have been killed as well. They are putting out an APB on Daniel right now.” Philip

  smoothed my hair back from my forehead. The phone rang again.

  “What now?” Philip moaned. I grabbed for the remote phone located between our recliners.

  “It could be Grace,” I said.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you listening?” a calm, deep voice said. “What? Yes! Who is this?” I squinted trying to hear. He spoke again, calmly and deliberately.

  “Are you listening?” It was Daniel.

  “Daniel, is that you?” I asked, clutching at Philip’s shirtsleeve. He sat up quickly and I shared the phone with him so he could hear.

  “Are you listening?” he asked again.

  “Yes! Yes, what do you have to say?” I replied frantically.

  “I have Grace. I want the gold. Go get it and bring it to me. When I get it back, you can have

  Grace back. I haven’t hurt her. Not yet.”

  “Let me talk to her,” I begged. I heard shuffling and then Grace’s voice,

  “Mom?” her voice sounded hoarse like she had been crying. Then the line went dead.

  Philip took the phone from me and hung it up. “Get dressed!” he said. I just stared at him.
r />   “Move!” he shouted. His harsh tone got me moving and I knew what I had to do. Moving quickly, I ran upstairs and dressed in jeans, and tennis shoes. I found two flashlights and raced down the stairs.

  “Let’s go,” I said. He grabbed his keys and we piled into his truck. I noticed he had loaded a shovel and a pick.

  “Where is the rock house?” he asked.

  “At the camp, in the older section by the tank.”

  “I’ve never heard of the rock house,” he said.

  “They don’t call it that anymore because of the drug reference. Now they call it the creekside cottage.”

  He peeled out of our driveway and headed down the street spraying gravel. I braced myself and reached for my seatbelt.

  “What did she mean by saying it was under the rock house? There is nothing under the rock house,” I said.

  “How old is the building?” Phillip asked thoughtfully.

  “Old. It’s one of the original buildings,” I answered.

  “Well, a lot of these old rock buildings have a crawl space underneath them. I know the dining hall has a huge one they deliberately put there for storage. I went under it when I wired up the apartments,” he said.

  I had forgotten that he had done the electric for the additional apartments. The gravel made a crunching sound under the truck tires as we turned into the camp. We took the road as far as possible and walked the rest of the way to the rock house.

  “Oh, honey, should we have called Ken or Hodge?” I asked, fear making my stomach hurt.

  “No, I don’t think so. They have their hands full with Lance, and Shirley’s death. Besides, we have to do whatever we can to bring Grace home as soon as possible. Daniel has killed once, and the longer she stays with him the more dangerous it is for her. We can’t worry about anyone else right now,” He sounded adamant and his confidence made me feel better. We were at the rock house now and Philip leaned down and looked at the underside of the porch.

  “Yeah, it’s pier and beam. Lots of these old buildings are. I’ll crawl under here and look. Let’s hope she’s marked it in some way.”

  He slid out of sight and I prayed he would find it with ease. I stood quietly in the dark feeling the warm wind blowing over me and listening to the sound of crickets chirping. After a few minutes of shoveling he came huffing out from under the building.

  “She marked it all right, with a rubber fish. What was that about?” he asked.

  I thought for a second, exhaustion making my mind slow. “Oh right, the kids learn a scripture

  story about Jesus paying taxes with money. It’s found in Matthew 17,” I said, smiling to think that Shirley remembered.

  Tears welled in my eyes when I thought she had been alive just yesterday and we had prayed together. Then she had crawled under this very building. Now I was fighting to save my daughter from the person who took her life. My mind was swirling with

  questions. Where was Grace? How were we going to get her back?

  “How much did she say this is worth?” Philip asked, hefting the bag under his arm.

  “Shirley thought it might be a million dollars,” I said quietly.

  “Let’s get out of here. We need to get back home in case he contacts us again. He may be watching us.” Philip said and I felt a cold chill run down my back.