Perilous (YA Suspense)

  WiDo Publishing

  Salt Lake City, Utah

  Copyright © 2010 by Tamara Hart Heiner

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written consent of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Cover photograph by L.A. DeVaul

  Cover design by Don Gee

  eISBN: 978-0-9830238-7-6

  www.widopublishing.com

  To my mother and father, for encouraging me even when the book wasn’t very good. I’m glad they never told me.

  And to my husband, who believes I’m something greater than I am.

  Chapter 1

  September 20

  Havre, Montana

  Detective Carl Hamilton shielded his eyes against the blaring blue lights and flashed his badge at the police officer. The man moved aside. Hamilton stepped off the two-lane highway just outside of Havre, Montana. Orange tape blocked off the crime scene, hidden by the darkness of early morning. He ducked under the tape and pushed his way into the dry shrubbery.

  A sergeant shone a flashlight on his face and asked, “Are you Detective Hamilton?”

  He gave a short nod.

  “I’m Shirley White.” Pressing her hand to her nose, she turned her attention back to the ground.

  The stench of rotting flesh was strong. “Ma’am. What have we found?”

  “It’s a girl. We think it’s one of the four you’ve been looking for.”

  Carl’s stomach knotted. “Cause of death?”

  “We’ll have to perform an autopsy, of course, but it appears to be a gunshot wound. Is it one of them?”

  “Where is she?”

  “Under the bushes.”

  He crouched down and moved the bushes aside, breathing through his mouth. This never got any easier. The branches parted to reveal a young girl, features distorted by death but still recognizable. The open eyes stared blankly up at him. He released the branches and stood up, giving a nod. “Yes. It’s one of them.”

  The case had just gone from a kidnapping to a homicide. And there were still three girls missing.

  One week earlier

  Shelley, Idaho

  “Jaci!”

  Callie Nichol’s voice snapped Jaci Rivera out of her daydream. Jaci blinked once and focused on her best friend. “Yeah?”

  Squinting her eyes, Callie stretched out across the sun-bleached wooden raft. “Where’s that worm?”

  Jaci picked up one of the slender pink worms she had dug up from the soil. It writhed between her fingers. “Coming.” She waded out to the raft, dark brown hair spilling over her tanned shoulders.

  Late afternoon sunlight glinted off the murky green water beneath their raft, and small dark shadows darted around the cattails. Callie took the worm. “Now what?”

  Jaci laughed. “You put it on that hook in your hand, silly.”

  Callie wrinkled her nose and handed it to Jaci. “You do it.”

  The worm flinched as Jaci threaded it onto the rusty hook. She dropped the line into the water. “Not exactly fly-fishing.”

  Callie waved her hand. “Whatever.” She narrowed her blue eyes. “Hey, Amanda said there’s more news about The Hand.”

  “Oh, please. Save it for someone who cares.” Callie’s friend Amanda Murphy was obsessed with the criminal the media had named ‘The Hand.’ Jaci could care less. She shivered as a breeze blew by. “It’s too cold to be swimming.” Early September, and autumn was on its way to the northern half of Idaho.

  “The Hand was in Utah. That’s just south of us.”

  Jaci groaned. “I so don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Fine,” Callie sniffed. “We’ll talk about him later at my birthday party.”

  “You think just because it’s your birthday I’ll want to talk about The Hand?”

  Callie arched an eyebrow, shooting Jaci a mock glare. “You might not care, but everyone else will. By the way, did Amanda give you her new phone number? I tried her phone yesterday, and it was disconnected.”

  “No.” Jaci never called Amanda. She was Callie’s friend, not hers.

  “What time do you think you’ll be by tonight? Come anytime after six.”

  Jaci jerked, gripping the raft to keep from falling into the chilly water. The fishing line slipped from her fingers and disappeared in a swirl of greenish-gray.

  “What time is it? I gotta go.” Without waiting for a response, she jumped from the raft. The cold water snuck up her thighs and over her hips. She shuddered when it touched her stomach.

  “Why the rush?”

  “I’ve got to babysit. Dad left on another emergency business trip. Call me after eight.” She winced as she hurried over the gravelly shore. Finding her bag, she wrapped her fluffy blue towel around her shoulders.

  “Hey, wait.” Callie dipped a foot into the water. “I’m not staying here alone.”

  “Sorry, Cal.” Jaci ran the towel over her shoulder-length brown hair. “I’ll see ya later. I need to get in shape for track season anyway, or Sara’s gonna whoop me.”

  The wind would dry her off. She pulled her jeans on over her skin-tight swimsuit, grimacing at the way they stuck to her wet legs. She yanked her t-shirt over her head and slid her wet hair into a ponytail. “Bye.”

  “Bye,” Callie echoed, almost to the shore.

  Jaci started out in a hard jog, then slowed to a comfortable pace. Sara Yadle, her best friend after Callie, might outrun Jaci in a sprinting race, but Jaci could beat her at endurance anytime.

  Jaci ran up the gravel drive to her red-brick, multi-level house, jumping the porch steps. The screen door bounced back once before it slammed shut behind her.

  Upstairs, something fell with a loud clang. She rounded the corner in the upstairs hallway and came to a halt.

  Her older brother, Seth, stood with one hand casually leaning on the doorframe to her room. The other was tucked behind his back. He looked at her, his long black lashes framing his wide brown eyes.

  “What’s behind your back?”

  “Huh?” He glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, nothing.”

  “Seth…” she said in her best warning voice.

  “Hey, calm down, hermanita. I was just looking for one of my CDs. See?”

  “In my room?” She dropped her swimming gear in an effort to retrieve the Tim McGraw CD. “I know where you got that.”

  He frowned. “Hey, stop yelling, Mom’ll hear you.”

  “I told you not to go in my room.”

  “No, Jaci,” he corrected. Seth pronounced her name as ‘Hah-SEE,’ although everyone else said ‘JC.’ “You said not to touch your CDs. I didn’t. This one’s mine.”

  Jaci felt her temper flare. “I said not to go into my room. You’re such an arrogante—”

  “Kids!”

  Their mother’s voice reverberated up the stairs as she came around the banister to peer up at them. “Are you yelling at each other?”

  “No, Mamá,” Seth said in a calm voice, turning his angry brown eyes on Jaci. “We’re fine.”

  Their mother watched them, waiting.

  “Give me back my CD, Seth,” said Jaci, extending a hand. “Ahorita.”

  Seth turned his back on her, disappearing into his room.

  “Jaci?” Mrs. Rivera called up. “César is downstairs playing a video game. Thanks for watching him, querida.”

/>   “No problem,” Jaci answered, hiding her exasperation. She hurried to her drawer and yanked it open. Her diary lay on top, and underneath it, untouched, was her Tim McGraw CD. She drew in a deep breath. Seth had been telling the truth.

  She could hear him laughing in his room. He must be on the phone with his latest girlfriend. Jaci slipped out of her room and knocked on the door. He opened it and stood there, his back partially to her as his foot played with the doorjamb.

  “Yeah. See ya in ten minutes. Bye.” He turned off the cordless phone and looked at her with an air of annoyance. “What?”

  Jaci felt herself losing steam under his reception. “I just wanted to apologize.”

  “Forget it.” He handed her the phone. “Hang this up for me. I’m going out.” Without another glance, he trotted down the stairs.

  Jaci slinked after him, her eyes stinging a little. Seth was three and a half years older than her, and they used to be close. She heard the roar of his jeep’s engine and the crunch of tires on gravel as he backed out of the driveway.

  Chapter 2

  Jaci’s mom entered the kitchen just after eight o’clock and kissed her cheek. Opening the pantry door, she hung her purse on a hook inside. “How was everything?”

  Jaci shrugged in response. Leaning against the bar, she propped her chin up with the palm of her hand.

  Her mother eyed her. “Where’s César?”

  She pointed out the bay window behind her mom. “Jumping on the tramp.”

  “Did you have dinner?”

  “Yeah. Some guy called, but I couldn’t understand him. I think he was speaking Dutch. He didn’t sound happy. Is Dad in Holland?”

  “I don’t think so, querida. I think he’s ironing out accounts in Switzerland.”

  Her father’s travel plans changed so often that his family couldn’t keep track of them.

  Somewhere in the living room, a jazz medley rang out.

  Jaci hopped off the stool, fishing around in the couch cushions until she retrieved the flip-phone. She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

  “Jaci? Hey, it’s me.” The noise in the background almost drowned out Callie’s voice.

  “Where are you? Weren’t you going to have the party at your house?” Jaci pressed her ear into the phone.

  “Amanda wanted to go to the mall. Have your mom bring you to the mall and then ride home with us. Your pajamas and toothbrush are at my house because you left them there last week.”

  “Well.” Jaci hesitated. Callie lived two minutes away, but the mall was twenty. “I don’t know if my mom will want to drive me that far.”

  Mrs. Rivera interrupted. “It’s fine with me, mi hija. I owe it to you, anyway. I’ll take you.”

  Jaci grinned. “Really? Alright, Callie, I’m coming. See ya.”

  As soon as Jaci stepped through the double doors at the food court, the mixed aroma of sweet chocolate cookies and fresh bread dough wafted through the air.

  “There you are.” Sara, a small girl with blond hair and freckles all over her pale skin, grabbed her arm.

  Jaci allowed herself to be dragged inside. She took one look at the pizza on their table and pulled out a chair. “What have you guys done so far?” She grabbed a slice, lifting it high to break the gooey strands of mozzarella cheese.

  “Not much,” Callie said. “Amanda wanted to look at engagement rings, so we went to Sears.”

  “Engagement rings?” Jaci raised an eyebrow, glancing up at Amanda. “Something you want to share with us?”

  “Wait,” Sara giggled, her hazel eyes sparkling. “We didn’t tell you the best part.”

  Amanda tossed her mane of curly red hair and glared at Sara. “It wasn’t that funny.”

  Callie laughed, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “Amanda opened the emergency exit and set off the alarm. The mall security detained us for fifteen minutes.”

  Jaci laughed. “Oh man, I’m sorry I missed that.”

  Amanda pulled a compact powder case out of her pink handbag. She focused on her reflection and smoothed her bangs. “It’s not that big a deal.”

  “Hey.” Callie waved at Amanda. “Tell her what you told me about The Hand. Even Jaci might like this.”

  “Fine.” Amanda exhaled and leaned back, snapping her case shut. Her green eyes lit up. “You know Princess Di’s necklace that was stolen two days ago? Well, The Hand’s one of the suspects.”

  Jaci raised an eyebrow. “And that’s important because?”

  Amanda snorted and slapped the table. “She doesn’t get it! It couldn’t be him, Jaci. This guy shot down two security guards. Not his style. Not to mention, that necklace was worth about a million dollars. He usually goes for the petty cash—thousand dollar rings and bracelets, that sort of thing.”

  “Yeah.” Jaci stood up. “What else were we planning on doing tonight?”

  Sara took a sip of her soda, a strand of her dark blond hair falling between her eyes. “They’re having a dress sale at Charlotte Russe.”

  “That sounds great.” Jaci reached for her purse. Where was it? She bent over, examining the red and white tile floor littered with napkins and french fries.

  “What did you lose?” Sara asked, looking at her under the table.

  Jaci sat back up and shook her head. “My purse. I must’ve left it in my mom’s car. Oh, well. Let’s go look at dresses.”

  Window shopping with no money got old fast. They took their time exiting the mall, even when the stores began to pull down the metal grates. Only after they picked up a couple of stray admirers did the girls sneak out a side exit.

  “Why can’t we ever get cute boys trailing us?” Amanda sighed and looked at her watch. The exit they had taken was situated in an alley, and she had to step closer to the street to see the time.

  “Stay here,” Callie said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. “Those weird boys might still be following us.” She sat on the sidewalk next to Jaci and yanked Amanda down next to them.

  Jaci liked boys, only not the non-talking kind who studied her through hooded eyes. Creepy. “If you hadn’t smiled at him, Amanda, they wouldn’t have followed us.”

  “I can’t help it,” said Amanda. “He smiled at me. What was I supposed to do, ignore him?”

  The door behind them clicked as the automatic lock engaged.

  Callie fidgeted. “Time, Amanda?”

  Amanda tossed her hair over her shoulder and picked up a cigarette butt. “Nine-thirty at last check. Where’s your mom?”

  “Mom’s only slightly late. Half an hour is her norm. Give her another ten minutes.”

  Amanda began writing on the sidewalk with the cigarette butt.

  “That’s gross,” Callie said. “Besides, knowing my brother, he put up a fuss about how I’m at the mall and he’s not. My mom probably had a hard time getting him to bed.”

  Cars vacated the mall parking lot. Jaci could count what was left on one hand. “I don’t feel good about being out here.”

  Callie raised an eyebrow, the motion barely perceptible behind the wire frame of her glasses. “What is this? Is Jaci afraid?”

  “I just don’t like being out here in the dark.”

  “There’s still plenty of light.” Callie waved an arm at the parking lot lights. “And it’ll be awhile before everyone’s gone.”

  Even as she spoke, two of the remaining five cars roared to life, their headlights washing over the girls as they drove away. She turned to Sara. “Did you bring your phone?”

  Sara shook her head. In the dim light from the exit sign, her freckles stood out against her pale skin. “Sorry. It died at your house, and I left the charger at home.”

  Callie shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I bet she’ll be here in ten minutes.” She looked at Jaci. “What about you?”

  Jaci shook her head also. “In my purse. Mom’s car. I thought you were getting a phone for your birthday?”

  Callie beamed at her. “I am. My mom gave me the gift certificate. We’ll
go pick it out tomorrow.”

  “I’m getting a new one, too,” Amanda said. “We had to change my number after we moved here because some kid from my old school was stalking me.” She exhaled loudly and turned back to the cigarette butt.

  Ten minutes rolled by. The lights inside the food court turned off, plunging the sidewalk around them into darkness. Only the red exit signs and neon lights glowed from the mall.

  Amanda tapped her foot as the last car in the parking lot turned its headlights on and drove off. “There it goes. It’s only us now. No one even offered us a ride.”

  “That’s because we’re hiding in the shadows and no one can see us,” Jaci said, fighting the urge to bite her fingernails. She was really spooked. “Should we walk to a bus stop?”

  Callie pulled on a strand of light brown hair, wrapping it around her index finger. “The last bus left an hour ago. If my mom’s not here in ten more minutes, we can flag down one of the mall security guys and have him call her.”

  Jaci’s unease deepened. “I haven’t seen any of them tonight,” she said. “They usually drive by a lot.” She craned her head forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the white car with flashing yellow lights.

  Callie shifted her weight again. “You’re right, Jaci, something about this isn’t right. Let’s find—”

  “I hear a car,” Sara interrupted. “I bet it’s your mom.”

  Jaci shook her head as she listened. “Too big. Sounds like a—”

  Amanda’s voice cut her off. “Hey, look,” she said, pointing.

  The loud motor entered the parking lot, revealing a black van with the headlights off. It backed up to the Sears store three hundred feet in front of them. The dull mall lights glinted off the windshield. The engine stalled and went silent. Three masked men dressed in black slipped out and moved to the emergency exit door.

  Callie’s brow furrowed. “What are they doing?”

  Amanda sucked in her breath. “That’s the exit by the jewelry department. The same one I opened, remember? They’re going to rob the store!”