Tuesday
Early Afternoon
The quickest way to Acton from Twin Peaks was to take Highway 138 west as it cut through and skirted just north of the Angeles National Forest. Much of the way was only two lanes but with her siren on, drivers pulled quickly to the side and she was able to make decent time. In just over an hour she had merged with Highway 14 in the Antelope Valley and was nearing the outskirts of Acton, where Pachanga's farm was located.
She passed the entrance to the place, which was gated and locked with a chain, and drove another quarter mile before turning around. She pulled off the road about a hundred yards from the farm and eased the Prius along the dirt shoulder, settling behind an overgrown high patch of bushes that would hide it pretty well unless someone got close.
She got out her binoculars and tried to get a sense of the farm. Unfortunately, the dirt road-more of a trail really-led up a hill and she couldn't see what was on the other side of the rise.
She grabbed her phone to call Ray, whom she hadn't heard from. Only then did she realize why. Now she didn't have cell service. It wasn't really a shock so far out. In retrospect, she should have called him when she was passing near Palmdale, where she surely would have had reception.
She noticed the blinking envelope icon and realized she had a text, although she hadn't heard it come in. It was from Ray and read:
"Arrived Twin Peaks. Got your message. En route to farm. Don't be stupid. Wait for me."
The timestamp was 1:03, about a half hour ago. If he drove as quickly as she did, he would arrive in about thirty minutes, at just after two. Could she wait that long?
Keri's thoughts went to Jackson Cave. Payton Penn had obviously spoken to him. What if he'd told Cave to contact Pachanga and tell him that capture was imminent and he should dispose of any evidence of their crime, including Ashley? It wasn't a far-fetched concern. If that had happened, she might already be too late. Waiting another half hour would be irresponsible.
She had no choice.
She had to go in.
*
Keri grabbed her gun and binoculars, put on her bulletproof vest and a pair of sunglasses, and walked across the quiet road to Pachanga's property.
Arriving at the gate to the farm, Keri noted that while it and the chain were rusted over, the padlock for them was shiny and brand new. A grungy sign read:
Private Property.
No Trespassing.
Rather than try to climb over it, she shimmied between the barbed wire fencing that ran along the entire property and started up the hill. She didn't walk on the road itself, in case a car suddenly appeared, but about ten yards next to it, where she could drop into the dense shrubbery to hide.
When she neared the top of the hill, Keri got on her stomach and crawled the rest of the way. She poked her head up and saw the entire area.
At one time, it must have been a working farm. There were marked fields, a grain silo, a barn, and a farmhouse. But it clearly hadn't been used for that purpose in many years. The fields were littered with weeds and several old tractors, silently standing guard. It fact, multiple rusted-out vehicles dotted the property. None appeared to be operational. The barn looked to be falling apart. And the silo was rusted over. A dry creek bed cut the middle of the property in half.
There wasn't much cover for her to get down the hill and look around. She'd have to crawl another fifty yards through the brush before reaching a wooded area that ran along the creek to the farmhouse. From there she could use some of the trees and abandoned cars to hide her approach to the silo and the barn. It would be slow going but she could do it.
She checked her phone one last time-still no signal. She put it on silent as a precaution, slid the binoculars into her pocket, and started down the hill.
Ten minutes later, she reached the farmhouse. The front door was shut and locked. She circled the house, crouching, peering into windows, but didn't see any movement. She headed for the barn, darting behind a wheel-less station wagon and several trees along the way.
She reached the entrance and looked in. She didn't see anyone but in the middle of the barn, right below the hayloft, was a shiny red pickup truck.
Pachanga must be here somewhere!
He must have put the vehicle here in the barn to keep it hidden from the road. She carefully made her way over to it and looked in the open window. The keys were in the ignition.
Keri quietly pulled them out and shoved them in her pants pocket. At least now, if she found Ashley, she had a way to get her out. And unless one of those tractors could be fired up, Pachanga wouldn't have a way to follow.
A loud metal banging sound shook her out her self-congratulatory daydream.
She hurried back out and around the barn to see where it had come from.
A man was working his way down the ladder fixed on the side of the silo. The sound must have been him closing the hatch at the top. She couldn't see his face but his hair was sun-bleached blond. He wore jeans, work boots and a white T-shirt that contrasted with his deeply tanned skin. From what Keri could tell, he wasn't especially tall, maybe five-ten. But his frame was thick and muscular. She guessed he weighed over 200 pounds and his biceps burst against the sleeves of his shirt.
Keri couldn't help but wonder if this was the Collector. Was this the man who had taken Evie? He was blond and she had thought she saw blond hair under the cap of Evie's abductor. But that man had a tattoo on his neck and Pachanga clearly didn't.
Of course, hair could be changed and tattoos removed. But something didn't match. This guy looked to be younger, somewhere around thirty. So he would have been in his mid-twenties when Evie was taken. But Keri remembered there were wrinkles near the outside of the other man's eyes-a detail she hadn't recalled until this very moment. Evie's abductor was probably forty or older.
Keri felt herself sliding into one of her mournful reveries and shook herself out of it. This wasn't the time or the place. She had a job to do and she couldn't afford to have a grief blackout right now.
Pachanga reached the bottom of the ladder and turned around, wiping the sweat from his brow with his forearm. Keri was stunned at how handsome he was. He had azure blue eyes and a crooked smile. It wasn't hard to imagine Ashley approaching the van just to get a closer look at him.
Pachanga glanced around the property for a moment, then disappeared into the base of the silo through a metal door that he closed behind him.
Keri moved quickly through the trees until she was just outside the door. There were no windows in the silo and she was pretty sure she couldn't be detected. She placed her ear to the door and slowed her breathing so it wouldn't interfere with her hearing.
She could identify a voice. It was male and the words were low and calm. She couldn't understand what he was saying but he sounded almost playful. Then she heard another voice-louder, scared and female. She was mostly whimpering but spoke intermittently. Her words were slurred, like she'd been drugged. Keri couldn't understand much of what she said. But two were clear:
"Please! No!"
Keri checked her weapon, removed the safety, took a long, slow, deep breath, and then quietly and slowly turned the door handle. She pulled the door open just enough to peek inside. She could hardly believe her eyes.
Ashley Penn was lying on what looked to be a doctor's examination table, propped up forty-five degrees at the head. Her legs were strapped into stirrups and her arms were stretched down to the base of the table with leather straps. Her head was stuck in some kind of vise that prevented her from moving it. She was wearing only panties and a bra and her entire body was caked in blood and some brown substance. Something was wrong with her left wrist, which hung limply in its strap. Her right lower leg also looked bad. It was a deep purple and horribly swollen. A device next to the table beeped and Keri saw each strap tighten and pull on Ashley's limbs about a half inch. She screamed in pain.
It's like some automated version of the medieval rack. If this goes on much longer, her arms and legs will be ripped from her body.
Keri forced herself not to run right over to the girl. There was no sign of Pachanga. Keri poked her head around the door to see if he was hiding behind it-nothing. Then she noticed another door a few feet behind the table. It was slightly ajar. He must have gone in there.
Keri looked back at Ashley and saw that the girl was looking directly back at her. Keri put her finger to her lips to indicate silence and stepped inside. Ashley seemed to be desperately trying to form a word without success. Keri glanced at the little table by the door and noticed a small black-and-white monitor on it.
As she stared at it, trying to identify the image on the screen, Ashley managed to blurt out one word:
"Beeyyind!"
Everything after that seemed to happen all at once. Keri realized the monitor was connected to a security camera that was trained on the main silo door. And as she processed that Pachanga must have seen her on it, Ashley's single word became clear in her head.
Behind!
At that moment, on the monitor, she saw an image flash into view and realized it was Alan Jack Pachanga-and that he was right behind her.