Gone: An Emma Caldridge Novella: Part Two of Three Read Online Free Page A

a covered porch that ran along the front and a small corral and lean-to alongside that would accommodate Lily. The owner had promised to stock both the stable and the kitchen, and she was glad to see a Rubbermaid bin next to a stack of hay. She rode Lily into the corral and slid off.
    Thirty minutes later Lily was brushed, watered, and fed with hay and a bit of sweet feed from the bin, and Emma dragged her saddlebags and gun into the cabin. She closed and locked the door before kicking off her boots to explore the interior in her stocking feet.
    The lodge was small and rustic but more than adequate. It had a main room, with plank wood floors, a stone encased fireplace, and a small galley kitchen set off with a high counter with stools on one side. There was a zebra striped area rug in brown and yellow, a couch, coffee table, leather club chair, and a small cabinet that held a selection of board games and puzzles. On top of the cabinet sat a Bose wave radio, the cabin’s only connection to the outside world. No television and no Internet.
    Next to the fireplace, she saw a stack of wood and kindling, along with tools. On the left side, a door opened into a bedroom large enough for two double beds and an armoire. Thick duvets covered the beds, and reading lights were arranged on either side. Another door led to a bathroom with a double sink and a shower stall. The closet ran the length of one wall and had a stacked washer and dryer, along with a ski boot dryer and a full ski storage rack. She was relieved to see, on the floor by the skis, the box Banner had promised to send to the owner two days before.
    Emma washed her face and arms in the bathroom before returning to the closet. She hefted the large box, carried it to the coffee table, and left it there while she grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and a knife from the drawer. She gratefully sucked down the water before slitting open the container.
    In it she found a pair of night vision goggles, a satellite phone, a Nikon camera with a telescopic lens attachment, and a large manila envelope labeled CONFIDENTIAL . She settled cross-legged onto the couch and used the knife to zip open the sealed folder.
    Carol Stromeyer had prepared an entire dossier on Shaw and the Children of the Second Son. Like Banner, Stromeyer was ex-military and had spent most of her enlisted years learning how to research, requisition, transfer, or distribute both information and goods within the military complex. Her skills in ferreting out facts lodged in arcane sections of military intelligence files were unparalleled. Emma had no doubt that the dossier would be invaluable.
    An hour later, as dusk settled, she was forced to take a break and switch on a lamp. She was grateful for the opportunity to put down the dossier, because what she’d read sickened her.
    The dossier left no doubt that Shaw was not only a predator of young girls, but also of boys. He’d been accused of sexually assaulting twelve-year-olds, claiming that sex with him was necessary if the children were to reach the heavens. Stromeyer had included transcripts of conversations with cast-off children recorded by social workers in two towns near Sunrise. Not only would Shaw do what he pleased with the children, but he’d ordered the parents to bring the children to his compound for the “cleansing” activity. What horrified Emma most was the that the parents did as they were requested. She tossed the dossier on the cocktail table. She needed a shower and some rest before heading back down the path to Shaw’s place.
    A T MIDNIGHT E MMA slid off Lily, tied her to the same tree as earlier, and stretched out once again near the Teddy Bear cactus, wearing the night vision glasses. The night air had a snap to it, and she welcomed the cool temperature, but not the full moon that lit the area around her. The red stone configurations around her were dark shadows that gave the rocky shale a stark, ominous appearance. She switched