PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
When Brett Parma returned from her hike through the rough and barren Arizona hills, she didn’t get back into her little camping van right away. She leaned against the vehicle, gazing back the way she’d walked, and took a long breath of the dry, clean air. She was loving this place more and more by the minute.
And even in December! she thought.
Nothing could be more unlike the grim, windy winter cold back in North Platte, Nebraska. Of course, she knew that this whole area would be blazingly hot in the summer, even at this late time of day. Hiking would be out of the question then.
She’d made the perfect choice for a three-week vacation—both the location and the time of year. The campgrounds weren’t at all crowded, like they would be during the tourist season. And it had been smart of her to modify her van into a simple camping vehicle.
She’d desperately needed this vacation. Her job as a receptionist for the Hanson Family Medical Group had become more and more thankless every day. Almost everybody she dealt with, either on the phone or in person, seemed to be angry about something or other—insurance coverage, appointment times, the unavailability of certain doctors …
Any problem that I’m in no position to solve.
All those troubles seemed blessedly far away right now. Brett found herself thinking …
What if I just don’t go back?
Wouldn’t it be cool to retire in her early thirties? Or maybe she could do something even crazier. What if she just kept right on driving on and on, hopping from campground to campground, perhaps finding her own sequestered places to stop for the night, maybe heading on down into Mexico, never to return?
She laughed at herself.
No, she wasn’t that kind of free spirit—not someone who could blithely ignore dangers and responsibilities in order to …
What was the phrase?
Oh, yes. Follow my bliss.
She knew such an adventure just wasn’t in the cards for her. For one thing, her savings would give out before long, and where would she be then? What would she do for a living?
Meanwhile, she’d just have to grab up as much bliss as she could during the coming days.
And really, that didn’t seem like a bad thing at all.
As she watched the sun starting to set over the rocky, rust-colored hills, she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. She turned and saw a good-sized camper approaching.
She was mildly surprised. She’d chosen this scenic back road because she guessed she’d have it pretty much to herself, especially at this time of year.
She was even more surprised when the driver pulled the vehicle off the road and parked alongside her van. The much bigger camper dwarfed her own little makeshift vehicle, but then so did most of the others she saw in camping areas.
It must be nice—all that luxury on wheels.
The driver climbed down out of the vehicle. He was a nondescript but pleasant-looking man.
He looked at Brett and said …
“Hey, didn’t I see you back at the Wren’s Nest Campground?”
Now that Brett thought about it, both the man and his vehicle looked somewhat familiar from where she’d been camping the night before. He looked like a lot of the guys she’d seen in the campgrounds, older than she was and obviously better off financially. Usually, a whole family was traveling along with them.
“Maybe so,” she said.
“I’m Pete,” the man said.
“I’m Brett.”
“Nice to meet you, Brett.”
“Likewise,” Brett said. “Where are you headed?”
“The Beavertail Campground,” Pete said.
“Me too,” Brett said. “It looks to be about a ten-minute drive from here.”
Pete nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I figure.”
He walked over to the sign that said HIKING TRAIL and stood staring out into the hills for a moment.
Then he looked at Brett and said, “You look like you just came in from hiking.”
Brett knew it was a good guess, since she was still wearing her backpack.
“That’s right,” she said.
Pete squinted at her. “I might try the trail myself. Do you recommend it?”
Brett was a little startled at the question.
She said, “Um, it’s a really nice trail, but … it’s pretty late in the day, don’t you think? It’ll be getting dark soon.”
Pete sighed with disappointment.
“I guess that’s true,” he said. “Maybe I’ll come back this way tomorrow.”
He stared at the hills again for a few moments, then walked back toward his camper.
Then he turned and said to Brett, “Would you like to come inside for a beer?”
Brett was both surprised and pleased by the offer. She’d brought nothing to drink on this trip except bottled water and a few soft drinks, and a nice cold beer sounded refreshing. Besides, she’d just love to get a look at the inside of that camper.
“That would be nice,” she said.
When he escorted her inside, the camper actually looked more spacious than it had from the outside. It had a good-sized kitchen area complete with a stove, and enough bedding for more than one person—a couple with a child or two, maybe.
Nevertheless, this guy did seem to be traveling alone. Brett figured she’d get awfully spoiled, traveling alone in a camper like this. Her own vehicle wasn’t equipped with much of anything except a mattress.
Pete pointed to a door and said, “You’ve been on the road for a while. Maybe you’d like to use my bathroom.”
Brett stifled a little gasp.
A real bathroom!
Of course, it couldn’t be much bigger than a closet. But in comparison with restrooms in restaurants and gas stations and communal facilities at campgrounds, it would be a true luxury.
“Thanks!” she said.
She opened the door and stepped inside the cubicle. The door swung shut behind her, and she found herself in total darkness.
Strange, she thought.
Didn’t the bathroom at least have a window?
She fumbled around the wall next to the door, feeling for a light switch, but couldn’t find any. Anyway, should she expect there to be any electricity as long as the camper wasn’t properly hooked up to a line?
She turned to leave again, but now the door latch wouldn’t budge.
It must be broken.
She shyly called out …
“Hey, I seem to be kind of stuck.”
She got no reply.
Starting to get worried now, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone and switched on its flashlight.
As she flashed its beam around, she began to feel a touch of fear.
This wasn’t a bathroom.
Maybe it once had been, but now it was stripped of all the usual fixtures.
She was standing in a plain rectangular space, its walls and ceiling lined with small square tiles with tiny pinholes.
Acoustical tiles, she realized.
Was the room soundproofed?
Her fear grew stronger.
As her eyes adjusted, she could see that the tiles were gouged and scratched.
The walls were smeared and splattered with something red.
Blood!
When she heard the door latch start to rattle, she started screaming.
But she knew it wouldn’t do any good.
As the door began to open, Brett Parma knew she was going to die.
