06 Uncovering Hidden Treasure by Karen Ward

are too tight to carry something
like that. She does have her two shot derringer in her ankle
holster. At least she thinks she does, she's not sure if they found
it or not when they tied her feet together.
    When Sam was kidnapped by the couple trying
to find Timmy Thompson, she had been able to activate her GPS
locator and the Drake Security team was able to zero in on her
location. The FBI stopped the car and rescued her that time.
    After a while her current kidnappers slow
their speed and seem relieved they were able to lose whoever was
following them. When Samantha hears the helicopter flying above
them she is so excited, the Drake Security team is looking for her!
She prays they are able to find them and save her. They drive for a
few more minutes and then the men stop and hurriedly carry Sam into
the opening of what appears to be a mine! It's too dark to tell for
sure.
    She is scared to death because she doesn't
know these men. When the interior lights of the truck came on as
they moved her she realized she has seen them in the bar but not
very often, maybe twice since she has worked there. She can't
imagine what they want with her. But then she hears the helicopter
fly away and disappointment flows through her.
    Soon after the helicopter flew away, the men
put her back in the truck and drove some more. They were whispering
back in the mine but she couldn't understand anything they were
saying. After what Sam estimates to be about an hour they stop and
carry her into a small cabin and place her on a bed. They leave her
alone in the bedroom while they return to the main room of the
cabin.
    ******
    Zeke and Jeb have been drinking and partying
all night at Susie's apartment. They have looked through all of her
lingerie and decided exactly what they want her to model for them
and it is laid out on the bed. They have gotten so drunk on the
tequila and beer while waiting for Susie to get home from the bar
that they have passed out on her bed.
    Several hours later, Zeke wakes up and
realizes Sam never came home. He says, "Wake up Jeb! The bitch
never came home. That Kincaid bastard must have picked her up after
work. We may as well go home."
    They walk out of Sam's apartment leaving the
empty beer cans in the floor, her lingerie strewn about the room,
and the condoms lying on the table beside the bed.

CHAPTER 6
    Before daylight the next morning, all the
members of the Drake Security team are on the ground near the area
where they spotted the three people on the infrared camera the
previous night. Because they have the exact coordinates they
converge on the location. When they reach the location they find
the entrance to what appears to be a mine carefully concealed by
natural vegetation. They find tire tracks made by an extended cab
pickup with a very unique tire tread but no one is in the mine. In
fact, the mine is only about a hundred feet deep and the timbers in
the support structure appear to be old and weathered.
    Scoot says, "My gut is telling me that Sam
was one of the three we saw on the camera last night at this
location. This doesn't look like the mine we are looking for
though. This one hasn't seen any mining activity in years."
    Bear says, "I don't think this cave was ever
intended for mining activity. I think it was created to be a
shelter or maybe a decoy. None of the marks on the walls look like
they were made by mining tools. I think they used it last night to
lose us in the helicopter and once we left the area, they did
too."
    Stump asks as disappointment flows through
him, "So we're back at square one?"
    Scoot says, "It sure looks that way. Goose,
get some pictures of that tire tread so we can match it later.
Stump, can you think of anything you heard that might give an
indication of why they would want Sam? She obviously didn't think
she had any information of importance or she would have told
Jim."
    Stump replies, "No, I never heard anything.
Those guys never talked about Susie in any capacity