‘Callie!’ hissed Frank in amazement as she eagerly approached them.

Callie slid the back-pack from her shoulders and bent to tightly hug her boyfriend and Vanessa simultaneously.

‘Where’s Joe?’ asked Vanessa hopefully, looking over her friend’s shoulder. ‘Is he keeping watch outside?’

Callie reluctantly withdrew from the group embrace and began to open the back-pack.

‘Joe’s not with me,’ she told them, ‘but I don’t want to waste time explaining everything until we’re out of here.’ She had seen the way Vanessa and Frank were handcuffed together and hurriedly handed Frank the bolt-cutters. Gratefully, he took them and managed to release their wrists. Callie helped Frank and then Vanessa to stand up. Their legs felt stiff from lack of use during their captivity, even though they had alternated between sitting and lying down.

‘Can you walk?’ Callie asked them anxiously.

‘I’m okay,’ said Vanessa, and Frank nodded in the affirmative.

‘We’ve got to move,’ Callie urged them ‘I’ve got in, I’ve got you, and now we’re getting out,’ she told them, donning the back-pack again.

At the door of the cabin, Callie peered outside and decided the coast was clear. Together, the trio made their way to the vantage point she and Joe had occupied that morning. Callie handed Frank and Vanessa an energy bar and a bottle of water each.

‘Have something before we head back,’ she instructed them. ‘You’ll need some energy. You also need time to get used to the daylight.’

Still slightly stunned by their sudden rescue and having to adjust to the daylight outside the cabin, Frank and Vanessa complied. Callie passed a critical eye over both of them, looking for injuries that might require attention. Besides becoming a little teary eyed when she noticed Frank’s handsome face somewhat bruised and bloodied, Callie’s composure astounded Frank. She was acting a bit like a soldier on a mission. While he had convinced himself that they would be rescued, it was his brother he was expecting…

‘Where’s Joe?’ Frank suddenly asked her.

Callie took a deep breath before telling Frank and Vanessa what she knew they wouldn’t want to hear.

‘I haven’t got time to go into all the details now,’ she told them, ‘but Joe lured the kidnapper away from the cabin so that I could get in to rescue you guys. He’s organised a trap back at the campsite. He was hoping to be able to lead him back there at about the time Chet is due to show up.’

Vanessa’s eyes widened in alarm and Frank looked as though he was going to explode.

‘Of all the idiotic ideas…! That guy has a gun, for God’s sake!’ Frank exclaimed, but Callie put her hand across his mouth, her eyes blazing.

‘Not another word!’ his girlfriend told him. ‘We were in a desperate situation. There was no other solution. Joe thought everything out, just like you would have. Now finish your drink and let’s get moving!’

To say that Frank was surprised to hear Callie defending his brother would be the understatement of the year. Vanessa gave Callie a spontaneous hug.

‘There’s one more thing, Frank,’ said Callie, her voice softer. ‘I promised Joe I’d give this back to you.’ She took the coin half from her pocket and put it in Frank’s hand. Looking down at what she had given him, Frank felt a lump form in his throat. The fact that Joe had given Callie the coin to return to him was significant on two levels. It told Frank that Joe really did love and trust Callie, and this warmed his heart. It also told him, however, that Joe believed there was a good chance that he wouldn’t be able to return it to Frank, and that thought terrified him.