The Geocache Kidnapper

The Geocache Kidnapper

     by K. Laini Williams

Sage reaches her car only to realize she doesn’t have her keys. “Don’t tell me I left my keys in the park!” she sighs and heads back into the park. She finds her keys lying on the large rock where she had placed her backpack earlier. She did not recall them falling out of her bag but figures a critter may have found her shiny key chain alluring and pulled it out. It would not have been the first time a critter tampered with her belongings. She recalled the day that a racoon helped himself into her backpack and into her trail mix. She never heard it scurrying around in there, as she was wearing her earbuds with her loudly blaring classical music as always but, when she reached into her bag for a snack, a startled little furry fellow darted up and out as fast as he could! She turns to head back to her car when she sees a man who appears to be in his mid-20’s approaching her. His face was covered with blood. Sage froze as she locked eyes with the blood-covered man.  He stumbled as he attempted to make his way to the large rock where her bookbag had once lay. Overcorrecting himself from his stumble he nearly collided with a tree. “Be careful!”, Sage heard herself say instinctively.  Her fear had changed to concern as the injured man now appeared more vulnerable than vicious. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call the paramedics?”, she rapidly fired questions at him. “No!”, he said wincing in pain and holding his head, “We’d better get out of here before he returns.”  “Before who returns?”, she asked.

******

On Saturday, Sage could always be found in a local park, listening to classical music and enjoying nature. She had recently developed a passion for geocaching. It was a favorite pastime for she and her boyfriend, Seth. Make that… ex-boyfriend, Seth.  They had an entire month of geocache excitement on their shared, virtual calendar but, now that they were no longer on speaking terms, all plans were canceled. Despite her recent break-up, Sage was determined that she would ‘go on as planned’ and geocaching was still on the agenda!  There was something exhilarating about a game where you hunt for treasure using your GPS device.  The treasures are located all over the globe, so the fun is not limited to a specific location. After searching feverishly for treasure and finding it, with only minimal clues from the previous wanderer, the sense of satisfaction you get is unparalleled! Equally as fun, was leaving a treasure for the next geocache enthusiast to find.    Sage would close her eyes and randomly select a tiny trinket to place into the container before returning it to its hiding place. Geocaching in a park on Saturday was how she and Seth spent their weekends. But Seth was history now. Time for a fresh start.

Alright, that’s enough!  Seth’s controlling ways, which he attributed to his ‘overwhelming love’ or ‘genuine concern’, had become too much for Sage lately and she needed space to breathe. The novelty and intrigue of their unique, multi-cultural relationship had quickly faded. Her parents knew and accepted that she had a “Bangladesh Boyfriend”, as they would lovingly call him.  Although a shock at first, he has grown on them over the past two years.  During their countless rounds of chess, he would   jokingly tell her father ‘I am more American than your own daughter’. He would go on to state that, because he moved to the United States at 16 months old, a whole seven months before Sage was born, he was more of an American citizen than she. He sincerely enjoyed Mr. Barlow’s company not only because he was dating his daughter but because he was a cool guy! The fact that he was a cardiothoracic surgeon was an extra-added benefit as Seth had plans of becoming a surgeon one day and thought it would be really cool to have a father-in-law who could relate!

The relationship between Sage and Seth’s family? Well, that was a bit more complicated.  To them, the African American girl who he hung out with was just his very good friend. His parents had already selected his wife and made plans for him to travel to India to marry her in four years. Daksha was the daughter of a family his parents have known for years. Born exactly a year and two months after him, her parents send a picture and a letter to Seth’s home twice a year detailing how much she has grown and how smart Daksha has gotten, as if to make sure their daughter is not forgotten.  Seth wondered if his parents were also sending pictures of him to her family. He figured they were which is why he made sure to smile weirdly, furrow his brow, cross his eyes on every one of his school pictures because those were the ones his mom would most likely want to send.  When he was 10, he took the December Daksha letter from the mailbox and hid it, hoping his family would forget all about it. When the July letter came, so did the questions from his mother about the whereabouts of the letter from her parents that should have come six months prior. They later found remnants of the letter and picture torn to pieces. Seth tried to explain that he ripped it up because he did not want to marry her.  He was punished for two weeks.  Now, at age 17, he knows that any conversation with his parents about the arranged marriage was an exercise in futility, so he did not bother. Seth also did not bother explaining his relationship with Sage. He knew they would never understand. The two of them would have to elope prior to the planned marriage, sometime within the next four years.   Once he graduated from college, he would be loaded onto a plane and married before he could blink. He would begin medical school a married man if his parents had their way.  He had less than four years to let his parents know that he had chosen someone different. Quite different.  He had to let them know that Sage was more than his ‘very good friend’, she was the girl he loved and wanted to marry.

Sage would always say what Seth lacked in control with his family, he made up for in his relationship.   What began as a sweet, quirky physics classmate who, was infatuated with her would later become an insanely over-protective boyfriend. Lately, he has wanted to accompany her everywhere and ‘must know’ her whereabouts. She would protest, telling him she had ‘emotional claustrophobia’ and felt as if she were being smothered. That did not work. He continued to be wherever she was.  But, as of two weeks ago, Seth and Sage were no more! Sage broke it off ‘for good’.  She even found a way to unlink his access to her phone GPS. They originally linked their phones to facilitate their geocaching adventures if they were ever separated in the woods.  It was useful, handy, and necessary for safety purposes. However, Seth would use the GPS at times when they were not geocaching which infuriated Sage. She would be in the supermarket, buying feminine hygiene products when, who would appear? Yep, Seth! Talk about embarrassing!   Sooo, she unlinked his phone and broke things off. She needed space and could not be in a relationship with someone who was already practically married to someone else, whether he liked it or not!  

*****

With blood trickling down his face, the man looked as if he were about to pass out. “Someone did this to you?” Sage continued to press for an answer. “Y- yes”, he said, dropping his head as if it were too heavy for his neck to hold. “I don’t have a first aid kit, but I can call 911”, she offered. The man quickly responded, “No, I can’t wait here. He may come back to finish the job, we need leave!”, his voice was serious.

Sage looked down at her keys and thought about how the absence of them had lured her back into the park. She knew she could go but felt bad about leaving the injured man there to be further attacked by his assailant.   “Come on”, she said “I can drop you off at the gas station right up the road. I was planning to stop there anyway for a snack.” At least he would be in a well-populated place if his attacker found him, she reasoned. He threw his backpack into the car and climbed his lanky body into the backseat. Who knew that this is what her geocaching adventure would unearth! For the first time in years, she was unable to locate the geocache but ‘found’ an injured person. Not exactly my idea of a treasure, she thought.

Of course, she knew that it was dangerous for a young woman to give a strange man a ride. From the time her dad placed the key to her car into the palm of her outstretched hand, he stressed how she should not let ANYONE ride with her, if he and her mom had not met them and given them a stamp of approval.  She felt okay giving the injured man a ride to the gas station because she knew that Seth was always tracking her on the GPS and would get to her before the paramedics if he had the slightest inclination that she was in danger. He had an app he called the “Locate Sage App” on his i-phone and certainly knew how to use it!  As she made a right turn onto the main road, she recalled that she had unlinked her GPS from his a few days ago…

“So, did you happen to see who did this to you?” she asked, looking through the rearview mirror at the man.  “No. All I know is that I was looking at my phone, trying to locate the exact coordinates of my geocache when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head then, everything went dark” he explained trying to get comfortable in the back seat. As she heard his feet shuffling against her rear floor mats, she wondered how much mud he would leave on the newly shampooed rugs. She then felt ashamed for fretting over her rugs while helping a man who nearly lost his life.   

Reaching the gas station, she pulls up to the market and turns off the ignition. The man gets out, takes his things with him. “I appreciate your help, ma’am”, he says before heading into the gas station. Sage nodded, “No problem, sir. Hope you feel better.” She gets out for a bathroom and snack break as she and Seth always did as part of their End of Geocaching Routine. Look at me, she thought, not only did I go geocaching all by myself but, I also helped a man avoid being re-assaulted!   After leaving the restroom, she chose a snack and joined a long line of customers who were all waiting to purchase their items.  Everyone had their cell phone in hand and was either texting or playing a game in order prevent the boredom that would come from being in the stagnant line. “Oh no!” Sage said under her breath, “I left my phone in the car!”  She thought about going back to get it however, after looking back and seeing how long the line had grown, she changed her mind. With nothing for entertainment, she was forced to watch the gas station television. It was a flat screen device which had been mounted on the wall. No one bothered to conceal the cords as they appear to have been pulled tautly and plugged into the outlet below. Also in the area around the television were small tables, each with two chairs as if someone might come to the gas station and choose to dine-in option. Much to Sage’s chagrin, the television was on a news station. Why could it not be on another channel? Any other channel! She has always hated the news. She guessed this was because her parents watch it non-stop. Her mother is constantly watching it to stay current on the latest legal disputes and her dad tunes in looking for medically relevant headlines. Sage never understood why they bothered to have cable when they literally only watched one channel. 

“ Good afternoon, I am LeAnne Gibbs with breaking news on the Geocache Kidnapper”, the tv speakers blared. “First, let’s hear from Detective Hughes regarding what we already know.”  “Thanks,  LeAnne.”, the camera shifts it’s focus to Detective Hughes, “ We suspect the Geocache Kidnapper is likely a man who knows a lot about Geocaching.  This is a game where people use coordinates to locate hidden treasure. Upon finding it, they leave a treasure for the next person. It has gotten pretty popular and there are geocache spots located all around the world. Enthusiasts are able to find them via an app. The Geocache Kidnapper leaves a number in lieu of the treasure or trinket that you are supposed to leave for the next person.   Two and a half weeks ago, a piece of paper with a #1 on it was found at a geocache site in the Grassmeade Park. That happened to be the last place Mindy Rands was seen. A few days later, geocache enthusiast located a paper with the #2 on it which corresponded to the last place 25-year-old, Samantha Gray was known to be.  Just yesterday, a #3 was found at a geocache site in the wooded area off of Highway 51 South. We are pretty sure this explains Amy Norton’s disappearance five days ago.  Her GPS was last traced to that location. We have no knowledge of her current whereabouts however, as the kidnapper likely disables the phone of his victims.  He is dangerous and still at large. We are advising everyone to avoid going out alone, especially at night.  Sage wondered if the injured man had been attacked by the Geocache Kidnapper. “Thanks so much Detective for that thorough run-down of what we currently know about this man.”, LeAnne says soberly, “Now, only on WNLT, we have a live report and some pretty disturbing news from a man who believes that he encountered the Geocache Kidnapper just earlier today.  We want to warn you, what he is about to discuss may be too graphic for some”,  LeAnne says as she directs her attention to the man beside her. “So, sir, can you tell us what occurred today in Woodlawn Park?”  “Yes, I can.”, the man answered. Wait, that’s Seth! On the news? Sage could not believe her eyes.  Seth continues,  “I went to the park because I knew my girlfriend...” he pauses “ excuse me, ex-girlfriend would be there because that’s where we’d planned to go before we... (his voice faded) broke up. I knew she had no knowledge of the Geocache Killer because she doesn’t like to watch the news, so I wanted to be there to protect her if something happened.” Sage’s eyes welled up with tears. “I didn’t  want her to know I was there, because I knew she wanted some space”.  He went on to say that while watching her from a distance, he noticed someone appear from the bushes and slowly walk towards her with a knife. “I immediately grabbed the biggest rock I could find and gashed it against his head as hard as I could. I saw him fall forward.  “I thought I might have killed him, so I….I ran”. “Was your ex-girlfriend startled by any of this?”, asked LeAnne. “No,  my ex-girlfriend, wears ear buds while geocaching which,  is another reason she needed my protection.   She had no idea what had just occurred behind her. As a matter of fact, she had started heading back to her car shortly after the incident.  I was glad to see that she was leaving”, Seth said with a sigh of relief. “So, then what happened?”, LeAnne asked, eager for the story.  “As I mentioned, out of fear, I initially ran away. After a few minutes, however, I decided I should go back, render first aid, and call the paramedics.  When I got back to the scene, about 5 minutes later, however, he was gone!” Seth looked bewildered. “Let me get this straight”, LeAnne said with a furrowed brow, “He was gone?” “ Yes, he was no longer there. But even stranger, I checked the geocache treasure box to see what my ex-girlfriend left there but the only thing I found was this.” Seth holds up a small sheet of paper with a #4 on it.

With heart pounding and thoughts racing, Sage quickly exits the store. Making it to her car, she shuts the door and starts the ignition. With screeching tires, she speeds out of the parking lot, away from the gas station, as fast as she could.  Hearing her heart pounding in her ears, all she could think about was calling Seth, finding him, and thanking him for watching out for her!  She grabs the phone. “I’ve gotta call Seth!”  She frantically taps her screen. “Come on, you stupid phone, work!” she says banging it against the steering wheel. “Now is NOT the time to glitch on me!!”, she scolds.  “Have you thought about trying this number?” says a voice behind her as the man from the park appears in the rear-view mirror holding a piece of paper on which he had written, #4.

To be continued …