Читать книгу Alaskan Ambush - Sarah Varland - Страница 15

Of all the things Kate might have expected would happen in quiet Moose Haven, getting shot at was not one of them. She’d once longed for a life in law enforcement, and if that had happened, maybe it would make more sense. But right up there with being shot at was seeing Micah Reed again. That is, if the uniformed man in front of her, decked out in Anchorage Police Department gear, was Micah. Could the guy with the well-over-six-foot frame and broad shoulders really be the same kid who’d hung out with her older brother and practically been the third Dawson brother in two years of high school?

And then he’d just left. Not even bothered to say goodbye to her. Apparently she’d never been more than Noah’s pesky younger sister, despite thinking they might have been friends.

Okay, and despite the fact that her ridiculous fourteen-year-old heart had harbored a small crush and wondered if they might be something more. When they were older. If he had stayed.

“What are you doing here?” She lowered the revolver slightly even as she glanced at the window, wondering if the person shooting at her was still outside.

Or if he was right here in her cabin. She raised the gun slightly again, heart pounding in her chest. It was impossible that Micah could be the shooter, wasn’t it? Time could change people; she knew that better than most. She couldn’t assume she was safe just because she’d known him years ago.

“You mind putting that away?” Micah stepped inside, letting the door shut behind him.

His voice was even, not in the least flustered, but he was out of breath and now that she’d had a minute to study him she could see that he was bleeding from one arm. Not the one holding his weapon, but his right hand.

“Are you the one shooting at me?”

“No.”

“Do you know who is?”

“Yes.”

Kate lowered the gun. “All right, tell me.”

Micah shook his head, holstered his own weapon. “There’s no time. I don’t know where he went but he saw you come in here and you can be sure if he intended to kill you earlier, he’s not going to leave you alone until he’s...” His voice trailed off and Kate raised her eyebrows as she studied the expression on his face. If she’d had any questions about whether or not he still saw her as a kid, his friend’s little sister, they were answered in his eyes and his hesitation. He was still trying to protect her, still saw her as a child, or at the very least like someone fragile who needed special care.

“Killed me?” she finished.

He winced like she’d hit him. Instead of feeling reassured, knowing that he did care about her well-being, she was frustrated. She was tired of her brothers treading lightly around her, trying to protect her because she was the youngest Dawson. Because she’d been through events that had almost taken her from her family.

Those things had happened after Micah had left town. But small-town gossip was a strong force and news had probably found its way to Anchorage. Now he’d be overprotective like all the rest. As long as he didn’t whisper, like some people did, that would be enough for her. She’d heard someone in the grocery store just last week. That’s the one, Kate Dawson. She never did seem the same after that avalanche...

“So what’s the plan?” she asked him, because he knew who they were dealing with. Generally she preferred to be the one making decisions. A lifetime of leading search-and-rescue work had gotten her used to it.

“Stay out of the Delaneys’ way until I can get back to Moose Haven and call for backup and arrest them.”

“Who are the Delaneys?” Kate knew everyone in Moose Haven, at least the year-round residents. The town grew in size substantially in the summer and she didn’t claim to know all the tourists who had seasonal cabins around the area. But this was winter. Not exactly high tourist season.

“It’s a long story. Seriously, we have to go. He’s out there somewhere.”

“He didn’t hit us earlier, so he can’t be that good a shot.” Kate tried to keep her voice even, rolled her eyes for effect, even though her insides were shaking. For all the high-risk situations she’d been in, she’d never been shot at before. She didn’t like it at all. Put this adventure down on the “do not repeat” list.

“They killed my partner.”

She swallowed hard, no response seemed appropriate. Her flippant comment about him not being a good shot stung now, but she didn’t know how to make it right.

“I need your help, Kate. I wouldn’t ask if I had any choice, and I’d rather just whisk you away and keep you safe and be some kind of superhero, but I can’t.”

“I’m not asking you to—”

“I know. But I’m asking you.”

“What do you want?” Again, she struggled with her voice, to keep her fears, her feelings out of it.

“We need to get off this mountain without getting shot. We need to get to town so I can report everything that’s happened.”

“I have a satphone. We can call now.”

“It’s enabled with tracking, correct?” Micah asked.

Kate saw his point. She had the phone off now, but when it was turned on she had it set to give regular updates about her GPS location. It wouldn’t take someone exceptionally good with technology to access that data. And while she didn’t know if the people after her were tracking her, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Micah continued, “When we were kids you knew these trails even better than Noah and I did. You notice things other people don’t, Kate. At least you always used to. Since I found you out here, alone, in the dark, I assume you haven’t changed.”

The admiration in his voice didn’t escape her notice and Kate felt her face warm with the praise. Should what he thought mean so much to her still? Whether or not she wanted to deny it, it did.

But he was wrong about one thing—she had changed. But not in that way. She was still the best tracker Moose Haven had, and she appreciated that Micah remembered, had confidence in her that wasn’t swayed by her small size, her gender. She’d had to convince more than one new SAR volunteer that she was, indeed, in charge of their team and capable of it. Kate nodded. “I can get us off the mountain.”

“I’d appreciate it. If there was any other way, if I could lock you up here and know you’d be safe and find my way down alone...”

“But you can’t.”

“I know. But just...know that I would.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I hate that I’m dragging you into this.”

“You aren’t.”

The way he narrowed his eyes made it clear to Kate she wasn’t the only one who struggled with past familiarity with someone warring against a suspicious nature. Micah Reed, suspicious? She could see him as a cop. He’d always wanted to help people and it was a way to do that, a noble one. But he had been one of the most trusting people she’d known, back then.

Maybe they’d both changed.

Maybe not for the better.

“Seriously, Micah.” His name rolled so easily off her tongue, and she wondered for half a second how it would feel to start a friendship again with this man, who’d been one of her closest childhood friends—she’d always found it easier to be friends with boys than other girls. “Someone is after me. I’m already dragged in.”

“Who?”

Kate raised her eyebrows. “The guy who was shooting at me. So are you going to tell me who he is?”

“Later. I have questions too, but if we don’t leave now...”

Micah moved toward the door and Kate followed, then hesitated. “Actually maybe it’s better if we stay. You know?”

“Why?”

“He hasn’t shot at us lately. We have shelter here. He could be waiting outside the door.”

Micah shook his head. “No. We need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Call it gut instinct.”

“I don’t believe in instinct—I believe in observations and making choices based on those.”

Was that a snort she heard from him? “Kate, come with me. I really think—”

A sudden shot shattered the glass, which rained down on the cabin floor in a spray of shards. Kate felt the world slow as Micah reached out, took her in his arms and moved between her and where the shot had come from all in one smooth motion. “Run. I’ll follow you. But pick the best, most isolated path down this mountain that you can.”

Kate nodded, and went for the door.

“On my count,” Micah said as another bullet came in the open window and pinged off the edge of one of her metal stools. “One... Two...”

“Three.”

She shoved the door open, stepped into the blackness.

Before her eyes had even adjusted, she began to run, determined to use every ounce of energy she had if it meant they could outpace whoever was after them. The moon had been full only a few nights before and even now as it was waning, providing enough light for her to see through the darkened shadows the trees created against the bright white-blue of the moonlit snow. Kate dodged a long-hanging branch, wound through the spruce trees and did her best to bury them so deeply in the brush that no one would be able to find their trail, despite the fresh snow. Even if someone did find the trail, Kate already had a plan for that. She could circle the area where they camped tonight, create some false tracks. Anything that would throw off whoever was following them.

Because they weren’t getting off the mountain tonight. And Kate knew enough from her basic first-aid classes to know that even if he’d rather press on and play hero, Micah would need to rest at least for a short time to give his body a chance to recuperate. The gunshot was only the beginning of what he’d been through, if Kate’s guess was correct. She had a small first-aid kit in her backpack that she never went into the mountains without. When they could stop, she’d do what she could for him.

“Go faster! Don’t wait on me—I can keep up.”

Kate had already been pushing as hard as she could—but she found another gear somewhere, avoided a tree root that curved upward enough it stuck out of the snow and took a sharp left turn.

“Be careful!” She barely raised her voice above a whisper, not wanting to give away their location, but wanting to warn him as the trail she’d picked suddenly sloped downhill. Kate kept running. She paused for a second at a drop-off, only about five feet, then climbed down it before picking up her pace.

A glance back now and then confirmed Micah was staying with her. She didn’t see the shooter anywhere.

Kate didn’t know how long she ran, only knew that by the time she felt she had no choice but to slow down, her heart was beating out a crazy rhythm and her lungs were burning for air. She took a deep breath of it, reached into her backpack pocket for her water bottle and took a long swig.

“Why did you stop?”

“Because some of us didn’t have to pass a police fitness test and I needed to breathe.”

“You’re the very definition of an Alaska girl.” He surveyed her doubtfully. “You aren’t going easy on me because of my arm?”

In the chaos, the urgency, she’d actually forgotten about his arm for a little while, besides the reminder to herself that they’d need to stop eventually. He honestly seemed to be concerned that she’d gone too easy on him, though, which was nice. She’d rather be overestimated than underestimated and she’d had plenty of the second in her life, first as a kid trying to keep up with her brothers and their friends, and even as an adult woman working search and rescue.

“No, I have to breathe.” She took a few more breaths then looked behind them, listening but hearing nothing other than the sounds of scraping spruce branches in the wind. For the moment, there was a brief calm.

Rather than being reassured, though, Kate felt her chest tighten, then her whole body. Her muscles were all ready for fight or flight, and probably would be for some time.

“Tell me who you were after. What are these guys like?” she asked around panting breaths.

Micah frowned. “I said we could talk later.”

She shook her head. “Tell me now. Knowing a person I’m tracking, knowing what they’re like, routes they’re likely to take based on what I can gather of their personalities—it all helps. I’ve never tried to avoid being tracked, but I assume it’s the same concept in reverse.”

He nodded in understanding, shifted on his feet as he thought. “Thieves and smugglers. We thought they were the heads of the organization but now it seems they’re just extremely talented but lower ranking. No known activities besides their illegal ones. No legitimate jobs.”

“Not from Moose Haven, right?”

“One of them has a cabin here, but no.”

“They’re from Anchorage then?”

“Wasilla. But their crimes have mostly been committed in Anchorage, with a few in other locations. Fairbanks. Juneau.”

“Sounds pretty far-reaching.” She nodded, running through criminal profiles again in her mind, trying to get a handle on what they’d be like. “All right, ready?”

“If you are.”

She paused. “Can I see about your arm first?”

He shook his head. “Later. I want more space between us and whoever is shooting.”

Kate started running again, hoping the people pursuing them would lose the trail in the darkness. She was almost tempted to pray; she was so desperate to not be caught. The idea of how close she’d already been to several bullets—she didn’t want to think about it. People knew she was tough; she’d certainly heard her siblings brag about that many times and while it always made her smile, it wasn’t entirely true. She was tough in one context—the woods and the mountains and the backcountry. The backcountry could kill you, but it was logical, usually played by the rules. Even wildlife behavior could be predicted to a degree and Kate had had several run-ins with moose and bears that had ended well for everyone because she’d understood the rules too and played by them.

These men who were after them now?

They didn’t play by the rules.

And that was exactly why she was terrified.

* * *

Following Kate, Micah ran through the darkness, through the trees that were thick on this lower half of the mountain. He supposed he should be thankful they weren’t above the tree line, where there would be no way to avoid detection and nowhere to take shelter.

The way he figured it, they’d have to stop for at least an hour or so later. Neither had to sleep if they didn’t feel like it, but they’d need to eat and rest a little before continuing on. And he needed to pack something around his arm, since over the time he ran it leaked a little more blood. It wasn’t enough to cause problems, at least he didn’t think so, but when they could stop, he’d take better care of it. The pain was a wave of intensity as he ran, but with enough focus he could ignore it, power through it. It was when they stopped that the constant throbbing made him grit his teeth.

His mind turned to his partner again and he felt anger seethe in his middle. The arrest should have gone smoothly. They had done their due diligence to assure that it would and it had still gone wrong and they’d missed something, gotten a huge part of the case wrong.

Who had the third man been? The other man with the Delaneys? He wore a mask over his face, so all Micah knew was that he was a male of average build—not much to go on especially in a state where men outnumbered women.

He felt his frustration grow, this time with himself. Even with his partner, Stephen too, though that made him feel worse—once people were dead weren’t you supposed to think only good things about them? Either way, neither of them realized there was a high-ranking third person involved in this operation; while Micah knew if he was honest that it hadn’t been his fault or Stephen’s that they’d missed it, the criminals had just hidden it well, it still burned that they’d made a mistake, been outnumbered.

Lost one of the good guys.

Micah shook the ache, the events of the last few hours out of his mind. The loss of his partner stung, cut deep. But this wasn’t the time for grieving. He owed it to Stephen to finish what they’d started. Right now that meant focusing on following the woman in front of him. He’d never have thought he’d run into Kate Dawson up here, and wished in a way it was anybody else. Besides Noah, his best friend growing up, Kate had been his favorite of the Dawson siblings. He’d admired her daring, her ability to keep up even though she was two years younger than he was and even more years behind her oldest brother. She wasn’t like other girls he’d known then and she wasn’t like any women he’d met since.

He hated that she was in danger now.

Although if he was honest, she was one of the best-equipped people to handle it. The Kate he’d known years ago didn’t back down, didn’t give up. She seemed even tougher now.

And now that he was down one partner and running for his life, Kate was exactly the kind of person he needed on his team. Already she’d saved him from finding his way down the mountain in the dark, and her determined attitude was infectious too. He could use some more of it right now.

“I’ve got to stop soon.”

Kate slowed her pace, came back to where he was, looked around as though Micah himself hadn’t been keeping himself highly aware of their surroundings and looked at his arm. “Pain getting worse?”

“No but the bleeding keeps starting up again.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“You don’t do blood?”

“It’s not my favorite, but I can handle it.” She looked to the right, then behind them. “We are about half a mile from where I’d wanted to stop. Can you make it that far?”

“Yes.” Especially when he was looking at a pair of dark hazel green eyes practically daring him, challenging him.

He hadn’t been fair to her earlier, when he’d thought about her as a kid. She’d always done more than keep up, just like now. She was the one who set the pace.

The half mile to Kate’s planned stopping place was slower going than the trail had been earlier, and more than once a spruce branch that Kate had pushed back without holding it slapped Micah.

“I’m sorry. I’m usually alone—I’m not used to thinking about someone behind me.”

“You just go. I’m fine. I can handle it.”

So she’d listened. The trees were thicker here, and he suspected Kate wanted to make sure their trail was as difficult to find and follow as possible since they’d soon be stopping to rest.

Micah was already making plans for that—one of them would be awake at all times. Unless the situation changed for the worst, he might even take a quick nap. He’d seen the way Kate handled that .44. She could more than handle protecting them for a short time; that was how confident she’d seemed with her weapon. And it was a good thing because he needed a nap, at least half an hour. He’d lost count now of how many hours he’d been awake but it had to be edging toward or past the twenty-four-hour mark.

Just as he was starting to question how well Kate measured distance, the woods cleared. Something ahead of them made a hill in the snow, but he couldn’t quite tell what. He looked around the clearing, but didn’t see anywhere that seemed like a good place to stop. It would be difficult to find where someone would start attempting to track them from, with all the tight trails through the trees Kate had taken, but they also needed shelter. He didn’t see anything that fit the bill.

“Where were you planning...” Micah trailed off as he watched Kate walk over to the mound and a grin spread across his face. A cabin. She’d found them an old cabin, sunken down into the earth and now covered with snow. They’d be protected, sheltered because no one who wasn’t looking for this would see it, and warm. A good thing since they couldn’t risk starting a fire for fear of being detected.

He glanced back at their tracks, noting how fast the still-falling snow was covering them. Another hour or so and all evidence of them being here would be erased.

“How did you know about this?” He didn’t even try to keep the admiration out of his voice and Kate could tell too—he knew from the way she smiled back at him, obviously proud of herself.

“I’ve hiked all over this mountain, on every marked trail I’ve found and some unmarked ones.” She shrugged.

“Why?”

Another shrug. “I like it out here. Life makes more sense.”

Interesting. He’d love to follow up on that later. The Dawsons lived a charmed life—cozy lodge, warm family. Even though their parents had died, the siblings’ bond remained strong and it seemed they’d all worked through their grief and were living pretty happy lives. Not like Micah. His parents had given him everything he needed in the physical sense, but their preoccupation with their jobs had kept them from spending time with him. As an adult he saw them maybe once a year. They always sent a Christmas card, though.

No, not like the charmed life the Dawsons lived at all.

What about Kate’s life could she not make sense of unless she was in the woods?

He followed Kate’s tracks to the cabin and helped her dig out the snow in front of the door enough that they could open it without letting a pile of snow into the structure, but not so much that it would make an obvious entrance to the snow covered mound if trouble did happen to follow them here.

“We should be safe here.” She nodded, looked around one more time, then climbed down into the cabin.

Micah followed, closing the door behind him and looking around. There was a stove in the corner. The cabin itself was decades old and in disrepair, but there was a box of blankets in the corner that looked like someone had put them there recently, at least in the last few years.

Kate didn’t seem surprised by the box.

“Did you put that there?”

She nodded. “I don’t know how many other people know this place is here, but I figured if anyone got into trouble they could use some supplies. Not everyone is as prepared as they should be out here.”

“Is that something your parents taught you? I don’t remember them spending too much time in the woods.”

Kate seemed to consider the question and finally nodded. “In some ways, yes. You know they loved it up here, but they didn’t venture into the woods often, so they didn’t teach us everything we would eventually need to know. I sort of just learned from experience.”

Her tone said there was a lot behind the word experience, but she didn’t owe him stories of her high school years and later. He’d been the one to leave town and no, he hadn’t had a choice about that, but in an age of internet and social media, it wouldn’t have been hard to keep in touch. He’d been the one to choose not to. He hadn’t wanted to watch her grow up into the woman he’d already been able to tell she was becoming when he left. While they’d only been friends, his feelings toward her had started shifting just before he left in a way that made him resist the idea of watching her fall in love with someone, get married, raise babies.

And know that it wasn’t him.

He swallowed hard, the truth about his past feelings for Kate something he hadn’t wanted to deal with then, and still didn’t want to deal with now. It was better if he kept her at a distance, though being back in her town and in such close proximity was making that a challenge.

Kate spoke up, saved him from his own mind. “Some of my experience has come through search-and-rescue work. That takes up most of my time.” It was like she’d read his mind and decided to answer at least one of the questions he hadn’t asked. Micah was grateful. She spoke up again. “Tell me a little more about who these men are and why they’re after me.”

“I wish I could do the second, but I have no idea. You’ve never met the Delaneys before? Either of the brothers?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Tell me everything about today, what happened before you were shot at.”

She met his eyes, seemed to be considering whether she was ready to talk.

Micah clenched his jaw. Did his best to wait. Someone was after her specifically, but he didn’t know why the Delaneys could possibly have something against her. From the investigating he’d done, it was clear they didn’t spend much time in Moose Haven, so they couldn’t have interacted with Kate, at least not often.

So why target her?

He’d thought earlier that his day couldn’t have gotten much worse, with the case in a tangled mess he didn’t know if he could untwist and his partner dead. But he couldn’t have imagined someone after Kate, a woman he cared about more than he should.

More than as his friend. More than as his other friend’s little sister.

But the day had gotten worse. Knowing Kate was in danger made it hard to breathe, but it sharpened his focus, made him want to do a better job on this case.

He had to because her safety depended on it. And he wouldn’t let her down.