Once they cleared the last house, they walked along a downward path for a few hundred feet before Robin stopped and looked up to her right.
“Are you kidding?” She looked back at the rest of them. “We have to climb up here.”
Oh fuck. “That’s pretty steep.”
“I know.”
Sully and Mark were panting hard.
“I’m too old for this shit,” Sully said.
“I need to jog more.” Mark looked at Robin. “You’re right, okay? I’m going to start running with you again.”
“It’s this,” Val said, “or going back to the cabin and waiting like sitting ducks for someone to maybe come help who maybe doesn’t get shot.”
Robin bent over and did a couple of shallow squats. “Okay. I can do this.”
“Let’s go.” Val started up the hill. She was walking sideways, taking her time and trying to stay as silent as possible.
Am I too old to pick up yoga?
Probably should do some cardio too.
Dammit, I should have peed before we left the cabin.
She was wearing too many layers to duck behind a tree. Plus she might literally freeze something important.
Bladder, don’t fail me now!
She leaned against a tree halfway up the hill and looked behind her. Sully and Robin were nearly caught up to her. Mark was trailing behind.
The snow muffled the sound of everything, swallowing their breathless pants and dampening the crunch of ice beneath their feet.
“Bethany says he’s right above us,” Robin whispered. “But he hasn’t looked this way. If we stay quiet, we should be able to sneak up on him.”
Sully nodded and pointed to the top of the hill. While Val caught her breath, he kept hiking, finding his footing with surprising grace for a large man.
Robin made a clicking sound with her tongue that sounded like a squirrel as she reached the top of the hill and ducked down under a rise of granite. Everyone followed her and crouched down in the snow, letting their breath return to normal.
Sully was the first to peek his head up. He took off his dark Stetson and put on a white beanie he’d found at the cabin. Keeping the rifle in both hands, he slowly rose and looked over the edge of the rocks. He scanned the area thoroughly, then crouched back down.
Sully found a blank patch of snow and clearly diagrammed where they were and where Anderson was in relation.
Mark pointed to the wide spot between the two points. “How far?” he whispered.
“Twenty yards,” Sully said under his breath. “This is the going to be the hard part.”
“Trees?” Val asked.
Sully marked a line of Xs on the far side of the Jabba rock where Anderson was camped.
“He’s not expecting us.” Mark pointed to himself, then to the trees past the Jabba rock. “I’ll run. He won’t have time to aim.”
“We don’t know what weapons he has,” Robin said.
Sully nodded to her. “Ask Bethany.”
Robin let out a breath and closed her eyes. She opened them and looked around. “She’s not here.”
Sully frowned. “You can’t call her?”
“Not without my drawing pad.”
“It’s not like a button you push,” Val said. She grabbed the beanie from Sully and poked her head over the rocks before anyone could stop her.
The Americano Asshole was leaning over the rocks, his rifle aimed at the cabin below. His back was tense.
Val ducked back. “He’s totally focused on something below. If we rush him now—”
“Wait.” Sully held up a hand. His eyes went wide. “Do you hear it?”
Val waited and caught the faint edge of a sound growing louder.
“Snowmobiles,” Mark said. “They’re coming.”
“And riding straight into his sights,” Robin said. “We have to move now.”
Mark said, “I’m going to run behind him and into the trees. I have the shotgun if he tries to follow me. As soon as he turns—”
“I’ll announce myself and give him a chance to surrender,” Sully said. “He has to know he’s out of options at this point.”
“What?” Val asked. “You’re going to—”
“Go.” Robin kissed Mark. “I love you.”
Mark rose and slid over the rocks without missing a beat, the shotgun slung over his back. Sully and Val stood and everything happened at once.
Americano Asshole squeezed off a shot as Mark yelled, “Hey, you dick!” and ran toward the trees.
Sully stood and shouted, “Allan Anderson, you’re under arrest. Put down your weapon!” He aimed the rifle at Anderson while Val jumped to the side and rolled a few feet from Sully before she rose and pointed the revolver at the man who was swinging around—rifle still up—and pointing it at Sully.
They stood frozen, staring at each other, both men with the other in their sights.
“Anderson,” Sully said, “put the rifle down.”
“Why?” The man asked it so casually Val almost blinked. “I can kill you faster than you can pull the trigger.”
“Then I’ll shoot you,” Val said. “And I won’t hesitate.”
“Are you sure? After all, you were married to that lowlife Mason for years. It doesn’t speak well of your reflexes.”
Sully stepped forward, his aim never wavering. “I called my deputy, Anderson. He called the forest service. They have your name. They know what you did. It’s over. There is no escaping this. You can’t outrun them.”
“I don’t plan on outrunning them,” Anderson said. “I plan on killing you and then skiing away. It’s really quite simple.”
Mark stepped out from behind the trees, his shotgun pointed at Anderson. “Shoot any of them and you’ll be an ugly-ass corpse. That I promise you.”
The steady smile on Anderson’s face wavered for the first time.
Robin stood and pointed another rifle at him. “Shoot any of my friends and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes,” she said quietly. “I won’t miss.”
“Four against one,” Val said. “I’m assuming that math isn’t too much for you.”
Anderson moved so quickly Val almost didn’t register the barrel of his rifle swinging away from Sully and toward her. Her finger tightened on the trigger just as a loud shot rang out next to her.
Anderson jerked back, and a red flower bloomed on his right shoulder. He dropped the rifle and fell to the snow.
“Mark, grab his gun!” Sully ran to the supine man. “Allan Anderson, you’re under arrest. Don’t talk, because you’ll just piss me off.” Sully flipped the man over and slapped cuffs on him.
“You shot me.” Anderson didn’t even look angry. He looked offended, as if it was just bad manners to stain his fancy ski suit with a bloodstain. “Do you know who I am?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Val said. “This guy is delusional.” She tore off her own glove and reached for Anderson’s thin, Gore-Tex glove he’d been wearing to shoot. She took it off his hand and held it in her palm. “Wow. There’s a lot on these.”
Val closed her eyes and let the images come. For once, she actually wanted to see the world through someone else’s eyes. “Someone dropped him off early this morning. Just when the sun was coming up. Tan SUV of some kind. Maybe a Land Cruiser?”
Mark said, “Sounds like one of his partners at the resort.”
“The friend knew what he was planning to do.” Val closed her eyes and let herself fall into the scene.
What are you going to do?
Get rid of the problem. No one is going to miss him, Charles.
The plan was crystal clear in his mind. Surprisingly simple, really. Kill the mechanic. Kill the sheriff and the ex-wife. Hide the bodies. Ski down to Mason’s truck and drive it down the mountain, parking it somewhere near Bridger so it looked like Mason was nearby and responsible for Savannah’s accident.
By the time the bodies were found in the spring—if they ever were—the case would be cold.
His friends in the department would never suspect he was part of it.
“He was planning on killing all three of us.” Val pulled away and felt an immediate wave of nausea. “You, me, and Josh. He didn’t think anyone else would be up here. He was going to hide our bodies.”
“Who was the other man?”
“Charles.” She swallowed hard to fight the nausea. “He knew Anderson was going after Josh. He didn’t realize we’d be with him.”
Sully said, “I’ll tell Francis to start looking for a guy named Charles who owns a tan Land Cruiser.” He turned Anderson over on his side. “Sounds like you had an accomplice, buddy! Wonder how long it’ll take him to give you up for a sweet deal?”
Anderson was on his side, staring at Val with wide eyes. “How did you know that?”
Val used his glove to tap his cheek and fought to retain her breakfast. “Oh, Americano Asshole, don’t you know who I am? I’m your friendly neighborhood psychic.” She winked. “And I’m gonna know all your secrets. Every. Single. One.”
She didn’t think he could look any paler, but he could. He actually could.
Chapter 24
They took the easy way down the hill, pushing Anderson in front of them. The man didn’t have snowshoes, and he kept falling into drifts and having to be lifted out. Mark was carrying the sharpshooter’s backpack and skis. Robin was carrying a shotgun and a rifle. Sully had two rifles.
Val had wisely handed the revolver back to Sully. Anderson was still pissing her off, and she didn’t quite trust herself not to put a bullet in his butt. Which would have been illegal. He already had one legally allowed bullet in him from Sully’s gun. Another one would be overkill.
Literally.
Sully shouted to the forest rangers as soon as they got near; a man and a woman in olive-green uniforms and heavy winter hats trudged toward them through the snow.
“Sully.” The man spotted the blood on Anderson’s shoulder. “Carol, bring the first aid kit!”
“Good to see you, Cartwright.” Sully kept Anderson in his grip, partly to keep the man standing. “Thanks for the assist.”
“We got the call from Francis and got up here as quickly as possible.” The ranger frowned as a medic examined Anderson and began pressing gauze to the wound under his snowsuit. “Is this who was shooting from that ridge?”
“Sure is.”
“We need to get him in blankets and down the hill,” the medic said. “I can get the bleeding under control, but I don’t want him going into shock.”
Sully watched the rangers take Anderson away. “The bullet went in and out.”
Cartwright nodded briskly. “We were getting a sled ready for Josh Mason, but we’ll take Anderson down first.”
“He aimed a rifle at me, so don’t take your eyes off him.”
“Yeah, he shot at us too, so I don’t think you need to worry. Francis should be waiting at the plowed road with the ambulance.”
Mark asked, “Did he hit anyone? That last shot, I mean.”
Cartwright shook his head. “Grazed a machine, but that’s it. Moving targets are far harder to hit than most target shooters realize. I’ll call my guys back. They were hiking up to find out where the shots were coming from.” He walked away, talking quietly into a radio that crackled on his shoulder.
The female ranger was nearly as tall as Sully. She was eyeing Robin and Mark. “These firearms belong to you?”
Robin and Mark exchanged a glance. “Uh…”
Sully said, “They were an emergency procurement from a local resident after Josh Mason was shot.”
She shook her head. “Dammit, Bill. I told him he could have a shotgun to scare off bears. One shotgun.”
Robin said, “Technically, it says discharging a weapon on forest service land is a crime. But, uh, we didn’t actually discharge any of these. Sully was the only one who shot anyone.”
Val could only think: Only because I didn’t get the chance.
“Can Bill get a pass this time?” Sully asked quietly. “He had them secured and asked for my badge before he handed anything over.”
She sighed. “At least he’s being responsible.” She turned her back and started walking toward the clearing. “I saw nothing. Take them back and tell him I do not want to see them again.”
“Thanks. Just to let you know, we’re looking for an accomplice. First name Charles. He drives a tan Land Cruiser.”
“I’ll get the word out to our people.” She nodded at them. “Let us know what else we can do to assist. I’m going to catch up with Cartwright unless you need anything else.”
“We’re good,” Sully said.
They continued toward the cabin, passing a couple of houses, one of which had two sets of eyes peering out.
“Now they look,” Val muttered.
“Oh, come on,” Robin said. “They were probably scared to death, not knowing what was going on.”
Val waved. “I hope they enjoyed the show.”
Monica was waiting on the porch. She waved when she saw them. “Look! The cavalry came!”
“How’s Josh?” Val asked.
“Still sleeping. His head already stopped bleeding. The medic says he won’t even need to go to the hospital if he doesn’t want to.”
Sully said, “Considering Bridger PD still has a warrant out for his arrest, that’s probably a good thing.”
The clearing in front of the cabin was a bustle of snow machines of all kinds, one that looked like a mini-tractor, three that looked like long sleds, and another with a person-sized trailer on the back where they were strapping Allan Anderson in. His wrists has been bound in front of him, and he was strapped down with a heavy blanket wrapped tightly around his body.
Val glanced at her friends gathering on the front porch and slipped away to watch Americano Asshole, who was slowly getting paler by the minute.
“He going to be healthy enough to get thrown in jail?” Val asked the ranger securing the ropes.
“Oh yeah. But we need to get him down the hill and into the hospital before he goes into shock. He hasn’t lost too much blood, but the doctors will want to rule out internal bleeding.” The young man stepped away from the snowmobile to speak to his superior, and Val crouched down next to Anderson.
“Hear that, Anderson?” Val leaned forward. “Internal bleeding. The gift that might still be giving.”
His lips barely moved. “How did you know… all those things?”
Val leaned closer. “You know how.”
“Impossible.”
“I’m going to head to your house, Anderson. Maybe head to your garage. I’ll be able to get in. Your wife will probably make me coffee.” She slid a bare finger down the line of his cheek. “And I’ll know all your secrets, Allan. Every single one.”
His expression wavered between rage and fear. “I don’t believe you. It’s a trick.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” she said. “You’re going to go to jail. For attempted murder of Savannah and Josh. You just couldn’t handle her leaving you, huh?”
“She’s nothing without me. She was a backwoods—”
“Was it her leaving you, or was it the money?” Val asked.
His eyes flickered.
“Huh. So more about the money. Interesting. Well, looks like she’ll be the owner of that fancy ski resort soon enough.”
The ranger walked back. “I’m ready to go. Ma’am, can you please step away from the sled?”
“Sure thing.” She handed him a free coffee card. “Come by Misfit Coffee in Glimmer Lake. Next coffee’s on me.”
The young man grinned. “Cool. Might get a bear claw too.”
“They’re to die for, right?” Val winked at Anderson and mouthed, To die for.
“Yeah, they’re something else.” He started the machine and within minutes, the first aid sled and two other snowmobiles with forest service rangers were headed back to the main road.
Cartwright walked up to Val. “You’re Mason’s wife?”
“Ah.” He glanced at Sully. “You have an interesting group of friends.”
Val pulled out another free coffee card. “I know. They’re awesome. Come by Misfit Coffee sometime when you’re at the lake. I’ll hook you and your guys up with some free drinks, okay?”
“I will.” He stuck the card in his pocket and nodded. “Thanks. Take care.”
“Thank you!” She waved as the last of the rangers scattered.
When she turned, Sully was already loading Josh onto the back of his snowmobile. “Probably best if I get this guy back to the sheriff’s department as soon as possible.” He patted Josh’s shoulder a little harder than was necessary. “We have a lot of paperwork to start filling out.”
Josh curled his lip. “Paperwork?”
“So much.” He looked at Val. “You good getting home with the other guys?”
She looked at Robin, Monica, and Mark standing on the porch. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
Sully looked like he wanted to say something else, but he shut his mouth, nodded, and started the snowmobile.
Val walked back to the porch. “We better get this place locked up and ready to be empty,” she said. “It may be a while before Josh is back.”
* * *
Mark and Robin dropped Val off in the parking lot of the sheriff’s department just in time to see her parents pulling in next to her truck with two familiar dark heads in the back seat. Andy burst out of the car and ran toward her.
“You found him! Dad called and he said you found him!” Andy threw himself at Val, wrapping his arms hard around her middle. “How did you find him?”
“It wasn’t just me.” Val hugged Andy and kept her eyes on Jackson, who was hanging back. “Sheriff Sully helped. Robin and Mark and Monica helped. It was a group effort.” She rubbed the top of his head. “Kid, remind me to get you a haircut.”
Andy laughed. “Dad said he didn’t do any of that stuff on the news, which makes sense because he was up at the cabin for a long time. I forgot about that place. We haven’t gone for so long and we never go in winter, so I didn’t think about it, but if he was there the whole time then the police can’t even say anything, right?”
Semi-Psychic Life: Glimmer Lake Book Two Page 20