Active Defense

by Lynette Eason

  He didn’t like it, but . . . “Yeah. Fine. We should be back in the next twenty minutes or so.”

  His phone buzzed and he took a quick glance at the screen. The security camera he’d installed on the ledge had sent him a notification. Heather’s face came into view and Travis blinked even while his heart leapt into overdrive. “Hey, hold up, hold up. I know where she is!”

  “How’s that?”

  “She just told me.” He gave Caden a quick explanation of the camera in the cave as he pulled up the app and turned on the talk feature. She had her back to the camera, but he could hear her gasping for breath.

  “Heather,” he said in a whisper.

  She spun to face the camera, eyes wide and frantic. She held a finger to her lips. Then mouthed, “Don’t talk.”

  Travis muted his side but could still listen to Heather. “Talk to me,” he muttered. “Where’s Gina?”

  “How long until someone can get there?” he asked Caden. “We’re at least twenty-five minutes out, thanks to driving the wrong way.”

  Caden grunted. “I’m probably forty minutes from you. I’m on my way, but travel is getting worse. The wind is whipping, and I just got word that the chopper had to get away from it. Zane’s on the phone with local authorities and they’re saying the same thing about the roads, but they’re sending out to the location. Is she alone? Safe for the moment?”

  “Appears to be. But she’s afraid and didn’t want me to talk. She obviously got away from Gina. She’s hiding from her, Caden.”

  “Which means Gina’s looking for her.”

  Heather went completely still, tilted her head, then her eyes went wide and she ducked out of sight of the camera. He barely refrained from calling out to her. Then his phone pinged once more as Gina stepped into view.

  Heather had found a small, shadowed niche toward the back of the little cave. At least she was protected from the gusts of wind that occasionally found their way in. She tucked her hands between her thighs, trying to warm them enough to get some feeling back in them, and pressed her back against the cold rock wall. She forced herself to take slow, silent breaths.

  “I know you’re in here,” Gina said. “You might as well come out. I’m not going away.”

  Oh, she was going away. Hopefully for life. Heather prayed she lived to see it happen. Gina’s footsteps echoed in the area. About thirty yards deep, Travis’s cave was wider than it looked from the entrance. Roomy and dark, it had seemed like the perfect hiding place. She’d hoped the falling snow would cover her tracks as she darted in, set off the alarm, then popped back out to keep going. But Gina had been too quick. Quicker than Heather had anticipated. It had been a risk, but Heather had had no choice if she was to let Travis know where she was.

  “Heather, come on. I’m cold and I know you have to be too. I just want to get this over with. Give me the shirt and I’ll disappear. I’ll change my name, get plastic surgery, whatever. I won’t hurt you—or anyone else—if you’ll just give me the shirt. Please.”

  Heather wondered when she’d had “stupid” tattooed on her forehead. Gina had just revealed her plan for after she killed Heather. Unbelievable. The woman fully expected to escape and disappear.

  “Come out now!” Heather heard a thud. Had Gina stomped a foot? “Why are you dragging this out? It’s not like you’re going to change the outcome.”

  Wind whistled outside the opening behind Heather, and she shivered when snowflakes skated across her face. If she could just stay quiet until Travis arrived with help . . .

  “Fine, have it your way.” Gina started walking toward Heather’s hiding place, and her muscles clamped down.

  “Gina!”

  Travis’s voice echoed in the cavernous area and Heather flinched. Gina let out a small scream and spun. Heather darted forward and tackled the woman. Together, they hit the hard-packed mud flooring and the gun spun from Gina’s hand.

  A fist caught Heather in the solar plexus, and she gasped, the breath whooshing out of her lungs while pain radiated through her core.

  Heather shot a blind, desperate punch at Gina’s face and clipped her chin. The woman’s head snapped back, slamming into the ground, giving Heather the chance to scramble away. She reached for the weapon, closed her fingers around it.

  Pain streaked through her head and neck as Gina’s fingers curled in her hair and yanked her head back. Heather cried out, but her grip on the gun only tightened.

  She swung the weapon around and caught Gina in the forehead, opening a gash, sending the woman screeching backward.

  Heather whipped the gun up and aimed it at her former friend. “Stop! Stay there or I’ll shoot you!”

  For a moment, Gina didn’t move. Her harsh breathing filled the cave.

  Heather waved the gun toward the entrance. “Let’s go.”

  Where were Travis and the others? Unable to get to her because of the weather?

  “Where is he?” Gina cried. “I heard Travis. Where is he?”

  Heather ignored her. “Travis? Can you hear me?”

  “I can,” he said, his voice tinny and small coming from the minuscule camera, but at least she could hear him. A sob clawed at her throat and she choked it back. “Where are you?”

  “Trying to get to you. Are you okay?”

  “I’ve got the gun and we’re coming down.”

  “No, just stay there. It’s gotten a lot icier in the last little bit. We’re coming to you. Should be there in about five minutes.”

  Gina hesitated, her gaze swinging from the little camera to Heather, fury building in her eyes. “You’re kidding me. There’s a camera?”

  “Yes. And everyone knows. Give it up.”

  “So that’s why you were so eager to climb that hill.” She paused and rubbed a hand down her face. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to stick with plan B. I’m going to disappear.” She stood.

  Heather held the weapon steady. “Stop. I may be a doctor, but I went through the same training you did and you know I know how to use this.”

  “Then you’ll have to shoot me, because I’m walking out of here before anyone else shows up.” She started toward the entrance and Heather blocked it, keeping the weapon on Gina’s midsection. Gina stopped and backpedaled, her eyes locked on the space behind Heather’s shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

  Heather almost spun but stopped. “I’m not falling for that.” Gina was doing the same thing Heather had done in the car. Right? Pretending to see something in order to distract her. But Gina didn’t avert her gaze and the color had leeched from her face.

  The hairs on the back of Heather’s neck stood up. She slowly turned and froze. Donnie Little stood at the entrance, his malevolent gaze and deadly gun held on Gina. He switched both to Heather when he spotted the weapon in her hand. “Drop it.”

  “Or what?”

  His eyes flickered, his finger twitched, and Heather dropped to the floor. She hit hard, her hand with the weapon bouncing. The gun flew from her fingers and skidded to the edge of the ledge. Unable to grab it, she rolled back into the niche where she’d first hidden from Gina, just as Donnie’s gun spat its bullet.

  The crack of the weapon reverberated through the cave. Her ears rang. Distantly she thought she heard Travis yelling her name.

  She definitely heard Gina screaming.

  Heather raised her head to see Donnie with the gun back on Gina. “I want my money, you traitor.”

  “Are you crazy? The cops are going to be here any second!”

  “Nice try.”

  “I’m serious. There’s some kind of camera thingy and they know we’re here.”

  “Well, leaving works for me. After I get rid of that one.” Again, the gun pointed in Heather’s direction.

  She ducked back down. “Don’t shoot me! I have money too! If that’s what you want, I’m worth more alive than dead.”

  Travis, where are you?

  Terror had exploded within Travis’s chest when Donnie had stepped into the lin
e of sight of the camera. Then the gunshot, the screams, and no visibility of Heather. Not knowing if she was hurt had nearly sent him into cardiac arrest. Then he’d heard Heather holler and relief pounded through him. Briefly. He was sure Donnie had more than one bullet.

  “Donnie!” he yelled. “Put the weapon down!”

  No answer.

  “Travis?” Caden’s tense voice came through the phone line. “What’s going on? Tell me what you see.”

  Travis put the app on mute so those in the cave couldn’t hear him. “Donnie Little is there now. I heard a gunshot and screams. Heather and Gina are out of camera range, but I can see Donnie holding the gun on them. And he looks very unhappy.” He glanced at Chris. “Do you dare go any faster?”

  The man shook his head. “Not if you want to stay on the road and avoid sliding into a ditch and delaying us even more.”

  Travis sent up prayers while he watched the camera.

  Why was it when he needed to get somewhere in a hurry, the weather worked against him? He prayed for Heather’s safety, for the truck to stay on the road, and for Donnie to be indecisive.

  “How did Donnie find them, Travis?” Caden asked. “She had a police escort for the most part. Someone watching her back. Any thoughts?”

  “A few. I think Donnie must have planted a tracker on Gina’s car like she had him do to the others. I’m guessing she provided the ones that went on the other cars, but he brought his own to the party. What kind of tracker did Gina have on her vehicle? Was it the same as all the others?”

  “Uh . . . I’m not sure. I don’t think I ever saw hers or the others. I just checked to see if they had one. They all reported back that they did.”

  “We need to know that. Can you find out?”

  “Hold on.”

  He was holding. Mostly his breath. So far, all was quiet in the cave, but Donnie was walking slowly and getting ready to step out of view of the camera. He tapped the mute button once more to allow his voice to be heard. “Donnie! Donnie, can you hear me?”

  “I hear you, but I’m not talking to you.” Donnie’s arm drew back and he slammed the grip of the weapon into the camera. It went dark.

  “No!”

  “What is it?” Caden’s sharp question penetrated his helplessness.

  “He broke the camera. I’ve lost eyes and ears.”

  “Local law enforcement is still trying to get there, but the winds are high and visibility is low. Not to mention the icy roads.”

  “I’m aware.” He was in the same situation. But the ranch driveway came into sight. Finally. And then he had an idea. A quick glance into the back of the Jeep told him it might work. “Go on past it,” he told Chris, “to the top. I’ll hike from the road down to the part of the cliff that’s over the ledge, then rappel down.”

  “Gear’s back there. You think you can do that?”

  “I think that’s the only way.”

  “I’m not going to be much help with this arm.”

  “We’ll figure it out.”

  Chris pressed the gas, going faster than either of them was comfortable with, but deciding it was worth the risk.

  “Travis?” Caden was back on the line.

  “Yeah?”

  “The tracker is slightly different. Similar, but definitely different.”

  Everything started to make sense. “Before I lost sight of them in the cave,” Travis said, “Donnie said Gina owed him money. I think he planted that tracker before Gina found out about the T-shirt.”

  “And when it went missing, he simply put another one on her car?”

  “Yeah. And that’s how he found them at the ranch.”

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Heather huddled in the niche listening to Donnie and Gina argue—Donnie demanding his money and Gina begging him to put the gun down.

  “Donnie, you know I’m going to give you the money. Please, stop pointing that at me.”

  “Oh, I know you’re going to give me the money? Aren’t you the one who told me I needed to disappear?”

  “Yes, because I didn’t want you to get in trouble! But we’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Not before I find out how much money she’s talking about. Now shut up.”

  Gina went quiet and Heather trembled, trying to figure out how she was going to get away from them. They blocked the only exit. The only one that wasn’t a ten-story death drop.

  “Get out here,” Donnie demanded.

  “Don’t shoot me and I’ll give you every cent.” Would it work? Buying time to escape? Only one way to find out. Please, God . . .

  Heather glanced around the edge of her hiding place. The temperature had dropped and the cold seeped through her sweatshirt. Gina’s back was to Heather and she stood in front of Donnie, who had his back to the entrance. The shattered remains of the camera lay on the cave floor.

  An idea formed. A crazy, risky idea, but it had worked earlier with Gina and now might be her only hope. She stepped out of the niche and moved deeper into the cave, distinctly aware of the gun resting on the ledge behind her. She was tempted, oh so very tempted, to try and get it, but it was clear Donnie would shoot her if she made one move he didn’t like.

  Now, she was banking on Donnie’s extreme greed and curiosity about the money she had promised him. If she could get out of the cave, she might have a chance. He scowled at her but didn’t shoot. “How much?”

  “Two-hundred fifty thousand.”

  He blinked. “Where?”

  “In my savings account.”

  “Prove it.”

  “I need a phone to access the account, but once we have a signal, I can show you the balance.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Where was Travis?

  He aimed the weapon at Gina. “And if she’s got that, I don’t need your measly twenty grand.”

  Gina shrieked. “She’s lying!”

  “I’m not,” Heather cried, “but don’t shoot her!”

  When Donnie hesitated, Heather rushed, arms outstretched, right into Gina’s back. The hard shove sent her slamming into Donnie, who windmilled backward and hit the ground with a thud. Heather darted past them, aiming for the exit.

  A hand clamped around her ankle and she cried out. Went down, sprawling next to him. Panic clawed at her, but she controlled it, as she kicked out with her free foot and caught Donnie on the forearm. He hollered and squeezed her ankle in a vise grip.

  Gina scrambled off of him, kicking and screaming. He brought the gun up, aimed it at Gina, and fired. Gina dropped and Heather couldn’t stop the cry that escaped her. Then Donnie whipped the weapon back to Heather.

  Another pop sounded and Heather gasped, waiting for the pain. Instead, Donnie jerked back, his hand going to his shoulder.

  Which freed Heather’s leg.

  And yet, Donnie didn’t drop the gun. He staggered to his feet, lifted the weapon, and aimed it at . . . Travis!

  Heather launched herself forward into Donnie’s knees. He gave a hoarse shout and fell once again.

  Travis landed on top of him. “Run, Heather!”

  Heather scrambled away from them.

  The two men rolled over and Donnie aimed a punch at Travis’s head. Missed and connected with the cave floor. Travis bucked and wrapped a leg around Donnie’s. Flipped him and gained the upper hand.

  But the more they struggled, the more they inched toward the ledge. Heather searched for a weapon. Gina’s gun was near the edge of the ledge, but where had Donnie’s gone?

  Panting, searching, she couldn’t find it. Did he still have it? More rolling right to the edge. This time with Travis on top. “Travis! Get the gun by the edge!”

  He reached for it and Donnie took advantage of the moment to swing a punch that caught Travis on the chin. His head snapped back and Donnie rolled out from under him and snagged the gun. Dragging in heaving breaths, the man turned it on Travis, who kicked out and connected with the hand holding the gun. The gun spun over the ledge an
d dropped out of sight. Donnie screamed his rage and sprang at Travis, who tried to spin away. But Donnie managed to grab Travis’s calf. Travis kicked once more, his boot scraping the man’s face. Donnie reared back, lost his balance, and went over the ledge . . .

  . . . pulling Travis with him.

  “No!” Heather’s cry echoed through the cave as she leapt over Gina and darted to the ledge. Sobs ripped from her throat and she dropped to her knees, not wanting to look down and unable to stop herself from doing it.

  The wind whipped her hair around her face, but the snow had stopped falling. She could see Donnie on the ground below, his neck twisted at an odd angle. Her frantic gaze scanned the area around him. But Donnie was the only one she could make out.

  “Travis!” She choked off a sob. “Travis! Where are you?”

  “Heather!”

  His strangled voice came from beneath her, and she gasped, going to her belly and inching out to see him. “You’re alive! Oh, thank you, God. Thank you.” She couldn’t tell what he’d managed to grab hold of, but his swinging feet gave her hope. “Hold on. Don’t fall! Don’t you dare fall!”

  She thought she heard him say something like, “Not planning on it.”

  Heather ran back to the entrance of the cave and grabbed the rope he’d rappelled down with. Too short. “Hey! Who’s up there? Hey!” A head poked over the top of the incline, and she recognized the guard that had been patrolling the entrance to the ranch. “Chris! Travis went over the ledge! I need you to throw down another rope. You’re going to have to pull him up.”

  His eyes widened.

  “Now!”

  He disappeared. Her terror for Travis mounted with each passing second. How long could he hold on? “Hurry!”

  Two seconds later, Chris returned. “Watch out! That’s all I got. Hope it’ll reach. The other’s still tied to my Jeep.”

  The rope landed at her feet, and she scooped it up, hands trembling, fingers once again numb from the cold. “When I yell, you need to start pulling him up!”

  “I’ll be waiting!”

  The wind blew hard, causing her eyes to water and her breath to catch in her lungs. She took precious seconds to run back into the cave, yank Gina’s gloves from her hands, and pull them over her own.