The Lookout: A Gripping Survival Thriller

by Hunt, Jack

  “If it’s any consolation,” Lucas said trying to lift his spirits, if only to prevent him from harming himself, a common occurrence among divorced men. “People do go on to lead fulfilling lives after divorce.”

  “Great. Good to know,” he said shaking his head as he set his cup on the countertop and asked if Lucas wanted something to eat.

  Lucas’ radio crackled and he lowered the volume. “You know, Cole, you’re not the first to have marriage issues. Cops have some of the highest divorce rates. Not all are domestic violence related but…”

  “I didn’t touch her,” he spat.

  “Right. You said.” He didn’t want to get into it with him as he’d already seen how hot-headed he’d become down at the station the night they arrested him, before he was released on his own recognizance.

  Again, his radio crackled, and this time Lucas needed to answer it. He lifted a finger and got up and headed over to the doorway to be out of earshot. “Go ahead.”

  “We got an emergency call from Kelly Danvers. You’d asked to be notified.”

  “When?”

  The dispatcher reeled off the time. It had occurred only moments ago.

  He asked for specifics but was told that the call had dropped and she hadn’t called back. Dispatch was unable to reach her. There was no mention of guns, or even danger, just that she’d called. Was it a real cry for help or just blowing off more smoke?

  “All right,” he said glancing at Cole in the other room. Was it possible that Kelly was losing her mind, jumping the gun, nervous that Cole was lurking around every corner when in reality he was doing the one thing he should and staying clear of her? “I’m on my way.” After getting off he smiled at Cole and motioned toward the door. “Duty calls. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Did dispatch say Kelly?”

  “No.”

  “Lucas.”

  “Right now, Cole, doing what you are doing is best for you and her. I’ve got to go. I’ll catch up with you later.” As he headed out to the four-wheel drive SUV, he picked up the pace. As soon as he fired up the engine he looked back at the house and saw Cole standing in the doorway watching him. The vehicle let out a high-pitched whine as he jammed it into reverse and backed out. He didn’t turn on the emergency lights until he was a good distance from Cole’s neighborhood.

  After his conversation with Cole, Lucas couldn’t help but wonder if there was truth to what he’d told him. Had this whole event been nothing more than some meltdown by a woman overwhelmed by the fame that came with the release of her book? It occurred with celebrities all the time. It also wouldn’t have been a first to have someone come into the department accusing a partner of abuse only to find out that the accusation was being done out of spite and they were suffering from mental issues. The lengths people went to when they were unhappy were unreal.

  Still, Kelly didn’t strike him as the kind of woman to do such a vindictive thing. He knew her long before she met Cole, and before she found success with her writing. She’d always come across as the same person — happy-go-lucky, generous with her time and money and more than willing to go to bat for a friend. That’s why he gave her statement weight.

  Whether Cole was behind it or someone else, that was to be determined.

  Why lie? Well… that was that part he was having difficulty with.

  The rest was to be decided by the court in due process.

  Lucas glanced at the clock. On a good day it took a good twenty-five minutes to drive out to the lookout but in this… he looked out at the deluge of snow… it could take upwards of fifty minutes.

  He switched on his high beams, lit up the snow-covered forest around him and roared into the distance. The roads were still unplowed, forcing him to go slower than usual. He cranked the heat and settled back for the dangerous drive up to the peak.

  13

  It wasn’t a lie. Adam Danvers had been called into work at the base in San Diego, but it was only to sign off on some paperwork. After, he caught a flight to Spokane International Airport, and then began the short drive down to Emery.

  His arrival was meant to be a surprise. By now he figured Kelly was probably a little annoyed, expecting him to not show. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face.

  Adam hadn’t seen Kelly in over two years. Hell, he hadn’t had a real vacation in that time. His work with the U.S. Navy was rewarding but time consuming. He often found himself away at sea for long periods. Being stuck on an aircraft carrier drifting somewhere in the Pacific Ocean had its moments. While it offered an experience that few could ever get, it did have some downsides. He’d nearly lost his mind the day he got the message from his mother to say that Kelly was in hospital because of Cole. All he wanted to do was travel back and get his hands on him. It was probably for the best that he was on deployment as he would have likely wound up in jail for aggravated assault. As the older brother, and only sibling, he’d always been protective of her.

  With only one year difference in age, he’d been there through her high school years, experienced all the ups and downs of teenage life, boyfriends and heartbreak. And while they’d bumped heads growing up, his relationship with her had only improved as they got older.

  Hearing that she’d been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize was astonishing, but when he learned she’d won it, he couldn’t have been more overjoyed. His little sister. Who would have thought she’d become a writer, and a bestseller at that?

  Anyway, when he eventually got to speak with her on the phone after the incident, he’d encouraged her to head out to San Diego, stay with him and his girlfriend, Megan. They had a baby on the way and it would have been nice to have her there for the birth. With her line of work, Kelly could go anywhere and wasn’t tied down to Idaho, except for the lookout, and well, Hank had pretty much proven he could run the place like clockwork. That’s why he tried to convince her to sell it to him for a crazy low amount of money.

  If anyone would have jumped at the chance, Hank would have.

  As Adam drove the last leg of the journey he thought back to that conversation.

  “Just let it go. You don’t need the money,” he said.

  “I don’t want to. At least not yet.”

  “Because you’re afraid you won’t write a second book?”

  “I caught lightning in a bottle, Adam. It rarely happens. I need to be mindful of that and…”

  “Not take any risks. But you know staying there is taking a huge risk. Being anywhere near him is a risk.”

  “So what… women everywhere who have been abused are supposed to just get up and run away, leave behind all they’ve known, just because that’s the smart thing to do — the safe thing to do?”

  “At least while he’s still out.”

  She sighed.

  It had always been hard convincing her of anything, and yet her refusal to back down was probably her greatest strength. She did things her way, she made shit happen… as Kelly so eloquently put it. “You don’t know him like I do. He has too much to lose, Adam, to try anything. I have a court order against him. The department has him under a microscope. If he even breathes in my direction they’ll know. He’ll be dragged in and won’t get another shot. Besides, I’ll soon know what’s happening with the case.”

  “And mom?”

  “Mom wants me in Boise. You know her. If she had her way I would have never left home. No, I can’t stay down there. It’s just not right. I’m a grown woman… a Pulitzer Prize winner,” she said poking fun at herself. She never took it seriously. Others might have been inclined to announce it any time they could, but not her. She took the whole writing career in stride. That’s what he loved about her.

  “Well think it over.”

  “You sound like mom.”

  He laughed.

  “You know when I’m back on land, I was thinking it would be good if I came up there, spent some time with you.”

  “Adam. Really. You don’t have to. I’ll be good.”

>   He chuckled. “I know you will but I want to. It will be like old times. You know, when dad built that treehouse.”

  She snorted. “Oh that thing.” She paused. “That was something else.”

  “Yeah it was. Makes me wonder if that’s why you want to cling to it. Because of him.”

  Silence followed.

  “Perhaps.”

  “You miss him?” Adam asked.

  “Every day. I still have his last voice message on my phone.”

  Their father, Bo Danvers, had passed away from prostate cancer four years ago. Both of them had been close to him. He was the kind of man that went to great lengths to let his kids know that he loved them. When Kelly had the idea to purchase a lookout, their father had been there to help. He spent the first month working with Hank and getting the place ready for guests.

  “Anyway,” Adam continued, “with the baby on the way, I kind of get the feeling that I won’t have as much freedom as I do now.”

  “Please. Megan is the one who’ll be up at night. You’ll be out on the ocean, swigging whiskey with your guy friends.”

  “Oh yeah, because that’s all sailors do.”

  They both burst out laughing and like that he was back in the present, squinting through a windshield of snow. Vast swaths of land to his right and left were empty of trees where loggers had eaten away the landscape. In the distance, snowcapped mountains loomed over numerous evergreens. He tried to make out the four-mile marker that indicated how close he was to the steep driveway that led up to the lookout. It was hard to see anything. He swallowed hard, gripping the wheel until his knuckles went white.

  Adam had rented a Ford Bronco with 4WD, something he knew wouldn’t have any problems tearing through snow and climbing the precarious terrain. Kelly had warned him about the steep driveway that really was only good for snowmobiles and ATVs in the winter. Another ten minutes and he spotted it. A small wooden sign at the base of the driveway which usually welcomed guests looked like a white match. He shifted into 4WD and began to climb. His body jostled in his seat as the tires bit into the snow and chewed its way up. The snow was so deep, the tires began to spin. Realizing he wasn’t going to make it, he threw it in reverse and backed up, parking the Bronco at the foot of the driveway. Adam had seen the property in the summer, even then it held a challenge. Still, the rough road was actually one of the main reasons why Kelly had got the land so cheap.

  He climbed out and donned a pair of snowshoes and reached in for his duffel bag which had a week’s worth of clothes inside. He slung it over his shoulder and moved side to side to work out the tension from the long trip. Oh, I’m gonna sleep well tonight, he told himself as he trudged over the snow toward the peak.

  Adam pulled at his black North Face parka. He’d made sure to pack warm. It had been a long while since he’d needed this level of clothing. San Diego was beautiful and warm nearly all year, a far cry from the icy cold winters of Northern Idaho.

  The only other person who knew he was coming besides his mother was Hank. Hank had told him that if he got stuck or needed anything, to give him a shout. He hadn’t expected to see him at the lookout and yet that’s where he found the orange Snowcat as he rounded a cluster of trees. It was almost hidden from view by the constant snow. It had streaked over rocks and trees, making them indistinguishable. Adam ran a glove over the powdery window and cupped a hand, his breath fogging up the glass.

  There was no one there.

  Adam gave the door handle a pull and it opened.

  He shrugged, figuring Hank brought up wood and Kelly was probably talking his ear off. He slammed the door shut and continued on up the slope as snow billowed around him, making it hard to see but a few feet ahead. His exposed cheeks stung. I hope to God you have that fireplace on, he muttered, keeping his head down and navigating through the dense forest.

  Their bodies were now covered, out of sight, and would remain that way until spring or until wildlife uncovered them. Travis had just finished covering a thick trail of blood from where he’d dragged Erin’s body into the forest when he spotted the figure wading through the storm. At first he thought it was an animal as it was hunched over, dark and quite large, but then he saw arms swinging. He blinked ice crystals out of his eyes and looked at the sauna. It had been a close call last time. He couldn’t have a repeat of that.

  As he took a few narrow logs that had yet to be chopped to size and jammed them up against the door to ensure she couldn’t get out, Travis saw a lock to the side of the door. He recalled her saying that the structure had originally been a shed and like most sheds, there was always a lock on the outside, a way to keep the door from blowing open. It was perfect. He dropped the logs into the snow and pushed the lock across. He peered in and saw her at the rear staring back at him. “Seems we got company,” he replied. “You call anyone on that?” he asked, noticing the phone in her hand. She clutched it tight, still fearful of him.

  “Fuck you.”

  He smirked. “All in good time,” he replied before taking another log and jamming it into the opening where the glass had been and shaking it a few times to check if it could be moved. He then took the two Adirondack chairs and piled them up in front of the door for good measure.

  Next, Travis turned and looked toward the lookout. Through the trees he could make out the silhouette of the stranger inside. “Let’s find out who you are.”

  After shaking off snow, and throwing back his hood, Adam stared around the empty abode. The light was on but where was Kelly? He glanced down and saw a pot and a large stain on the wood. Adam crouched and touched it. It was cold and wet.

  “Kelly? Hank?”

  Where could they be?

  Then he remembered the sauna nestled in the woods down below. Would both of them have used it? He turned to head down when a face looked up at him.

  “Howdy!”

  “Hey,” Adam said, a frown forming. “Kelly with you?”

  “Gone into town with her mother.”

  He frowned. Only an hour ago he’d just got off the phone with her. She was in Boise. “I saw the Snowcat in the driveway. Is Hank around?”

  The man emerged from the dark hole, he shook off snow and ran a hand over his frosted hair and wiped the icy buildup that had accumulated on his eyebrows. “No, he let me use it.”

  “Right. And you are?”

  “Adam. Kelly’s brother.” The stranger extended a cold and meaty hand.

  A shot of fear went through Adam as he shook the imposter’s hand. It wasn’t fear of him but of what had become of his sister, and Hank. “And you?” the stranger asked.

  Adam reeled off the first name that came into his head, a friend back at the base — “Noah Griffin. I work with Kelly in the publishing industry. I’m one of her editors.”

  “Oh, really. That’s cool. So what brings you up this way? Especially in this weather?”

  “Well she mentioned she was working on a new book and she had written a few pages and wanted input.”

  “She couldn’t email them to you?” the man asked.

  “Out here? No Wi-Fi, right?”

  “Right,” the man said, narrowing his gaze and shifting his weight from one foot to the next. He looked uncomfortable, as if Adam was infringing upon his home.

  “Besides, she has this weird superstition that if she waits until the book is done before handing it over, that it won’t do as well. She likes me to go through the first few chapters”

  “Really?”

  He rolled his eyes. “You know these creative types. Lucky socks, lucky pen… lucky editor.”

  “Lucky you,” he said not taking his eyes off Adam for even a second. He leaned back against the counter.

  Adam nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “So you from the area, Noah?”

  He cleared his throat; his mind was already beginning to go through various scenarios of what he could do. He’d eyed the knife block on the counter, the short clothesline that hung down, and even considered t
hrowing the guy back down through the hatch.

  “Emery. I mostly work with other writers but I guess Kelly and I have this unique relationship. Yeah, there’s not much I wouldn’t do for her,” he said.

  “That makes two of us,” he said back before smiling. “You are welcome to stay for a hot drink but I should let you know that she told me she wouldn’t be back until the morning. Wants to spend some time with her mother before she heads back to Boise, actually.”

  “Which of course is where her mother is from,” Adam added.

  The stranger nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Huh. And there was I thinking that I was going to spend the next few hours poring over her latest novel. I was looking forward to it.”

  “Hot drink?”

  “Sure.” Adam concluded he could learn more about him and maybe where Kelly was if he just played along. The imposter closed the hatch and locked it and glanced at him with a thin smile before turning toward the stove. “Hot chocolate sound good?”

  “Perfect.”

  “So, tell me, Noah. You just an editor?”

  He swallowed hard. “A father, too, I have a young one on the way. In fact this works out good as I can get back to them tonight and follow up with Kelly on Monday.”

  “Yeah, you don’t want to miss out on those precious moments. Life is so… fleeting,” the man said, turning with a kitchen knife in one hand, and a photo of Adam on Kelly’s phone in the other. “Don’t you think, Adam?”

  14

  Kelly stabbed the heavy-duty tongs against the end of the log in an attempt to pry it loose from the open window. She heaved, gritting her teeth. Pieces of bark crumbled, and slivers of wood split. As the log wedged into the opening wasn’t an exact fit, and there were small uneven gaps surrounding the log, she tried to jam the steel tongs into the thin opening and pull down to widen it.