Heart of a Hunter

by Sylvie Kurtz

  “Bernie?” Sebastian asked, confused.

  “Bernie was a good boy. He always took care of his mother.”

  “So you took care of him.”

  She nodded. “The other one, it was always, I want, I want, I want. A mother can only give so much.”

  Sebastian’s pulse jumped. The other? The brother? “Nathan helped Bernie set up the escape?”

  “I said I’d take care of him. I got a settlement check coming. He could go to his fancy school and get his fancy degree. Don’t know why he needs it. It’s not like he’s got any brains in his head. Special needs, they said. He was always slow.” She shook her head, jiggling her jowls. “Bernie would take care of me. He always did.”

  “What happened?” Sebastian prodded, biting back impatience.

  “He said five years was enough. I owed him. Bernie owed him.” She swatted at the tears streaming from her eyes. “If he’d kept his mouth shut, he’d have gotten probation. But no, he had to show how smart he was.”

  Something clicked in Sebastian’s mind. “Nathan went to jail for Bernie?”

  “Cops.” She spat out the word. “They’re always picking on Bernie.”

  Yeah, poor Bernie. It’s not his fault he had to rape and kill and steal. “So what happened to Nathan?”

  “I had to use the money for the funeral. Bernie needed a good funeral. He was a good boy.”

  The picture Nadine painted was turning into a horror flick. A son sent to prison to save his brother from a harsher sentence. A brother helping a brother for money. Brother betraying brother, leaving a trail of broken promises behind. “Where’s Nathan now?”

  One of her hands shot out and Sebastian jerked away from its orbit just in time. “Good riddance. He was always more trouble than he was worth.”

  Sebastian swirled the wine in the bottle. “Where is Nathan now?”

  “Burning in hell.” She reached for the bottle. “If there’s any justice in this world, he’s burning in hell.”

  Sebastian suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He’d been so focused on one detail, he’d forgotten the big picture.

  Footsteps in the snow after Bernie died minutes away from the Aerie. Mercer’s blood at a campsite half an hour from the house. And Olivia was home alone an hour away.

  BUNDLED IN WINTER CLOTHES, Liv followed Cari’s footsteps as her niece led her farther and farther into the woods. Cari was determined to go on this fool’s errand and Liv could not let her go alone, not when she seemed so unstable.

  Watery light softened the harsh lines of granite in boulders. Pine boughs scented the air. Even the atmosphere had a soft, expectant quality to it—as if the world were preparing for magic. There was nothing sinister about the chirp of nuthatches, the scamper of squirrels up and down tree trunks or the lazy twirl of scattered snowflakes.

  Still, she could not get her heart to stop beating as if a monster lay in wait just around the corner. She wanted Sebastian’s solid weight behind her. He would know what to do. She was sketching blind, not quite sure where this maze of lines was going. The pines gave way to maples so thick they could hide a man as big as Skyralov, and Liv’s sense of unease snowballed.

  “Cari, slow down.” Liv needed time to think. This isolated rendezvous could not be good. Why ask Cari to meet him in such a place if his intentions were honorable? The only reason for such a play was to harm Cari. Liv didn’t see a happy ending to this script.

  Sebastian would look for her, of that she was sure. But what if he found them too late?

  “Cari, stop.”

  Cari’s backpack slipped from her shoulder. She shoved it back up without missing a step, driving forward as if she were metal being pulled by a powerful magnet. “We’re almost there.”

  “Let’s wait for Sebastian.”

  “No, I can’t.” Cari shrugged. “I thought…” She shook her head. “Never mind. Once I give him these numbers, it’ll all be over.”

  “Cari, I don’t think he—”

  “I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted…” She stopped. In the clearing ahead, thin smoke writhed against the gray clouds. The scent of maple syrup invited closer inspection. The door of the dark cabin opened and a young man smiled at them. His body was sapling thin. A black knit cap covered a shaggy growth of brown hair. His fisherman’s sweater was stained and looked all stretched out. Bony knees poked through holes in his jeans.

  “Okie, you made it,” he said, without looking at Cari. His feral gaze ate Liv and gave her the creeps. How could Cari have trusted him?

  “I got ’em.” Cari let the pack slip to her feet. She crouched next to it and started digging through the front pocket.

  “Yeah, whatever.” The amber of his eyes made Liv think of a caged wolf thirsty for blood. She wanted to run, but wasn’t quite sure how to get back to the Aerie.

  She should have stopped Cari. She should have asked Paula for help. She should have left Sebastian a note. Anything but follow an upset girl blindly into a storm.

  Now they were prey for someone out for murder.

  Liv looked back at the trail of their boots. Falling snow already softened their edges. If it snowed much longer, their tracks would disappear. And no one would find them.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Tie her up.” Once they were in the sugar house, he thrust a length of rope into Okie’s hands.

  She jerked her arms as if the rope was on fire. “No! I gave you the numbers. It’s over now. You have to go.”

  Bitch! “Fine.”

  If you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself. He grasped the princess’s arm and twisted it back. She gasped, but she didn’t fight. Almost took the fun out of it. He’d love to stamp the print of his hand on that flawless skin. Time enough for that later. Maybe not so flawless skin, he thought, as he caught sight of the puke-green bruise along the side of her face.

  “Hey!” Okie clawed at him like a cat on a catnip high. “Leave her alone. You have what you wanted.”

  “And more.”

  He shoved the princess onto a pile of burlap feed sacks. Then he whipped around and caught Okie’s wrist as she tried to help the princess up.

  “She’s not Olivia,” Okie said. “He won’t lift a hand to save her.”

  “Nice try. He’d follow tracks even for you. Not that you’re worth saving.”

  “Hey, what are you doing?” Okie kicked at him as he wrapped the rope around her wrists, then she head-butted him. But he was strong. Jail did that. Living on the edge did that. Made steel out of muscles and mind. Made him as powerful as Thor.

  “Taking care of loose ends.” He twisted the rope tight against her wrists.

  “Ouch! You’re such a jerk. This isn’t going to work. You don’t understand—”

  Holding Okie by both shoulders, he brought her face close to his. “You think they’ll forgive you once they find out how you betrayed them.”

  “Betray? But you said—”

  “Anything and everything that would get you to cooperate.”

  “But it’s over. I gave you the numbers.”

  He backhanded her. “Shut up. You’ve served your purpose.”

  He threw her on the ground next to the princess.

  “I’m sorry, Liv.” Tears streamed down Okie’s face. “I thought…I thought—”

  “I said shut up.” He withdrew the Glock pistol he’d stolen from Bernie from his waistband and pointed it at her. His finger tightened around the trigger. He wanted to shoot her. He wanted to watch her face explode—just like Bernie’s. But the noise might attract attention, and he still had one thing to set up before he left a trail of crumbs for Falconer to follow.

  He got out the Thermos of hot chocolate Cari had so thoughtfully provided—to warm him up, he’d told her. He laughed as he added the powder he’d guarded for the past few weeks to the Thermos. “Drink up.”

  “Up yours!” Okie spat at him.

  He shoved the Thermos cap at her. It bumped against her teeth
, splitting her lip. “Drink.”

  Her knee struck his elbow, tingling his funny bone. Hot chocolate sloshed over the sides of the cup, burning the back of his hand. He threw what remained of the hot liquid in her face. She squealed like the pig she was. “Do that again and next time I won’t be so kind.”

  He hog-tied the squirming sow with duct tape, then refilled the cap.

  “Cari,” the princess said, “don’t make him angry.”

  At least one of them had an ounce of intelligence.

  “You don’t understand. He’s not going to let us walk out of here.”

  “Drink up, sweetheart.” He was eyeball to eyeball with Okie and took pleasure in the lightning of fear crackling in those pale blue eyes. With a hard swallow, she surrendered and opened her mouth. He poured the hot chocolate in the pink cave he’d fantasized about over the past months and rubbed her throat to make sure she swallowed. He grew hard at the thought of how differently he’d seen this scene played out in his dreams. Too bad.

  When he got to the princess, she didn’t bat an eyelash, just meekly complied. He liked that in a woman.

  When he was sure they were both asleep—a pinch here, a kick there—he gathered his equipment and stole into the storm.

  All he needed was Falconer and his revenge would be complete. He wanted the high-and-mighty marshal to see everything he loved destroyed—first his wife, then his home, and, if he was lucky, the clues he’d left behind would cost Falconer his career, too.

  He’d used Falconer’s own measly savings to make it look as if Falconer had been the one to finance Bernie’s jailbreak. How would the Marshals Service deal with someone who’d free a felon for his own personal vengeance? And, by the time everything got unraveled, Thor would no longer exist and a new man would be living high on Olivia’s money.

  THROUGH THE VEIL of her lashes, Liv watched Cari’s friend gather a pillowcase heavy with something lumpy. He added rolls of duct tape and bits and pieces she couldn’t quite make out. On the way out, he plucked her gloves from the ground. The door creaked as he shut it.

  She strained to listen to the quiet outside the sugar house. The patter of snow on the metal roof sounded like mice skittering in an attic. A blue jay warbled a reedy gurgle. A squirrel squeaked a tirade.

  He was gone, but he would be back. How long did she have to get out of here with Cari?

  Slowly, Liv dribbled the hot chocolate she’d held in her mouth. It left a brown track on the light blue of her parka. Her one small swallow to show him good faith had loosened her muscles, making them feel thick. Her mind was fuzzy on the edges, but she was used to functioning at less than a hundred percent these days.

  In the gray light as opaque as wet decoupage glue coming through the dirty windows, Liv studied her surroundings. Plastic and metal buckets, syrup taps, drill bits, boxes of bottles and cans with a snowy maple tree design waiting for this spring’s crop of syrup, and loops of green-and-purple plastic tubing littered shelves and the workbench. She spied a pair of pliers near the evaporating pans. But that wouldn’t help. She needed something sharp. Then she spotted the ax near the woodpile along the back wall.

  “Cari, wake up!”

  Liv struggled to her duct-taped feet and wavered. With her elbows propped against the wall, she regained her balance, then hopped to the woodpile. Groping blindly with her hands tied behind her back, she tried to locate the ax. She wedged it between two pieces of wood in the pile, then positioned her wrists above it.

  “Cari, come on, sweetie. You have to wake up.”

  Sawing the rope as fast as she could against the dull edge of the ax, Liv planned her next step. They couldn’t fight against hatred and determination. Her body was too weak to stand a chance to win; Cari would be too groggy from the drug. Liv would have to get out of this with her wits. A short sharp laugh escaped her. What wits? They, along with her memory, were trapped in the black hole that was her mind.

  They had to be gone before he returned. Before Sebastian came looking for them. She’d feel safer if Sebastian was here, but she could not let him walk into this death trap.

  “Cari! Come on. Wake up!”

  Sweat broke out as she sawed at the rope. She could do this. She could. All she needed to do was free her hands. Then she could free her ankles. Then she could free Cari. Then they could walk to safety. One step at a time. She could do this. And when they got to the Aerie, they would have a whole team of law enforcement to pounce on Cari’s misguided friend.

  Piece of cake.

  All she had to do was keep herself from falling into the black pit of panic.

  “WHERE’S LIV?” Sebastian asked as he bulldozed his way into the kitchen.

  Paula spun around startled and dripped dishwater over the tile. “Cari said she was with you.”

  “I left Liv here under your care.”

  Face pinched, Paula returned to the dishes in the sink. “Look, there’s a lot going on in Cari’s life right now, but she doesn’t lie.”

  “I left Liv here.”

  Paula looked at him over her shoulder, then frowned as she wiped her hands on her apron. “I don’t understand.”

  “Where’s Cari now?” Liv’s fine, Sebastian tried to convince himself. Cari was impulsive, but she wouldn’t hurt Liv.

  Paula shrugged. “In her room, pouting. As usual.”

  Taking the stairs two at a time, Sebastian raced up to Cari’s room. It was empty. Puffing hard, Paula caught up to him. “Check if her coat’s still in the mudroom,” he said, remembering the last time Cari lured Liv outside. Maybe they’d just gone for a walk. But the hair on the back of his neck wouldn’t stop bristling.

  With a glance at the empty bed, Paula nodded and left.

  He circled the room, willing himself to see through the mess of clothes piled on the floor. Half-opened drawers spilled sweaters, bras and T-shirts. The closet door hung open. Black boots and thick-soled shoes boxed each other for space. Only her bedside table was neat. He pulled open the drawer, saw a diary with black pages sitting at an odd angle and half a dozen pens with pastel ink. As he lifted the book, the dispersing pens rattled like bones. Beneath the diary was a piece of paper with familiar numbers. A chill zigzagged through him. The numbers to his bank accounts. How had she gotten them? Why?

  Swearing, he started down the stairs toward his office, nearly crashing into Paula.

  “Their coats are gone,” she stammered, flattening herself against the wall to let him by. “Liv’s and Cari’s.”

  “Was Cari in my office today?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The force of his expletive had Paula cowering.

  “How could she do this?” He crumpled the piece of paper in his hands. “Why would she need access to my bank accounts?”

  Without waiting for a reply, he raced back up the stairs and zeroed in on the laptop on Cari’s bed. Paula walked into the room like a prisoner on her way to execution.

  “What’s her password?” he asked, trying for the easy way.

  “How should I know?”

  With a growl, he tapped a few commands, then a few more, and finally accessed Cari’s e-mail account. What he read made his heart sink. Sk8Thor was Nathan Kershaw, Bernie’s brother, and he’d enlisted Cari to do his dirty work. The evidence was all laid out in black and white. He’d shown her step-by-step how to change the fuse in Olivia’s car to cause the electrical fire. He’d told her step-by-step how to neutralize the security system for his forays around the Aerie. He’d described step-by-step how to get into the computer system to retrieve Sebastian’s financial information.

  “What did she do?” Paula asked in a thready voice as she wrung her hands.

  “Your daughter,” he said through gritted teeth, “is responsible for your sister’s accident. For all of this mess.”

  “No.” Paula sank to the mattress like a lead weight.

  He shoved the laptop at her. With trembling hands, Paula turned the screen toward her and read. Tears streamed down he
r cheeks. “I didn’t know.”

  “Where did she meet him?”

  Paula’s hands fluttered like drunken butterflies. “She’s been volunteering with this church group. They write to convicts. I thought… I thought the correspondence was innocent enough. I thought it was helping her see that her problems are small compared to the troubles of others.”

  Sebastian grasped Paula’s shoulders and shook them. “Think, Paula, where would Cari have taken Liv?”

  Her pale blue eyes were rounded with fear. “I don’t know.”

  Sebastian paced the room, trying to order his thoughts. This was his fault. He’d brought Cari here. He was the one who’d insisted she and Paula help him out with Olivia. How could he have been so blind? How could he have made it so easy for her and Kershaw to tear his world apart?

  Time for blame later. He needed to concentrate on Liv.

  With her blank slate of a mind, Liv was a trusting creature. She would have thought nothing about following Cari. And Cari, he knew, could put on quite a convincing act. Because of a misplaced need for love, Cari was leading Liv straight to Nathan Kershaw. Cari had no car. Paula’s was still in the garage. Mario’s was still parked next to the gatehouse.

  They had to be near. He glanced out the window to the snow-misted view of the mountains. Somewhere out there.

  Boxing away his fears for Liv, he bolted to his office. He forced himself to check his equipment meticulously. There’d be no room for error. He scribbled a note for Skyralov and Reed and rushed up the stairs. Just as he was about to leave the house, the phone rang.

  “I found Mercer,” Kingsley said when Sebastian answered. “He doesn’t look good.”

  Sebastian swore. “See he’s taken care of, then head back here. Kershaw’s brother has Olivia.”

  “Wait for backup.”

  “I’ll track and let you know what I find.” Without waiting for an answer, Sebastian headed into the fast-dimming afternoon light. With dusk approaching, there was no time to lose.

  Snowflakes ticking against the nylon of his parka, he bent to the task of finding Liv. Using the tracking skills he’d honed over the years, he followed the fast-disappearing trail Liv and Cari’s boots had left behind.