by Dani Pettrey
“Fine. We check in every fifteen minutes,” Cole said, holding up his radio. “Any trouble, light a flare.”
Kayden sighed. “I doubt it’ll do much good in this storm.”
“You’d be surprised the punch they hold,” Jake said.
Cole clasped a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “Be safe. You won’t do Landon any good if you’re hurt.”
She nodded. All that mattered was saving him.
She and Gage headed north, into the wind, the shelter of the trees thinning and the cold sweeping more heavily down on them.
Gage’s radio crackled. He signaled Piper to stop.
“Gage, it’s Darcy. Can you hear me?”
Gage held it to his ear, cupping his hand over it. “Yeah, Darcy, I got you.”
“We got a hit off the fingerprints.”
Finally. Piper exhaled. Some good news.
“His real name is Carl Anderson, but he’s got a handful of aliases.”
“I’m guessing he has a record.”
“Yeah, several aggravated assault charges in various states up until a year ago, and then he kind of dropped off the grid. His last-known address is in Portland. We forwarded the information to a Portland detective named James Reno who’d worked a couple of Anderson’s assault cases. He’s heading out to Anderson’s last-known address now and running everything he can find under Anderson’s aliases.”
“That’s great news. Thanks, Darcy.”
“Still haven’t found them?”
“Not yet, but we’re closing in, I think. Piper and I are headed for the observation tower.”
“Be careful. Weather service says this storm is picking up speed.”
“Roger that.” Gage slipped his radio back into his jacket and smiled at Piper. “We’ve got him.”
“We’ve got his name but not him.” She resumed her pace, trudging through the thickening snow as best she could, trying not to think about the cold seeping into her bones or what Carl Anderson might be doing to Landon.
53
How had he known about the observation tower? Landon struggled to loosen his bonds. His head still swam from the knock he’d taken to the back of the head as soon as they’d entered the shelter. A fire blazed in the metal stove, illuminating the small space.
The man sat on the lone cot, working on some sort of device. “They’ll be coming soon.”
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Detective. We both know they’ve been tracking us all day. They’ll be here soon, but I’ll already be gone.”
Landon narrowed his eyes. “Where do you plan to go in this storm?”
“Never you mind about that.”
“They’ll track you wherever you go.”
“Not if they’re dead.” The man stood, the device clutched in his hand. He set it on the small table and flipped a switch, testing it. A red light blinked.
Landon’s eyes widened. He was going to blow the tower.
“Don’t worry.” The man flipped the switch back. “I won’t detonate it until I’m sure they’re here rescuing you. Quite poetic, don’t you think?” He stepped to the window to watch for his prey. “People think men in my line of work are just hired thugs, but I assure you I am far superior to my brothers in arms.”
“Your brothers?”
“Fellow assassins,” he explained. “You see, Detective,” he continued, “I put a lot of research into my work. For example, I know that Michelle Evans was killed by a natural gas explosion.”
“There was nothing natural about her death. Mongols assassinated her.”
“As I will you all, removing every loose end, including that infernal chip, ending this little saga with a salute to the past.”
“Are you suggesting you had something to do with Michelle Evans’s death?”
“Of course not. I’m simply paying homage to the event. Michelle took information that didn’t belong to her and paid with her life. Her choice to take Karli on the run eventually led Karli to Erik, who in turn gave her something that didn’t belong to her, and she paid with her life too.”
The man was even more unhinged than Landon had realized. He struggled to release his bonds. He had to get free, had to protect Piper and her family from this madman.
Piper lay beside Gage on the boulder, staring up at the tower with floodlights lit.
“He’s going to see us coming.”
“Unfortunately, there’s only one way up.” Gage slid back down to the boulder’s base.
She scooted beside him. “Not necessarily.”
Gage’s eyes widened. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Not any more than walking into his crosshairs.”
“Northface is dangerous enough to climb during good weather. With the snow and ice, no way.”
“I’m not asking permission.” She stood and moved around the wide rock base to the rear of the eighty-foot wall forming the back of the tower’s base.
“At least give the others a chance to get here.”
As soon as they’d seen the tower was occupied, they’d radioed the others, who had then redirected their course and alerted the authorities.
“There isn’t time.”
Gage’s footfalls crunched on the snow behind her.
Her heart racing in her chest and adrenaline coursing through her veins, she labored her way to the base of the rock wall. She dropped her backpack and fished out the rope.
“You don’t even have the proper equipment.” Gage set his pack beside hers. “What if I—”
“Gage, how long has it been since you’ve climbed? It has to be me.” She fished through the gear bag they’d snagged from her Jeep before setting off after Anderson. “I have rope, and . . . there are carabineers in here somewhere.”
“Harness?”
“Give me the rope from your pack.” She held out her hand.
“Swiss seat?” he asked, handing it over.
“Not comfortable, but tied correctly, just as safe as the store-bought ones.” She repeated their father’s mantra, thankful he’d put so much time into teaching them wilderness survival as kids. She began fashioning the homemade harness.
“And what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and watch you climb to danger?”
Taking one end of the rope, she wrapped it around the back of her waist, keeping the center point at her hip. “Belay me; wait for others and for my signal.”
“Signal?” he said as she fashioned an overhand knot at her navel.
She pulled tight and looped the other end of the rope back around her waist. “I haven’t figured it out yet, but it’ll come to me.”
“Somehow that isn’t comforting.”
She pulled the rope ends between her legs and tucked them under the rope at her waist, tying a half hitch on each side. “Sorry, bro. Gotta go by instinct on this one.” She squatted to set the knots, then stood and encircled her waist with the remaining rope ends, finishing with a square knot.
“Piper.” He placed a hand on her shoulder as she locked in. “You’re going on the assumption the climbers before you left sturdy pins in place. Assumptions can be deadly.”
“I know, but I’ve got to do this.” She’d free-climbed Northface last summer and remembered seeing anchors along the way. In the snow and ice, free-climbing was too dangerous; she’d at least try and anchor in as best she could. Besides, if their places were reversed and it was her up in that tower, nothing would stop Landon from coming for her.
She scaled the wall as silently as she could, praying Anderson was too focused on watching the south approach to even think about them approaching from the rear.
Wind lashed at her face, her exposed fingers numbing quickly. She couldn’t climb well with regular gloves and her ice-climbing ones hadn’t been in her Jeep. Strengthening her resolve and keeping Landon’s charming smile at the forefront of her mind, she pressed on. She also prayed Cole didn’t cause too much ruckus when he arrived and discovered what she’d done, prayed she’d already be in posit
ion and have her signal ready.
What signal? What plan? She was running out of time to solidify both. She only knew she had to keep moving.
He paced the room, his gaze ever watchful on the detective. Heat spread through his limbs with each step. Something was wrong. They were taking too long. He stared back out the window. Not a shadow. Not a hint of movement. What were they up to?
He needed to spot them well in advance, so he had time to escape. With a rock wall behind, there was only one way in or out. He paused. The research he’d done on the McKenna family, on Piper in particular, flooded his mind. “Your girlfriend is quite the rock climber, isn’t she?” he said, striding to the rear of the tower.
The detective struggled harder behind him, but he had more pressing matters.
Piper cleared the wall and climbed onto the platform on which the observation station sat. Untying the lead rope from her harness, she secured it to the tower’s metal rigging. Taking a deep breath, she crept around the corner toward the door. It swung open with such force it knocked her from her feet. Her head hit the floor with a crack. She stared up blearily at Carl Anderson bent over her.
“Hello, darling. So nice of you to join us.” Grabbing her right leg, he yanked her inside, her back and head thumping over the metal door plate along the way. She squirmed against his grip. “A lively one you are, but not for—” His words stopped short. He stared at her and toppled on top of her.
She wrestled under his weight.
“Piper,” Landon hollered.
Anderson slid off her and slumped to the ground beside her.
Landon bent down, a wood plank still gripped tight in his hand. “Are you all right?”
“I was supposed to be asking you that.”
Landon retrieved Anderson’s gun and tossed the plank aside. “You have a radio?” he asked as he helped her sit up.
She nodded.
“Let the others know Anderson’s unconscious and we’re waiting for them.” He winced as he pulled her to her feet.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He coughed. “Just a catch in my back.”
“Are you sure?”
He brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek. “I’m positive.” Another dry cough racked him.
“Landon?”
“Really, I’m fine. How far out are the others?”
“Climbing the stairs now,” Cole relayed over the radio.
54
Landon ignored the stabbing pain in his chest as he opened the interrogation room door.
Slidell yanked him back. “Seriously, Landon. We can handle the questioning. Go get checked out. You look like death warmed over.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”
“Do I have to order you out of here?”
“I’m doing this.” He would see this through to the end.
Slidell held up his hands. “Fine. Be my guest, though I doubt you’ll get anything out of him.”
“We’ll see about that.” Landon entered the interrogation room with a confident swagger, knowing he had to go in strong to get what was needed out of Anderson.
Anderson smirked. “You’ll get nothing out of me. I have access to the best lawyers money can buy.”
“That’s good. You’re going to need them because we’ve got you on three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, assault, battery, and more than likely . . . tax evasion. You get the picture.”
“You’ve got nothing.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Anderson. We’ve got your storage facility.”
Anderson’s face paled.
“Yep. Portland Detective, James Reno, called less than an hour ago. Sounds like you two go way back. And I’ve got to tell you, he left the best message I’ve ever had waiting for me. I obviously don’t need to list the evidence available to them in said storage facility, as it all belongs to you, but suffice it to say, we’ve got ironclad proof of the premeditated murders of Erik Johnson and Karli Davis. We have proof of your payments from Ed Thompson—which the Feds have frozen, by the way, pending the outcome of this investigation. And to top it off, you gunned down a police officer and abducted another. Shall I go on?”
Anderson’s jaw stiffened. “What do you want?”
“Ed Thompson. You give us him and testify about his role in all of this, and the D.A. has agreed to take the death penalty off the table.” Landon stood. “Do we have a deal?”
“I want it in writing, from the D.A.”
“You got it.”
Landon couldn’t wait to tell Piper. They’d gotten them both. He exited the room and tried not to gloat at Slidell, who’d been listening on the other side of the glass.
“You want me to get the D.A. on the phone?” Tom asked.
Landon started to nod, and the room spun.
“Landon?” Tom’s brow pinched.
His vision narrowed, darkening.
“You okay?” Tom said. “You’re looking kind of—”
Piper rocked back and forth in the ER waiting room. She glanced up at the clock. Landon had been in surgery for what seemed an eternity.
Kayden rubbed her back—physical touch a rarity for her sister. “He’s going to be fine.”
“How do you know?”
Kayden bit her lip.
“Doctors repair punctured lungs all the time,” Gage said, trying to be helpful.
“And people die from them all the time. I should have known. I should have insisted . . .”
“He wouldn’t have listened,” Cole said, crouching down in front of her. “And we both know it.”
“Cole’s right,” Gage said. “Landon’s as stubborn as the day is long—just like you.”
“I got you some tea,” Bailey said, handing her the Styrofoam cup.
“Thanks.” Now if she could just stop shaking long enough to take a sip.
“Can I get you anything else?” Bailey asked, concern evident on her sweet face. “Something to eat, maybe? It’s been way too long.”
“I couldn’t eat if I tried.” Not with her stomach knotted the way it was.
Cole exhaled, his worry palpable.
“Why don’t we pray?” Bailey said, pulling a chair up to them, starting the beginning of a circle.
Cole clasped Bailey’s hand. “That’s a great idea.”
Darcy dragged a chair over to join them. “Wherever two or three gather . . .” she said, reminding them of the Lord’s promise in Matthew. She glanced at Gage. “Everyone is welcome.”
“I’m good here, thanks.” Gage leaned with his back against the wall.
Which just left Jake. To Piper’s utter surprise, he joined them, and her heart welled with the simple gesture. Jake had always been silent when they shared family prayers, and somehow uncomfortable with the topic of faith in God, but he’d never expressed disbelief. She’d come to think Jake believed but that something held him back from embracing God. She hadn’t been able to peg exactly what that was—his aversion to something external or his own internal struggle. She guessed the latter. But the fact that he cared so much about her family, and especially Landon, that he was willing to put that aside and join them in prayer spoke volumes to her heart.
She closed her eyes, her loved ones gathered around her, and pleaded with the Lord to heal the man she loved.
Landon woke, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him with a two-by-four. He swallowed, but his mouth produced no saliva. Opening his eyes, he found a dropped stippled ceiling above. Trailing his gaze down, he found lime-green walls. The hospital. He winced. Last thing he remembered was Tom Murphy asking if he was all right. Apparently, he’d been worse off than he’d imagined.
His gaze shifted to Piper asleep in the chair, curled up like a kitten, her legs draped partially over the arm, her head dropped back at what looked like a painful angle.
He chuckled, regretting it as pain shot through his side.
“What’s so funny?” Piper asked in a sleepy voice.
>
Gage strode into the room. “He’s awake,” he called over his shoulder. “How you doing, man?”
Cole, Bailey, Jake, Kayden, and Darcy filed in after him.
“Doc Stevens said you nearly lost a lung.” Gage swiped a fry from the lunch tray on Landon’s table.
“Guess Someone was looking out for me.” He held Piper’s loving gaze.
“Right,” Gage said, his doubt abundantly apparent.
It was okay. A few weeks ago, Landon had been in the same place. If God could reach him, He’d work His way into Gage’s heart too.
Cole slipped his hands into his pockets as he approached the bed. “You tell him, Pipsqueak?”
“Exactly how old do I have to be before you all stop calling me that?”
Gage shrugged. “A hundred and one.”
“Very funny.”
“Did you tell him?” Kayden prodded.
“Tell me what?”
“Tom Murphy dropped by the hospital while you were in surgery. . . .”
“And?”
“And Anderson signed the confession.”
“He gave us Thompson and agreed to testify?”
Cole jumped in. “Tom said that detective in Portland . . .”
“Detective Reno,” Piper supplied.
“Right,” Cole continued. “Tom said he spoke with Detective Reno and they were already preparing to arrest Thompson.”
“Preparing? How long are they going to wait?”
“Well, seeing as that was two days ago . . .” Gage grinned.
He’d been out two days? That was one habit he had to break.
Piper squeezed his hand. “They arrested Thompson this morning.”
“Have you told Reef?”
Reef poked his head around the doorframe with a wide smile. “They told me.”
Cole strode toward Reef. “I called Harland as soon as Anderson confessed. All charges against him have been dropped.”
“I owe you an enormous thanks,” Reef said, extending a hand.
“It’s your sister who deserves the thanks. Piper had enough faith for us all.”
55
Piper entered the hospital through the side entrance that brought her more directly to the elevators and Landon’s room. The doctor had said he could go home today, and she’d brought him a fresh change of clothes.