The dog obeyed and remained in the open doorway. He looked like an alien, but it was for Teddy’s protection. Any germs could threaten his already weakened immune system.
“Teddy, I’d like you to meet my daughter Allie and my brother’s dog, Creek,” Sandra said.
Teddy shined at the sight of his new friends. “Hi, Allie, and hi Creek.”
Creek sat on his hind legs in the doorway.
“He looks funny in that suit,” Teddy said with a chuckle.
“I know,” Sandra said. “Kind of like an alien doggy.”
Creek stood and let out an affectionate whine.
“I wish I could give him a treat,” Teddy said. He twisted to look at Sandra. “Can I later?”
“Uh, Nurse Spears, can I talk to you?” said Doctor Duffy. He stood behind Creek in the doorway and gestured for Sandra with a hand. She could tell by his tone and frown that he wasn’t happy.
“Allie, you watch Creek, but make sure he stays sitting right there, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Her daughter dipped her head and up down. “Okay, mom.”
Creek tried to follow, but Sandra snapped her fingers and the dog relaxed on the floor. He placed his head on his gloved paws as Allie kneeled next to him and stroked his plastic suit.
“Watch Teddy and Allie for me, boy,” Sandra said. She knew it broke protocol, but she had taken every precaution possible, and Teddy needed this. Morale was in some ways even more important than the antibiotics keeping him alive.
Creek let out another low whine as she left the room. He was really missing Raven, and so was Sandra. Not hearing from her brother for almost twenty-four hours had torn at her insides. She knew he could take care of himself, but the roads were getting worse by the hour. Every time she heard a vehicle pull into the parking lot, she would peek out from the emergency room to see if it was Raven.
She followed Doctor Duffy down the hall, waiting for a lecture, but instead he stopped outside of Martha’s room and bowed his head, sighing. “I need your help, Sandra. As you know, Colton wants to know what happened to Martha, and I can’t get her to talk to me. Can you try?”
“Sure,” Sandra said.
She went to open the door, but Duffy put a hand on her wrist. “Do you know what’s happening out there? I mean, is it true? Was the fire at the Stanley intentional?”
The rumors had circled around the hospital, but Sandra didn’t know what to believe. She had to focus on her job and leave the policing up to Chief Colton.
“I don’t know,” Sandra said. She opened the door and walked inside the dark room lit only by a solar lamp. She put it on the bedside table and sat down next to Martha.
“Hi, Dr. Kohler, it’s Nurse Spears.”
Martha blinked and slowly rolled her head to the side.
“How are you feeling? Are you thirsty?” Sandra asked.
Martha licked her dry lips and Sandra helped her take several sips from a straw. Then she used a cloth to wipe Martha’s forehead dry.
“I’m here to talk to you about what you said earlier. About the kids.”
Martha swallowed the last of the water in her mouth and looked at the ceiling, closing her eyes, and then snapping them open.
“The soldiers…” Her voice cracked and she tried to speak again. “The soldiers took the kids.”
“What soldiers?”
Martha bowed her head, then looked back up to meet Sandra’s eyes. “They weren’t American soldiers. One of them had a Swastika tattoo.”
Sandra nearly dropped the cloth in her hand. She had walked into the room with a dozen questions running through her mind, but now she just had one. Could these be the same men who took the supplies and set fire to the Stanley, and the same people who took Nathan’s nephew?
“I found two kids on the road. I was going to take them to Denver with me, but I failed them…” Martha said. “I failed—”
“No, you did not. You did what you could.” Sandra dabbed Martha’s forehead with the moist cloth. “You don’t have to tell me anything that’s too scary to remember. I’m just trying to figure out if these were the same men my brother and my friend Nathan went to look for. Nathan’s nephew was taken from the Easterseals camp south of here.”
Martha brushed the cloth away from her forehead. “I saw a boy in the back of that pickup in a wheelchair.”
Sandra hesitated. “A wheelchair?”
“Yes,” Martha said. She rested her head back on the pillow, but kept her eyes on Sandra.
“I hope your brother and this Nathan are skilled soldiers because the men that shot me won’t hesitate to kill them or anyone who gets in their way. They had evil in their eyes, Nurse Spears.”
— 15 —
Colton paced back and forth, trying to get a grip on the situation. Mayor Andrews, Tom Feagen, and a handful of other administrators were standing in the hallway outside the town offices. Everyone was arguing.
If Jake were here, he would have shouted in his booming voice, silencing them in a heartbeat. But Jake wasn’t here, and Colton was on his own.
“Quiet!” shouted a woman. Lindsey was pushing through the crowd. “Let the Chief speak,” she said.
The side conversations quieted down.
Colton nodded at Margaret. Despite her earlier insistence that she was fine, the dispatcher was shaking. He hated asking her to go through it again, but he wanted the mayor and her staff to hear it firsthand. She told them what she’d told Colton earlier—a dozen men in black ski masks had stormed the station, pointed a gun in her face, and demanded the keys to Theo’s cell.
“Were these men soldiers?” Gail asked when Margaret had finished.
“No, I don’t think so,” Margaret said. “But they did have what looked like really old military trucks. The type I remember seeing transport soldiers in Vietnam. The backs of their trucks were filled with crates and canned food.”
“So they hit our supply depots first,” Don mused. “That would have taken planning and coordination.”
“How did they get past our road blocks?” Feagen asked.
“We don’t have the resources to guard every single road,” Colton said.
“Did you see where they went?” Gail asked Margaret.
Detective Ryburn stepped forward. “I did. They were heading toward the park entrance.”
Colton pivoted so he could look the detective in the eye. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“The Stanley was burning,” he said. “I’m sorry, Chief, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Some of them even had automatic rifles.”
Don held up a hand. “Wait, back up. You said they were heading into the park?”
Ryburn nodded, his chin jiggling.
“That’s where we’re storing the meat,” Don said.
Colton drew in a long breath. “Jesus, these guys knew where we were hiding everything.”
“How?” Gail asked.
“Good question,” Tom Feagen said. “It was your job to make sure our facilities were protected, Colton. Now what are we going to do?”
“What will we do for food?” someone asked.
Gail scowled. “And medical supplies.”
“And where are we supposed to house the tourists?” asked Officer Hines.
The questions came in a flurry around Colton. He took a step backward. It was all too much—the questions, the pressure. He had lost control of the town in a single afternoon.
“We’ll find a way,” Lindsey said. “Right, Chief?”
She looked at him with the hopeful gaze that he would expect from a rookie soldier looking to a commander for reassurance before a battle. Colton didn’t have any to give.
“We have to get our supplies back.” He pulled out his Colt .45, flipped open the loading gate, thumbed the hammer, and spun the empty cylinder to inspect the chambers.
“Grab the pickup, Lindsey,” Colton said. “Don, you coordinate with our officers and volunteers to see if you can figure out what these guys
took. Margaret, stay on the radio. I’m heading up Trail Ridge Road.”
“No,” came a firm voice.
Colton snapped his full cylinder closed and turned to Gail.
“I’ve talked it over with the others, and I’m putting Sergeant Aragon in charge of the police department and Estes Park militia,” she said.
He could only stare at her for a moment. “What the hell are you saying?”
“You’re not in charge anymore, Marcus,” she said. “We still want you on the force, but it’s time for a change in leadership.”
Don put his cowboy hat on and stepped next to the mayor, but Lindsey walked over and stood by Colton.
“You can’t do this, Mayor,” she said. “This isn’t Chief Colton’s fault.”
Officers Matthew and Officer Hines, along with Detective Ryburn, remained where they were standing—unwilling to take a side, or perhaps waiting to figure out which side to take.
“If Jake were here—” Colton started to say when Gail cut him off.
“He’s not. I’m sorry, Marcus, but Jake is dead. And you haven’t kept your promise to protect this town. It’s time to let someone else try…before it’s too late.”
The words stung Colton deep, like a hot knife scraping his bones. A hundred things rushed through his mind, memories of better times and dreams for the future.
Hines and Matthew slowly moved over to Don’s left side, but to his utter shock, Ryburn walked over to Colton. Lines had been drawn, three against three. But Don had the support of the town administration.
Colton balled his fists.
Don saw that and raised a brow as if to taunt him. Colton narrowed his eyes at the sergeant. God, he wanted to jack Don in the face and knock him on his ass, but that wasn’t going to do anything but make Colton feel better. The true test of a man was doing the right thing even when clouded by anger. His father taught him that when he was just a boy. Too bad no one had taught Don what a real man was.
“Fine, Mayor,” Colton said, relaxing his hands. Without Jake, Raven, and Nathan to stand by his side, he had no choice but to back down. In the end, the town came first. His family came first. He would not make things worse by resisting the decision of the majority.
Colton pulled off his chief of police badge and handed it to Gail.
“You can take mine, too,” Lindsey said. She fumbled for her shield, but Colton put a hand on her arm.
“Don’t,” he said. “The force needs you.”
She scowled, but stepped down. As Colton left, he heard Don giving the same damned orders he’d been delivering before Gail demoted him.
A few minutes later, Lindsey and Ryburn followed him outside.
“This is horseshit!” Lindsey said. She ran alongside, her face redder than her hair. “You can’t let Don take charge. He’s a jackass.”
“A real jerk,” Ryburn agreed.
“It’s not my call,” Colton said.
Lindsey looked at the ground. “I hate to do this, Chief, but I’m gonna need the keys to the truck back. Don is sending me up to the park to check on the meat.”
Colton pulled the key from his pocket and held it out, even though giving up Jake’s truck felt like a betrayal. “Did he say you had to go alone?”
Lindsey grinned, looking more like her usual self. “Why don’t you drive? I’ll take shotgun.”
“Let’s go,” Colton said, closing his fist around the key.
Lindsey took the passenger side, and Ryburn jumped in the back. The drive out of town was met with silence, Lindsey looking out the window and Colton focusing on the road. They all knew the men who had taken their supplies were long gone now, but the threat lingered and Lindsey loaded her AR-15.
“I’m sorry, Chief,” she said.
“Better stop calling me that.”
She shook her head and turned back to the window.
Twenty minutes later, they were winding up the long road into Rocky Mountain National Park. Snow framed the sides, a foot at first, then an entire wall the height of a man. A chilly breeze rushed into the open windows.
Colton had plenty of time to think about everything that had happened, but his primary concern right now was that meat. They had at least two weeks’ worth, plus a week from the dozens of elk and other game they had killed to feed the town. That meant three weeks of survival without having any outside help. Without it, they were going to be scrambling to keep everyone fed, especially with their canned and dried food stolen.
At twelve thousand feet above sea level, the bitter breeze stung Colton’s lungs. He rolled up his window and parked the truck outside the Ranger station.
“Where the hell is Ranger Field?” Colton asked. He was supposed to be guarding this place, but the old Indian motorcycle that Field had been driving was gone.
Colton got out of the truck and un-holstered his Colt .45. He thumbed back the hammer and stepped onto the snow. Breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains surrounded him on all sides, but he was focused on the open doors to the metal sheds next to the ranger station.
He crunched over the snow, already knowing the frozen goods and the meat were all gone, but needing to see it for himself.
“Ryburn, go check the station for Field,” Colton said, automatically taking command of the situation as he’d always done. “Lindsey, you check the other sheds.”
Colton walked to the first building and stepped inside, breath coming out in an icy poof. Sunlight shone through the open door, illuminating a snow-covered floor still marked with the impressions of meat and the other goods they had stored here. In the center of the room, a single glass bottle of pickled herring protruded from the snow.
“The other sheds are all empty, sir,” Lindsey said.
Colton pulled the bottle out of the snow and found a piece of paper tied onto the side. He retreated back outside and held it into the sun.
“What’s that?” Lindsey asked. She wrinkled her nose. “Seriously? I hate pickled fish. Of all the things to leave…”
Colton untied the note and read the message.
You can blame Raven Spears for your missing loot. I wouldn’t have even known about Estes Park if it weren’t for him. Your first mistake was trusting that weasel, and your second mistake was putting my cousin Theo in jail. Estes Park is a nice place. I might have to come back for another visit soon.
Sincerely – Nile Redford
“What’s it say?” Lindsey asked.
Colton almost laughed. He shook his head, handed it over to her, and then turned to look at the view. Behind the ranger station, arms of smoke from the smoldering ruins of the Stanley rose into the sky. Below, the Estes Park valley stretched out like a bowl. The Fall River wound through the flat meadows, and a herd of elk, little more than a constellation of brown dots from this distance, moved along the banks at the water’s edge.
Ryburn rounded the station a moment later. “No sign of Fields in the station,” he reported.
Colton cursed and lit a cigarette he had bummed off Officer Hines. The situation had gone from bad to worse with Ranger Field missing. He feared the man was buried in the snow somewhere out here.
After taking a drag, Colton took a final look out over the valley. The only thing the town had left was clean water and the wild game in the park—and the game wouldn’t last forever. Two of his officers were dead, and he feared more would die in the violence that ensued from the starving citizens.
For a fleeting moment, he felt relieved that he was no longer in charge. The feeling passed in a heartbeat when he looked back at the place where he had married his high school sweetheart and raised a daughter. He wasn’t in charge anymore, but he was going to be damned if he let anything happen to Estes Park.
***
The Humvee growled down the road. Raven had traded his Jeep in for the upgraded military vehicle, but he hated leaving his baby behind. He would be back for her soon. Just like he would be back for Creek. He was really missing his four-legged best friend. Nathan was a poor substitute.
He pushed down on the gas pedal and the Humvee rocketed up a hill. His eyes flitted over the canvas—a drab landscape, gray rocks, and grayer sky.
“Eyes up,” Nathan said to Joe from the back seat. The racist little prick was groaning from the pain. Nathan slapped the kid every time he began to lose consciousness.
“You can’t die yet,” Nathan said. He continued the interrogation with a backhand to Joe’s chin.
“How many of you are there?”
“I—I don’t know,” Joe said.
Nathan put his thumb into the bullet wound in Joe’s leg, prompting a screech of agony.
“Please,” he cried, whimpering like a child. “Please don’t kill me.”
Raven looked away from the rearview mirror. They were coming up on a canyon with high rock walls. Shadows crossed the road. Easing up on the gas, Raven ducked down to look at the outcroppings as they entered the gully. He was searching for a glint of metal or scrap of color that didn’t belong in the gray rocks. The second he took his eyes off the road, the tires jolted over a rock.
He swerved just in time to miss a skirt of scree that had spilled onto the pavement. The trail of loose rocks spread until the road was completely blocked. Raven slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a collision.
“Looks like a rockslide,” he said.
“Is there a way around?” Nathan asked.
Raven backed up to find an alternate path, moving into the shadows. A crackling noise came from the back seat.
“Hey, is that a radio?”
Nathan pulled up a backpack from the floor behind the passenger seat. He rummaged through the contents and found a handheld radio.
“I thought you checked this bag, Raven.”
“I thought you checked it,” Raven replied.
Nathan turned the radio on and a voice came over the channel.
“Liberty 1, this is Snake Nest. Do you copy? Over.”
“Shit,” Nathan said.
“Liberty 1, Liberty 1. Snake Nest, do you copy?” repeated the voice.
Raven gestured for the radio. “Gimme.”
“What are you going to say?” Nathan asked.
“Just trust me.”
Trackers Omnibus [Books 1-4] Page 45