by Cassie Miles
Chapter Twenty-One
Strapped into the pilot’s seat, there was nothing Aiden could do about what was happening in the rear of the chopper where Aspen Jim held his gun on Misty and Tab. The women had constructed a sort of nest for Misty using the quilt from the cabin and emergency supplies on board. Given that Misty was in labor, she seemed to be fairly comfortable. Her contractions were coming more frequently.
But Aiden really couldn’t see what was going on behind his back. Nor could he hear over the thwap-thwap of the rotors and the loud hum of the engine. Aspen Jim refused to let them use the headset intercom that made normal conversation possible and blanked out the noise.
By taking away the headsets, Jim figured he’d eliminate any possibility of calling for help; they wouldn’t be able to communicate with Air Traffic Control. He’d also destroyed their cell phones. Aiden’s only chance for an SOS was to open the line on the communication panel and broadcast the ambient noise in the chopper. A long shot, at best.
The direction they were headed—south toward the Big Horn Mountains—was sparsely populated and regular ATC surveillance was limited to the few regional airports. Aiden’s only hope for summoning help was that somebody at an airstrip happened to be randomly monitoring communications and got the message.
When Misty let out another wail, Aiden craned his neck to look over his shoulder. He hated that his sister was in pain. Again, there was nothing he could do. The baby was coming. Thank God Tab was here.
Thus far, she’d been rock steady. Only once had her fear surfaced. When they were boarding the helicopter, she’d gotten close enough to grasp his hand. He’d felt the tremble in her touch, and it made him angry. He needed all his self-restraint to keep himself from lashing out at Aspen Jim. He couldn’t risk a fight. Not while Jim had the gun.
He had tried to reassure her. “I’ll get us out of this.”
“We’ll do it together. You and me.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“But not what you said.”
Damn, she was stubborn. Even now, when he could see the panic shimmering in her blue eyes, she wouldn’t let him shoulder all the responsibility. This was their problem. Together, they would fight it.
Being together, it sounded right. He wanted to be with her in every way. Not just making love, although he treasured those sweet, intimate moments with her above all else. He wanted to go riding with her, to wake up beside her in the morning, to watch the sunset from the porch of his cabin.
They’d get through this. They had to. No weak-willed murderer like Aspen Jim was going to destroy his chance at true happiness with Tab.
Through the front window of the chopper, the snowy peaks of the Big Horn Mountains came clearly into view. There wasn’t much time for Aiden to make his move. Though Jim hadn’t stated a specific destination, Aiden was pretty sure he wouldn’t like what he found when they were on the ground. He wanted to gain control of the situation before they landed.
Jim still hadn’t given up the name of his partner—the serial killer who had been operating in Henley and on the rez area for years. It was clear that Aspen Jim feared this man and was desperate to do his bidding—so desperate that he’d betrayed his natural con man leanings and become a killer. Murder didn’t come easily to Aspen Jim. His planning was overcomplicated with a bizarre element of showmanship, similar to his idea of a river rafting company that included actors on the banks of the river.
He’d admitted that luring Misty to the hideaway had been the first step in his escape. Getting access to the chopper had been his real goal, and he’d known Aiden would respond to a hostage situation involving his sister.
At Maria Spotted Bear’s house, Jim could have shot poor old Wally and left the body to be found. Instead, he’d chased the old man and pretended to be a two-face monster.
When Aspen Jim shot David, he’d managed to pull off a mysterious escape by swimming the river, riding a mountain bike and fleeing back toward town. One complication had led to another and another. He should have gotten away with it.
But Jim had made a mistake. That error told Aiden the identity of Jim’s so-called partner. He’d used Bert Welling as his alibi, and Bert had backed him up.
Bert had lied. Why? Bert had to keep his own secrets, to hide a lifetime of cruelty. Aiden remembered the autopsy report that indicated signs of abuse on David’s body. They’d assumed his father had hurt the boy, but it was more likely his uncle. Bert Welling enjoyed inflicting pain on others, especially young women.
As soon as Aiden had sorted out the logic, he thought it was obvious that two killers had been involved. The handsome, sun-bleached blond Jim had attracted the women. Bert had killed them. Their problem came when Bert escalated his timetable and grabbed too many victims. The disappearances attracted attention. His reign of cruelty would soon be over.
Aspen Jim lurched forward and grabbed onto the copilot’s seat. “I have instructions.” He had to yell over the whirr of the rotors. “Go to Jackrabbit Lake. To the campground.”
Though Aiden knew the location, he didn’t admit it. “I don’t know where it is. I need to turn on the GPS for directions.”
“So you can call your cop buddies? No way. You’ll figure it out.”
They were already over the foothills. The landscape transformed from rolling hills to jagged granite formations and forests of lodgepole pine, fir and aspen. A light dusting of snow covered the ground. At this time of year, there were no rangers posted in the National Forest. Officially, the campgrounds were closed.
Hoping to buy time, Aiden said, “I’m running low on fuel. I might have to land before we get to the lake.”
“Show me the gauge.”
Aspen Jim leaned forward to see the instrument panel. If he moved a little closer, just six inches closer, Aiden could reach back and grab the gun. He subtly unfastened his seat belt as he pointed to the fuel gauge. “It’s right here.”
“You’ve got a quarter of a tank.”
“This isn’t like a car. I’m running low.” A blatant lie—the chopper could cover another seventy-five to a hundred miles on the fuel he had left.
“You’ll make it. You don’t want anything to happen to the precious cargo you’re carrying in the back of this chopper. Your sister and your girlfriend? You’d better fly right.”
Adrenaline rushed through Aiden’s veins, urging him to take action. He had to be careful, couldn’t lose control. “Are we meeting up with your partner?”
“That’s right.”
Bad news. The way Aiden figured, Aspen Jim might be convinced not to kill them all. The same wasn’t true for Bert Welling. He’d take pleasure in watching them die.
“Hey,” Jim pointed with the barrel of his gun. “What’s that red light?”
“Nothing important.”
“The panel says intercom. That’s a communication device.” His shout got louder. “You’re calling for help.”
“I can’t talk to anybody without the headset.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He pointed the nose of his gun at the control panel as though preparing to shoot. What the hell? Was he crazy enough to fire a bullet into the instruments? There wasn’t time to argue with Aspen Jim. He had to be stopped.
Bolting from the pilot’s seat, Aiden flung out his arm, making a frantic grab for the weapon. He almost had it. The gun was mere inches from his grasp.
Jim reacted with a yelp. He yanked his arm backwards and fired a bullet straight up, through the ceiling. The gunshot reverberated inside the plane.
Though Jim pointed the gun at his chest, Aiden couldn’t stop now. He had only seconds to take control. It was now or never. He lunged.
In a panic, Jim pulled the trigger. The bullet missed Aiden and went into the cockpit. A burst of sparks exploded from the instrument panel. The chopper swerved wildly.
If Aiden didn’t get back to the controls, they would surely crash. He wheeled around on his opponent. He couldn’t balance, cou
ldn’t get his feet under him. Finally, Aiden landed a heavy blow to Jim’s chin. His head snapped back. His knees folded under him.
Tab scrambled from the back, picked up the gun and aimed it at Jim. “The controls,” she yelled. “Aiden, get us down.”
In an instant, he was back in the pilot’s seat. He knew the procedure for emergency landing, but he’d never had to do anything like this before. Juggling the directional stick, regaining equilibrium and decelerating simultaneously, he scanned the ground below, looking for a safe place to put down amid rock formations and forest. He’d lost control of the rudder. The rotors sputtered. They were coming down fast.
With a heavy thud, the chopper hit the ground.
A spark danced across the panel and ignited into a flame.
If the chopper had been carrying a full tank of fuel, they might have already exploded. Disaster was imminent. Aiden had to get Tab and Misty to safety.
He scooped his sister into his arms and carried her uphill. His feet slipped in the thin coating of snow. Tab came behind him. Her arms were full of blankets and supplies. She still held the gun in her hand.
A safe distance away from the chopper, he ducked behind a rock formation and lowered Misty to the ground. She clung to his neck and gave him a weak smile. “You’re a superhero.”
“About time you realized that.”
“I’ve always known. My big brother can do anything.”
Tab dropped her load of supplies and knelt beside them. “You scared me, Aiden. For a minute there, I didn’t think we were going to make it.”
“I’d never let anything happen to you.”
He touched her shoulder and squeezed lightly. Her face was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Her eyes glowed like blue stars. Her lips were soft and full. He leaned forward to give her a quick peck on the cheek. Instead, he kissed her mouth, and he didn’t want to stop.
“Hey,” his sister interrupted. “I’m having a baby here.”
Pushing himself to his feet, Aiden turned toward the chopper. “I’ll be right back.”
Before he’d gone five paces, Tab was in front of him, blocking his way. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Going back for Jim.” The spark on the instrument panel had grown into a cockpit fire. He could see the orange-red flames through the windows.
“You can’t risk your life to save his.”
“It’s wrong to leave him.” Aiden’s motives weren’t altogether noble. “And he has the only cell phone.”
He heard yelling from the chopper. Aspen Jim had recovered enough to take action for himself. He stood in the doorway, weaving unsteadily—a terrible and dramatic pose. He flung curses at them, swore revenge.
He paused as though he knew what was coming.
The chopper exploded in a fireball, throwing the rotors, the plexiglass windows and jagged pieces from the body and tail into the sky. A wave of heat washed over them, pushing them back. Black smoke darkened the sky. A metallic stench poisoned the air.
Tab looked up at him. “That could have been you.”
He folded her into his embrace. Her slender body molded against him. Though they had spent only one night together, her curves felt familiar and, at the same time, exciting. They were made to be together.
He nestled her close and whispered in her ear. “I never want to be apart from you again.”
“We’re lucky there’s snow on the ground. The explosion shouldn’t turn into a forest fire.”
“Yeah, lucky.”
She tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m sorry about your helicopter.”
“I can always get another. The important thing is that we’re safe.”
“For how long?”
He knew she was talking about Jim’s partner. They were close enough to Jackrabbit Lake that Bert would see the flames from the explosion, and it was entirely possible that he’d come after them. Bert was a tidy man. He wouldn’t like to leave loose ends.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tab’s first concern was making Misty comfortable. After a rapid search of the mountain terrain, they decided on a site beside a tall hunk of granite where they could build a fire. Keeping warm would be an issue tonight.
Working together, she and Aiden built a shelter of branches. Her hands were cold. She hadn’t needed gloves at a lower elevation, but now she wished she had them. Her only tool was the pocket knife she carried in her purse. Still, the shelter came together quickly.
Watching them, Misty commented, “I’m impressed, Tab. How did you learn how to do this?”
“My grandma showed me how to build my own sweat lodge. If we had more time, I’d make this into a cozy little house where we could live.”
“How much time do we have?” Misty asked. Her casual tone didn’t completely mask her nervousness. “My contractions are coming every five minutes.”
“I’d like to give you a precise arrival time, but I can’t. First babies are unpredictable.”
“Do you think the baby is all right? It’s kind of premature.”
Tab left Aiden to handle the building while she went to his sister and held her hand. “You’re only a few weeks short of full term. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Looking up, Misty scanned the skies. The sun had begun to set, and the clouds were tinted with magenta and gold. “A rescue team ought to be looking for us. That was a giant explosion.”
Tab hoped she was right. The flames had already died, but a funnel of black smoke rose in the air. Somebody ought to be searching; there had to be people who lived in this area. If park rangers had been on duty, they would have already responded.
Using the quilt and other blankets she’d grabbed from the chopper, Tab covered the floor inside their makeshift shelter. When Misty was settled inside, another contraction hit. The pain had to be more intense than earlier, but Misty had learned how to breathe and to focus.
“You’re doing well,” Tab said, “really well.”
“I know.” Misty licked her lips and forced a smile. “It’s because you’re a good teacher.”
“You’re doing all the heavy lifting. Stay strong.” Boosting her confidence was important. “I’m going to step outside. There’s something I have to do with Aiden.”
“More kissing?”
“Maybe.”
The kissing was great, but she really wanted to hear Aiden’s conclusions about the serial killer. Not an appropriate conversation to have in front of Misty. She needed to concentrate on having her baby without hearing gory details.
Outside the shelter, she saw Aiden leaning against a tree trunk. In the explosion, he’d lost his hat, and he had the collar on his denim jacket turned up. She swung into his arms. “Tell me what you figured out. Make it fast. And make it quiet.”
He murmured, “I can think of something else that would be fast and quiet.”
Though the low rumble of his voice got her engine revving, she said, “I want to know what you know.”
In a whisper, he sketched the broad picture of two killers with different styles—Aspen Jim and his partner. “Bert,” he said, “is the killer.”
An image of the gas station owner popped into her mind. His gray jumpsuit looked like it had been laundered by a dry cleaner. His thinning hair was neatly combed. And his hands…his hands were spotless. She shuddered. “I knew there was something suspicious about him.”
“Most people wouldn’t. He’s lived in Henley for years and knows everybody. We saw him at Connie’s house with a baby gift.”
She thought of all the young men who worked for him and came under his dark influence. They couldn’t have known the terrible things that Bert had done. “It took another psychopath like Aspen Jim to finally become his partner.”
“We were supposed to meet Bert at Jackrabbit Lake,” Aiden said. “He might come after us.”
“Could be watching us right now.”
Misty called out from the shelter. “Tab, I need you.”
She forced
herself to step away from Aiden. “Leave the gun here with me. There’s a collapsible plastic container for water.”
“I know,” he said, “it’s my container, part of my emergency supplies. It holds two and a half gallons.”
“Find a creek and fill it. I only have one bottle of water. We’re going to need more.”
He pressed Aspen Jim’s weapon into her hand. “Be careful.”
“Back at you.”
Inside their shelter, there was only room for Tab and Misty. After the contraction passed, she figured it was time to prepare for the next phase in delivering this baby. “Let’s see how far along you really are. Take off your clothes from the waist down. Leave your socks.”
“When you were babysitting me, did you ever think we’d end up like this?”
Delivering a baby while being stalked by a serial killer? Tab could honestly say that scenario had never occurred to her. “I knew we’d always be friends.”
“Really?” Misty brightened.
“Not the kind of friends who talk every day or send messages on the internet. We have a bond, you and me. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we’ll always be close.”
“Is that what you have with my brother?”
“We’re bonding, that’s for sure.” And she had a good feeling about what might come next…if they survived this night.
When Misty was undressed, Tab examined her. Without her instruments, she couldn’t state her findings in centimeters, but experience told her that Misty was fully effaced and further along in the birthing process than she’d thought.
She pulled a blanket over Misty’s bare legs. “Are you warm enough?”
“Is it possible to be hot and cold at the same time?”
Misty giggled, and Tab was glad to hear the sound. It meant her spirits were good. “You’re almost ready to have this baby. Very soon, you’re going to have the urge to push.”
“How will I know when that is?”
“You’ll know,” Tab said. “And here’s what you do. Try to hold back until I tell you it’s time.”