by Cynthia Eden
The snow crunched beneath Noelle’s feet. She saw the open sign on the diner’s door. A man, tall, with dark hair, was inside and heading toward the front.
Thomas was at Noelle’s side. He grabbed for the handle and pulled open the door. The bell overhead gave a light jingle of sound.
“Sorry,” the man inside rasped. “We’re closing.”
Noelle pulled out her ID. “Henry Price?” The sheriff had given her the guy’s name.
The man nodded as his gaze jerked down to her ID.
“I’m Agent Noelle Evers, and this is my partner, Agent Thomas Anthony. We need to ask you some questions about Jenny.”
Henry rubbed a hand over his bleary eyes. “Already talked to the sheriff on the phone.”
“And now you’re going to talk with us,” Thomas said simply. The bell jingled again as the door closed behind them.
Henry shook his head. “I don’t know anything. The girl was here this morning. I told her to go and clear the snow from the front, but instead of doing her job...” He turned away and headed for the kitchen. “She just left. You try to help some people, and they just turn on you—”
“Mr. Price.” Anger snapped in Noelle’s words.
Henry stopped and glanced back at her. A frown pulled down his brows.
“I don’t know what you think is happening here,” Noelle told him, her voice tight with barely held fury, “but Jenny Tucker’s mother is down at the sheriff’s station right now, her heart breaking because she believes that her daughter was abducted.”
He waved his hand. “She’s a teenager. They’re always trying to cut out of this town and find some adventure.”
“None of her friends believe that she cut out of town. And...other evidence...we have suggests that Jenny could be the potential target of a kidnapper in the area.” She wouldn’t tell him about Jenny matching the physical description of the other victims. They still didn’t know what had become of those victims.
Henry blinked as what could have been worry flashed in his eyes. “I didn’t hear anything. I mean, if someone took her, she would’ve screamed right?”
“Not if she didn’t have the chance.” Thomas’s voice was cold.
Henry’s gaze flew to the door. “The shovel was outside. When I went looking for her, it was propped right on the side of the building. Like she’d just gotten bored, left it there and walked away.”
Thomas took a step forward. “We’re going to need that shovel.”
They’d dust it for prints. Maybe they’d get lucky. If the girl’s abductor had touched it with his bare fingers and the guy was in the system, they could get a hit on his identity.
Henry nodded. “Yeah, yeah...” He turned away once more.
Noelle grabbed his arm. “I need you to think very hard for me. When you went outside and you saw that shovel, did you notice anything else?” Snow had fallen since this morning. By now, it would’ve covered any signs left behind by Jenny and her abductor.
Henry frowned down at her hand. “I don’t... I don’t think so.”
“Were there footprints in the snow?” she pressed. “Any vehicles that didn’t belong?”
His eyes narrowed as he glanced back up at her face. “I think I saw one set of footprints leading toward the parking lot. That’s why I thought it was just Jenny leaving.”
One set. Which would imply Jenny had left on her own. Or else her abductor had carried her off.
“You have any customers here who seem particularly interested in girls around Jenny’s age?” This question came from Thomas.
Henry blanched. “No, man, just...no.”
Noelle dropped her hold on him. She wanted to get outside and take a look around that parking lot. “If you think of anything else, let us know.”
“I’ll get the shovel.”
“I’ll get it,” Thomas said. “We don’t want to destroy any evidence that might be left on it.”
“I used it all day,” Henry said as he hurried down the narrow aisle that led to the kitchen. “I didn’t think... I used it all damn day.”
Noelle turned away from the men. Her gaze fixed on the diner’s windows. If Henry had been working in the kitchen when Jenny was taken, no, he wouldn’t have been able to see anything at all out there.
She headed for the front door. The bell jingled again. Noelle shoved her hands into the jacket pockets and glanced around the diner.
Noelle tried to picture Jenny in her mind. Jenny’s mother had brought a photograph of the girl to the station, and Jenny had certainly looked a lot like the images of the other girls they’d found.
A lot like me.
Jenny would’ve been working on that little sidewalk area. Excited and nervous because it was her first day. If someone had approached her, she would’ve just thought it was a customer, coming in early.
So you would’ve talked with him. Let him get close.
Close enough for him to attack her.
One set of footprints...
Her gaze slid to the right, toward the parking lot. The perp would’ve needed to be strong enough to carry Jenny away. And skilled enough to make sure Jenny never had the chance to cry out for help.
Noelle headed toward that parking lot. It was empty now, and the trees that surrounded the area swooped forward, arching in close.
It was a bitterly cold night, and the wilderness stretched as far as Noelle’s eyes could see. If Jenny was out there, she could freeze to death during the night.
Provided the man who took her didn’t kill her first.
Before she’d left the station, Noelle had heard the weather report come in—a bad winter storm was expected. Heavy snowfall. No one should be out on a night like this one, not with the storm coming. It was supposed to hit strongly just after midnight.
I don’t want to find Jenny’s frozen body tomorrow. I don’t want to be the one who has to look into her mother’s tear-filled eyes and tell her that her daughter isn’t coming home again.
A twig snapped, the sound coming from the darkness about twenty feet in front of Noelle. She tensed as adrenaline flooded through her body. That sound could’ve been caused by an animal. It could’ve been caused by anything.
Even a perp who’d come back to the scene of his crime.
Noelle raced forward. Animal or man, she was about to find out exactly who she was dealing with out there. Her hands flew up, and she shoved aside the bushes in her path. She yanked out the flashlight she’d pushed into her coat earlier, and she whipped it up, shining the light.
No one was there.
At least, no one she saw.
But Noelle heard the rush of thudding footsteps, fleeing to the right.
She lunged that direction, but her feet got caught in something, and she twisted, falling down hard. Her left hand shoved into the snow and touched rough, frozen fabric. She yanked it up.
A scarf?
“Noelle!” Thomas’s shout seemed to shake the trees.
She could still hear footfalls. She shined her light down. The snow was falling once more, but...
I see them.
She could see the outline left by a pair of boots. It wasn’t an animal who’d been watching her in the darkness.
Was the scarf Jenny’s? Maybe the perp hadn’t taken Jenny away in a car. Maybe he’d just carried her off. Maybe Jenny was closer than they realized.
“Thomas, follow me!” Noelle called, and she didn’t pause any longer. She raced right after that trail of footprints. The snow would just keep falling as the storm swept in and, soon, would obliterate the tracks. She couldn’t let that watcher get away—not until she found out who the individual was and why that person was in the woods.
The innocent don’t run.
But this guy was sure fleeing fast.
So she just had to be faster.
Chapter Five
Noelle had vanished into the woods. Thomas swore as he gave chase, shining his flashlight on the ground so he could follow her footprints.
He didn’t know why she was running off, but he sure wasn’t about to let her head out alone. Whatever she’d seen, Noelle was desperate to follow that lead.
And he was desperate to follow her.
His feet pounded into the snow. His boots were sinking into the soft fall, and the suction made every step that much harder.
He threw a fast glance over his shoulder. He couldn’t see the lights from the diner, not anymore. There was darkness all around him and—
He glanced forward and his light hit Noelle. She stood in the middle of a clearing, with one of her hands locked around a flashlight and the other hand around her gun. Since she’d lost her own weapon in the icy water, she’d gotten that gun from the sheriff.
“There are two sets of tracks here,” she said, voice tense.
His light flashed to the ground. “Who are we following? Did you get an ID on—”
“I didn’t see him. I heard him, and I followed his footprints, but there are two sets now.”
Two sets, which appeared to be the same size and shape.
“We have to split up,” Noelle said, her words tumbling out. “I think the perp took Jenny into the woods. He didn’t drive away with her. He carried her off. He’s out here now, watching us.”
Leaving a trail for them to follow?
Thomas’s light fell over those prints again. The snowfall was getting harder.
“They’ll be covered soon.” She surged to the right. “You go left. I’ll—”
He grabbed her arm, stopping her. “This is a trap.” He knew it with certainty because he’d laid similar traps before.
Two sets of footprints to throw off those who pursued. To divide them up.
To make the attack easier.
“No, no, he’s here. I heard him.” She twisted her hand, trying to break loose from his hold and the light from her flashlight bobbed. But he didn’t let her go. He couldn’t. “Jenny won’t survive if she’s out in the open! We have to follow him, now!” She tugged again. “You go left. I’ll go right.”
He didn’t let her go anywhere. “There’s more snow to the left.” The tracks were covered just a bit more. Because those tracks had been placed earlier? “We both go right.”
And he led the way, with his flashlight positioned just over his gun. When it came to hunting deadly prey, Thomas was the one with more experience.
But I’ve been with her in the wilderness before. Noelle didn’t remember that terrible night, but he did. There hadn’t been any snow on the ground then. Just a hot, long southern night. A night of fear and death.
It was easy enough for a good hunter to cover his tracks, even out in the snow. Grab a branch, drag it behind you, and your trail was gone.
Whoever they were after... That person wanted them to follow.
Their prey was leading them somewhere. To Jenny? To death?
Thomas was about to show the fool he’d made a serious mistake.
Thomas was never the hunted. He’d been born to be the predator.
* * *
NOELLE EVERS WASN’T DEAD. She wasn’t trapped beneath the frozen waters of the lake. She’d survived.
And she’s hunting me.
He wanted to laugh, but sound carried too easily in the wilderness. He’d snapped that twig for her before because he’d just had to be sure, had to determine with one hundred percent certainty he was looking at Noelle.
The snow had fallen around her. Her red hair had been hidden under her cap. But when she’d called out—
I know her voice.
Noelle had changed so much over the years. Not easy prey any longer. Not like Jenny.
Noelle was following his trail. Hunting him.
She had a weapon. She had training. She was...
Perfect.
But Noelle wasn’t alone. The other agent was with her. Moving like a shadow in the darkness. The man was a killer; he easily recognized the type. Instead of alarming him, the knowledge had his grin stretching even more.
And Lawrence had just wanted me to end them so quickly. Lawrence had never understood. It wasn’t just about the kills. It was about the hunt.
He was about to enjoy the best hunt of his life.
Come to me, Noelle. Come in close, and let’s see if I can make you scream the way I did before.
* * *
THE TRACKS ENDED—vanished into the rough edge of stone that lined the rising wall of a mountain.
“Where did he go?” Noelle spun around, shining her light. Her voice was high, nervous.
Thomas glanced up at the mountain. He suspected the man they were after had climbed up, which meant...
You know this area, well, don’t you? How long have you been hiding in the Alaskan wilderness?
His light hit the edge of the mountain.
“Up there.” Noelle’s voice was fainter now as the wind began to howl more around them. The approaching storm was moving in fast. “We have to follow him!”
She tried to put her hands in the faint ridges between the icy rocks. Thomas pulled her back before she could climb. “We need to head back to town, Noelle.”
Shaking her head, Noelle jerked away from him. “Jenny could be up there! We have to find her!”
“You can’t scale the rocks.” She thought she was going to free hand her way up that frozen surface? Hell, no. She’d fall and break her neck. “We’ll go back to town and get help.” Maybe a chopper could fly them up the mountain. They’d do a search. Look for any cabins that would be a good base site for the man they were after.
“We don’t have time for that. Jenny needs us!”
There was no sign of the man on the face of the mountain. “He might not even be up there.” His gaze turned to the wilderness. “He could be watching us, from out there.”
Noelle shuddered. From cold? From fear?
“We’re not equipped for this search. We need supplies. Dogs.”
“And Jenny needs us!” Noelle shook her head. “I’m not just going to leave her.”
“Are you going to die with her?” His words were brutal, but Thomas had to make her see reason.
Noelle gasped and lurched back a step.
“Because if we stay out in the open, if we keep blindly following this man’s path tonight and that storm hits, you could die. You’re already shaking apart in front of me, and hypothermia will set in before you know it.”
“She needs us,” Noelle said again as her chin notched up.
“And she could be anywhere. We’re going back for the dogs.” He yanked out his phone, but of course, there was no cell service out here. Nothing.
Noelle’s light hit to the left. To the right.
“I can’t just leave her,” Noelle told him.
She was going to have to leave her.
“You stay, you die with her.” There was no way Thomas was going to let that happen on his watch. Even if he had to carry her out of there, Noelle was leaving the woods.
* * *
“I DON’T NEED you anymore.” He let the knife trail over Jenny’s skin. She was crying. Shaking. So useless to him. “You weren’t what I was hoping for.”
It had been because of Noelle. He’d gone a little...mad there for a moment. Forgotten all of his training. That wonderful training and control Lawrence had worked hard to give him over the years.
Lawrence had wanted to use him. He had. For so long.
But Lawrence had made a mistake.
They’re my kills. My choice.
The knife cut through the gag that covered
her mouth.
“P-please...” Jenny begged him. “Let...me go.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“I won’t tell anyone about you! Please!”
Ah, there she went. Making promises. But Jenny knew what he looked like. If she got to Noelle and the other agent, they’d want her to describe her abductor. They’d even sit her down with a sketch artist. Get her to come up with a composite of him.
Then his picture would be everywhere. The EOD would make sure of that.
I know all about the EOD, but they don’t know about me. They have no clue just who—what—I am.
Their mistake. They thought the Jack of Hearts was the greatest threat they had to face. They were wrong. It was time to show them the error of their ways. Time for him to get all of the respect he had coming.
They’d thought Jack was a serial killer?
Jack was nothing.
He stroked the back of his hand over her cheek. “I have plans for you.”
Jenny whimpered.
* * *
“I’M NOT LEAVING HER.” Noelle shook her head, sending snowflakes falling around her. “You go back to town. You find the sheriff and get the dogs out here—”
Thomas shoved his gun into his holster and let his flashlight’s attached cord loop around his wrist as he grabbed both of her shoulders. “You think I’ll just leave you out here to die alone? We’re partners!”
She knew that. “She could be me,” Noelle whispered as she stared up at his face. Her own light was hitting the ground, so she couldn’t see his expression. “I was alone. I was trapped. The only person with me was a dead man.”
His hold tightened on her.
“I was bound to a chair. If the cops hadn’t found me...” A tip. They’d gotten a tip, which no one had ever been able to trace. “I could’ve died in that cabin.” Starved to death, slowly. But Jenny wouldn’t have to worry about death by starvation. Not when it was so bitterly cold outside.
She’ll freeze to death by morning.
“You’re not her.” His voice was grim. “And I’ll be damned if I let you die for her. You are coming with me. One way or—”