by H. L. Wegley
“What now, Kate?”
“Let’s hope they’re gone for a while. You watch for them, I’m going inside.”
“No. You can’t.” His whisper was fierce, like an animal growling.
“Lighten up. We’re on our honeymoon.”
“This isn’t a joking matter. You’re not going to break into the room, Kate. If we’re arrested, it would blow our cover. Besides, they would put two and two together soon enough. If the police here turned us loose, those two would kill us.”
“You’re right. Besides breaking in would be a crime. But maybe…”
Katie sat down in the seat at the end of the hallway again. She pulled out her netbook while Josh watched for the couple in case they returned.
She sent several pings to the computer and then tried some additional signals. “We’re in luck. It wasn’t hibernating. I can wake it up. Keep watch while I break through his firewall.”
“I’m watching.”
She looked up at Josh’s tense face, his gaze locked on the stairwell.
“That won’t do. You look like a man going to the gallows. Not a honeymooner. Put your arm around me and close your eyes half way.”
His strong arm pulled her shoulder to his side.
“That’s better.”
Josh held her snugly while she hacked furiously for ten minutes.
“I’m in.” She pressed her lips together.
“Hurry, Kate.”
Katie perused the hard drive where she found several files of interest. She transferred them to her machine, and then located the email client. She downloaded his repository of email messages. “I think I’ve got all we need. Now we need to get out of here before that nice, Middle-Eastern-looking couple returns.” She stood, dropping her netbook into her purse.
Josh stood beside her with his arm around her shoulders. “Too late, Kate. They just entered the hallway. What now?” he whispered.
Katie tried to appear calm as she stood facing Josh. She put her arms around his neck.
“Kate, what are—”
“Kiss me, Josh, and you’d better hurry. They’re looking our way,” she whispered into his ear.
His head didn’t move.
“Do it now, Josh.”
Slowly, Josh closed the distance between their faces, pressed his lips against hers and then pulled his head back.
“Not very convincing. We’re supposed to be newlyweds. Do you call that a kiss?” She pulled his lips to hers.
Part way through the kiss she had initiated, Josh got into his part, really into it.
For a few seconds Katie ceased acting as feelings entirely new to her took her breath away. She pulled her lips from Josh’s and was breathing hard when she glanced at the man and the woman unlocking the door to the room.
The man muttered something about shameless Americans.
But the woman smiled at her, then followed the dark-haired man into the room.
Katie looked up into Josh’s wide eyes.
He was doing some heavy breathing, too.
“We need to get out of here, Josh.”
“Kate, I really…I mean—”
“Save it for later. Let’s hurry to the car and—”
The door to the room flew open. The man’s head stuck out, scanning the hallway. She and Josh were the only people in the hall.
When the man’s gaze reached her and Josh, it locked onto them.
He spoke loudly in a foreign language to the woman, and then glared at them.
The man must’ve realized someone woke up his computer.
“Run. We’ve got to take the fire escape.” She yanked Josh’s arm and the two sprinted to the nearby fire exit sign. Katie pushed Josh through the door, and then glanced down the hallway behind them.
The woman ran the other way to the stairwell.
The man broke into a run, sprinting toward them. His hand held what looked like a gun.
11
“He’s got a gun.” Kate’s voice sounded too calm for such an out-of-control situation.
Josh took the fire escape steps three at a time. He jumped the last five feet to the ground, his knees buckling from the impact.
Kate landed beside him and ran past him toward the Village Stroll.
This main walkway through Whistler Village was filled with tourists. Would the gunmen attack with potential witnesses everywhere?
“Hurry, Josh!” Kate reached back and grabbed his arm. “His gun is still out.”
She was right. Witnesses might not deter this guy. Kate had probably given him several reasons to kill them when she hacked his computer. But what had happened to the woman?
When he glanced northward along the Stroll, a dark-complexioned woman loped toward them, dodging tourists as she bore down on them.
“Kate, the woman’s coming up behind us.”
Kate surged ahead, running into a large opening in the village with three potential paths ahead of them.
The man emerged between two buildings to their west. Correction. Only two available paths.
“Follow me.” Kate sprinted southward toward the base of Whistler Mountain. “My surprise was tickets for us to ride the gondolas. Maybe we can jump on board and lose them on the mountain.”
Josh ran hard to stay close behind her. “What if there’s a waiting line for the gondolas?”
“This isn’t a time to be courteous. We crowd.”
They sprinted between two buildings, emerging into a large open area with the gondolas for Whistler Peak straight ahead. And there was a line of people. A long line.
Kate took his hand and raced through the crowd milling around the gondola terminal, pulling him with her.
“Excuse us, please. Urgent business,” she said as they ran to the front of the line. She slowed when they approached a red gondola rounding the loading loop.
The people let them pass.
Kate flashed some tickets she had evidently purchased online. They jumped into the gondola when the door opened.
Josh spun around and looked through the wrap-around Plexiglas windows toward the line of people behind them. As the door latched shut on the gondola, Josh spotted the man and the woman crowding to the front of the line. Another gondola swung around behind them. It contained a family, but the gunman and the woman stood ready to take the next car.
“Their two cars back, Kate. Do you know this run?”
“We stop halfway up the mountain, and then the chairlift takes us to the top of Whistler Peak or…”
He waited. “Or what?”
“We switch to the peak to peak gondolas.”
“The peak to peak? This is serious, Kate. We’ve got to lose them. If they catch us, or even get one gondola behind us, they can—”
“I know, Josh. I’m working on that.”
“Just don’t work too long.”
“How far can you run?”
He looked at Kate’s long, slender but muscular legs. She was an incredible athlete, a star on the women’s softball team. She could probably run him into the ground. “I’m good for three or four miles.”
“How about eight or nine miles down the mountain road to the village?”
“If we have to. What were you thinking about the peak to peak ride?”
“It’s a little bit risky.”
“So far, just being with you is risky. It can’t get much worse than—”
“Thanks a lot, Josh.” Kate’s brilliant blue eyes shot him a sharp glance.
They needed a plan, and he needed to rely on Kate. She was the one who had experience with dangerous people and dangerous situations. “Tell me about how we use the peak to peak run to lose these two terrorists or foreign agents, whoever they really are?”
“OK. At the end of this run, when our gondola opens, we jump out and sprint around to the peak to peak run, get in, and lay flat on the floor. Before they can possibly find us, we’ll be fifteen hundred feet above the valley on our way to Blackcomb.”
“What if they suspect tha
t’s how we got away?”
“It’s not like that’s our only option. We could continue up to Whistler Peak and lose them on the mountain, or run down the mountain on the bike trail.”
“How long does it take to ride the peak to peak to Blackcomb?”
“Less than fifteen minutes. I know what you’re worried about, Josh. They could ride back to the village, and then wait for us at the base of the Blackcomb lift.”
He nodded.
“We’ve got some decisions to make, Josh. Our lives, and who knows what else, are on the line here. We need some help.” She took a deep breath, exhaled, and closed her eyes.
“Please don’t tell me you’re praying. Use your head. We need your intellect, Kate, not your wishful thinking.”
Kate’s brow wrinkled forming two deep lines. “I’m using the ultimate intellect. He’s always accessible if you really want to know Him.”
“I want to know that you and I have a plan to elude that couple who pointed their guns at us.”
She gave him a sharp glance, and then shook her head. “Josh…never mind.” Kate’s head dropped and her mind went someplace, to some Person, who existed only in her imagination.
What a shame.
Even more so because her misplaced trust could get them killed.
Her face and body appeared to relax. The frown lines faded. Kate looked at peace and her beauty in that moment claimed his breath. Claimed his mind. And tugged hard on his heart.
What if she really—no. Kate’s faith was blind and baseless. He would have to take charge or their escape attempt could go badly…very badly.
Kate raised her head and opened her eyes.
“Kate, you didn’t answer my question.” His voice sounded like an attorney attacking an uncooperative witness. “What if they’re waiting for us at Blackcomb?”
“It’s OK.” She laid a hand on his shoulder. “We’re not going to get off there.”
“But, Kate—”
“Listen. We’ll ride the peak to peak back to Whistler Mountain. As long as we can catch the peak to peak ride without them seeing us, and as long as we’re on that gondola, we’re safe.”
“Sort of.” He shook his head.
She squeezed his shoulder. “There’s a way to keep us safe. I have it on good authority that—”
“Enough, Kate! No more nonsense. I’m taking charge—”
Kate’s hand squeezed with incredible strength.
He grunted when the intense pain took him to his knees.
“I’m sorry, Josh. But I needed to get your attention. This is a good plan. Are you listening now?”
“Yeah. I’m listening.”
A tall, slender girl had just incapacitated him. His anger stopped a little short of the boiling point. He wouldn’t fight Kate, at least not yet.
“Here’s the plan.” Kate pursed her lips and studied his eyes. Her gaze grew so intense it felt as though she was reading his heart and his mind.
His sense of vulnerability grew uncomfortable. He averted his gaze.
She raised her hand.
He flinched.
She brushed his cheek softly. “It’s OK. I understand. I’ve been right where you are now. Filled with doubts and concerns. Then Jenn…Mom saved my life.”
“I’ve heard stories about her at the U.”
“Those stories probably didn’t include the role her faith played.”
“Kate, just tell me the plan. We’re only five minutes from the terminal.”
“The second our gondola door opens we sprint around the terminal building and out of their sight. We should be able to reach the peak to peak terminal without them spotting us, or at least, with a big lead.”
“So that buys us nearly fifteen minutes. Then what?”
“When we reach the terminal on Blackcomb, we stay on board. If you were to maybe…kiss me again, no one will bother us. Once we’re away we have about fifteen more minutes of relative safety.”
“Relative?”
“Well, they could pass us going the other way, but—”
“They could shoot us as they go by and no one would know until it was too late.”
“I doubt they’d hit us. Especially if you do your job.”
“Which is?”
“Watch for them in each approaching gondola. If you see them, we lay on the floor until they pass. They probably won’t see us, but if they do, the metal around the base of the car should protect us. Besides it’s not an easy shot with a handgun, the motion, the distance—”
“So now you’re an expert on guns, too?” He wanted the words back the moment they left his mouth.
The flash of anger on Kate’s face only added to his remorse.
She drew a deep breath and stared out the window at the snowcapped mountains to the west. “I know a bit about guns. I’ve had several shot at me and…” Kate’s face turned toward him. Their gazes locked. “I told you that I killed a sex trafficker with an AK-47.”
Who was this woman? “You’re not like an agent in training or something are you?”
“No. Now get ready to run. The terminal is just ahead.”
“I’m ready, but I still don’t know how we get away or what we’re buying with your plan.”
“I’ll explain more in a few minutes. Now, we sprint forty yards ahead, and cut to our left around the building. Let’s lose those two goons.”
When the car slowed inside the terminal, a loud click sounded and the door popped open.
Kate took his hand and leaped out the door onto the concrete landing.
When she sprinted ahead, Josh strained to match her stride. He knew Kate Brandt was an athlete, but was only beginning to realize how exceptional she really was.
They cut hard left before the trailing gondola opened. The one behind it contained the two gunmen. Kate’s strategy was working. It would keep them out of sight. With a little luck, maybe they would lose the couple bent on killing them.
“Forget your manners, Josh. We’ll cut in at the head of the line and jump through the first door that opens.”
“But what if the people—”
“Let me handle that.” Kate smiled at him as they ran. “But I’m afraid that I’ll have to ask to be forgiven afterward.”
They dodged a muddy area below a melting glacier.
“You don’t need forgiveness when someone is trying to—”
“Yes, I do. And you need it, too. For your entire life.”
“Kate—”
“Save it for later. There’s a gondola coming in and the door is about to trip.” She pointed ahead. “Cut off the old lady at the head of the line.”
“An old lady? Are you sure about—”
“Do it, Josh.”
Kate ran in front of the spry looking, white-haired woman. “Ma’am.” Kate waved her ring finger in front of the woman’s face. “Can we cut in and ride alone?” She tugged on Josh’s hand.
The woman smiled and waved them on.
Kate leaped into the gondola.
Her leap yanked Josh forward. He tripped and tumbled forward onto the concrete under the gondola track.
When he regained his footing, the car had rounded the corner. Josh jumped up onto the landing and sprinted alongside the car. He caught up with the gondola. But the door had snapped shut. Kate’s face stared wide-eyed through the Plexiglas at him as the gondola exited the terminal building.
He would be left behind. Left behind with the two armed terrorists and without the person he needed most right now, Kate Brandt.
12
“Josh!” Katie screamed as she exited the terminal building. Her heart drummed out panic as she stared at Josh running beside the gondola. She wanted with all her heart to be able to grab him and pull him in beside her. But she was locked in the car. He was locked out, and two agents, probably terrorists, were only a few seconds behind. The sick feeling in the pit of Katie’s stomach threatened to grow into full-fledged nausea.
The gondola dropped downward, following
the sagging cables.
Josh accelerated, gathered himself and leaped when he reached the end of the concrete landing.
No! He couldn’t do that. And if he succeeded—the result was unthinkable.
A loud thump sounded on top of the car. Josh’s shoes hung down near the top of the window, pawing for traction as he clung to something on top. His shoes moved upward and disappeared. Raspy sounds came through the roof as he moved around on top of the cabin.
The mountainside dropped away as the gondola moved out into the nothingness between the two peaks.
Another loud thump sounded on top, then silence.
The ground receded farther. Five hundred feet or more below treetops and large boulders protruded from Whistler Mountain.
“Kate, can you hear me?” Josh’s voice was clear, but muted.
“Are you all right, Josh?”
“For the moment. But I can’t move around or I might fall off.”
“Why, Josh? Why did you—”
“I had to. Can you open the door from inside?”
How could that help? Josh would fall off if he left the center of the gondola’s top and tried to climb down inside. And what would happen if they passed one of those lift towers? There surely would be more lift towers when they approached Blackcomb.
She tried to gather her wits and scanned the car for some way to open the door. As she suspected, there was none. No one would design a gondola that a passenger could open while they moved along nearly two thousand feet above the ground.
“There’s no way to open it from inside.”
“I was just hoping.” Josh’s voice lowered. He mumbled some words.
She couldn’t hear them.
His voice grew louder. “I think I see how the tripping mechanism works the door. Kate, move away from the door. I’m going to climb up the ladder on the carriage. From there I can reach the lever that works the door.”
“You’d better be careful, Joshua West or…or I’ll kill you. I swear it!”
“You’re funny, Kate. Really funny. Are you away from the door?”
“Yes.”
A metallic clank sounded.
Katie stopped breathing.
“Ouch!”
“What happened?”
“Jammed my finger on the doggone thing. It’s harder to work than I thought.”