Beneath Copper Falls

by Colleen Coble

  “I want to be alone, just the two of us. Maybe at my cabin in the woods so I don’t have to deal with people asking me how I’m doing. I want to be in nature and not be thinking about anything else. Will you come with me?”

  How would they live? They both had jobs and bills. In spite of her questions, she just nodded. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  He smiled then. “You always have. I know you think I’m crazy and are wondering where the money will come from. I have some put back. But I’m not talking about forever. Maybe just a few weeks until I can get my head wrapped around this and make my peace with death.”

  She hoped that meant his peace with God. She intended to do all she could to help him. “When do you want to go?”

  His dark-blue eyes burned with turmoil. “Tonight, right now.”

  “T-Tonight? What about my job?”

  “Call the sheriff and tell him you’ve had a family emergency and have to leave for a couple of weeks. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  She managed a nod. “He would. Mason’s a good man. Okay, I’ll pack some things and call my friends.”

  He shook his head. “Please don’t. I’m not ready for the whole town to know what’s happening. Maybe in a day or two.”

  “But I’m supposed to do some SAR training with Bree tomorrow. She’ll worry when I don’t show up and will probably come by the house. Plus, Mason will tell her about my call. And Boone will be looking for me. We, um, we’re dating.”

  Anger flashed across his face. “I don’t want Boone or anyone else to know right now. We’ll worry about that tomorrow.” He clutched his head in his hands and groaned. “I just have to get away before I go crazy!”

  She patted his shoulder. “Okay, okay, whatever you want. I didn’t even know you had a cabin. Where is it?”

  “I’ve had it about five years. I often go there in the summer when I’m off for a few days. I like to feed the porcupines and chipmunks. It centers me.” He rose and headed for the bedroom. “I’m going to pack. How long will it take you?”

  “No longer than an hour.”

  “Let’s make it half an hour. I’ve got to get out of here.”

  She caught the hysterical edge to his voice and rose. “I can do it.”

  After taking the stairs to the second floor two at a time, she rushed to her room and pulled out her largest suitcase. There was no telling if there was a washer and dryer in the cabin, so she’d better pack enough for two weeks. And what about food? There was no way she could be ready to go in half an hour. In a frenzy, she threw in jeans and sweatshirts atop a jumble of underwear and pajamas. No sense in taking makeup. He might not even have a mirror there. Soap and shampoo were a must though.

  She grabbed her Bible and her Kindle, then packed her computer as well. There probably wasn’t Internet, but she could turn on the hotspot on her phone. Was that it? She glanced around the large bedroom she’d come to love and suffered a pang of homesickness already.

  But Chris needed her. She couldn’t let him down.

  Lugging the heavy suitcase, she descended the stairs and left it in the foyer before heading back to the kitchen. She found Chris at the open refrigerator throwing items into a cooler.

  “I’ll get stuff from the pantry,” she told him.

  He pointed to a blue plastic tub. “You can pack the food in that.”

  She grabbed it and took the tub to the pantry. With both of them moving fast, the clock showed it had taken them just an hour and five minutes to pack. She helped Chris carry it all to his black SUV and loaded Phantom and his food in too. Tears pricked her eyes as they pulled away. The future without Chris wasn’t something she wanted to face.

  CHAPTER 34

  Frustration had nipped on Boone’s heels all afternoon. There hadn’t been cell service at the boathouse, and then he’d had trouble with the rudder, which had to be fixed before he could take his customers back across Copper Lake to his home base.

  Garret had gotten into his truck and left, and Boone was frantic to warn Dana. The boathouse phone had been out, and it was after six and dark by the time they got back across the lake. Two messages from Morgan were on his phone too.

  Kyle had complained about the delay in getting home, but Amber had reminded him it wasn’t Boone’s fault. The family thanked him and hurried to their van as soon as they docked. Boone secured the boat, then whipped out his cell phone and called Dana. After four rings, he was dumped into voice mail. He left a message asking her to call him, then carried the gear into the office. She was probably at work and couldn’t answer her phone.

  He locked the office, then went over to his cabin. Spirit greeted him at the door. His dog usually came with him, but Amber had been frightened of his wolflike looks so Boone left Spirit at home. The dog paused long enough for a scratch on the ears, then rushed out the door. Boone heated up some soup and made himself a peanut butter sandwich, then let Spirit back in. He carried his dinner into the living room to watch the news while he ate.

  An hour later, Dana still hadn’t returned his call. He tried again and still got only voice mail. There was no choice. He’d have to try the dispatch office directly. There was an alternate number so he didn’t tie up 911 so he punched it in.

  “Dispatch, this is Tracie.”

  He’d met Tracie Pitt a few times. “Tracie, this is Boone Carter. Is Dana busy?”

  “Her brother called her home even though we needed her here.” She sounded miffed. “The phones are crazy tonight. Probably because it’s a full moon.”

  His stomach clenched. Chris knew Boone was suspicious. Surely he wouldn’t hurt his sister though. Boone shook his head. If Dana was missing, Garret was the mostly likely culprit. Chris loved Dana. “Has anyone tried to call her or gone by her place?”

  “I don’t think so. Why would we? Her brother called her around four and asked her to come home. Dana was worried it was something serious.”

  “I’m going to run over there. I’ll let Mason know if I find out anything.” He ended the connection, then called Bree. “Hey, Bree, you heard from Dana?”

  “No, not tonight. Why?”

  Boone told her what he’d found out about Garret still being around, but he didn’t mention his suspicions about Chris. “I guess I’d better head over there. I’m worried. What if Garret grabbed her on her way back to the dispatch office?”

  “You sure you’re not overreacting just because she isn’t answering her phone?”

  “I don’t trust Garret.”

  “Me neither. I’ll come too. We’ll see if Samson noses out anything. I don’t have a key to Chris’s house though, do you?”

  “No, but that won’t stop me.” He promised to meet Bree at the house in fifteen minutes. Grabbing his coat, he called Spirit and took him along. If Garret had Dana, Boone would need all the help he could get.

  The roads were slick as he rounded the curves into town. Bree’s Jeep already sat at the curb behind Dana’s Prius, and she stood on the stoop with Samson. If Dana’s car was here, why hadn’t she answered the phone? Boone got out and waited for Spirit to leap out behind him.

  Tail wagging, Samson came to sniff noses with Spirit. “You try knocking?” he asked Bree who was huddled in an army-green coat.

  She nodded. “No answer so I pounded on the door and shouted her name. I also looked in the windows, but the place appears to be empty.”

  “And her car is here.”

  Bree nodded. “Doesn’t look good. I’m scared Garret has grabbed her.”

  “I’m going to call Mason.” Boone pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in the sheriff’s number. “He’s on his way,” he said when he ended the call. “Let me try calling Chris.” But the call went straight to voice mail.

  Boone went to the front door and jiggled the handle. With Mason on his way here, he knew breaking in the door was out of the question. “I’m going to go around back and look in the kitchen. Maybe the door’s unlocked.”

  She nodded. “I’ll wai
t here for Mason.”

  The three-story brick building sat on the corner, so he skirted the side of the house and tromped through the snow in the minuscule backyard. There was a small deck back here with a gas grill and a tiny table with two chairs. He tried the door, but it was locked. The kitchen light was still on though, so he moved to the window and cupped his hands around his eyes to peer in.

  The pantry door stood open, and dinner plates still sat on the granite counters. Several boxes of macaroni and cheese sat on the counter closest to the pantry. It almost looked as if Dana had left in too much of a hurry to clean up. Something about the scene made his gut clench.

  He retraced his steps and found Bree starting for the side of the house. He told her about the kitchen scene.

  He turned at the sweep of lights along the dark street and saw the sheriff pulling to a stop behind his truck. “Maybe Mason will have an idea.”

  He trusted Chris like a mouse trusted a hawk. Garret’s initial burst of elation ebbed as he stared out over the water from the back deck and watched the sun plunge into Lake Superior. There was more to this situation than it appeared. Chris had no reason to reunite Garret and Dana. There was no logic to it, and Chris was one of the most logical men Garret knew. His chess moves were legendary with their unit, and he had understood more about ambushes and how to avoid them than most generals.

  What was Chris’s endgame?

  Garret had thought to abandon his initial plan about Dana and see if they could build a future together, but a dark rage swelled up in his chest. He’d always prided himself on being a realist. No amount of wishing would change what Dana had done. She’d tossed his love back into his teeth. She deserved punishment.

  He’d be saving any future boyfriend from being taken in by her beauty and sweet manner. It was all a facade hiding her true nature. She didn’t care for anyone but herself. She never had. Any love he’d thought he’d seen in her eyes was all a sham.

  She’d proven that when she tricked him into meeting her with her new man.

  He shook his head and went back inside. Time to put his plan into action.

  Garret took off his coat and tossed it onto the table, then went to the garage and found the two ropes he’d bought two days ago. He slung them around his shoulder, then grabbed the ladder hanging on the garage wall. He carried it inside and stood it under the great beam in the massive living room. Tying a bowline knot came back to him easily, and he secured the first rope on the beam, then did the same with the second, placing it about three feet from the first.

  He climbed down the ladder and looked at his handiwork. The rope ends touched the floor, giving him plenty of room to tie the slipknots on this end.

  But how did he get her here? Chris’s involvement had messed up Garret’s plans. There was no time to grab her after work, so how would he snatch her from Chris? He didn’t dare just go along with Chris’s plan. Garret would show up and Chris would likely blow his head off.

  What if he headed to Rock Harbor now and staked out the Newell house? He could follow Chris and Dana from a distance and figure out where they were heading.

  He couldn’t use the old pickup though. The owners of this place would never know he’d taken their Lexus for a little spin. Surely spare keys were around somewhere. He went to the kitchen and rummaged in the drawers. No keys. Half an hour later he was ready to admit defeat until he got to the garage. Maybe, just maybe, they were in the car.

  Bingo. He found a key ring under the mat on the driver’s side. Now to gather some tools he might need. He made sure his pistol was fully loaded, then grabbed a hammer and an ax from the array of tools along the wall. He might need one of them to break a window.

  He took a roll of duct tape from the workbench as well. Dana might object to going with him, and duct tape was perfect for securing her hands. And her mouth. His last piece of equipment was a ski mask. It was a cold night and no one would think it strange to see a driver in a ski mask.

  With everything stowed on the floor in the back, he opened the garage door and looked at the dash to orient himself. His gaze lit on a radio. Was that a police radio? Maybe the house owner was in law enforcement. He flipped it on and listened to the reports of a break-in at a local café. Grinning, he did a fist pump. Nothing about him on the frequency. For now, he turned off the radio and thought through his strategy.

  The stars weren’t out yet as he drove along the narrow highway to Rock Harbor. Traffic was light as he drove down Houghton Street toward Quincy. He slowed as he turned at the light, then braked. Several cars, including the sheriff’s, were parked outside the house. What the—?

  He gawked at several people with dogs standing around outside. The sheriff talked to them, and he wore a serious expression. Had something happened to Dana? Garret leaned forward and flipped on the police scanner. He winced at the squawk and turned it down.

  The broadcast was filled with small incidents—nothing that referred to Dana. How would he find out what was going on? Garret slammed his palms against the steering wheel. He couldn’t wait around for the law to lead him to Dana.

  He grabbed his phone and called a friend who worked for the police department in Chicago. In five minutes he knew where Chris’s cabin was located.

  And he had a very strong suspicion Chris and Dana were both there. Once the sheriff and his minions were inside the house, Garret pulled away and headed toward Chassell. It was only an hour drive, but the storm was due to start in about an hour. He accelerated once he reached the highway and sped north.

  CHAPTER 35

  M-26 was a familiar highway to her, but with the dark night and empty road it somehow felt alien. Dana glanced several times at her brother, but his flexed jaw and tight lips warned her against starting a conversation. She had to fight tears and still couldn’t wrap her head around his diagnosis.

  She bit her lip and realized she’d never called Mason. She fumbled for her phone in the pocket of her coat but came up empty-handed. Where was it? She was sure she’d left it there. “Have you seen my phone?”

  “I took it out of your coat and left it on the table. I don’t want us to be disturbed.”

  Anger burned up her neck, but she fought to control her response. She didn’t want the tension to escalate. “I didn’t let Mason know where I was. The office will be worried when I don’t show up tomorrow.”

  Chris didn’t answer, and he whipped the SUV to the left. Her head slammed into the window. Stars exploded in her vision and pain burst in her forehead.

  “Sorry.”

  There wasn’t any true remorse in his tone. She inhaled and pressed her throbbing head against the cold glass. What was his problem? She was beginning to be frightened at the way he was acting.

  She wasn’t ready to admit defeat. They’d fight this cancer. She’d talk him into seeing someone who could try an alternative method, maybe in Mexico or Europe. This couldn’t be the death sentence it seemed.

  They’d been driving through the darkness for nearly an hour, and she needed a break. The lights of what she thought was Houghton lay ahead. “You mind if we stop at the next gas station? I want to get something to drink and visit the restroom.”

  He glanced at her, then shook his head. “No need. We’re nearly there.”

  The SUV slowed, and he whipped the wheel to turn the vehicle right onto a dirt road. The potholes caused him to slow the vehicle to a crawl, but the SUV still bottomed out several times as it crept along the icy track of road.

  “Where does this lead?” She’d never been in this area before.

  “I have a cabin on Keweenaw Bay. It’s nice and quiet where I can think.” He pounded the steering wheel with both hands. “I have to think! My life is unraveling all at once, and I can’t stop it. Boone will pay for this.”

  “Boone? What’s he got to do with anything?” She curled her fingers into her palms and forced back a gulp. “It’s okay, Chris. We’ll figure it out together. Don’t think about it right now.”

  The h
eadlights punched holes in the darkness, but it wasn’t enough to make the area seem familiar in any way. The evergreen trees loomed in weird, leering ways. She clutched the door handle. “Look, Chris, let’s just go back, okay? I want to talk to your doctor and see what can be done. It can’t be as bad as you think.”

  “It’s worse, Dana, much worse.”

  At least he’d calmed down, but his voice was flat and wooden, and something about it raised the hair on the back of her neck. Had he had some kind of breakdown at the news?

  The thick trees began to thin, and she caught a glimmer of water. A tiny cabin sat at the end of the lane. He parked beside the cabin and shut off the engine.

  Dana opened her door and stepped out into the wind blowing off the bay. She let Phantom out of the back and headed to the cabin. The snowpack crunched under her feet, and her breath steamed the air. This was probably beautiful in the daylight, but tonight with the way Chris was behaving she felt only trepidation as she looked out at the black water.

  “Is it unlocked?”

  “Nope.” He tossed her a key ring, then grabbed a lantern and turned it on. “You can unlock the door while I grab the cooler of food.”

  She nodded and went toward the cabin. The key turned easily in the lock, and she opened the door and stepped inside. It was cold, not much warmer than the outside. She looked around for a thermostat but there was none.

  Chris stomped the snow from his boots, and she moved out of the way. “The heat isn’t on.”

  “I’ll build a fire in a minute.”

  “Running water?”

  He shook his head. “An outhouse on the other side of the cabin.”

  She shuddered. “Mom and Dad used to come for a weekend away to the Hamar House in Chassell. We could see if they have room. We can’t stay here with no running water. It’s one thing in the summer, but traipsing to the outhouse in minus-twenty degrees doesn’t sound like much fun.”