by Sharon Dunn
The dog was so loud it sounded like it was at their heels. The forest grew denser. The trees were close enough together that it slowed their progress. Heather glanced over her shoulder. She could still hear the dog but not see it.
Jordan patted Zane on the shoulder and pointed. “Go on up ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”
They hurried through the thick grove of barren aspen trees.
Heather jogged as she spoke. “How do we know he’s not leading us into a trap?”
Zane pushed through the trees staring straight ahead. “Things happened. I think Jordan’s becoming disillusioned with Willis.”
Was Zane seeing that in his brother because it was true or because it was what he so desperately wanted?
The barking of the dog grew farther away. Jordan must have pointed the searchers in a different direction. A few minutes passed and Jordan came running through the trees. “I’ve thrown them off for now. Come this way.”
Jordan led them through the forest.
Heather felt a tightness in her chest. Where was Jordan taking them? He must know that Zane had the bomb component. If that was all he wanted, he could just shoot them. As far gone as Jordan had seemed, maybe even he couldn’t shoot his brother. Could that small piece of humanity be left inside of him?
Her anxious thoughts tumbled one over the other. Finally, she planted her feet. “Where are you taking us?”
Jordan turned toward her. She thought she saw a flare of anger in his eyes. “We’ve only got a few minutes before that dog picks up the trail again. We need to keep moving.”
Zane squeezed her hand and then took off running. She chose to follow even as she battled uncertainty. The grove of aspens ended, and they stepped toward a rocky incline. Jordan climbed with ease up the incline. Heather held out a hand and gripped a jagged rock. Jordan hadn’t asked for Zane’s gun. Maybe he did intend to help them.
A chill ran down her spine when she thought of the gun pressed against her temple and the coldness she’d seen in Jordan’s eyes. She wanted to believe they weren’t being set up. All the same, fear made it hard for her to keep going.
The rocky area leveled off. She glanced down below, where she saw several men and the dog headed up the same winding trail they were on.
“They’re gaining on us.”
Jordan and Zane’s response was to walk faster. Heather fought to keep up on the narrow trail. The brush was thick enough down below that she could only see their pursuers in quick flashes, which meant the pursuers wouldn’t have a clear view of them either.
The barking of the dog intensified.
“They’re getting too close,” she shouted up ahead.
Jordan turned and lurched toward Heather. She took a step back as her heart pounded against her rib cage. He grabbed her at the elbows, sending shock waves of fear through her. Zane came toward them.
In his usual gruff manner, Jordan pulled Heather toward him and then pushed her in Zane’s direction. “Take her and hide up there behind those rocks. Hurry.”
Zane gathered her into his arms, but her panic levels were still high from having been manhandled by Jordan.
Zane whispered in her ear, “It’s going to be okay.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. A man didn’t change years of ingrained thinking in a few days.
They slipped behind the rocks, shoulders pressed close together, just as their pursuers arrived.
She could catch only bits and pieces of what Jordan said to the group of searchers, but it sounded like he was rerouting them and suggesting they go in a different direction because of what he had seen.
One of the men in the group seemed to protest Jordan’s order.
Jordan raised his voice to shouting level. “What I say goes.”
The dog continued to bark excitedly.
Zane leaned close to her as the wind buffeted around them. His hand slipped into hers. She had no idea what Jordan was up to, but she knew she could trust the man who crouched beside her. They waited for a long moment as the barking of the dog faded.
Jordan popped his head around the rock. “Come on, hurry.”
Why did Jordan insist that they simply follow him blindly? Why couldn’t he explain what he had in mind, where he was taking them?
Fear gripped her heart.
Jordan led them up another incline without saying anything more. He stopped midway down the other side of the mountain and looked around.
Heather turned nervously from one side and then to the other, half expecting armed men to emerge through the trees.
Jordan walked over to a distinctive white rock and then counted out ten paces before dropping to his knees. He turned and looked at Zane. “Give me a hand here.”
Jordan started to clear away rocks and debris from a flat area. Zane knelt beside his brother and began to help. So did Heather. Gradually a steel plate came into view.
Jordan pulled a knife off his belt, flicked it open and used it to twist a dial on the steel plate. Jordan pushed the plate open and pulled out a bag. He tossed what looked like packets of food toward Heather and Zane. “Take this GPS.” He threw a small velvet bag in their direction. “There are coordinates programmed into it that will take you the high point on the mountain range above the river. You’ll find a stash of paragliding equipment there. Flying over that river is the only way you can avoid Willis.”
Jordan closed the lid to the steel box and screwed it shut. All of them worked again to cover it with leaves and dirt. Once they were finished, they stood. Jordan patted his brother on the shoulder. “I need to get out of here before I’m missed.”
Zane leaned toward his brother as though to give him a hug. Jordan stepped away, turned and disappeared down the trail.
Heather let out a breath, not sure what to think or believe.
Zane opened the bag with the GPS device and then studied the mountain. “We’d better get moving. We have about half a day’s hike ahead of us.”
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“We don’t have a lot of choice here, Heather.” A tone of defensiveness colored Zane’s words. He skirted past her and took off walking.
She startled when she heard a rustling in the forest.
Zane came up beside her, drawing a protective arm across her back and cupping her shoulder. “Wild animal, maybe. Just keep moving.”
They continued on the trail at a little quicker pace, running single file on the narrow path. Suddenly, two men jumped out on the path in front of them. Each held a gun.
They turned to run in the other direction.
Two more armed men stepped out onto the trail, blocking their path of escape.
Behind those two men stood Willis. “Well, well, well...what have we here?”
SIXTEEN
Zane could not believe what he was seeing. The emotional devastation nearly made him drop to his knees. They’d been surrounded—as if Willis had known their location all along. Had his brother betrayed him? At the core of his being, he didn’t want to believe that was true.
Willis rubbed his buzz cut and stroked his clean-shaven jaw. “I think you have something I need.”
Zane’s thoughts felt muddled. He couldn’t let go of what Jordan had done. Was it really possible? But he knew he had to push those feelings aside to focus on the danger of their situation. Once Willis got the magnesium strip, both he and Heather would be shot.
One of the men holding a rifle leaned close to Willis. “You want me to search him?”
Willis waved his hand. “I am sure Mr. Scofield will give me what I want of his own free will.”
Willis could just shoot them both and search his lifeless body for the component. With Willis, though, everything was about domination and control. And right now he wanted Zane to surrender the st
rip and admit he was beaten.
The back of Heather’s hand brushed his, then she slanted her gaze down the mountainside.
“You win, Willis.” Zane shot her a quick look and then reached inside his jacket as though to pull something out.
With all eyes—and guns—pointed at Zane, Heather leaped off the trail and down into the thick trees. Zane followed. A few seconds passed before the gunfire started. The abundance of narrow lodgepole pine provided them with a degree of cover, though the mountainside was so steep they were practically sliding down. Would the men follow them into the treacherous terrain or run on the trail and try to meet up with them at the bottom?
His guess was that Willis would split his forces. Two down the steep mountainside and two on the trail.
The hillside became so steep that both he and Heather sat down and slid rather than trying to run, braking with their hands to keep from going too fast. A gunshot broke up the dirt close to his feet. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw movement through the trees.
They continued to slide until the trail came back into view. Both of them jumped to their feet and started running. He heard shouting behind them. Another gunshot ricocheted off a tree close to Heather. She grabbed his arm. Her eyes were filled with fear. He patted her upper arm trying to reassure her. “Just keep going.”
Their feet pounded the trail as they struggled to move faster.
The trail lengthened out into a long straightaway. The men were only twenty yards behind them. He and Heather headed back into the thick of the woods. The mountainside was not as steep here, but it was still way more treacherous than the trail.
Heather’s foot caught beneath a root. She fell forward. Zane reached out and caught her, but the fall had cost them precious seconds. One of the men stepped out, aiming his gun at them.
He and Heather turned to head up the mountain into thick cover of the forest, but the second man stepped through the trees aiming his gun at them, as well.
The second man said, “Put your hands in the air. You best be heading down to the trail.”
Both Zane and Heather complied. Zane’s heart still raced from exertion and adrenaline. He fought off the impending sense that they were defeated and without hope. There had to be a way out. There had to be a way to stop Willis.
One of the men walked a few paces away and spoke into a radio. The man who was left to guard them looked like he was fairly young, maybe in his early twenties. His beard was splotchy and his eyes darted around nervously. His white eyebrows contrasted with his red hair.
“Can I put my hands down?” Heather said. “I’m getting tired.”
The redheaded man nodded. “Just don’t try anything.”
Heather let her arms fall. Zane did the same. The man on the radio stopped talking and turned to face them again, aiming the gun at Zane. The redhead had his gun on Heather.
They waited for what seemed like an eternity. And then footsteps sounded on the trail above them.
From behind, they heard applause. And then Willis’s voice. “A valiant effort. I taught you well, Zane. Just like I taught your brother.”
The last comment was intended to cut through Zane’s heart. The possibility that his brother had betrayed him weakened him even more.
“Both of you turn around and face me.”
They turned slowly. Rage boiled to the surface when he saw the smirk on Willis’s face, but Zane held it in check. Any sort of outburst could be deadly.
Willis held out his hand. “So, I think you have something I want.”
Zane didn’t move. His mind reeled, struggling to find a solution, but with three guns trained on them at close range, there was no way out that he could see.
Willis shook his head and made a tsking noise. “Not going to give it up, huh?”
Willis signaled the older of the two men, who opened his revolver and emptied it of all the bullets but one. He then dived and grabbed Heather by the hair, pushing her to the ground. She cried out when her knees impacted with the hard packed dirt of the trail. The man raised the gun to the back of Heather’s head.
Zane’s heart lurched. “I’ll give it to you.”
They were going to die anyway. Heather didn’t need to go through the torture of roulette again.
“Very good,” said Willis.
“It’s in my inside pocket. I’ll have to unzip it.”
“I’m waiting,” said Willis.
Zane reached inside his coat. He had a thought that he could just pull the strip out and toss it down the mountain. But once the strip was gone, he and Heather were dead. And there was too much risk the men would still be able find it.
His fingers grazed over the GPS device Jordan had led them to. Willis had not asked for the device. Did that mean he didn’t know about it? Maybe Zane would die here today, but he refused to believe that his brother had betrayed him. Maybe Willis had been tracking them for some time and Jordan had had nothing to do with it.
He reluctantly handed over the component to Willis. Willis didn’t even make eye contact as he walked away and barked orders at the two men. “I have a schedule to keep. We need to be in town by tomorrow morning.” He put the component in his pocket. “I have no more need for these two. Do away with them.” He cupped the shoulder of the redheaded man. “Earn your stripes.”
Willis trotted down the trail, rounded a curve and disappeared.
Both men looked at each other. The older one only had one bullet in his gun, and the younger one didn’t look like he could kill a rabbit.
“Turn around and get on the ground by your girlfriend,” said the older man. Heather lifted her head to look at Zane.
This could not be the end for them. There had to be a way out. The older man opened the cylinder of his revolver to reload it, reaching into his pocket for the bullets.
Zane stepped as though he were going to move toward Heather but instead lunged at the redheaded man, punching him in his face and stomach. Zane grabbed the man’s gun and turned it on the older man.
“You’d have to close the cylinder before you could fire, and with only one bullet, you’d have no way of knowing if it’s the next one in the chamber.”
The man held up his hands.
“Drop the gun.”
He complied.
Heather hurried to pick up the discarded gun. She held out her hand. “Give me the other bullets.”
The man dug into his jeans’ pockets and slammed them into Heather’s hand.
“Both of you on your knees, facing away from me.”
“What are you going to do to us?” Fear permeated the redhead’s voice.
Zane leaned close and said, “I’m not the animal Willis is.” He knocked both men on the side of the head with the butt of the gun.
“Are they going to be okay?”
“They’ll wake up shortly. And then I’m sure they’ll come after us and bring reinforcements.” He took the radio off the man and tossed it down the mountain. “You heard Willis. He’s planning on hitting that bank in the morning.”
He took off running up the trail.
“Where are we going?” She was out of breath as she spoke and jogged at the same time.
He turned to face her and patted the pocket where the GPS device was. “Willis didn’t know about this. He didn’t try to take it away from me.”
“You think Jordan was telling us the truth. That he didn’t set us up to be ambushed.”
“It’s the only shot we have. We’ve got to stop Willis from detonating that bomb.”
Heather’s forehead wrinkled. “What if we get to the place where the paragliders are supposed to be and they’re not there? We will have wasted all our time on a fantasy.”
His mind had been mulling over everything that had happened since Willis was able to find t
hem so easily on the trail. Maybe Jordan had chosen to help his brother but still intended to stay with Willis. That possibility broke his heart. Was his mind so brainwashed that he’d stay loyal to Willis no matter what?
Zane shook his head. “This is our only option. We have to hope that Jordan was telling the truth.”
Zane turned on his heel and ran, knowing that Heather would follow. He knew approximately where the high point on the mountain was that Jordan had referenced. They’d have to dip down into a valley and then climb up to the summit, a four-or five-hour hike if they kept up a good pace.
He glanced over his shoulder and slowed a little allowing Heather to catch up. The trail widened so they could run side by side. He could see only trees above him—very little light sneaked through this late in the day. Down below, he could still see some of Willis’s men who had been part of the hunt. They weren’t coming after him and Heather for the moment—but that would change as soon as the two men he’d knocked out woke up and shared the news that their would-be victims had turned the tables and escaped. Zane feared that someone would be waiting to jump them at the top of the trail as well.
After they’d rounded several curves and the men were no longer in sight, he stopped and pointed up through the forest. “We can’t stay on this trail. They’ll start looking for us here soon. There might even be men at the top.”
She rested her hands on her hips, breathing heavily from the exertion of running. Both of them stared at the evergreens and steep hill that intersected with the winding trail.
“The trees will at least hide us from view,” he said.
They pushed through the steep terrain, gripping the trees and brush to make it up.
He sat down to catch his breath and Heather sat beside him.
“We’re almost to the top. If men were signaled that we were headed this way, they’ll be looking for us but expecting us to come out on the trailhead.”
Heather nodded.
“You might want to put those bullets in your gun now,” Zane suggested.