"Boulder. After that there wasn't much."
"Did you go up in the morning, afternoon, night?"
"The first time it was in the morning. We got a really early start."
"After Boulder, was the sun in front of you, or behind?'' "Oh, I get it. Ah… I guess it was kind of behind us." Althea continued to press for details, about the location, the routine, descriptions of the people Jade had seen. As a witness, Jade proved vague but cooperative. Still, Althea had no problem recognizing Scott and Kline from Jade's descriptions. There was again a mention of a man who stayed in the background, keeping to the shadows, watching.
"He was creepy, you know?" Jade continued. "Like a spider, just hanging there. The job paid good, so I went back a couple of times. Three hundred for one day, and a fifty-dollar bonus if they needed you for two. I… You know you just can't make that kind of money on the street."
"I know. But you stopped going."
"Yeah, because sometimes they got really rough. I had bruises all over me, and one of the guys even split my lip while we were doing this scene. I got scared, because it didn't seem like they were acting. It seemed like they wanted to hurt you. I told Wild Bill, and he said how I shouldn't go back. And that he wasn't going to send any more girls. He said he was going to do some checking into it, and if it was bad, he was going to talk to his cop. I knew that was you, so that's why I called back when I got the message. Bill thinks you're okay."
Wearily Althea rubbed a hand over her brow. She didn't tell Jade that she should be using the past tense as far as Wild Bill was concerned. She didn't have the heart. "Jade, you said something in your letter about thinking they'd killed one of the girls."
"I guess I did." Her voice quavered, weakened. "Listen, I'm not going to testify or anything. I'm not going back there."
"I can't promise anything, only that I'll try to keep you out of it. Tell me why you think they killed one of the girls."
"I told you how they could get rough. And it wasn't no playacting, either. The last time I was up, they really hurt me. That's when I decided I wasn't going back. But Lacy, that's a girl I hung with some, she said how she could handle it, and how the money was too good to pass up. She went up again, but she never came back. I never saw her again."
She paused, another match scraped. "It's not like I can prove anything. It's just… She left all her stuff in her room, 'cause I checked. Lacy was real fond of her things. She had this collection of glass animals. Real pretty, crystal, like. She wouldn't have left them behind. She'd have come back for them, if she could. So I thought she was dead, or they were keeping her up there, like with Liz. And I figured I better split before they tried something with me."
"Can you give me Lacy's full name, Jade? Any other information about her?"
"She was just Lacy. That's all I knew. But she was okay."
"All right. You've been a lot of help. Why don't you give me a number where I can contact you?"
"I don't want to. Look, I've told you all I know. I want out of it. I told you, I'm starting over out here."
Althea didn't press. It was a simple matter to get the number from the phone company. "If you think of anything else, no matter how insignificant it seems, will you call me back?"
"I guess. Look, I really hope you get the kid out of there, and give those creeps what they deserve."
"We will. Thanks."
"Okay. Say hi to Wild Bill."
Before Althea could think of a reply, Jade broke the connection. When she looked up, Colt was standing in her doorway. His eyes held that blank, dangerous look again.
"You can get her back here. Material witness."
"Yeah, I could." Althea dialed the phone again. She'd get the number now. Keep it for backup. "But I won't." She held up a hand for silence before Colt could speak, and made the official request to the operator.
"A 212 area code," Colt noted as Althea scribbled on her pad. "You can get the NYPD to pick her up."
"No," she said simply, then slipped the pad into her purse and rose. ,
"Why the hell not?" Colt grabbed her arm as she reached for her coat. "If you can get that much out of her on the phone, you'd get that much more face-to-face."
"It's because I got that much out of her." Resentful of his interference, she jerked away. "She gave me everything she had, just for the asking. No threats, no promises, no maneuvering. I asked, she answered. I don't betray trusts, Nightshade. If I need her to drop the hammer on these bastards, then I'll use her. But not until then, and not if there's another way. And not," she added deliberately, "without her consent. Is that clear?"
"Yeah." He scrubbed his hands over his face. "Yeah, it's clear. And you're right. So, you want to pick up that warrant, check that other address?"
"Yes. Do you intend to tag along?''
"You bet. We should have just enough time to finish that before we take off."
She stopped in the doorway. "Take off?"
"That's right, Lieutenant. You and I are taking a little trip. I'll tell you all about it on the way."
Chapter 8
"I think we've all lost our minds." Althea gripped her seat as the nose of the Cessna rose into the soft autumn sky.
Comfortable at the controls, Colt spared her a glance. "Come on, tough stuff, don't you like planes?"
"Sure I like planes." A tricky patch of cross-currents sent the Cessna rocking. "But I like them with flight attendants."
"There's stuff in the galley. Once we level off, you can serve yourself."
That wasn't precisely what she'd meant, but Althea said nothing, just watched the land tilt away. She enjoyed flying, really. It was just that she had a routine. She would strap in, adjust her headset to the music of her choice, open a book and zone out for the length of the flight.
She didn't like to think of all the gauges over which she had no control.
"I still think this is a waste of time."
"Boyd didn't argue," Colt pointed out. "Look, Thea, we know the general location of the cabin. I studied that damn tape until my eyes bugged out. I'll recognize it when I see it, and plenty of the surrounding landmarks. This is worth a shot."
"Maybe" was all she'd give him.
"Think about it." Colt banked the plane and set his course. "They know the heat's on. That's why they pulled out of the penthouse.
They're going to be wondering where that tape ended up, and if they try to contact Leo, they won't find him, since you've got him stashed in a safe house."
"So they'll stay out of Denver," she agreed. The engines were an irritating roar in her ears. "They might even pull up stakes and move on."
"That's just what I'm afraid of." Colt's mouth thinned as they left Denver behind. "What happens to Liz if they do? None of the options have a happy ending."
"No." That, and Boyd's approval, had convinced her to go with Colt. "No, they don't."
"I have to think they'd stick to the cabin for the time being. Even if they figure we know it exists, they wouldn't think we'd know its location. They don't know about Jade."
"I'll give you that, Nightshade. But it seems to me that you're relying on blind luck to guide you there."
"I've been lucky before. Better?" he asked when the plane leveled. "It's pretty up here, don't you think?"
There was snow on the peaks to the north, and there were broad, flat valleys between the ridges. They were cruising low enough that she could make out cars along the highway, communities that were little huddles of houses, and the deep, thick green of the forest to the west.
"It has its points." A thought erupted in her mind, making her swivel her head in his direction. "Do you have a pilot's license, Nightshade?"
He glanced over, stared, then nearly collapsed with laughter. "Lord, I'm crazy about you, Lieutenant. Do you want one of those big blowout weddings or the small, intimate kind?"
"You're crazy, period," she muttered, and shifted deliberately to stare out through the windscreen. She'd check on his license when they got back to Denver. "And you sa
id you weren't going to bring up that kind of thing."
"I lied." He said it cheerfully. Despite the worry that never quite dissipated, he didn't think he'd ever felt better in his life. "I've got a problem with that. A woman like you could probably cure me of it."
"Try a psychiatrist."
"Thea, we're going to make a hell of a pair. Wait until my family gets a load of you."
"I'm not meeting your family." She attributed the sudden hollowness in her stomach to another spot of turbulence.
"Well, you're probably right about that—at least until we're ready to walk down the aisle. My mother tends to manage everything, but you can handle her. My father likes spit and polish, which means the two of you would get along like bacon and eggs. A regulation type, that's the admiral."
"Admiral?" she repeated, despite her vow to remain stubbornly silent.
"Navy man. Broke his heart when I joined the air force." Colt shrugged. "That's probably why I did it. Then I have this aunt… Well, better you should meet them for yourself."
"I'm not meeting your family," she said again, annoyed that the statement sounded more petulant than firm. She unstrapped herself and marched back into the tiny galley, rooting about until she found a can of nuts and a bottle of mineral water. Curiosity had her opening the small refrigerated compartment and studying a tin of caviar and a bottle of Beaujolais. "Whose plane is this?"
"Some friend of Boyd's. A weekend jockey who likes to take women up."
Her answer to that was a grunt as she came back to take her seat. "Must be Frank the lecher. He's been after me to fly the sexy skies for years." She chose a cashew.
"Oh, yeah? Not your type?"
"He's so obvious. But then, men tend to be."
"I'll have to remind myself to be subtle. You going to share those?"
She offered the can. "Is that Boulder?"
"Yep. I'm going to track northwest from here, circle around some. Boyd tells me he has a cabin up here."
"Yes. Lots of people do. They like to escape from the city on weekends and tramp through the snow."
"Not your speed?"
"I don't see any purpose for snow unless you're skiing. And the main purpose of skiing, as far as I'm concerned, is coming back to a lodge and having hot buttered rum in front of a fire."
"Ah, you're the adventurous type."
"I live for adventure. Actually, Boyd's place does have a nice view," she admitted. "And the kids get a big kick out of it."
"So you've been there."
"A few times. I like it better in late spring, early summer, when there isn't much chance of the roads being closed." She glanced down at the patchy snow in the foothills. "I hate the thought of being stuck."
"It might have its advantages."
"Not for me." She was silent for a time, watching hills and trees take over from city and suburbs. "It is pretty," she conceded. "Especially from up here. Like a segment on public television."
He grinned at that. "Nature at a distance? I thought city girls always yearned for a country retreat."
"Not this city girl. I'd rather—" There was a violent bump that sent nuts flying and had Althea grabbing for a handhold. "What the hell was that?"
Narrow-eyed, Colt studied his gauges while he fought to bring the nose of the plane back up. "I don't know."
"You don't know? What do you mean, you don't know? You're supposed to know!"
"Shh!" He tilted his head to listen hard to the engines. "We're losing pressure," he said, with the icy calm that had kept him alive in war-torn jungles, in deserts and in skies alive with flak.
Once she understood that the trouble was serious, Althea responded in kind. "What do we do?"
"I'm going to have to set her down."
Althea looked down, studying the thick trees and rocky hills fatalistically. "Where?"
"According to the map, there's a valley a few degrees east." Colt adjusted the course, fighting the wheel as he jiggled switches. "Watch for it," he ordered, then flipped on his radio. "Boulder tower, this is Baker Able John three."
"There." Althea pointed to what looked to be a very narrow spit of flat land between jagged peaks. Colt nodded, and continued to inform the tower of his situation.
"Hang on," he told her. "It's going to be a little rough."
She braced herself, refusing to look away as the land rushed up to meet them. "I heard you were good, Nightshade."
"You're about to find out." He cut speed, adjusting for the drag of currents as he finessed the plane toward the narrow valley.
Like threading a needle, Althea thought. Then she sucked in her breath at the first vicious thud of wheels on land. They bounced, teetered, shook, then rolled to a gentle halt.
"You okay?" Colt asked instantly.
"Yeah." She let out a breath. Her stomach was inside out, but apart from that she thought she was all in one piece. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"
"Dandy." He reached out, grabbed her face in both of his hands and dragged her, straining against her seat belt, close enough to kiss. "By damn, Lieutenant," he said, and kissed her again, hard. "You never flinched. Let's elope."
"Can it." When a woman was used to level emotions, it was difficult to know what to do when she had the urge to laugh and scream simultaneously. She shoved him away. "You want to let me out of this thing? I could use some solid ground under my feet."
"Sure." He released the door, even helped her alight. "I'm going to radio in our position," he told her.
"Fine." Althea took a deep gulp of fresh, cold air and tried out her legs. Not too wobbly, she discovered, pleased. All in all, she'd handled her first—and hopefully last—forced landing rather well. She had to give Colt credit, she mused as she looked around. He'd chosen his spot, and he'd made it work.
She didn't get down on her knees and kiss the ground, but she was grateful to feel it under her. As an added bonus, the view was magnificent. They were cupped between mountain and forest, sheltered from the wind, low enough to look up at the snow cascading down from the rocky peaks without being inconvenienced by it.
There was a good clean scent to the air, a clear blue sky overhead, and a bracing chill that stirred the blood. With any luck, a rescue could be accomplished within the hour, so she could afford to enjoy the scenery without being overwhelmed by the solitude.
She was feeling in tune with the world when she heard Colt clamber out of the cockpit. She even smiled at him,
"So, when are they coming to get us?"
"Who?"
"Them. Rescue people. You know, those selfless heroes who get people out of tricky situations such as this."
"Oh, them. They're not." He dropped a tool chest on the ground, then went back inside for a short set of wooden steps.
"Excuse me?" Althea managed when she found her voice. She knew it was an illusion, but the mountains suddenly seemed to loom larger. "Did you say no one's coming to get us? Isn't the radio working?''
"Works fine." Colt climbed on the steps and uncovered the engine. He'd already stuck a rag in the back pocket of his jeans. "I told them I'd see if I could do the repairs on-site and keep in contact."
"You told them—" She moved fast, before either of them understood her intention. Her first swing caught him in the kidneys and had him tumbling off the steps. "You idiot! What do you mean, you'll do the repairs?" She swung again, but he dodged, more baffled than annoyed. "This isn't a Ford broken down on the highway, Nightshade. We haven't got a damn flat tire."
"No," he said carefully, braced and ready for her next move. "I think it's the carburetor."
"You think it's—" Her breath whistled out through her teeth, and her eyes narrowed. "That's it. I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."
She launched herself at him. Colt made a split-second decision, pivoted, and let her momentum carry them both to the ground. It only took him another second to realize the lady was no slouch at hand-to-hand. He took one on the chin that snapped his teeth together. It looked like it was time to get serio
us.
He scissored his legs around her and managed, after a short, grunting tussle, to roll her onto her back. "Hold on, will you? Somebody's going to get hurt!"
"You're damn right."
Since reason wouldn't work, he used his weight, levering himself over her as he cuffed her wrists with his hands. She bucked twice, then went still. They both knew she was only biding her time until she found an opening.
"Listen." He gave himself another moment to catch his breath, then spoke directly into her ear. "It was the most logical alternative."
"That's bull."
"Let me explain. If you still disagree afterward, we'll go for two falls out of three. Okay?" When she didn't respond, Colt set his teeth. "I want your word you won't take another punch at me until I finish."
It was a pity he couldn't see her expression at that moment. "Fine," Althea said tightly. Cautious, Colt eased back until he could watch her face. He was halfway into a sitting position when she brought her knee solidly into his crotch.
He didn't have the breath to curse her as he rolled into a ball.
"That wasn't a punch," she pointed out. She took the time to smooth back her hair, brush down her parka, before she rose. "Okay, Nightshade, let's hear it."
He only lifted a hand, made a couple of woofing noises, and waited for the stars to fade from behind his eyes. "You may have endangered our bloodline, Thea." He got creakily to his knees, breathing shallowly. "You fight dirty."
"It's the only way to fight. Spill it."
As his strength returned, he shot her a killing look. "I owe you. I owe you big. We're not injured," he ground out. "At least I wasn't until you started on me. The plane's undamaged. If you'll take a look around, you'll see that there isn't room to land another plane safely. They could send a copter, lift us out, but for what? Odds are, if I make a few minor adjustments I can fly us out."
Maybe it made sense, Althea thought. Maybe. But it didn't alter one simple fact. "You should have consulted me. I'm here, too, Nightshade. You had no right to make that decision on your own."
"My mistake." He turned to walk—limp—back to the steps. "I figured you were the logical type and, being a public servant, wouldn't want to see other public servants pulled out for an unnecessary rescue. And, damn it, Liz might be over that ridge." With a violent clatter, he pulled a wrench from the toolbox. "I'm not going back without her."
Books by Nora Roberts Page 397