by Mayer, Dale
Jake shook his head. “Don’t want to either. Not until my girl is out of trouble.”
Markus sighed. “Of course.” He stared down at Barry. “We need him awake.”
Jake snorted. “That’s easy to do.” And without warning he reached down and smacked the unconscious man in two quick swats.
Barry groaned.
Markus held Jake’s hand back from repeating the action.
“You’re too soft,” Jake snapped.
“No, I’m not.” Markus also wasn’t an angry civilian afraid for his daughter.
Barry groaned again, his eyelids fluttering. Finally, they opened enough to focus on Markus.
“Where are the women?” Markus snapped.
The man widened his gaze, took in Markus’s gear, then caught sight of Jake behind him.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“Yeah, that’s what you’re in. Deep shit.”
“I didn’t kidnap those women,” the man replied. “That was Greg.”
“I don’t particularly care if you did or not because you haven’t done anything to release them.”
“I was trying to figure it out. It’s crazy in there. The young woman is baking for Christ’s sake. The men are just staring at her. The other two women are huddled up in the corner, terrified.”
“Why were they taken?”
The man groaned. “God damn it. According to Greg, they overheard something at the diner they weren’t supposed to and he panicked. He grabbed them and ran.”
“And Boomer, did he have to kill him too?”
“They killed Boomer?” he cried. “Oh Christ, please not.”
“He is still alive but not by much. They broke his jaw and left him in the kitchen bleeding pretty bad.”
“Look, I don’t know anything about this shit. I was here all day,” he said defensively. “Been out hunting. When I came back they were home with the women.”
“Who are they to you?”
“I thought they were my friends,” he explained. “Been buddies for a year now, but lately I’ve suspected it’s the cabin they’ve been interested in.” He groaned. “They are supposedly anti-government, and this park mess up here has them in arms. They wanted to organize a protest or some such thing,”
“They didn’t need you for that,” Jake snapped. “No one would have cared. No one would have known.”
And that was the problem.
“What did the women overhear?” Markus dove to the meat of the issue.
“I don’t know,” Barry cried out. “I wasn’t there.”
The blow came out of nowhere. Markus glared at Jake. “Knock that off.”
“I want my daughter,” Jake growled down at Barry now nursing his jaw. “These assholes kidnapped her.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Barry cried.
“It doesn’t matter if you did or not. You’ve done nothing to help them.”
“I haven’t had time. I’ve only been back like forty minutes and came out to fix the water pump.”
“Why worry about it,” Jake snarled. “Chances are they won’t be here long enough to worry about it.”
“They aren’t going anywhere,” Barry offered. “They are waiting for a delivery.”
“And of course you don’t know what for.”
It took a bit more but eventually Markus got the story as Barry knew it to be.
The men had been pestering him to come up for a hunting trip and wanted to see the land in the disputed area. They’d met at a bar a year or so ago, and he’d been wary at first but soon enough had found them to be a likeable group. When they found out about his father’s cabin that he’d inherited, they’d pestered him to come for a trip. He’d been happy to do so. He had good memories of the place even if it wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted for himself. He had no idea what they’d been speaking about at the diner but lately they’d become a little more secretive and not as friendly and he’d been wondering what the hell was going on. Now the kidnapping…he was terrified of what he’d gotten into.
“Not stuck anymore. You’re out of it. I figure another five or ten minutes and they’ll either come out here looking for you, or they are going to assume you ran.”
“I wish I could. I didn’t have anything to do with the kidnapping or the attack on Boomer. He’s always been a good man. I haven’t been up here much but he’s been here every time. I’m not like them. I’m not a killer,” Barry protested.
“You are now,” Markus said. “You hang with killers then you are one by association.”
Inside, he felt sorry for the man. He’d been set up and was only just realizing it.
But why? Surely an anti-government protest wasn’t worth kidnapping charges?
There was an odd sound from the direction of the cabin. Keeping a hand on Barry’s throat to stop him from trying to escape, Markus peered around the corner of the pump house to see a flash of pink disappear into the trees.
Had one of the women made a run for it?
Chapter 4
Bree got up again and walked to the small bathroom. The men made no attempt to stop her. She walked in and locked the door behind her. She did need to go, but she was also trying to get a good idea of the layout. Staying at the cabin wasn’t an option. She’d fought for her life once, she wasn’t going to lie down and die now. She didn’t know if she had a better chance waiting inside for rescue or leaving but if the chance came she’d bolt like the sprinter she was. Her body might wind down on power before her heart and mind did, but it would give her the best it could like it always had.
She just had to be ready. After using the facilities and realizing there was a small window to look out, she could see a deck and trees close by. If she could reach the trees…
The weather wasn’t promising, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hole up and wait it out or start following the truck tracks back to civilization. Even if it took two days. She hadn’t eaten earlier and she knew her body well – it would need food soon. Why hadn’t she had bacon and eggs for breakfast that morning? She usually did. She had to eat and often to keep up her strength.
She opened the door, realized there was an exit right there. That was the one Barry had used. She glanced at the men. One was watching her. Of course. She walked to the cobbler and grabbed a flipper and started to cut pieces, her mind whirling with options.
She pulled out plates and served up four pieces including one for Barry who’d gone outside.
The man she could no longer see.
Had he made a run for it? Did he not like the kidnapping twist and wanted no part of it? Or was he just out cruising to make sure no one had come looking to rescue the women. Had he gone after Mary’s father?
She found forks and placed one on each plate. She carried two over to the table and silently set the plates down. Then returned for the other two.
After delivering the food she returned to the stove and the sink and washed up the flipper she’d used. She was stalling.
She twisted to see the men diving in. She walked back to the bathroom and grabbed up toilet paper then standing next to the door she blew her nose. The men never noticed. She walked to the outside door, opened it quietly and stepped out.
And ran for her life to the closest tree.
The men would likely be able to follow her footsteps, but she was young and lighter than they were and very…motivated.
There was no sound behind her as she raced across the yard.
She made it to the tree line and ran deeper then pulled up against the backside of a thick trunk and listened as she caught her breath. Then she heard shouting. No time to slow down, she dashed forward and started going in a zigzag motion. She needed to find cover and get as far away as she could as fast as she could.
That’s when she realized she was wearing a bright pink sweater. Without breaking stride she tugged it off and clutched it in front of her.
It was over a half hour later that her footsteps slowed. She had no idea where she was
, or how far she’d come in the meantime, but her feet where killing her. Suddenly she tripped over an exposed root and was airborne before hitting and sliding through the leaves belly down, face first.
Instantly she was back on her feet.
And racing forward. But slower.
Finally when she came to a large evergreen she slipped under the boughs and curled up to catch her breath.
That’s when she realized she’d lost her sweater. Likely when she wiped out.
With her knees to her chest and her chin tucked to her knees she quietly sobbed as she recouped her energy and tried to recapture her breath.
Don’t work out, don’t do anything that will tax your strength. Take time to recover. Words from her doctor. How prophetic. And sad.
Still that had been over seven months ago so…she should be better…stronger.
Time.
Like she’d had any of that.
With the sweat drying on her skin she could feel the shudders of exhaustion hitting every spine bone on the way down. She was a bone rack now. Severe illness did that to a person. And it sucked.
She peered around the corner of the tree trunk and tried to look through the boughs.
The world was silent. Yet, she hated knowing someone was likely hunting her. The men would be after her – the question was when would they give up the hunt? When would she be safe from them?
Nothing stirred around her. That was almost more eerie. Was she alone?
Her heart knew it wasn’t safe. She closed her eyes. Okay, she’d escaped. And now what? Chances were she’d run five miles in the wrong direction and was lost. She leaned her head on her knees and closed her eyes.
Pity wasn’t part of her makeup. But she was well and truly hooped.
Exhausted, physically and mentally, she fell into a light sleep.
*
“Did you see that?”
Markus nodded. “I’m assuming one of the women made a run for it.”
“Not good. It’s too damn easy to get lost out here. It’s going to be the young one too.”
“Why’s that?”
“The older ones are smarter. They know the dangers of getting lost. It’s as fatal as being shot but a whole lot slower and more painful.”
“Except we know she’s slipped away so we’ll be looking for her.”
“Good luck. Once she’s out a few hundred yards she’ll get turned around and won’t be able to find her way back.”
A loud commotion sounded inside the cabin. Two men came racing outside. They bolted across the yard, stopped and looked around then at each other. One called back, “There’s no sign of her.”
“Well, she can’t have gone far.”
Markus disagreed with that. Given the speed she’d been running, he figured she’d be a couple of miles out in the middle of nowhere before her feet stopped panicking. Unless she was bush smart, she was already lost. Damn. He studied the two men, noting the high-powered rifles in their hands. Weapons. For hunting? Or something else?
“Any idea what the guys are doing with the weapons?”
“Nope, but it won’t be any good, I can tell you that.”
He agreed, but he had two women inside and a younger one outside, and he was only one man.
He just hated to let the third woman run wild and get lost. They’d be hours tracking her if she kept going. But first things first. Take out the men and save the other two women.
“Get looking for her,” growled a large man in the doorway of the cabin, his voice easily reaching all of them. “She can’t be far. Move it.”
The two men shrugged but split up.
One stopped and turned. “Where’s Barry?”
The man in the doorway frowned. “No idea. Keep an eye out. If he’s gone to the authorities, he’s done too.”
Markus looked into the panicked eyes of the man he held down.
“See, you were going to get a bullet anyway,” Markus said in a low tone. “Now at least you know what they planned for you.”
As he watched, the two men outside split up and headed into the trees. Thankfully neither appeared enthusiastic and neither were headed in the right direction.
It was the third man that interested him. He was the one giving orders.
He was the one Markus wanted.
He checked his phone. Still no reception. Of course. He shook his head.
“Don’t have no use for them new phone things. Nothing works out here. No towers. No nothing. Get used to it. In Alaska we live alone because that’s the way we like it.”
Markus nodded. He glanced down at the man on the ground, his mind sorting through the logistics. They couldn’t trust him so needed to have a place to keep him quiet and secured. He couldn’t be given a chance to warn the others. Markus had to take out the two men that wandered the woods. Outdoorsmen they weren’t. They made enough noise that any animal within miles would know they were coming. But the kidnapped women had to be their prime concern.
The big man went inside and closed the door.
Markus narrowed his eyes. What was he up to now? He glanced down at Barry. “Does he have a place up here?”
The man shook his head. “No. They don’t know the area at all.”
“I’ll be back.” Jake slid around tree and was gone before Markus could say a word. Not sure he could be trusted at this point either, but not having much choice, Markus grabbed a rope from his pack and quickly tied up Barry on the ground.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” Barry protested. “I’m not going to go anywhere. I didn’t kidnap the women.”
“No,” Markus said. “But you’ve been gone too long and have no excuse for your absence. This gives you one.”
Barry’s eyebrows rose. And he gave a curt nod. “Better put me back in the pump house then. At least that’s where I’d be expected to be if they bothered to look.”
There was a note of bitterness in his voice. Good, maybe he was waking up to the trouble he was in.
“Is there a back door to the pump house?” Markus studied the back wall of the building. It was a shack barely held together by a few nails. He reached out and pulled off a few boards. This would work. He pulled a few more off and helped Barry inside. “A word of warning. Don’t play both sides here. I already know you’re involved. Stay here and keep out of trouble. I’ll be back. If you’re not here when I return, I will find you. And you won’t like my greeting.”
Barry nodded. Markus cut a strip of his t-shirt and gagged him. Then he replaced the boards, pounding the nails back into place easily. With a final look, he melted into the woods and worked his way around to the front of the cabin.
Chapter 5
Bree lifted her head. For the last ten minutes she’d been going back and forth mentally. Keep going. No, turn around and find her way to the road. Then…or stay still and hope someone found her. Although hidden as she was that was most unlikely. She wanted to be found, but she wanted to be found by the good guys. Whoever they were.
And what about the other women? Should she have stayed? Not likely. This way she had the chance to get them help. She had to wonder if she’d only imagined seeing Mary’s father. What if no one knew? What if they were stuck here at the whim of these men?
She’d had to run. The opportunity had presented itself and she’d taken it.
And maybe she was a hell of a lot worse off now.
No, she was free. Alone maybe but she was free of the machinations of men. That worked for her.
She slid out from under the bough and looked back the way she’d come. Maybe if she returned to where she’d lost her sweater she could reassess the danger level at that point. Undecided, she stood unmoving. Since waking up from her nap, she didn’t seem to be able to make a decision. Or rather she was pulling back from the edge of panic, and reason was slowly making itself known. She’d gotten away. Miles away. And apparently no one followed her.
Carefully, she walked a few feet ahead. She hadn’t heard anything in a long tim
e and nothing was moving out here. She could see the direction she’d traveled. Taking a deep breath she slowly walked back. A chill had settled on her soul. She rubbed her arms. The sweater would be nice. Only she couldn’t remember how long ago she’d lost it. How far away she’d been. Her journey had gone crazy at that point. She’d panicked more than ever. What was the chance she’d be able to return to that place?
She had to try.
Ten minutes later she still wasn’t sure. She was no woodsman. And it was damn hard to see her paths. A few of the stumps and trees she recognized. And other than that…nothing. She had one thing going for her. She was stubborn as all hell. She kept walking.
And walking.
Her footsteps slowed finally.
“Please let me find my way to safety,” she whispered.
She kept up a quiet litany as she forced herself to keep moving. She knew the theory about staying put in one place if you got lost so that a search party could find you, but they didn’t say what to do in the case of no one looking for you.
A fallen tree lay up ahead. She stopped then grinned. She knew that tree. She’d crossed it. She remembered trying to clamber over it. Up close she could see the scuffed ground on the other side of the tree from her attempts. Rejuvenated now, she made her way over the tree once again and could see the path that she’d found through the woods. She picked up the pace and kept walking. How close should she go? She needed to stay the hell away from the cabin but still find her way around to the other side where the driveway was. Why couldn’t she have run down the road?
Idiot.
What the hell was she thinking? Still, she was free. As long as she remembered that she’d do fine. And keep her brain engaged. No letting emotions rule.
Tired and feeling the ever-increasing sense of danger, she retraced her steps. Dear God, she didn’t want to be caught. So what the hell was she doing?
Finally her common sense took over, and she leaned against a tree and tried to talk herself out of the encroaching panic. Nothing had changed. Except for a dark angry looking sky. It was late afternoon and anywhere else in the US, dark would be setting in soon. But she was in Alaska, land of the short nights at this time of year. Still, with the storm and late hour, it was creepy out here alone in the encroaching darkness. But neither did she want to be close to the damn cabin. She turned her face up to the sky only she couldn’t see much for the canopy of trees overhead.