Deadly Intent

by Kylie Brant

  Feldman turned around enough to give them a thumbs-up. “Sure acts like it.”

  Macy heard the roar of the snowmobile and pushed away from the bumper of the vehicle to start out to meet it. Her movements were clumsy. This was her first experience wearing snowshoes and they definitely took some getting used to. Carefully, she began to sidestep down the embankment. Halfway down, one foot went out from beneath her. She slid the rest of the way down on her butt.

  And of course fate would have the sled pulling up at that exact moment. Odd that she recognized the identity of the driver, despite his being covered from head to toe. There was something about the way Kell held himself that was immediately familiar.

  Or maybe she was just too used to fate’s warped sense of humor. Her ignoble fall earned her a thumbs-up from him.

  “Is that so little to ask? You falling at my feet whenever you see me?”

  She struggled up and brushed herself off. “Gentlemanly to the end.”

  Another man dismounted from the sled with him and they both headed toward her. “Are you all right?” It was Agent Travis’s voice. “Easy to hurt yourself falling like that.”

  Kell reached her first. Tipped his head in to murmur in her ear, “I’d be more than happy to do that for you, but I’m easily distracted.”

  Didn’t she know it. One snowshoe had come off with her slide, and she grabbed a low-hanging evergreen branch to steady herself as she attempted to put it on again.

  “Leave them off. We’re heading down the road to drive Feldman’s truck and the SUV up here. You can help.”

  They all climbed into the vehicle she’d driven, a four-wheel-drive Tahoe supplied by Mulder. “Where’d you get the gear?” He asked as he started a careful Y-turn.

  “It’s Althea’s.” And the woman had been pathetically glad to contribute to the search. Macy couldn’t even imagine how unbearable it would be to sit home and wait while others looked for her daughter.

  “Raiker filled you in on our progress, right?” The palpable excitement in Kell’s voice would be difficult to miss. “I didn’t have any luck when I radioed the sheriff. Preske refused to send out a bigger team, but he has to. The dog is tiring, and we’re close, Macy, I can feel it. Raiker has to work his magic and get this guy to cooperate.”

  Trepidation pooled in her stomach. She was already certain of his reaction to the news she’d brought. “Whitman and Raiker both talked to the sheriff. He isn’t sending out a search and rescue team with air-scent dogs to broaden the search. He can’t. The storm is supposed to hit within the hour.”

  His head whipped around to stare at her. She knew she was about to add to the shocked anger in his gaze. “Raiker sent me in person to make sure you listened. The sheriff wants us off the mountain now. And Adam doesn’t want to risk having more people up here needing rescuing from the storm.” Clutching the snowshoes more tightly, she wished she didn’t feel like a traitor for putting that look in his eyes.

  “He sent me to make sure you follow orders.”

  Chapter 16

  “Bullshit. That’s bullshit, Mace.” It was more difficult than it should have been for Kell to tamp the rising tide of frustration and anger. “We’re close. So damn close. Belle—that’s the dog—she’s only lost the scent twice. Each time she’s picked it up again. Feldman has let her rest and drink a couple times because the terrain is getting more treacherous. But if we just had a little more time. A bigger party. We’d beat the deadline; I know we would.”

  “I’m as frustrated as you are.” He could hear the bleakness in her voice. “But it’ll be dark earlier than usual because of the storm. The search has to be over by then anyway. And we can start again at first light tomorrow.”

  “You know as well as I do that tomorrow will be too late.” As if to punctuate his prediction, an arctic blast of wind swept snow from the evergreens that canopied over the narrow road and swirled it across the windshield.

  “Dammit, quitting makes no sense when we’re this close.” Surprisingly, the words came from the CBI agent. “That dog is working magic. We just need a little more time.”

  “Raiker and Whitman were equally emphatic. I don’t dare go back to the estate without the two of you. The last thing I need is to give Adam another reason to fire me.”

  Her words caught his attention, but after a moment he decided not to pursue it in front of the agent. Raiker had been royally pissed when he’d returned the other night and hadn’t found Macy there. And this was the first inkling she’d given Kell about the results of her conversation with the boss.

  From the sounds of things, it hadn’t gone well. But . . . firing her? For going to see Castillo? It seemed an overreaction, and Raiker wasn’t given to overreacting.

  But Kell could easily imagine the man’s response if they didn’t follow the orders he’d sent with Macy.

  The mood in the vehicle was dour, and there was very little conversation as they made the trip down the slope so each could drive a vehicle back up it. The ascent reminded him of how much ground they’d covered since this morning. Which just made him less eager to abandon all their work now.

  Once back up the narrow road they parked the vehicles at the side of it before mounting the sled. With three of them, it was a tight fit. Kell drove it carefully back to where they’d left the handler and dog. “Maybe I can convince Feldman to give it another fifteen minutes or so,” he called over his shoulder to Macy. He was crouched over the tank, leaving the seat to her and Travis. She didn’t answer. Probably too busy trying to maintain her grip on three pairs of snowshoes—hers and the men’s—while clutching the seat for stabilization. It was her first time on a snowmobile, she’d admitted when she’d awkwardly gotten on. He allowed himself a small grin as he recalled her slide down the embankment when he’d first driven up. He was willing to bet she wasn’t much of an outdoorswoman.

  He knew her well enough to realize that he’d better be out of reach if he made the observation out loud.

  His amusement vanished twenty minutes later when they pulled up near Feldman. “Damn. He’s loading up.” The handler was crouched down in front of the kennel. Upon their arrival, the man handed a treat to the animal inside and closed and latched the door.

  Kell killed the sled, and they all strapped on their snowshoes before heading toward the man in tandem.

  “Maybe he’s just resting her again,” Travis put in hopefully.

  But Feldman’s words dashed that hope. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back,” he called. “We’ve got to shut this thing down. I just got a second message from the sheriff. He wants us off the mountain, now.”

  “If we had another half hour,” Kell started.

  But the other man was already shaking his head. “We don’t. Belle’s about tapped out. I’ve run her longer than usual, and this isn’t easy terrain. Even if Preske hadn’t ordered me to, I’d have had to quit soon anyway.”

  Digging in his pockets for the man’s keys, Kell handed them to him, frustration riding him hard. “We appreciate all your help today.”

  “Our pleasure. I don’t mind saying, Belle’s one of the best trailing dogs in this part of the state. If you need us tomorrow to resume the search, have the sheriff give me a call again.”

  “How far did you get?” Macy had donned a pair of wrap-around sunglasses that Kell was betting was yet another piece of equipment on loan from Althea Mulder.

  Feldman pointed to a particularly dense area of trees a mile in the distance. “Had a hard time pulling her off the scent, if you want to know the truth. Got in the middle of those trees, and she acted like it was still strong. That’s when the sheriff radioed again.”

  Kell joined Macy to stare in the direction the man had indicated. “What’s causing that trail of vapor above the trees?” She pointed. “See it?”

  “That’s smoke,” Feldman answered. “Probably a shelter in the vicinity. Nothing permanent can be constructed, but portable structures can be erected temporarily. Everyth
ing would have to be packed in and be removed again by the end of the hunting season. That’d be my guess.”

  “Like a cabin?” There was a note to Macy’s voice that had Kell sliding a look at her.

  “That wouldn’t be allowed,” the handler answered. “But I’ve seen a variety of snow tents or ice-fishing shelters used. Some of the shanties can be made-to-order.”

  She reached out to grab Kell’s arm, the tightness of her grasp apparent even through the heavy layers of fabric. “Maybe we should stay a bit longer. Just long enough to check out that shelter.”

  “No telling how far away it is.” Agent Travis had come up on the other side of her, one hand shielding his eyes as he followed the direction of their gazes.

  “It’s about a mile to the copse of trees.” Feldman fired up the snowmobile, pitching his voice above the noise. “Don’t try taking the sled inside them. The trees are too close together. You’d get hung up for sure.”

  “How far inside them did you get with the dog?” Kell asked, his mind racing.

  “Couple hundred yards. Didn’t see anything or anyone in the vicinity. The thing is, guys, you really need to listen to the sheriff on this one. The trail could lead through those trees and past whatever structure there is and onward for a dozen more miles. You don’t know how serious it is to get caught in a blizzard in these parts.” His tone was urgent. “Even the people we rescue alive often end up with limbs amputated.” Feldman stopped for a moment and surveyed them. “So I can tell Preske you’re right behind me, right?”

  “We’ll follow you out in a minute,” Travis assured him.

  With one more glance at the sky, the man lifted a hand and roared off.

  “How long do you think it’d take us to get close enough to that structure to be able to tell what color it is?”

  Kell’s head swiveled to face Macy. “What?”

  “That video this morning. All those mistakes she was making?” The thread of excitement in her words spurred an answering emotion in him. “They were clues. Forest. Cabin. White. Ellie was describing the shelter. I’m sure of it. We know she was in the vicinity. The dog followed her scent all day.” Tugging urgently at Kell’s sleeve, she said, “I can’t leave before we first check out the structure inside those trees.”

  He took little convincing. But he was prepared to argue down the agent, who struck him as a rule follower of the worst order. Kell visually measured the distance to the sled in case he had to make a dash for it to capture the keys, which in effect would present the man with a fait accompli. “What do you think, Dan?”

  “Twenty minutes.” The man was already striding toward the snowmobile. “We’ll check it out and still likely make it back before the weather hits.”

  As if to prove him a liar, light snow began falling. But all three of them were already heading for the sled.

  The ride to where the trees became denser was thankfully short. They abandoned the sled and once again put on their snowshoes before plunging into the wooded area.

  “How’d you figure those reading errors were a message?” The admiration in Travis’s tone dissipated the earlier kindness Kell had felt toward the man for agreeing to spend a bit more time up here.

  Macy gave them what Kell was certain was an abbreviated version of events. “Ellie’s gutsy.” There was an odd note of pride in the word. “After all she’s been through, this little girl hasn’t fallen apart. She’d never have been able to think clearly enough to plan something like this otherwise.”

  “Well, it was a good catch on your end.”

  Kell quickened his pace. This outing was going to seem longer than it should if he had to listen to Travis fumble through another attempt at gaining Macy’s interest. Every time she came on scene, his whole demeanor changed.

  Because the man pressed her, Macy explained in a little more depth how the patterns had caught her eye when examining the girl’s errors.

  “You must be great with pattern analysis. That’s what you did with those notes, too, right?”

  “Macy’s good with analysis.” Something was riding him that he didn’t want to examine too closely. Which was never a wise time to speak, but that didn’t stop him. “Sometimes she’s too good. Examines things too closely when she ought to just let them be, see where they go. Sometimes people can overanalyze things, don’t you agree, Travis?”

  He stumbled then, nearly landing flat on his face. He shot Macy a look, certain he hadn’t imagined her hand on his back.

  “I’ve always preferred to know exactly where I’m stepping,” she said blandly. “While it might be gratifying to follow whatever whim catches our fancy, I’m most comfortable making a conscious decision about my actions. That way, I’m less likely to regret them later.”

  Scowling beneath his mask, Kell shoved his hands into his pockets. Regret? Is that what she was afraid of? Because he could accept that she wanted to set aside what was between them until after the girl was found. Hell, he agreed with that. But past experience had taught him that the longer they put off talking about what was going on between them, the more time she’d give herself to regret giving in to it.

  Damned if he was going to allow her to neatly set him aside once again as a regret.

  “You know,” Travis was saying, “It sounds like you’re a planner, like me. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Maybe we need to be quiet,” Kell interjected irritably. “Sound travels out here.” He was aware of the looks Macy and Dan sent him but was past caring. Damned if he was up for standing silently by while the other man broke out his rusty moves again. He’d never been accused of being overly endowed with patience.

  Which made it doubly hard to wait for Macy to get over whatever the hell was holding her back with him.

  They walked about a half mile. Even surrounded by the thick strand of trees, it was easy to see that the wind was picking up. Little arctic funnels of snow encompassed them as they moved through the forest. It was difficult to tell how much of it was falling from the sky and how much from the already heavily laden branches overhead.

  One minute they were surrounded by trees, and the next he could see a break in them. “Is that a clearing ahead?” he murmured, slowing to free the strap of the binoculars from inside his parka.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  He brought the glasses up and surveyed the area up ahead carefully. “The trees thin in another sixty or seventy yards. I can see the outline of a rooftop.”

  “We’re close then. Good.” Travis hunched forward a bit as another blast of wind encompassed them. “We’re going to be lucky to get off this mountain before the storm kicks in. It might not be as easy as you think.”

  They trudged farther, more carefully now. As the area between trees widened, they needed to be concerned about maintaining cover as they approached. His earlier excitement at Macy’s news had dampened, both by the worsening weather and from reality. Chances were Feldman was right, and the dog would follow the girl’s scent for dozens of miles farther before leading them to her. Even more likely, whoever was cozily ensconced in the structure beyond the trees was likely to be another bearded outdoorsman like Owen Redmond. Hopefully whoever it was would be more cooperative than the hunter had been.

  But when he stopped to lift the binoculars to his eyes again, those thoughts scattered like the snowflakes in the air around them. He stared hard and long. Long enough to have Macy reaching for the glasses.

  “What is it?”

  Kell ignored the agent’s hissed words and wordlessly handed the binoculars to Macy. She seemed to have trouble sighting with them for a moment. He knew the exact instant when she’d seen what he had. Her body stilled.

  “It’s white. The cabin . . . or shelter, is white.”

  “Yeah.” The fierce satisfaction mingled with adrenaline to flash and spark in his veins. “It sure as hell is.”

  “You know what I think?” The man pressed the tip of his knife beneath Ellie’s chin. She could feel its sharpness. If
she moved, even to speak, it’d break the skin.

  “I think you’ve been feeding me a load of shit, that’s what I think. Last night and again today.”

  A long moment stretched. She had to force herself not to look away from his eyes, although the emptiness she saw there sent cold chills all the way through her. “I’ve already figured a way to get the feeling back.” His smile was like a steely fist closing around her heart. “Unfortunately for you, it starts with peeling the skin right off you.”

  “But you can’t be sure.” The words had the knife pricking her harder, and there was an immediate answering pain. The slow trickle down the side of her throat would be blood.

  His face closed. “I’m as sure as I can be.”

  “Listening to me is like insurance, right? Except it doesn’t cost you anything.” Oh God, it hurt to talk. If he didn’t move that knife, she wasn’t sure she could force more words out of her throat.

  To her relief, he eased the pressure on the knife a tiny bit. “Don’t kid yourself. Listening to you has a price. On my patience.”

  Summoning her flagging courage, she shrugged. “But what if killing me doesn’t make the numbness in you go away? You should listen to me so you’ll know what to do next.” She waited a long moment. “Unless you don’t care about never feeling again.”

  When he moved away suddenly, it was all she could do not to go limp with relief. “I don’t think going out and buying myself a dumb-ass horse is going to do the trick. Problem is, you’re just a stupid little girl. You don’t know anything about what people like me have gone through.”

  “You don’t know anything about what I’ve gone through,” she said hotly. And Lucky wasn’t a dumb-ass horse. This guy was the dumb ass. Just thinking the words made her feel a teensy bit better. “It’s not about a horse. It’s the pretending that’s important.” She could have told him that she was only eleven in years. In other ways she felt as old as the Rockies. As old as the forces that had carved them.