Deadly Dreams

by Mary Stone

  Then she thought of Linc out there, somewhere, needing her desperately.

  Even she had to admit it…if she was his last hope, he was probably well and truly screwed.

  She pulled Storm’s leash and took a deep breath, trying to regroup. Tucking the flashlight under her arm, she fanned her face, which was sweaty despite the chill in the air.

  Calm, she told herself. Remember, to some people like Linc, nature is beauty. People love this. It’s actually quite wonderful, America’s natural splendor. Be at one with it.

  Somewhere, an animal howled. Storm’s ears perked up.

  “I hope you’re going to protect me, girl,” she whispered to the dog, “because nature’s splendor can go kiss my ass. There are wild animals out here that can rip my throat out. This is not a place for a human being.”

  Storm just looked up at her the way Linc sometimes did; like she wasn’t sure they could still be friends.

  She took another cleansing breath and let out the leash. “Okay. I’m ready,” she said to Storm. “Lead the way. Slow. Don’t get me killed.”

  The trail turned into a staircase, a steep one without a railing. Storm humored her, going undoubtedly slower than she went with Linc, but it felt too fast. More animal noises seemed to come from everywhere—buzzes, growls, shrieks—she kept craning her neck in the direction of each new sound until she felt whiplashed. These woods were definitely bigger and darker and scarier than the ones in Asheville.

  At one point, she stubbed her toe on a rock or a protruding root and went flying, only catching herself when she grabbed onto a hanging tree branch. “Why didn’t you warn me, Storm?” she whispered at the dog. “I thought you were here to—”

  She stopped when she suddenly heard it.

  Not the sound of rushing waters or the wind blowing or an animal finding its way through the night.

  This was something so much more familiar.

  A human voice.

  A human sob.

  And then another voice. This one she knew in an instant.

  Because it was Linc’s voice.

  She stilled, listening for it. Nothing.

  Maybe she was mistaken. Hallucinating because that’s what she so desperately wanted to hear. Or maybe he was dead, a ghost now, and haunting her.

  She took another small step down when she heard it again. Soft enough to be a whisper.

  But it was definitely Linc. She’d know his voice anywhere.

  Storm heard it too. Her ears pricked up, and she took a few steps forward, tightening the leash, urging Kylie on.

  Kylie kept listening, trying to make out what he was saying. With all the noises all around her, she couldn’t, couldn’t even make out the tone of his voice. It was something she could use to her advantage, the noise, because even though she was trying to be quiet, every dried leaf she stepped on, every stick, felt enormously loud in her ears.

  Taking a calming breath, she fed Storm more leash and crept a few steps down. Kept navigating the stairs, a little faster now.

  Go…go…go…became her mantra.

  Storm jumped ahead, and Kylie followed, trying not to be so careful. She hit a step too hard and felt her ankle give way, and then she was slipping. As she tried to right herself, Storm let out a guttural growl and yanked the leash. Kylie felt it slip through her fingers, and then the dog wrenched itself free and took off fearlessly down the trail.

  “Storm!” she whisper-shouted as she watched the dog’s dark rump disappear from view. The moon slid behind a cloud, making everything even darker.

  Perfect.

  She was already stooped over from her almost-fall, so she took the last little bit and let her butt fall onto the step behind her. Sitting there, she lifted the flashlight, tempted to arc it into the darkness while she tried to decide what to do. But she knew the meager flashlight wouldn’t help much, and would only give her location away.

  The moon was back, and her breath caught in her throat. She was still high above the water.

  High above everything. High enough that falling and breaking one’s neck was a definite possibility.

  Linc’s voice still seemed way off. She listened to it, hoping it would calm her, but it didn’t.

  She had to do this. Face her fears and get closer, at least so she could try to figure out where Linc was and what he was saying.

  Come on, Kylie. Be fearless. Be like your fiancé. Hell, be like your fiancé’s dog. Show them you’re a Coulter too.

  Fisting her hands, she tucked the flashlight in her pocket and started back down the steps, one at a time. That’s what Linc had said to her once—if an obstacle or job seemed too big, break it into little pieces, take it one step at a time. Hearing his voice in her head, she concentrated on the first step in front of her, and then the next one, and the next one.

  Before long, she heard Linc speak, and she made out his voice clearly. “Look, Tanner. I know you don’t want to do this.”

  He sounded calm, as usual. Calm, direct, and in control. But he was also pleading, and on the edge of exasperation.

  She was shocked when somewhere, much closer by, a voice growled, “Don’t tell me what I want to do. I know what I’m doing.”

  Her heart caught in her throat. That was Tanner Peck. The murderer. And he was very near. Closer than Linc. Maybe just down the path. And where was Storm?

  Heart beating triple time in her chest, she peered into the darkness. Oh, this was a dream come true. Lost, in the dark, on a cliff edge. If she managed not to break her neck here, she vowed to herself that she would never, ever put herself in nature again. This was the last straw.

  She blinked, frozen on the staircase, clinging to it as her eyes adjusted even more to the darkness. Moonlight streamed down upon the open space of the gorge, and in the distance, she could make out the suspension bridge. She craned her neck. Was that…

  Was that Dina, tied up on the very center of the bridge?

  She swallowed the gasp that wanted to escape.

  Linc’s voice again. Now, she was pretty sure where it was coming from. He was across the bridge, on the other side of the gorge. He said, his tone becoming firmer, “Fine. Why don’t you show yourself? Come on out of wherever you’re hiding and face me like a man?”

  The response was so near, it made her jump. “You’re not a man. A man would’ve been able to save a little girl.”

  She froze and let out a shaky breath. The voice sounded like it was floating among the trees, just slightly ahead of her.

  So she’d established that Linc was on the other side of the bridge.

  But Tanner? The killer?

  He was on this side, with her.

  Very, very close.

  And where was Storm? She was alone, in the dark, with a killer. Doing what? Biding her time? Stalking the man? Or had she fallen, silently to her death and this was truly a nightmare?

  Kylie tried to think like Linc. He had such a cool head under pressure. What would he do?

  Probably something macho and badass. Rip his arm off and beat Tanner Peck into submission. He was good like that.

  Kylie, however? No.

  “We tried, Tanner. You know that. Come on down. Let’s have a talk. Man to man.”

  “You’re a baby killer!” Tanner screamed, and suddenly, what few leaves were still on the trees were rustling, and she saw a shape jumping out of the tree below, not twenty yards in front of her.

  Her breath caught in her throat as the moonlight glistened on the shiny barrel of the rifle in his hand.

  He started to walk toward the bridge. He didn’t know she was there, behind him. Watching. Waiting.

  She definitely knew what Linc would do now. He’d take advantage of the element of surprise and tackle the sucker from behind.

  Not with her bare hands. Kylie’d get herself killed if she did that.

  Tanner started to make his way toward the bridge, away from her, taking the steps as surely as if it were daylight.

  Kylie crouched to the ground, fe
eling for a weapon. All she felt were piles of dried leaves. Sure, you can just autumn him to death.

  Frantically, she watched Tanner’s big form near the opening of the bridge. He stopped, cocking his gun and getting it into position. Lifting it. Taking aim.

  Hurry! You’re going to lose your chance!

  Just as her hand wrapped tightly around the flashlight, another form bolted out of the woods. It leapt into the air, poised to tackle the young man to the ground.

  A single gunshot went off.

  A strangled yelp followed.

  She’d never heard such a heart-wrenching sound, but she knew the animal that had made it. She could see its body slide to the ground, motionless.

  It was Storm.

  “No,” she gritted out. She wasn’t sure how she made it the rest of the way down the steps, but it was like she was flying, because a second later, she was coming up fast behind him with her makeshift weapon. She held it, poised to strike, when Tanner swung around, striking her across the face with the barrel of his gun.

  She fell backward, stunned, sliding across the hard rock surface as he leveled the rifle toward her. “What the—?” he shouted, his finger moving to the trigger. “Where’d you—”

  A snarl came from above them, and Tanner stopped, looking up.

  Kylie scrambled to her feet and backed away, sure it was some bear or cougar about to do away with them all. In her terror, she turned on her flashlight, more afraid of the wild animal than the vengeance-filled ranger.

  She gasped when she made out Vader’s uncoordinated, fluffy body, galumphing his way down the stairs, his big black eyes trained right on Tanner Peck.

  There was something Kylie’d never seen before in them.

  It was dark, so she couldn’t be sure.

  But it looked like vengeance.

  31

  Linc’s heart nearly stopped.

  He leveled the gun, stopped, leveled it again.

  It was too risky.

  Too dark, and everything he loved was on the other side of that bridge.

  He’d seen Kylie, her face illuminated by her flashlight, and he willed her to turn it off. She had no idea what she was walking into. He’d also seen Storm, storming into the situation—that was how she’d gotten her name, after all—ready to take no prisoners.

  He’d also heard the yelp she emitted, a sound he never wanted to hear again, and he raced to the edge of the suspension bridge, consequences be damned. When he got there, he realized Tanner was facing away from him. Kylie had proved to be the perfect distraction.

  He lifted his gun and aimed, ready to take a shot.

  But from his vantage point, he noticed something tumbling down the stairs on the other side—something big and lumbering, like a black bear.

  When it dove for Tanner, he knew what it was. “Vader!” he shouted.

  As he watched, Tanner disappeared, and dread filled Linc with its icy claws. He took off, rocketing across the swaying bridge, willing himself to go faster. He stopped long enough to check on Dina.

  “You hurt?”

  Her face and eyelids were swollen, two crooked trails of dried blood leaked from her nose. She shook her head. “No. I’m okay. Go get him.”

  He reached into his pocket, pulled out the penknife, and cut the binding on her arms loose, then handed the tool to her so she could cut herself free. He looked up at the edge of the gorge, where Tanner had fallen. He couldn’t make anything out.

  “Kylie!” he shouted, stumbling around Dina on the planks that creaked and moved under him like an undulating funhouse ride.

  Nothing at first. Then, a moment after he’d broken into a run, a breathless voice shouted, “I’ve got his gun!”

  Kylie. He ran the rest of the way across the swaying bridge, hope flooding every cell.

  His feet hit solid ground. The second they did, Kylie screamed, “No!”

  Fear like he’d never experienced raced through his veins like ice. “Kylie!” he yelled. His echo was his only reply.

  No. She couldn’t be gone. He refused to believe it.

  “Kylie!” he screamed again, the word ripping from his throat.

  He listened for her reply. He listened for the dogs. Anything.

  “Linc.”

  His name was close to a sob, but it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. Her voice fueled him, and he ran to her, grabbing the flashlight from her hand. She sat cross-legged on the rocks, Storm’s head on her lap.

  The dog wasn’t moving.

  No. Please, God. No.

  A fresh flood of adrenaline competed with the pain and grief of seeing his beloved partner so still. Beside Kylie, Vader whimpered, pushing his nose into Storm’s face. The big dog looked up at him, his expression practically shouting, do something, you idiot.

  Kylie was crying harder now, her hands stroking over Storm’s bloody fur.

  Linc heaved in an unsteady breath, his whole body feeling like it would explode. He crawled closer and took the dog’s body onto his own lap. Her fur felt warm. He couldn’t detect a pulse, though.

  He ran his hand down her side and felt the sticky viscosity of blood. There was so much of it that he couldn’t tell where the wound was.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Not after all the time he’d known Storm. First, as barely a puppy in Syria, then through hundreds of SAR missions. And now…

  Not now. Not here. He wasn’t ready for this.

  He brought his hand to her muzzle and touched her face, and as he did, she opened her jaws and licked his hand.

  Linc let out a sigh of relief. He tilted his head, encouraged. “What are you doing, Storm? Taking a break?”

  The dog’s eyes fell on him, and she licked his hand again. Then she lifted her head and put it up on his knee, as if to say, “Adore me?”

  “That’s okay, you deserve it.”

  He laughed as Kylie suddenly flipped on her flashlight, shedding some much-needed light on the situation.

  He saw the problem at once. Storm’s front leg had taken the brunt of a bullet. He touched it gingerly, frowning. Then he looked up at Kylie. “You have anything up there I can use for a bandage?”

  She reached into the bag, and a moment later, pulled out a red bandanna.

  He wrapped it around the wound carefully, then patted the dog’s head. “Good girl,” he whispered in her ear, then reached over and hugged a trembling Kylie. Then he pulled Vader into the mix. “Good boy, hero dog.”

  Kylie gave a shaky laugh, wrapping her arm around the big dog too. “Yeah. You saved us, boy.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked her as she crouched into his side, shivering.

  She gave him a watery smile. “Fine. But what about Storm?”

  He patted the dog’s side. “She’ll come through. She’s a tough old girl, right, Storm?”

  She looked up at him with love in her eyes. He wondered if she knew what he knew. They might have called Linc one of the best in the business. That was because he was part of a tremendous duo, a crackerjack SAR team with some of the best rescue rates in the country.

  But Linc knew it, and there was something in Storm’s eyes that said she knew it too. That crackerjack team, sadly, would never work together again.

  32

  Six months later…

  It was such a beautiful day. A winner, as Rhonda was fond of saying, a perfect ten. Especially for May in the mountains, where one day it could be hot and sunny and the next, almost frigid.

  But today was gorgeous. The temperature perfect. The birds were singing in the trees, and the bulbs Linc and Kylie had planted had transformed into a rainbow of tulips.

  It was like everything was saying to her, We’re perfect for you…so now, you have to be too.

  And it made the knot in Kylie’s stomach twist tighter.

  Kylie looked down at herself, then back at the mirror in the hallway, and then at her mother. She tucked her grandmother’s handkerchief in her bouquet for the tears she’d undoubtedly she
d, swished her thighs together to make sure she was wearing her “something blue” garter and checked to make sure her “girls” weren’t overexposed or flushed. “Am I ready?”

  Rhonda nodded. “As you’ll ever be.”

  “What does that mean? I have to look perfect. I have everything, right?”

  Rhonda swirled the skirt on her lemon-yellow mother-of-the-bride dress. “Except the husband. Yes. Go on and get that man.”

  She gnawed on her lower lip. “But do I look okay? I’m supposed to be perfect.”

  “Nothing’s ever perfect. Find perfection in the imperfect,” her mother said cryptically.

  Kylie’s head swam. “What does that mean?”

  Her mother leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Yes. You look perfect. Perfectly beautiful. Now stop worrying, my little flower. Linc is going to flip when he sees you.”

  She sucked in a breath. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this nervous before in her entire life. “All right. Then let’s do this.”

  The months had flown by, faster than she thought time could move. Who knew that when she met him, almost a full year ago, that that stoic, grumpy stick in the mud actually had a beautiful, romantic heart?

  He’d actually been gung-ho about the whole thing. Once she confessed to him that she was having trouble with all the preparations and was too overwhelmed by the sheer volume of plans that had to be ironed out, he’d said, “Why didn’t you say so? I thought you wanted to plan it yourself. I’d love to help you. Team effort, right? That’s what marriage is, anyway.”

  And he had. He’d taken over every last detail that she’d been fretting over, making all the planning as easy as pie. They’d agreed on so much, it was a wonder she hadn’t asked him sooner.

  He’d done good too. She had to admit that so far, everything was going like a dream.

  And now, all that was left was to get married, relax, and have a good time.

  If only.

  She opened the screen door and walked out onto the porch. Cars were parked everywhere, in the place Linc loved so much for its peace and quiet. He didn’t mind, though. The last time she’d seen him, before they’d been separated to get ready, he’d practically been bouncing up and down on his feet, he couldn’t sit still. He’d reminded her of Vader.