Out of the Storm

by B. J Daniels

  But right now, Oklahoma City was a hell of a long way from where he was headed.

  * * *

  COLLIN FOUND HIMSELF watching Kate out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t thought about her cell phone. A mistake, and not his first. She could have just as easily texted the law, he thought as he drove the snow-packed highway north. The border was close now. He’d know soon if he was driving into a trap.

  He loved that in this part of Montana, towns were few and far between. That meant that cops were few and far between as well. Unless Kate had notified someone at the border. There could be an armed regiment waiting for them.

  He silently berated himself for being so careless, fearing that the woman was going to get him killed. At the same time, he wondered if they still might have a chance with each other. He knew it was beyond hope, but then again, he’d never expected her to go online to research what drugs were being brought across the border. He wondered what else she’d researched. She was smart. That made her dangerous. She would make one hell of a partner in crime, if he could bring her over to his way of thinking.

  Ahead he spotted a border-patrol vehicle sitting on a small rise over the highway. As they passed, Collin could see that the officer was on his cell phone. His pulse jumped. Calling the border to let them know he was coming? Just ahead, he could see the lights of the crossing. The building with its chain-link fence and elaborate glass-and-steel structure looked out of place in the middle of nowhere. He slowed, feeling perspiration run down his back and puddle at the base of his spine. He didn’t see dozens of armed men, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t close by. He turned off the radio, telling himself he could do this.

  Glancing at Kate, though, he felt another wave of anxiety. She looked too calm, too collected, as if she knew exactly what was going to happen ahead.

  He realized he’d taken his foot off the gas pedal. The SUV slowed to a crawl. He caught sight of a sign saying this was his last chance to turn around before the border.

  Stop looking so suspicious, he told himself. If she hadn’t called... And why would she, knowing that it would get her daughter killed? Well, then, he had nothing to worry about.

  If she had? It was too late to worry about that now.

  He reminded himself that he didn’t have anything illegal in his possession—not yet, anyway. It was coming back across the border that he had to worry about. He glanced at Kate and felt his heart drop. Unless he was arrested for kidnapping.

  An officer in blue looked in his direction from the glass enclosure. He sped up, pulling into a lane next to the building with numerous snow-covered signs detailing what couldn’t be taken into Canada. The signs were virtually unreadable because of the snow stuck to them.

  As he stopped where another sign indicated, he saw several other officers in the glassed-in office. One of them opened the door and headed for them.

  * * *

  KATE TRIED TO swallow the lump in her throat when she saw the border crossing ahead. A US Customs and Department of Homeland Security officer approached them. He was dressed in a blue uniform with a Kevlar vest, a radio and a weapon at his hip. He approached the vehicle warily. Kate could almost feel Collin’s anxiety. If he was worried now, imagine what he would be like when they returned with a load of drugs.

  Thinking about her daughter, she leaned forward to say hello to the officer through Collin’s now-open window. The man didn’t respond other than to ask for their passports. She started to reach for her purse and was surprised when Collin handed them both over. When had he gotten hers out of her purse? Without a word, the officer took the passports inside the building. Neither she nor Collin spoke as they waited.

  Collin had left his window down. She shivered, but he didn’t raise it. She could see ahead where they would exit the compound to go to the Canadian side. The buildings on both sides resembled car washes with huge glass-and-steel doors that rose on approach.

  She could see no other cars, no one else crossing the border this afternoon.

  The officer appeared at Collin’s side again, holding their passports and looking from one to the other of them. “Ma’am, please remove your sunglasses.”

  “Kate, he wants you to remove your sunglasses,” Collin said tersely.

  She realized that it was the second time the officer had asked. She quickly took them off while he checked her face against the photo on her passport.

  “How far are you going on the Canadian side?” the officer asked in his no-nonsense tone.

  “Swift Current,” Collin said. “She wants to do some shopping while we’re there. Wedding stuff. We’re getting married soon. My fiancée has never been to another country, so since we are on our engagement trip to Montana, anyway...” Collin said and looked over at her. He was smiling, but his look warned her. She could see the nervous tension around his mouth and eyes and knew it would be up to her.

  “We’re from Texas,” Kate said, bending forward to look at the officer. “I’d never seen snow. Now I’ve seen enough of it, thank you very much.”

  “How long will you be staying?” the officer asked, his tone full of authority and not the least bit friendly.

  “Just a couple of days,” Collin said. The officer looked up at them, taking her in and then Collin before he began to question them about items in their possession, going through the list she’d seen online. Collin said they didn’t have any of the prohibited items. She noticed the officer looking in the back of SUV before he asked Collin to open the back.

  Collin popped the hatch and started to get out, but was ordered to stay in the vehicle as the officer went around to the rear. Kate wanted to turn and watch him but instead snuggled against Collin. He flinched in surprise, then put his arm around her, whispering in her ear, “You’re doing fine.”

  Was the officer looking through their suitcases? After a few minutes, the man returned to the driver’s-side window and told Collin he could close the hatch.

  Handing back their passports, he gave them a nod and told them to continue straight ahead. Collin put up his window, and they left Montana to drive across the border only to stop on the Canadian side. The large overhead door lifted, and the Canadian officer waved them in. Again they showed their passports and were also questioned, this time with even more suspicion, before being allowed to enter the country.

  * * *

  COLLIN TRIED TO RELAX. It was his first time crossing the border. The sweat that had soaked through his shirt was beginning to dry. He didn’t feel as if he was going to jump out of his skin anymore as he saw the sign welcoming them into Saskatchewan. He could almost breathe freely. Coming back across would be worse. With luck they would have the same law officer. Maybe he would remember them, since so few people crossed here.

  “You did good back there,” he said again, though grudgingly, to Kate, knowing that she had been cooler than he’d been. Having her along and not knowing what she might do had added to his anxiety. But she’d been a trooper. She’d played her role perfectly.

  He glanced over at her as he drove down a narrow pothole-filled highway with wheat sheaves on the speed-limit signs assuring him they were now in Saskatchewan, Canada. He still wanted to believe that his dreams of them doing this together weren’t that crazy after all.

  She said nothing as she looked out at the unchanged white landscape. If anything, there was more snow up here. Earlier there had been a short period of bright sunshine, but now the clouds had moved in again, making everything from the sky to the ground a silvery white in the growing twilight. Soon it would be dark. He was glad they didn’t have far to go.

  “We made good time,” he said, not sure why he was trying to make conversation with her. He felt so relieved, so pleased with the job she’d done. That they had both done. They’d gotten over one hurdle. Kate had come through for him. He was proud of her, and maybe he was feeling guilty involving her.

  “You�
��re meeting your associates in Swift Current?” There was an edge to her voice. She might have played along back there, but she was still furious with him. He still couldn’t trust her, let alone turn his back on her.

  “Look, I have no choice in this.”

  “Everyone has a choice,” she said, looking out her side window away from him.

  “I’m in trouble financially with my businesses.”

  “That’s why you were going to marry me,” she said, turning back to him. “Once we were married, I would have given you whatever money you needed. You didn’t have to do this.”

  He shot her a skeptical look. She could say that now, but he couldn’t see himself begging her for money. He did have his pride. To his surprise, though, he told her the truth, something that embarrassed him more than she could know. “This is a different deal. I made kind of a bad investment with a loan shark and then made it worse with a drug deal that went sour. I’m not doing this just for the money. Not completely. I’m being forced to, all right? If I don’t make this work, I’m as good as dead.”

  “If you’re looking for sympathy—”

  He swore and banged his fist down hard on the steering wheel. The SUV swerved, and he had to grab the wheel to keep them on the narrow, snowy road. “I was just telling you how it is.” He ground his teeth, wishing he hadn’t bothered, as ahead he had to slow to make the turn toward the first small Canadian town of Val Marie.

  “I’ve been desperate in my life,” Kate said, a softness to her tone. There were tears in her eyes when they met his. “I do understand. But I can’t forgive you for involving my daughter.”

  “She’s safe. I promise. I just needed leverage. I knew after you found Jon Harper you would never go with me.” He saw that he’d been right about that. She didn’t deny it. If she had her way, she’d be back in Buckhorn in that woodshop with a man who could very well be her husband. Or a complete stranger. Both preferable to her fiancé, Collin thought bitterly.

  “How do you plan to get the fentanyl across the border?” she asked.

  He gave her that blank look. “Who said anything about fentanyl?”

  “Oh, for cryin’ out loud. Don’t tell me there isn’t a plan. Otherwise—”

  “There’s a plan, if you must know.” He figured there was no reason to keep it from her. She already knew the worst of it. “The car is being adapted with containers on the undercarriage tomorrow.”

  “Won’t they look at the border?”

  He shrugged. “Hopefully not. But even if they do, they might not see them. The guy who does this sort of work, I’m told, is very good at hiding any extra storage compartments. But they probably won’t look because of you. You aren’t the kind of woman who makes cops suspicious.”

  “Lucky me,” she said, glancing in the side mirror at herself as if assessing if that were true or not.

  He drove past the first small Canadian town and headed north. “You can’t save him,” he said after a few miles. “Jon Harper,” he added in case she didn’t already know. “He’s on the run from mobsters. One of them or their friends will eventually find him and kill him. It’s why you can never be with him.” She said nothing. “It’s also why he can’t save you.”

  She was staring straight ahead, giving him nothing but her profile. He was struck by how beautiful she was, how stubborn and determined and loyal. It would take a very special man to have this woman, he realized. Someone much more special than him. The thought angered him and made him think of his father. It turned his stomach that his old man’s prediction for his son might come true.

  The sudden flashing lights in his rearview mirror startled him. He swore and looked over at Kate. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing, I promise,” she said, sounding scared. She turned in her seat to look back.

  “Don’t look back,” he ordered. “Maybe I was going over the speed limit. These damned kilometers.” Or maybe it was something far worse. Either way, he had no choice. He pulled to the side of the road, two wheels at the edge of the borrow pit, and put down his window. Cold winter air rushed in. The area was isolated, no buildings in sight, with nightfall coming on fast.

  Bright headlights filled the car as the light bar on top of the rig flashed. Collin watched a man in uniform exit the vehicle behind them and make his way toward them. He thought about the loaded gun taped under his seat that had come with the rental. He shot a warning look at Kate as he turned to face the officer.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  IT WAS DARK by the time Jon had almost reached the border. He checked his phone. Both signals on Matthew’s rental SUV came in clear. He’d crossed the border at Port Morgan, but what surprised Jon was that the vehicle was now headed east. He considered the map on his phone. It appeared that Matthews had turned before Swift Current onto Highway 13 and was now headed in his direction. Where was he going?

  The question was answered a moment later when the vehicle turned north again onto Highway 2, headed for Moose Jaw.

  His cell phone rang. He’d been waiting for this call. “How’s Earl Ray?” he said into the phone, anxious for some good news.

  “He wants to talk to you himself,” Bessie said and handed over the phone.

  “Mia is fine,” his friend said without preamble. Earl Ray sounded as weak as his voice. “But it has been several days since she’s talked to her sister. Danielle’s cell has been going straight to voice mail. Nor has Danielle been in class the past two days.”

  Jon swore. “She’s got to be the one.”

  “My thought exactly. I have someone going to her apartment. Don’t worry. He knows how to handle it. I’ll keep in touch. And I have someone watching Mia. Once both young women are safe, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, but how are you?”

  “Strong as an ox,” Earl Ray said before Bessie took the phone from him.

  “He’s going to be okay, the doctor said. It was a minor attack. He doesn’t want you to worry. I have to go.” Before Bessie hung up, he heard Earl Ray in the background. The man was strong. Hopefully, he would be fine. Once both of Kate’s daughters were safe, Jon could get Kate. Until then, it was too dangerous.

  He drove toward the border. He hadn’t called Homeland Security to stop Matthews at the border because he had no evidence that the man was about to break the law. Second, he couldn’t put Kate in danger along with her daughters.

  He’d been banking on Earl Ray finding Mia and Danielle and making sure they were safe before he did anything. Once he knew, he could get Kate out. Or at least try. He had no idea how many men Matthews was meeting in Canada or what kind of firepower they might have. If he was right about the drugs, then they would all be armed and dangerous.

  All he could do, he told himself, was keep going. The Opheim/West Poplar River border crossing was ahead. He knew he would be stopped, his old pickup checked and rechecked along with his passport in the name of Jon Harper. It would take time, time he had—at least for the moment.

  He pulled up and put down his window, handing over his passport as if this was old hat. His was the only vehicle in the line this time of the evening. The border would close within the hour.

  “Where are you headed?” the blue-suited Homeland Security cop asked.

  “Moose Jaw to catch up with some friends, and then maybe over to Regina for a day or two.” He had no idea where Matthews would take him. He was covering his bets.

  The cop nodded, pulled out a long stick with a mirror at the end and began inspecting the undercarriage of his pickup. “Can you pop the hood, please?”

  He did and sat waiting, hoping he looked more bored than worried. He had nothing to hide—except for the weapons taped surreptitiously under his seat.

  “You can close your hood,” the cop said as he peered behind the pickup’s seat. “I see you have some tools in the back?”

  “Carpenter,” he said wit
hout hesitation. “I make furniture.”

  “Planning on leaving anything in Canada?” No. “Planning on bringing anything back?” No.

  “Not planning on anything but food, a motel room and some Canadian whiskey.”

  “Okay,” the cop said, handing back his passport. “Drive carefully.”

  “Will do,” he called out of the window as he drove into Canada.

  The next time he checked his phone, the signals on Matthew’s SUV had stopped in the middle of nowhere. He waited for them to move. They didn’t.

  * * *

  KATE LOOKED OUT at the growing darkness as the officer approached the driver’s-side door, her heart in her throat. Why had Collin been pulled over? He hadn’t been speeding. Maybe he’d been red-flagged at the border. Was it possible they’d been waiting for him? That this whole thing had been a setup, and Collin had brought her into his scheme? Were they now both going to jail?

  She wanted to yell at the officer that she’d been brought across the border with basically a gun to her head. She opened her mouth, her pulse a thunder in her ears.

  “Just wanted to let you know you have a taillight out,” the officer said without bending down to look at either of them.

  “Thanks,” Collin said. “I’ll get that fixed.”

  “Officer,” Kate cried, but the rest of her words died on her lips as, with horror, she watched the uniformed man slip Collin a note, which he quickly pocketed. Kate stared in disbelief, telling herself she’d been seeing things. Maybe the cop had written Collin a warning, but she knew there hadn’t been time.

  Collin put up his window as the Canadian version of highway patrol walked back to his rig, got in and pulled away with a flash of his light bar and was gone. “Something you wanted to say, Kate?”

  She heard the edge to his voice as he pulled out the piece of paper the man had given him. Even from where she sat, she could see that it had an address on it.