by Cindy Bell
Once Nikki was sure that Max had gone inside, and Conner had taken off on the snowmobile, she headed back towards her cabin. There was no way that she could get anywhere near Max’s cabin without setting the dogs off, and even if she could, the pass wouldn’t work anymore. Maybe she couldn’t get to any of Max’s secrets, but she could still figure out Ashley’s. She recalled her promise to Kyle. No, it wasn’t wise to think about going to Fir Mountain on her own, but she would do anything to protect her brother. When she arrived at the cabin, Sonia greeted her at the door.
“How did it go?” Her wide, anxious eyes searched Nikki’s.
“They are definitely focusing in on Kyle. And this keycard is useless now.” Nikki pulled it out of her purse and tossed it into the trashcan. As she filled her in about Ashley’s trip to Fir Mountain, she crouched down to pet Coco. “Hey buddy, how are you?” She smiled as he licked her cheeks.
“What was she up to?” Sonia shook her head. “Honestly, it almost feels as if she was trying to blackmail someone. But what could wine, a toll receipt, and some hair bleach have to do with incriminating someone?”
“I don’t know.” Nikki shook her head. “What’s that?” She tipped her head towards a grocery bag on the counter.
“Ken brought us some more food. He went out for a trip on his snowmobile to the nearest store before the snow gets too heavy again. Also, I found out his last name.” Sonia smiled as she met Nikki’s eyes. “It’s Berjen.”
“Berjen?” Nikki snapped her fingers. “Good, now maybe we can find out some information about him.” As she dug through the bag of groceries, she found a bottle of wine, a bag of grapes, and some cheese. “He knows his way around a cheese plate, hmm?” Nikki smiled.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited him over for tomorrow night. Since, it’s Christmas Eve.” Sonia grabbed the bottle of wine and tucked it into the small refrigerator. “We’ll just let this chill until then.”
“That’s right, I forgot it’s almost Christmas Eve.” Nikki’s heart sank as she checked her phone for any texts from her parents. “What a terrible holiday this is going to be.”
“Don’t give up hope yet, Nikki. This is the time of year when miracles happen, right?” Sonia gave her a light pat on the cheek. “Don’t lose that optimism, dear.”
“You’re right.” Nikki took a deep breath. “Maybe Quinn can dig up something on Ken.” She sent a text to Quinn with Ken’s name. Then she fired off a text to Kyle about the developments in the case.
When he texted back, his words were firm.
Stay off Fir Mountain.
Nikki’s fingers trembled as she typed back a promise that she would. She knew that it was a promise she couldn’t keep.
In the darkness just before dawn, Nikki made her plan. It hinged on getting out of the cabin before Sonia woke up. If she woke up, she knew there was no way that she would let her leave alone. She also knew that there was no way she could let Sonia be in danger.
As soon as she saw the faintest light peek through the curtains she climbed out of bed. She pulled on two layers of thick socks. Then two layers of sweatpants. She layered a long-sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt. By the time she was done she was already sweating, but she knew that she would be thankful for the warmth later. She slid a thick pair of gloves over a thin pair of gloves. Finally, she donned her scarf, and a coat. She felt about thirty pounds heavier, but she hoped all of the layers would protect her from the icy wind. As she stepped out the door, her heart began to pound. She had no idea what she was about to get herself into, but she knew there was nothing safe about it.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Kyle looked over at her as she pushed the door closed behind her.
“Shh, I don’t want you to wake Sonia.” Nikki frowned as she realized she had been caught.
“I still can’t get used to you calling her that.” Kyle grinned, then his expression grew more serious. He straightened up and turned to face her. “Where are you going?”
“Kyle, I just want to see if there’s something up there to find. Now I know Ashley was up there. She used one of the snowmobiles from the resort to get there. Which means she probably planned to meet someone. With the GPS record on the snowmobile, I can find the exact spot she traveled to.” She crossed her arms as she studied him. “I’m going to be careful.”
“It’s way too dangerous. Why don’t you understand that?” Kyle spread his feet apart as he blocked her way. “I’m not letting you go.”
“Kyle, you can’t stop me.” Nikki attempted to step around him.
“I can, and I will.” He moved in front of her before she could get past.
“Kyle! Please, I need to work out who did this, before it’s too late and you land up in jail.” Nikki glared at him.
“I hate it when you’re right.” He rubbed his hand across the thick hat he wore and frowned.
“You should be used to it by now.” Nikki raised an eyebrow.
“Very funny.” Kyle sighed, looked towards the mountains, then turned his attention back to her. “I’ll go with you, but the moment I see anything that looks dangerous, we’re out of there. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Nikki smiled and elbowed him in the side. “I knew you would come around.”
“Careful, I can still push you down in the snow, and I’m pretty sure in that outfit, you’re not going to be able to get back up.” Kyle quirked an eyebrow.
“Don’t you dare!” Nikki scowled at him.
“It worked when you were ten.” He grinned.
“This is serious, Kyle, we’re only going to get one chance at this.” Nikki met his eyes. “Mom and Dad are going to be here tomorrow, they sent me their flight confirmation. I don’t want them to come here to find out that I wasn’t able to keep you safe.”
“And what if they come here and find out that I didn’t keep you safe?” Kyle stared straight back at her. “We’re in this together, sis, no matter what.”
“Yes, we are. First things first, we’ve got to get our hands on that snowmobile.” Nikki frowned as she started towards the main lobby.
“That won’t be a problem.” Kyle pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “I have access to the snowmobiles. Do you know which one it was?”
“Yes, because it’s due for repairs. Just for some body damage. Ashley must have clipped something.” Nikki tipped her head towards the lobby. “Do you think we can get it out of there without anyone noticing?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Kyle looked at his watch. “The water pump turns on in a few minutes. We’ll take it out then. The noise will mask the sound of the engine.” He smiled. “Sound good?”
“How did you get to be such a criminal mastermind?” Nikki smiled.
“I had to sneak out of the house somehow.” Kyle winked at her, then led the way towards the garage behind the lobby. A quick swipe of his pass allowed the garage door to slide open. Nikki ducked under it and slipped inside while it was still ascending. A sea of snowmobiles and other equipment made her dizzy for a moment. Could she find the right one? One by one she checked each snowmobile for damage.
“Here it is!” Nikki slapped the seat and glanced over at Kyle.
“I’ll drive.” He hopped on and she climbed on behind him. He brought up the last location on the GPS. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Nikki hung on to the sides.
As the water pump started Kyle started up the engine.
It occurred to Nikki as she gripped the handles, that she had never actually been on a snowmobile.
Chapter 15
Nikki ignored a rush of nerves as Kyle drove out through the front door of the shed. He veered off to the left, away from the lobby windows. The snowmobile cut through the snow with speed that surprised Nikki. She tightened her grip and leaned her head down as snow flew towards her face. As he emerged from the trail, he skidded to a stop.
“Great.” Nikki sighed as she met his eyes. “The hard part is over.”
“No, sis, that w
asn’t the hard part.” Kyle pulled his goggles down over his eyes, then zipped his jacket up so that the stiff collar shielded his mouth.
Nikki followed suit. It crossed her mind that maybe they should turn back, but she bit back her words. It was too late to turn back, and she felt this was the best way to keep Kyle out of jail. As they whirred past the cabins decorated with sparkling lights and garland for Christmas, she realized that it was Christmas Eve. She hadn’t even thought about the holiday with everything that was going on. She wanted more than anything to be spending the holiday around a fire with her family and friends close to her. Instead, her brother and her were going up the side of a dangerous mountain. He pulled off to the side of a particularly steep trail, and turned to her.
“It gets treacherous from here.” Kyle looked at the GPS. “It’s not far, ten more minutes up I think.”
“Good.” Nikki nodded.
“But we can’t go this way.” Kyle tipped his head towards the trail. “See how loose the snow is? That’s from a recent slide, we could get stuck in it.”
“That way?” Nikki pointed to a trail that veered off to the right.
“I’ve never been on it before.” Kyle frowned. “We need to take it slow. I don’t want to get stranded up here.” He eased along. “Only a few minutes ahead, Nikki!” Kyle glided in the direction the GPS showed him. A few minutes later, he pulled into a clearing. On one side was a wide-open slope of snow, on the other was the solid rock face of the mountain. Nikki climbed off the snowmobile and stared at the mostly empty surroundings. Only one tree rose up out of the snow, and it was fairly small.
“Fir Mountain.” Kyle looked over at her. “I brought you here, even though I know how dangerous it is, and there’s nothing here.”
“There has to be.” Nikki frowned. “I know it. Maybe she hid something here.”
“Where?” Kyle gestured to the snow all around them. “There aren’t exactly a ton of hiding places.”
“She would have put it somewhere that would be easy to get to, and easy to remember.” Nikki started towards the tree. “There!” She pointed to a crook in the tree that was piled with snow. Its other branches only had a small amount of snow on them, but it looked to her that someone had packed snow into the crook between two branches.
“Let me take a look.” Kyle began to brush the snow away.
“Is there something there?” Nikki leaned close to him in an attempt to see what he uncovered.
“Yes, there’s something.” Kyle pulled a small, metal box, the size of a postcard, and about six inches deep, out of the snow. “But it’s locked.” He frowned as he looked up at her. “The lock seems pretty solid.”
“So, she went to all the trouble of taking this up the side of a mountain, hiding it in the snow, and locking it up tight. There must be something very important inside.” Nikki took the box from him. “Do you think we can break it open somehow?”
“I don’t have any tools with me. I think we’re better off heading back, we can pry it open when we get there.” Kyle glanced up at the mountain above him. “I don’t like the way that pile of snow above us looks. We need to get going.”
“Okay, let’s head back.” Nikki climbed on the snowmobile behind him and tucked the box into her coat pocket. As he started the engine, she heard a strange roar. She glanced over at Kyle, just as he jumped off the snowmobile and lunged in her direction.
“Nikki!” Kyle shouted her name as the roar got louder. When his body collided with hers and knocked her off the snowmobile, she didn’t know what was happening, but she knew that it was bad. He pulled her up to her feet. “Run!” He hung onto her arm as he half-dragged her towards the mountain. Finally, she realized that a wall of snow had begun to slide down the side of the mountain. She gasped as it dawned on her that there was nowhere to run. Kyle thrust her ahead of him towards the mountain. Only then did she realize that there was a slim opening. He wedged himself in behind her, just as the wall of snow crashed down along the side of the mountain. Within seconds the opening of the tiny cave was completely blocked by snow.
“Kyle!” Nikki gasped again as snow spilled into the cave.
“It’s all right.” Kyle wrapped his arms around her. “The snow will pack down before it can fill the cave. It’s going to block us in, but it won’t get much farther into the cave.”
“I can’t believe it!” Nikki stared at the wall of snow. She’d never seen anything like it before.
“I warned you that it wasn’t safe up here.” Kyle pulled her farther back against the inside of the cave. “We could be buried alive right now.”
“I’m sorry, Kyle.” Nikki clung to his hand as she peered at the heavily packed snow. “Is there any way for us to get out of here?”
“Don’t worry. You told Mrs. Whitter that we were coming up here right? She at least knows that was your plan?” Kyle shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll sound the alarm if she doesn’t hear from us.”
“Actually.” Nikki winced as she looked at him. “I didn’t tell her. I knew that if I did, she would want to come with me. I couldn’t take a chance that she could be hurt. That something like this could happen.” She blinked back tears. “That’s why I didn’t want to wake her this morning.”
“I thought you just didn’t want to because it was too early.” Kyle groaned. “Nikki. It’s an important rule, if you’re going to go out onto the mountains, you always let someone know where you’re going. Are you telling me no one knows we’re here?”
“I’m sorry.” Nikki took a deep breath. “But try not to worry, we’re going to find our way out.” She willed herself to be strong and have a positive attitude for her brother, even if pure panic had begun to build up within her.
“How?” Kyle threw his hands up into the air. “How do you think we’re going to get out?”
“Maybe we can call—” Nikki cut herself off as she realized how ridiculous that was. Of course there wouldn’t be any service. She checked her phone just to be sure.
“Nikki, nothing is going to get through that snow.” Kyle walked over to the snow and began to dig into it. “Even if we were able to get through it, there is a ton of snow piled on top of it, it would only make it start sliding again.”
“What are you saying, Kyle?” Nikki’s eyes widened as she stared at him. “Are you saying we’re never going to get out of here?”
“I’m saying.” Kyle took a breath as he met her eyes. “I’m saying that it could take a while before anyone notices that we’re missing. We don’t have any food, or water, and it’s going to get colder and colder. I’m sorry, Nikki, I’d like to tell you that everything is going to be fine, but it’s not.”
“I did this.” Nikki sank down to her knees as the weight of their situation struck her. “I made us come up here. I wanted to protect you, but all I’ve done is put you in the worst possible situation.”
“Nikki.” Kyle crouched down in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. “It’s not your fault. I chose to come with you. I knew the risks, better than you ever could. I should have stopped you.”
“What are we going to do, Kyle?” Nikki bit into her bottom lip in an attempt to keep her chin from trembling.
“Let’s look around.” Kyle turned on the flashlight on his phone. “Maybe there’s something in here that can help.”
“I’ll look, too.” Nikki turned the flashlight on her phone on as well. A sinking sensation threatened to knock her back to her knees as she realized that the battery would only last so long. Then they would be surrounded by darkness. The cave was barely big enough for both of them to sit in comfortably. There was nothing on the stone floor or walls that would help in their situation. She began to dig through her purse, but knew there wouldn’t be much there that could help either. When she started going through her pockets her fingers bumped into the small, metal box.
“Kyle! Maybe we could use the box to carve out a tunnel in the snow? I know you said it will keep sliding, but it’s worth a try isn’t it?
” Nikki pulled out the box to show him.
“The only way it will work is if the slide was contained mostly to the side of the mountain. If we’re able to get a hole through it, then we might be able to get out.” Kyle frowned. “But it’s risky.” He took the box from her. “It’s our only shot, though.” He slammed the metal box against the ground.
“Kyle! What are you doing?” Nikki gasped as the box clanged against the stone.
“It’ll work better if it’s empty.” Kyle picked up the box again and slammed it back down against the ground. “You can’t pick a lock, can you?”
“No.” Nikki frowned. “Here, try this.” She grabbed a piece of rock. “It might break the lock free.”
“Thanks, I’ll give it a shot.” Kyle slammed the rock down against the lock. A second later the lid of the box popped open.
Chapter 16
Sonia jerked awake. Her heart raced. She had no idea why, until she heard the dogs barking. Both dogs were at the door of the cabin, and both barked so loudly that she had to cover her ears.
“What is it? Nikki? What’s going on?” Sonia got to her feet and called to the dogs. “Enough, quiet!”
The dogs quietened down, but still whimpered near the door. Sonia noticed that there was no sign of Nikki in the cabin. She discovered a note on the kitchen counter.
Gone out for a bit, will be back soon.
Sonia narrowed her eyes as she read over the note again. It couldn’t be more vague. Where had she gone, and when? It only took her a few minutes to figure it out. Nikki had gone to Fir Mountain. She was sure of it. But she had no idea when she had left. The clock on the wall declared it was already a little after nine. Sonia took out the dogs, then started the coffee pot as her heart continued to pound. If she had gone up the mountain, what if something had happened to her? She gritted her teeth as she realized that Nikki had been careful not to wake her up, or mention her plans to her. Which meant she’d planned to do this without Sonia’s involvement. As an hour slipped by, her worry increased.