Laura’s voice was a sound of anguish. “I gave them what they wanted. I gave them the key. Then he said he wanted our deaths to look like an accident. He hit me. I don’t know how this happened.”
What key was she talking about? Every instinct Seth had was screaming at him to quit talking and start acting. But he’d seen more than one mission go sideways because of bad information. Getting the details correct was often the difference between life and death. “I need you to back up. Start at the beginning.”
“I found a safe-deposit key last week. This Mahoney came up the mountain today. With a lot of armed men. He said he wouldn’t hurt us if we gave him the key.”
“But he lied.”
Laura actually rolled her eyes at him. “Clearly.” Her voice was dry. Sarcastic.
“What’s in the safe-deposit box?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“How do you not know?” This was not the time for Laura to keep details to herself.
“I didn’t even know the box existed. My husband, Josh, was killed eighteen months ago. I just boxed all his stuff up when we came back here. Last week was the first time I opened them. That’s when I found it.”
Seth had heard that Old Man Grant’s daughter had moved back home. She’d stayed even after Grant had died.
Seth quickly walked to the front windows and tried to look out without being seen. The two men were still there, not moving or talking. Assault teams were very good at waiting. He made his way to the windows in the back of the cabin. Nothing but typical Colorado mountain terrain. Two men out front in plain sight. Nothing visible anywhere else. Seth’s clenched stomach tightened even further. Those men had a plan and Seth knew he wasn’t going to like it.
“Laura, we still need a plan. If we can’t call for assistance, then we have to figure out some other way of getting it. Some other way to communicate that we are in trouble. We need help. Backup. More people with guns on our side.”
Laura held her daughter closer to her body and shrugged her shoulders in an almost desperate manner. “I don’t have any way to call for help. Believe me, if I did, I would have used it when the shooting started.”
Seth blew out an angry breath. He hated this feeling. This trapped and useless sinkhole that he somehow found himself back in. His voice was harsh, but getting shot by the two men out front would definitely be harsher. “Well, think. You said you gave them what they wanted? So they just left? Then why are they back?”
Seth sounded accusatory. Too bad. It needed to be asked and being nice was going to get them killed if they didn’t figure out how to get out of this situation.
Laura’s voice was almost stiff. “They knew I had the key to the safe-deposit box. They said if I gave it to them, they would leave. I did.” Her voice became even more brittle. “They lied. They said they had to kill us but it needed to look like an accident.”
The fire. It had to be the fire. Seth had been completely surprised at the fire when he came across it while out patrolling. He’d assumed it was started by careless campers. Now he knew.
Laura wasn’t done. “They said the smoke from the fire would kill me and Abby long before the actual flames. I panicked. They hit me, and the next thing I knew was you were there waking me up.”
Seth exhaled deeply. He had asked and now he knew. The men must have been watching from somewhere safe to make sure the fire actually consumed the cabin. The cabin with an unconscious woman and a three-year-old little girl inside.
Seth looked out the window again. The men were still waiting. The more the men outside stayed still, the more Seth felt like he needed to be doing something. Standing and waiting for someone else to act did not sit well with him. He wouldn’t—no he couldn’t—play the victim and wait to see what his fate would be.
He wondered if something had gone wrong with the fire. While it was certainly healthy when he’d come across it, it wasn’t moving terribly fast. It had run horizontally, blocking the road back down. And it would eventually reach the cabin and probably burn it down. But it wasn’t going to do so in the next few hours.
This Mahoney must have started the fire far away from the cabin so it wouldn’t look deliberate. But he’d miscalculated. And now it seemed that Mahoney would settle for Laura and Abby dying even if it didn’t look accidental.
Seth really wanted to know more about this Mahoney and how Laura found herself in this situation. But not now—right now, Seth wanted a satellite phone and an extraction team. He wasn’t going to get either. He needed to be smart and deliberate. And quick. He doubted the men would wait much longer.
Laura was just looking at him. Her hand was still making that steady circle on Abby’s back. Her other arm must be hurting from supporting all of Abby’s weight, but Laura wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. The little girl was resting her head on her mother’s shoulder, breathing into Laura’s neck. One tiny fist clutched a stuffed yellow duck. She looked warm and sleepy. Safe. Seth glanced at the back door. The clear path into the forest. They could make a run for it, but it wouldn’t work.
Laura spoke, her eyes also on the back door. “We won’t make it, will we?” It wasn’t really a question. Seth wanted to puff out his chest, flex his muscles and tell her that he would keep her and her daughter safe. That he could pick them both up and run them out that back door. Run them to safety. But Laura deserved honesty more than false assurances.
“No. If there are two men out front, then someone has to be watching the back. Even if they aren’t, the men out front would hear us. Chase us. And we—”
Laura finished for him. “Have Abby. We’re trapped.”
TWO
Trapped. They were trapped. Inside a cabin, surrounded by men with guns. Men who had been very clear about wanting to kill both Laura and sweet Abigail.
And Laura didn’t even know what this was all about. Why?
Laura hugged Abby more closely to her body, breathing in the smell of children’s shampoo, grilled cheese and that musky scent that came from playing in the forest. Abby’s body was warm and slightly damp from when Laura had piled blankets on top of her and put her down for her nap. The fever she’d been fighting all week was gone for now.
One little foot was bare. Laura found her other shoe and put it on, feeling better that Abby was fully dressed. She ran her hands over the small feet, then went back to rubbing a circle on Abby’s back, though that was more for her own benefit than the little girl’s. Abby was asleep, but the repetition and physical contact soothed Laura. Grounded her. Reminded her that she and Abby were here together. Abby was the only thing Laura needed in this world.
Laura wanted to go look out the window for herself, but she made her legs stay where they were. She wasn’t sure she would be able to peer through the curtains without being detected. And those men had already shown they were willing to shoot in.
She didn’t want to put Abby down, and she sure didn’t want to carry Abby closer to the window—to the men with guns. Laura wished again that her dad were still here. He would know what to do. How to make it right.
Laura smiled as she thought of what he’d say. His voice would be exasperated. Never out of patience with her, but his tone would have suggested that the answer was right there in front of her. Obvious and logical. “Use the tunnel, girl. It’s an escape tunnel. Escape in it.”
The tunnel. Laura sucked in a deep breath, her hand faltering in its circle pattern. How could she have forgotten? When she had first come to live with her dad, she’d been convinced he was some sort of alien. He lived on a mountain. A whole mountain to himself. He talked about not going into their world. And he had a tunnel. It made sense to a seven-year-old.
Laura had found it by accident about a month after coming to the mountain. She had refused to go hunting with Malcolm Grant, still stuck in the grief of losing her parents and the surreal timidity that came with finding hersel
f living on a strange mountain with a new dad.
Mad at herself for crying, yet again, she had thrown her stuffed teddy bear as hard as she could. He’d landed in the closet. After a few minutes of telling herself she wasn’t a baby and didn’t need the silly bear, Laura had climbed off the bed and retrieved her only friend. And she had discovered the latch to the tunnel.
Laura smiled, remembering that moment so clearly. She had lifted the trapdoor, found a flashlight and jumped into the tunnel without thinking. Laura didn’t know enough to be afraid. All Laura knew was that aliens were real, and she was going to take that tunnel to a different planet. She’d talked out loud as she explored, encouraging the aliens to come out and play. They never did, of course.
Her dad had been livid when he found her several hours later. It was the closest he’d ever come to yelling at her. “It’s an escape tunnel, girl. Not a playground. It’s secret. And we both need to pray to God that we’ll never, ever need to use it.”
And they hadn’t. Until now.
Laura tried to take a deep breath, hoping it would calm her. Please, God, let this be the right decision. “I know how we can get out. There’s a tunnel.”
“A tunnel.” Seth sounded like he had just been told that there was a teleportation device hidden in the cabin. Laura couldn’t blame him.
“Yes, a tunnel. An escape tunnel. My dad made it, when he built the cabin. For situations like this.” Laura’s voice didn’t betray the absurdity of those words. Incredulity might be an expected response to a secret escape tunnel, but Laura was loyal to her dad. Even though he’d been dead for a few months now, she was never going to betray him by mocking him. Especially not in front of park rangers.
“Your dad often find himself being shot at by random people?”
Laura tried to hide her wince. She had spent most of her life hearing people criticize her dad, and she had learned to ignore them. Kind of.
“I’m sorry, Laura. I shouldn’t—”
“Stop.” Her voice was loud. Loud and tired and just a touch desperate.
Her little girl moved at the sound of Laura’s voice, lifting her head and opening her eyes. Laura straightened her back, holding Abby more firmly to her chest. She placed her hand on the back of the child’s head, pushed it back into the indent of her neck and breathed in deeply, her nose still in the child’s hair.
She didn’t have time for this, and she had more important things to do right now than defend her dad to this park ranger. Her eyes never broke contact with Seth. Her voice was softer. She didn’t feel like forgiving him or being kind to him. She just felt...weary. Laura suddenly felt very, very weary.
“Just stop. You said we have to get out of here quickly. I’m telling you there’s a way out. I’m going to take it. Are you coming with me?”
Before Seth could open his mouth to answer, Laura was moving again. She meant it about taking the tunnel out of here. Laura wasn’t crazy about going alone, but she would if he didn’t follow. She headed back to the small bedroom and opened the closet door. She got down on her knees, setting Abby on the floor.
“Here, honey, sit here for Mommy for just a second. Okay?” Laura took a moment to rub her hand over the sleepy girl’s cheek. She nodded and leaned against the wall. Satisfied, Laura turned once again to the open closet.
Laura somehow found a latch in the floor—the trapdoor into a tunnel. Standing, she then reached up to the top shelf of her closet and pulled out a couple flashlights. She handed one to Seth, who was standing close to her, just watching.
Then she opened the trapdoor and saw the ladder leading down into the dark. Cool air drifted up, along with the scent of damp earth. Laura didn’t remember the tunnel feeling like a grave when she’d been a child. It did now, though.
The goose bumps that broke out on Laura’s arm had nothing to do with the temperature.
* * *
Seth really did not want to climb down into that pit. That dark hole in the ground. But it was the only way out. And they needed it now.
“Here, let me go first,” he said to Laura, stepping around her so he could be the initial one to descend into the hopefully stable unknown. He stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. At least it felt secure, not shaking or creaking as he put his full weight on it. That was a good sign.
Once Seth reached the bottom, Laura handed Abby to him. Then she climbed down the ladder after him. Seth handed Abby back to Laura and climbed halfway up the ladder so he could close the closet door and then the trapdoor. He wished he had a way to cover up the entrance. Hopefully the assault team wouldn’t find the hidden passage right away. He and Laura needed all the time they could get.
“Here, let me help.” Seth was surprised to see that Laura had set Abby down. She climbed up the ladder with him and focused her light on where the door had closed. There was a latch. And a lock. Seth was suddenly grateful for paranoid men who built escape tunnels and thought to equip them with locks. They secured the door and climbed down.
Laura picked Abby back up and they turned to face the tunneled path in front of them. Their flashlights only illuminated the space about ten feet ahead. It was dark and cold. Damp. Seth couldn’t see the walls surrounding them, but he felt them. “Okay. Guess this is the only way to go now.”
They headed into the black. Laura scanned the interior of the tunnel with her flashlight as they walked. “I haven’t been in this thing for years. I played in it once or twice when I was a child, but Dad was always worried it wouldn’t remain a secret tunnel if I kept using it. He was pretty big on separating toys from survival tools.”
Seth really couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that. He supposed that if he had been a recluse with a secret escape tunnel, he probably wouldn’t have wanted a child playing in it, either. It made sense in a hermit sort of way.
“All right. This should take us out of here.” Laura sounded more hopeful than confident. She turned and looked at Seth, bringing her flashlight with her so that they could see one another. The expression on her face was a mixture of triumph and fear.
Seth knew the feeling. It was currently residing in his own chest. They had made it out of the cabin. The men with guns did not know where they were right now. But Seth also didn’t know where they would be in a few feet. “Where does the tunnel end? I mean, will we be far enough away?”
Laura shifted her hold on Abby. The little girl looked more alert. Her big dark eyes, so much like Laura’s, were watching him. Laura kissed Abby on the cheek and looked at him to answer his question.
“It’s really long. I don’t know exactly how long. I just remember it seemingly going on for forever when I was a child. It comes out farther up the mountain. Closer to the top. I’m pretty sure we’ll be safe. I mean, I hope we will be.”
Pressure expanded in Seth’s chest as he thought about the chance that she was wrong. That they would walk out of this tunnel into something worse than the men at the cabin. Or that they would end up trapped here by the fire. Seth took a deep breath, set his shoulders and started walking. There really wasn’t anything else to do, and they were wasting time.
The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for two adults to walk next to one another. Thankfully, though, it was tall enough that Seth could stand fully upright. It made him feel less like some kind of underground mole. Or troll. “I’ll go first and try to shine my light so you can use it, too. That way you can hold Abby with both arms. The ground looks clear at least.”
Laura was keeping up with Seth’s pace as he spoke. He hoped she understood that the tunnel was safe only for as long as it took those men outside the cabin to come inside and find it. Once that happened, it would become a prison. Or a tomb.
Laura shuddered, as though reading his thoughts, and looked at Abby. She was clearly terrified for her daughter, focused solely on keeping Abby safe. No, Seth vowed to himself, this tunnel would not become a tomb. Set
h increased his speed, grateful that Laura followed fast enough that he was still right in front of her.
“That door was metal, and the lock seemed sturdy.” Seth knew he was trying to reassure himself just as much as he was Laura. He felt a bit like Pollyanna, trying to play the glad game. But his words were the truth and being optimistic always felt better than sitting in despair. “I’m not sure how prepared that team is, but I don’t think they will have an easy time breaking through.” He looked behind him and Laura jerked her head up and down once in a nod. “Your dad’s paranoia is turning out to be a good thing.”
Seth heard Laura’s steps falter, but when he looked back her legs had resumed their prior movements. He’d regretted his words the moment he said them, but he regretted them even more when he saw that look in her eyes. It wasn’t anger so much as sadness. Resignation. Seth didn’t like the way that look made him feel. He breathed out through his nose, wondering why he couldn’t have kept his judgment to himself. Criticizing her dad, a man she clearly loved, wasn’t going to do a thing to help their situation. Moreover, he was the reason they still had a fighting chance against that army surrounding the cabin. Lord, when will I ever learn?
“He wasn’t paranoid. Or crazy. Or a criminal.” There wasn’t any heat in her tone. Seth almost wished there had been. Surely hard anger would have been easier to digest than the resignation in her voice. Seth wasn’t making her mad. He was hurting her.
He sighed. The man had been her father, so of course she would defend him. He didn’t know what to say. He should apologize, but he still believed the words he was saying. He just wished they didn’t upset Laura.
“My dad never hurt a soul in his entire life. All he wanted was to live on the mountain by himself. To be left alone. He never did anything bad to anyone, but people couldn’t just let him be. They had to judge him. Question him. And make sure he knew that they considered him some kind of scary deviant.”
Rocky Mountain Showdown Page 2