Shattered (32 page)

“Then you need Jake. We both know no one can track like him.”

Cold seeped through Piper’s gloves despite the fleece lining. They’d been tracking Landon and his captor for hours. They’d found the snowmobile with an empty tank of gas at the base of the thickly wooded forest. He’d chosen his route well. Even though they had extra containers of gas, their snowmobiles couldn’t fit through the tangled roots and narrow passages this section of evergreens afforded.

Jake remained stubbornly silent on the skirmish that must have ensued before Landon and the man entered the woods. Blood and haphazard tracks said it all. Landon was hurt, but two sets of footprints remained, filling Piper with an unsettling mix of hope and dread.

“We wasted too much time,” she said, trudging through the dense undergrowth barring their way. They’d given them nearly a half-hour head start while coordinating and supplying their search party.

“We had no choice,” Cole reminded her. “We’re better prepared. He’s out here without supplies, which means we have the upper hand.”

She yanked her foot out of the tangle of roots and vines ensnaring it. It sure didn’t feel like they had the upper hand. But they knew this mountain far better than he did—and he was outnumbered. They’d catch him. She only prayed they wouldn’t be too late.

Piper hovered over Jake as he bent to examine the fading tracks. The snow had started an hour back, thickening in intensity over the past ten minutes. Even an expert tracker like Jake was having difficulty finding what remained of their imprints.

“We’re going to lose them,” she said, her chest tightening.

“Then we vary our approach.” Jake stood, eyeing the landscape. “He’s going to move for shelter in this storm.”

Landon could tell the man where to find shelter, but would he? Would he think it best to let the man wear down in the elements or lead him to shelter so they’d be easier to locate?

“From here there are three options,” Jake said. “The ranger station at Ford’s Pass, the observation tower on Northface, or the emergency shelter by the spring.”

“The station is best supplied,” Cole said.

“But the tower has the best vantage point,” Piper said. He knew they were tracking him. He’d want to see them coming.

“If they’re holed up in there, he’ll see us coming even in this storm,” Jake said.

“I know, but I’m betting that’s where they’ll be.”

Cole shook his head. “Landon wouldn’t lead him there.”

“He might not have had to,” Jake said.

“What do you mean?”

“The man has shown some clear knowledge of the area in the path they’ve taken.”

“You think he planned for this contingency?” Piper asked.

Jake shook his head. “I don’t know that I’d go that far, but he knew the most remote area to run you off of Highway 11. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d studied the terrain or at least had the resources available to him.”

“But if he doesn’t have a plan, Landon would surely take him to the ranger station,” Piper said. It was not only the best supplied, but the most frequented.

“So which do we head for?” Cole asked.

“All of them,” she said.

“What?”

“We have to split up and check all three.”

Cole shook his head. “No. That’s too risky.”

“We don’t have a choice. If we choose the wrong one, we risk losing him completely.”

“She’s right,” Jake said.

“Fine, so how should we split up?”

“I’ll go with Piper to the observation tower,” Gage volunteered. “Kayden, you and Jake head for the emergency shelter. Cole, you take the ranger station.”

“Fine. We check in every fifteen minutes,” Cole said, holding up his radio. “Any trouble, light a flare.”

Kayden sighed. “I doubt it’ll do much good in this storm.”

“You’d be surprised the punch they hold,” Jake said.

Cole clasped a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “Be safe. You won’t do Landon any good if you’re hurt.”

She nodded. All that mattered was saving him.

She and Gage headed north, into the wind, the shelter of the trees thinning and the cold sweeping more heavily down on them.

Gage’s radio crackled. He signaled Piper to stop.

“Gage, it’s Darcy. Can you hear me?”

Gage held it to his ear, cupping his hand over it. “Yeah, Darcy, I got you.”

“We got a hit off the fingerprints.”

Finally.
Piper exhaled. Some good news.

“His real name is Carl Anderson, but he’s got a handful of aliases.”

“I’m guessing he has a record.”

“Yeah, several aggravated assault charges in various states up until a year ago, and then he kind of dropped off the grid. His last-known address is in Portland. We forwarded the information to a Portland detective named James Reno who’d worked a couple of Anderson’s assault cases. He’s heading out to Anderson’s last-known address now and running everything he can find under Anderson’s aliases.”

“That’s great news. Thanks, Darcy.”

“Still haven’t found them?”

“Not yet, but we’re closing in, I think. Piper and I are headed for the observation tower.”

“Be careful. Weather service says this storm is picking up speed.”

“Roger that.” Gage slipped his radio back into his jacket and smiled at Piper. “We’ve got him.”

“We’ve got his name but not him.” She resumed her pace, trudging through the thickening snow as best she could, trying not to think about the cold seeping into her bones or what Carl Anderson might be doing to Landon.

How had he known about the observation tower? Landon struggled to loosen his bonds. His head still swam from the knock he’d taken to the back of the head as soon as they’d entered the shelter. A fire blazed in the metal stove, illuminating the small space.

The man sat on the lone cot, working on some sort of device. “They’ll be coming soon.”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Detective. We both know they’ve been tracking us all day. They’ll be here soon, but I’ll already be gone.”

Landon narrowed his eyes. “Where do you plan to go in this storm?”

“Never you mind about that.”

“They’ll track you wherever you go.”

“Not if they’re dead.” The man stood, the device clutched in his hand. He set it on the small table and flipped a switch, testing it. A red light blinked.

Landon’s eyes widened. He was going to blow the tower.

“Don’t worry.” The man flipped the switch back. “I won’t detonate it until I’m sure they’re here rescuing you. Quite poetic, don’t you think?” He stepped to the window to watch for his prey. “People think men in my line of work are just hired thugs, but I assure you I am far superior to my brothers in arms.”

“Your brothers?”

“Fellow assassins,” he explained. “You see, Detective,” he continued, “I put a lot of research into my work. For example, I know that Michelle Evans was killed by a natural gas explosion.”

“There was nothing
natural
about her death. Mongols assassinated her.”

“As I will you all, removing every loose end, including that infernal chip, ending this little saga with a salute to the past.”

“Are you suggesting you had something to do with Michelle Evans’s death?”

“Of course not. I’m simply paying homage to the event. Michelle took information that didn’t belong to her and paid with her life. Her choice to take Karli on the run eventually led Karli to Erik, who in turn gave her something that didn’t belong to her, and she paid with her life too.”

The man was even more unhinged than Landon had realized. He struggled to release his bonds. He had to get free, had to protect Piper and her family from this madman.

Piper lay beside Gage on the boulder, staring up at the tower with floodlights lit.

“He’s going to see us coming.”

“Unfortunately, there’s only one way up.” Gage slid back down to the boulder’s base.

She scooted beside him. “Not necessarily.”

Gage’s eyes widened. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Not any more than walking into his crosshairs.”

“Northface is dangerous enough to climb during good weather. With the snow and ice, no way.”

“I’m not asking permission.” She stood and moved around the wide rock base to the rear of the eighty-foot wall forming the back of the tower’s base.

“At least give the others a chance to get here.”

As soon as they’d seen the tower was occupied, they’d radioed
the others, who had then redirected their course and alerted the authorities.

“There isn’t time.”

Gage’s footfalls crunched on the snow behind her.

Her heart racing in her chest and adrenaline coursing through her veins, she labored her way to the base of the rock wall. She dropped her backpack and fished out the rope.

“You don’t even have the proper equipment.” Gage set his pack beside hers. “What if I—”

“Gage, how long has it been since you’ve climbed? It has to be me.” She fished through the gear bag they’d snagged from her Jeep before setting off after Anderson. “I have rope, and . . . there are carabineers in here somewhere.”

“Harness?”

“Give me the rope from your pack.” She held out her hand.

“Swiss seat?” he asked, handing it over.

“Not comfortable, but tied correctly, just as safe as the store-bought ones.” She repeated their father’s mantra, thankful he’d put so much time into teaching them wilderness survival as kids. She began fashioning the homemade harness.

“And what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and watch you climb to danger?”

Taking one end of the rope, she wrapped it around the back of her waist, keeping the center point at her hip. “Belay me; wait for others and for my signal.”

“Signal?” he said as she fashioned an overhand knot at her navel.

She pulled tight and looped the other end of the rope back around her waist. “I haven’t figured it out yet, but it’ll come to me.”

“Somehow that isn’t comforting.”

She pulled the rope ends between her legs and tucked them under the rope at her waist, tying a half hitch on each side. “Sorry, bro. Gotta go by instinct on this one.” She squatted to set the knots, then stood and encircled her waist with the remaining rope ends, finishing with a square knot.

“Piper.” He placed a hand on her shoulder as she locked in. “You’re going on the assumption the climbers before you left sturdy pins in place. Assumptions can be deadly.”

“I know, but I’ve got to do this.” She’d free-climbed Northface last summer and remembered seeing anchors along the way. In the snow and ice, free-climbing was too dangerous; she’d at least try and anchor in as best she could. Besides, if their places were reversed and it was her up in that tower, nothing would stop Landon from coming for her.

She scaled the wall as silently as she could, praying Anderson was too focused on watching the south approach to even think about them approaching from the rear.

Wind lashed at her face, her exposed fingers numbing quickly. She couldn’t climb well with regular gloves and her ice-climbing ones hadn’t been in her Jeep. Strengthening her resolve and keeping Landon’s charming smile at the forefront of her mind, she pressed on. She also prayed Cole didn’t cause too much ruckus when he arrived and discovered what she’d done, prayed she’d already be in position and have her signal ready.

What signal? What plan? She was running out of time to solidify both. She only knew she had to keep moving.

He paced the room, his gaze ever watchful on the detective. Heat spread through his limbs with each step. Something was wrong. They were taking too long. He stared back out the window. Not a shadow. Not a hint of movement. What were they up to?

He needed to spot them well in advance, so he had time to escape. With a rock wall behind, there was only one way in or out. He paused. The research he’d done on the McKenna family, on Piper in particular, flooded his mind. “Your girlfriend is quite the rock climber, isn’t she?” he said, striding to the rear of the tower.

The detective struggled harder behind him, but he had more pressing matters.

Piper cleared the wall and climbed onto the platform on which the observation station sat. Untying the lead rope from her harness, she secured it to the tower’s metal rigging. Taking a deep breath, she crept around the corner toward the door. It swung open with such force it knocked her from her feet. Her head hit the floor with a crack. She stared up blearily at Carl Anderson bent over her.

“Hello, darling. So nice of you to join us.” Grabbing her right leg, he yanked her inside, her back and head thumping over the metal door plate along the way. She squirmed against his grip. “A lively one you are, but not for—” His words stopped short. He stared at her and toppled on top of her.

She wrestled under his weight.

“Piper,” Landon hollered.

Anderson slid off her and slumped to the ground beside her.

Landon bent down, a wood plank still gripped tight in his hand. “Are you all right?”

“I was supposed to be asking you that.”

Landon retrieved Anderson’s gun and tossed the plank aside. “You have a radio?” he asked as he helped her sit up.

She nodded.

“Let the others know Anderson’s unconscious and we’re waiting for them.” He winced as he pulled her to her feet.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He coughed. “Just a catch in my back.”

“Are you sure?”

He brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek. “I’m positive.” Another dry cough racked him.

“Landon?”

“Really, I’m fine. How far out are the others?”

“Climbing the stairs now,” Cole relayed over the radio.