Target on the Mountain

by Elizabeth Goddard

  She hadn’t considered it when she’d told them about the lodge, but it was possible. Liam loved the old place and there were many times when he went there to seek solitude. “I sure hope not. It depends on whether or not he’s injured.”

  “I’m pretty sure Liam was the one who took care of Deacon. He’d try to get help. If McNamara and his men took Liam’s phone and obviously Deacon didn’t have one on him, then the only option for Liam would be to hike out...unless he couldn’t.”

  They were racing against the clock, unarmed and running for their lives. If they didn’t get help soon, those men back there would quickly catch up with them.

  Rachel struggled not to let the helpless feelings overwhelm her. She’d been in countless situations just as deadly before, but she wasn’t part of that life anymore and going back to it was difficult. She had to stay focused on saving Liam’s life because the thought of losing her brother to these thugs was unimaginable.

  “Hey.” Alex stopped walking and took her hand, tugging her closer. He’d clearly seen all her fears. “Help is on the way and there’s no way on earth we’re giving up on Liam.”

  She forced a smile. “I know. I just feel so frustrated.” She looked up at him. The expression in his eyes made breathing painful.

  Alex gently framed her face. “Rachel,” he whispered so softly and then leaned his head against hers. “I’ve wanted to tell you something for a long time now...” He hesitated, unsure. “I’m sorry for the way things ended between us.”

  She flinched as if he’d struck her. His regret was the last thing she wanted. She tried to pull away but he didn’t let her.

  “No, listen.” The urgency in his voice made her want to hear what he had to say. “I should never have let you go,” he whispered with so much passion that she believed him.

  But did it matter anymore?

  “I was messed up back then. I thought my life revolved around the CIA and you wanted me to walk away from all of that.” He shook his head. “I was wrong. So wrong, and I’ve regretted the decision every day since.”

  Five years ago, she would have been thrilled to hear him say that. Now, it was just another reminder of what was lost.

  Rachel moved away. Slowly, he let her go. “It’s okay. Things happen for a reason. Maybe we wouldn’t have worked out. I wouldn’t have met Brian and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I think our lives turned out the way God wanted them to.”

  She watched him try to cover up the hurt. “I guess you’re right,” he murmured, and then turned away. When the awkward silence between them became too much, Rachel started walking again. Best not to reopen those old wounds again. Especially when their lives and Liam’s were still in danger.

  In the past, she’d tried to hold on to the fond memories of her life with Brian and shove aside the heartache of losing Alex. Although her husband had never questioned her about the relationship with Alex, she’d told him everything.

  “How did you two meet, anyway?” Alex asked after a while, probably to fill the uncomfortable silence between them.

  Rachel didn’t really want to talk about her husband with Alex, but he had asked. “At church,” she told him. “Brian attended the same church as Tom and Jenny. After I’d been home for a while, the Reagans invited me to go to the service with them.” She stopped, remembering that dark time in her life.

  She’d felt so lost. Couldn’t believe it was possible to move forward with her life after losing Alex. Brian had taught her that no matter what circumstances you were going through, you could overcome them with God’s help.

  Brian’s exuberant personality always made her smile. “He had leukemia when we met and yet you would never have known it from the way he presented himself. He was always smiling and happy. He was dying and he knew it but he never let it bring him down. He was an amazing man and I miss him terribly.”

  Rachel hadn’t realized how much she’d loved Brian until he was gone. If his death had taught her anything, it was that it was possible to move on with your life no matter what you faced. She knew Brian wouldn’t want her to be sad forever. In fact, that had been his dying wish—that she not mourn for him too long. He wanted her to get on with her life. Be happy. She’d been trying to fulfill that promise to him ever since his death.

  Seeing Alex again had brought all the old hurt to the surface once more. Was it possible for them to be able to move beyond the pain and regain the friendship they once shared? Could she accept being friends with Alex after everything they’d once had? She still cared for him, there was no doubt about it. Theirs had been a passionate romance. Could she settle for anything less?

  * * *

  Alex swallowed back the ache he felt when he looked at the love in Rachel’s eyes for another man.

  He could see she was still hurting. It was evident whenever the conversation returned to their past. Would there ever come a time when they could talk about what happened? He sure hoped so.

  “We should be getting close to the lodge,” she told him, and he roused himself.

  He managed a nod. “Good. Let’s hope Liam is there and that he’s not injured too badly. We’ll need to get him out as quickly as possible before McNamara and his men show up, which is only a matter of time.”

  “I can’t even imagine what they’re planning.” Rachel shook her head. “And where are Temple and Michelle?”

  He didn’t want to say it aloud, but he believed whatever Temple had planned, it would involve deadly sarin gas.

  “Right now, nothing makes sense and I’m too tired to try to fit the pieces together,” Rachel said. “I’ll leave that up to your team.”

  Under the best of conditions, the hike up Midnight Mountain was a physically challenging test. Having to run for their lives tripled the strain of the journey.

  Alex stopped when he spotted the full round-log lodge in the clearing up ahead. “There it is.” It had been years since he’d last been up here. Even back then, the place had been showing signs of decay.

  They hurried past the overgrown parking area and stepped up on the porch. It had more boards missing than were still intact. Alex peered through one of the grimy windows. Years of dust and cobwebs blanketed the floor and the remaining furniture inside. He tried the door. Locked. The windows, as well. Were they wrong about Liam being here?

  The temperature outside had dropped considerably with the growing cloud coverage, and the threat of snow loomed. It had to be well below freezing.

  He and Rachel trudged through piled-up snow on the north side of the lodge around to the back and tried the doors and windows. All locked, yet someone had broken one of the windows.

  Please let it be Liam.

  Alex carefully removed the remaining slivers of glass and crawled through the broken window. It was only slightly warmer inside but at least it offered protection from the wind and snow. Several hours had passed without any sign of the men who’d taken them hostage, and yet he didn’t doubt for a minute that they were still coming.

  Alex unlocked the door and opened it for Rachel. “We need to search the place quickly. We won’t have much time before they get here.”

  She glanced around. “There are so many rooms. We’ll need to split up.”

  Rachel was right. They’d never get through the place otherwise.

  “I’ll take the upstairs. You search down here.” She started to leave, but he reached for her hand, holding her there. All of her uncertainties were reflected on her face. “Be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you, too.”

  She swallowed visibly and then slowly smiled. “I will. You be careful, too.”

  While she began the downstairs search, Alex took the crumbling stairs two at a time. He and Rachel and Liam had been here many times in the past, so he knew there were only guest rooms up here. The time sitting vacant had taken its toll on the place, even more since the last time he�
�d visited it. Everything was showing signs of deterioration, and there were patches in the ceiling where Alex could see the sky. The weather and the elements were slowly reclaiming the place. A few more years and there wouldn’t be much left.

  After a thorough search of the rooms, there was no sign that anyone had been up there in a while. Was he wrong about the broken glass? It might have been broken years ago. Maybe Liam never made it this far?

  Alex hurried back downstairs to help Rachel finish the search. He’d reached the kitchen area when he heard it. A footstep!

  He found Rachel. Before she could say a word, he held his finger up to his mouth then pointed outside. She understood and frantically looked around for someplace they could hide. An enormous stone bar covered the length of the room, dividing it from the great room. She indicated the bar and they ducked below it. Someone stepped up on the front porch. Liam? Another set of footsteps proved him wrong.

  “I’m not so sure they’d come here,” McNamara growled. “I think they were bluffing, trying to throw us off.”

  After a moment of silence, the second man said, “Looks like someone’s been in there. They broke out the window.”

  McNamara said something unintelligible, then, “Hang on. The boss wants us to stand guard. The rest of the team is on their way. They have something.”

  If he and Rachel wanted to stay alive, they had to find another way out before the other men arrived.

  Alex pointed to the hallway and Rachel nodded. They crept as low to the floor as they could while heading down the long passage. He opened the first door he came to as quietly as possible. It was a small bathroom with only a slatted window above the sink. Not enough room to escape.

  Rachel opened another door. It led to what appeared to have once been the laundry room. There had to be another way out beyond one of the remaining doors. There was no way he was letting these men take them again.

  Alex tried the final door on their left. It opened up to a large bedroom suite with French doors leading out to a wraparound deck outside. If his bearings were correct, they should be at the south side of the lodge facing the woods. Opposite from the men on the porch.

  They moved to the doors and looked out. Alex couldn’t see anyone. He said a quick prayer for their safe passage and slowly unlocked the door. It creaked as he opened it and he froze for a second.

  Alex listened to make sure McNamara and the second man hadn’t heard the door. He could hear them talking quietly. A good sign. He hoped it stayed that way.

  ELEVEN

  Rachel eased out behind Alex and around to the side of the lodge. She peered around the corner. Not a sound could be heard beyond the sporadic conversation from McNamara and his goon.

  “We’ll have to go slow, otherwise they’ll hear us,” she whispered.

  Rachel stepped off the porch and Alex did the same. The snow lay deep in the woods behind the lodge, making the going slow. There would be no way to cover their tracks should someone happen this way, but the white blanket helped muffle the sound of their footsteps.

  They’d barely covered any distance when the noise of an engine broke the silence of their surroundings. They stopped long enough to catch their breath.

  Rachel’s lungs burned from the cold air. “That must be the rest of McNamara’s people.”

  “This place will be crawling with men in a few minutes.” He looked at her, seeing the exhaustion she couldn’t hide. “We have to go faster. Are you up to it?”

  She wasn’t so sure she was, but the alternative was impossible. “Yes, I’m up to it.”

  “The minute they find out we’re not inside, they’ll fan out and search the entire mountainside. We have to keep ahead of them.”

  They started walking as fast as the deep snow allowed through the woods. It took her a few minutes to realize they were heading back in the same direction as the camp.

  “Do you think it’s safe to go back into the camp?” Would they be leading the men back to Deacon?

  “Probably not. But it’s not safe to stay out here like this, either.”

  From the tree coverage where she stood, Rachel could still see the lodge. An SUV was now parked in front. It looked like the same one that had left the camp earlier.

  As they watched, a second similar vehicle pulled up. Two people got out. Rachel recognized them right away. It was Blake Temple and Michelle.

  “Alex, look.” She pointed to the two. They watched as McNamara came out to meet them. From McNamara’s body language alone, it was easy to see Temple was the real person in charge. McNamara had lied about not knowing Temple.

  She couldn’t make out what they were saying but it was obvious Temple wasn’t pleased with the turn of events, and everyone was feeling the effects of his anger.

  Several men who had been inside the lodge came out. She turned to Alex. “We need to get out of here. They know we’re not inside.”

  He pointed in the direction of the cave they’d recently left. “I hate to keep backtracking, but it seems the safest and they don’t know about the cave yet. At least we’ll be out of sight. It will give us the advantage.” He pointed to their footprints in the snow. “But first, we’ll have to try to find a way to lead them away from the spot. They’ll see our tracks and follow otherwise.” Alex scanned the surrounding countryside. “This way.” He pointed to their left. “There doesn’t appear to be as much snow there and we can circle back to the cave easily enough.”

  They’d been able to slip through the cave unnoticed before. She hoped the same could be said for the return route.

  “How much longer before your team arrives?” Rachel prayed it wouldn’t be too late for Deacon and for them.

  The bleakness in his eyes did little to encourage. “Depending on when they were able to get in the air, I’d say we have at least another four hours to survive.”

  Four hours! A lifetime when facing down death.

  Alex saw her reaction and tried to be encouraging. “It could be sooner. Let’s just get to the cave and out of sight as quickly as possible.”

  He was right. They were both unarmed. They needed to stay hidden.

  As they hurried through the thick woods, a noise grabbed Rachel’s attention. It sounded like...footsteps close by.

  Alex heard it, as well. “Hurry, Rachel.” He took her hand and they started running as fast as they could.

  “Wait. Over there. I see them,” someone yelled nearby. More than one set of footsteps could be heard stomping through the woods after them.

  She glanced behind them. “They’re gaining. We’ll never make it to the cave.”

  Gunfire split the air and a round of bullets flew past her head. Rachel ducked low along with Alex.

  Alex still held her hand. She looked into his eyes. “On my count,” he said in a steady voice, and she slowly nodded. Once he’d counted off three, together they raced through the woods at breakneck speed with the men coming after them full force firing along the way. Were they trying to kill them? McNamara had said no, but the men’s behavior spoke differently. If they no longer needed them alive, then had they found whatever they were searching for? Where did that leave Liam?

  Alex stopped short when their path was blocked by a fallen boulder. It was the size of a small car and had sloughed off the mountainside.

  Rachel stopped next to him. She couldn’t believe it. They were trapped. “What do we do now? They’re almost here.”

  “We surrender.” She couldn’t believe she’d heard this warrior beside her correctly. They’d barely escaped with their lives the last time. “If we want to live long enough to find Liam, we have to find out what this is really about once and for all.”

  * * *

  Alex had just gotten the words out when four men came to a halt in front of them, weapons aimed at their heads.

  “That’s far enough,” McNamara snarled at them. �
�You two, get them.” He nodded to the two men on his right. One of the men rushed over and yanked Rachel by the arm, pulling it behind her back.

  Anger boiled deep inside of him. Rachel had suffered enough at these men’s hand. “Leave her alone.” Before he could reach her, the second man grabbed his arm, restraining him. “We’re coming with you, okay? There’s no need to hurt her.”

  “Be quiet.” McNamara fumed at him. “You are in no position to tell us what to do. You two have caused enough trouble already...along with Carlson. You’d better hope when we locate him that he’s willing to talk. Otherwise, none of you are walking out of here alive.”

  Rachel’s gaze flew to Alex. He’d heard it, too. They didn’t know where Liam was and whatever he’d taken was still missing.

  As he’d learned so many times in the past, when your back was against the wall, God worked wonders. Alex prayed for God’s intervention with all his heart.

  “Search them both,” McNamara ordered. Right away, the knife Alex had in his pocket was discovered and taken along with the flashlight.

  “Get moving,” the man holding Alex’s arm ordered. “You’ve wasted enough of our time thrashing through the woods like this.”

  Rachel stumbled to the ground. The man gripping her arm dragged her to her feet. “I’m okay,” she whispered to Alex when she saw the fear in his eyes he couldn’t hide. “I’m okay.”

  She managed a smile, but he could tell she was running out of strength and hope. He understood. He was, too. It seemed that everything they’d tried so far had failed. They had no idea where Liam was and Deacon was in danger. Still, he wasn’t ready to die here, and he certainly wasn’t going to let anything happen to Rachel. He’d fight to his last breath to save her.

  “Get them back to the lodge. He’s angry. We need to get this thing settled now. Before they arrive,” McNamara blurted out, and Rachel slid Alex a look. Someone was coming here? He tried to digest the meaning but he couldn’t.