by Erin Wade
“It’s a Tucker Sno-Cat,” Jericho explained. “The best snow handler US government money can buy. As you can see, it’s an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed like a tank. The cabs are optimized for use in sub-zero weather or cold conditions worsened by windchill.”
“How did you get it?”
“It was in my budget you approved two years ago. The one I submitted to get the equipment necessary to protect Dr. Storm in any situation.”
“Um, yes. The one that was accompanied by a report describing dangerous scenarios you might encounter protecting Mecca.”
“That’s the one,” Jericho smirked.
They waved to Roland and Mecca as they passed in front of the cabin and headed up the mountainside.
##
The soft snow crunched under the Sno-Cat as it struggled up the mountain. “This is slow going, General. We’re almost vertical. Keep an eye on your phone. Maybe we’ll get a signal without going all the way to the top.”
Abby squeezed the blonde’s arm, letting her know she understood. She was amazed at the excellent physical condition of her best agent and clung to her as the vehicle crawled up the incline.
They reached a large clearing, and Jericho steered the Cat to the left, turning it so she could look back down the mountain.
“What are you doing?”
“This will be the last place where we can see the cabin.” Jericho gestured to the valley below, where the cabin, smoke curling from its chimney, looked like the setting for a Currier and Ives Christmas card.
“I wanted to check on Mecca and Roland. We won’t be able to see the cabin again until we reach this spot on our return trip. I’m nervous about leaving them alone out there.”
“Trust me, Jericho. Mecca Storm can take care of herself.”
On several occasions the Sno-Cat struggled to make it through snowdrifts. It was almost nightfall when they topped the crest of the mountain.
“Still no signal,” Abby hissed. “What now, Jericho?”
Jericho surveyed their white world, looking for a clearing. “We’ll have to climb that peak on foot to get above the trees.” Jericho gestured toward a snowcapped peak about fifty feet above them. “If there’s a signal, we’ll get it there.”
Abby nodded and followed Jericho from the warmth of the ATV to the peak.
“I’ve got a signal!” Abby beamed as she touched the button that would put her in contact with her second-in-command.
“General, thank God you’re alive,” a deep voice hummed from the cell phone. “Where are you?”
“That’s not important,” Abby barked. “I need you to arrest State Representative Darwin Davis. He’s the turncoat in our midst. Pull in my entire guard and whisk him away. You know where to take him. Tell the president, ‘Skunk removal has been activated.’ Say those exact words.”
“Yes, ma’am. When can I expect you back?”
“I’m not certain, but I’ll keep in touch. I’ll be watching the news tonight. Be sure Darwin is spirited away.”
“I’ll make it happen, General. Ma’am, so far there has been no attempt to destroy the bridges.”
“There will be. Don’t relax for a minute.”
“We’re vigilant, General.”
“That’s all for now.” Abby ended the call and dialed another number. “You’ll know in a few minutes,” she said before turning off her phone.
They headed back to the Sno-Cat as heavy snow began to fall. A loud rustling in the trees made them move faster. “Something is following us,” Jericho whispered as she increased their pace. “Don’t run. Just walk as fast as you can.”
They reached the Sno-Cat as a brown creature slinked from the trees. Crouching as it stalked its prey, a huge bobcat edged toward them. As Jericho opened the cab door, the cat made its move. Jericho shoved Abby into the cab and stepped on the running board to dive in behind her.
The big cat clamped its jaws around Jericho’s boot and pulled her from the cab. She hit the ground hard and fought the daze that threatened to render her helpless. She kicked the bobcat in the face with her free foot and sent it flying backward. She crawled to all fours and faced the snarling animal.
Jericho inched backward toward the Sno-Cat, never taking her eyes from the bobcat. She unzipped her parka pocket to reach the Glock. She would use it as a last resort. Her foot hit the hard rubber tracks of the Sno-Cat, and she knew the only hope of both her and the bobcat ending their standoff alive was if she could jump into the cab before the cat could reach her. She eased to her feet and took hold of the metal handle beside the cab door. In a superhuman show of strength, Jericho jumped to the top of the tracks as the bobcat charged. Hanging on to the handle and the cab door, she swung around and kicked the animal as hard as she could. Her steel-toed boot connected with the bobcat’s shoulder, sending it skidding through the snow.
Jericho slammed the door and climbed unceremoniously over Abby to start the vehicle.
The furious cat leaped onto the hood of the Sno-Cat and clawed at the windows. The snow handler came to life on the first try, and Jericho turned it around to head downhill.
“We need to get rid of him,” Abby said.
“He’ll give up after a while,” Jericho said. “There’s no chance of him breaking into this thing.”
Jericho turned on the vehicle’s lights and eased it down the hill. “This will be slow going. I can’t see two feet in front of me.”
“We should wait until daybreak to drive down,” Abby noted. “This is dangerous.”
“I want to get back to Mecca,” Jericho insisted.
“They’re fine. They’re in a secure cabin with plenty of food and heat.”
Jericho jerked the Sno-Cat to a halt, avoiding a collision with a clump of trees and sending the bobcat sailing off the hood.
“Park this thing,” Abby said. “We can keep warm in it and start back down at the crack of dawn.”
“But General—”
“That’s an order, soldier.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jericho huffed.
Chapter 41
At the first sign of light, Jericho put the Sno-Cat in gear and moved down the mountainside.
“What time is it?” Abby asked.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s enough light to see.”
“Jericho, you know I was right to command you to stop driving in the dark.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Jericho responded. “All that matters is getting back to the cabin and making certain Mecca is safe.”
“Be careful, soldier,” Abby warned. “I’m okay with you sleeping with Mecca, but if anyone else finds out, it could cause you problems.”
Jericho snorted. “You’re as high as it goes, General. If you’re okay with it, that’s all that matters.”
“She is quite a woman,” Abby mumbled.
“You have no idea, General.”
I’m afraid you have no idea, Jericho, Abby thought.
##
The overnight snow had covered their tracks from the day before, so Jericho had to blaze a new trail. It took over two hours to reach the clearing where they could see the cabin. Smoke floated lazily from the chimney, and everything looked serene.
“We should get there in a couple of hours,” Jericho noted.
“Jericho, look.” Abby handed her agent the binoculars.
Jericho gritted her teeth as she watched two black SUVs wind their way toward the cabin. She knew they would reach Mecca before she could.
“They must have picked up your phone call,” Jericho said. “Do you have any kind of signal now?”
The general moved her phone in every direction but couldn’t pick up a signal. Jericho moved the ATV forward, frantically trying to figure out a way to reach Mecca before the vehicles did.
As they disappeared into the trees, the cabin vanished from sight. Jericho drove as fast as she dared, avoiding trees and stumps.
##
“I wonder what time Jericho and Abby w
ill return,” Mecca said, trying her best not to worry. “I thought they would be back last night.”
“I’m sure the second blizzard moving in slowed them down,” Roland said to console her. “They probably had to spend the night somewhere and wait until they could see to navigate the terrain.”
Mecca worried her bottom lip. “I’m sure you’re right. Still, I’m concerned.”
She cooked breakfast and made another pot of coffee. They turned on the TV to see what was happening in Washington.
“At dawn this morning, General Abigail Carson’s Washington security detail rounded up additional terrorists and whisked them to unknown quarters. Representative Darwin Davis was also taken to a more secure location.
“Although General Carson’s whereabouts are unknown, she does appear to be in full control of the detail under her command and has moved quickly this morning to further secure the White House and surrounding government facilities. A few members of the People’s Socialist Party have escaped capture. They are armed and considered extremely dangerous.”
Photos of bearded men dressed in black fatigues appeared on the screen.
Boots stomping on the front porch jerked Mecca’s attention away from the TV. “Thank God, they’re back,” she exclaimed, rushing to the door.
Before Mecca could unlock it, the door was kicked in by four burly men clad in black fatigues. The first man to enter grabbed Mecca in a bear hug as another handcuffed her arms behind her back.
Roland jumped to her defense, but a rifle butt to the head ended his efforts.
“Where’s General Carson?” the man demanded.
“I . . . I don’t know,” Mecca stammered. “Who are you? What do you think you’re doing? This is private property! I’m an American citizen. You can’t burst in here and—”
“Shut her up,” the thug commanded. Another man slapped a strip of duct tape across Mecca’s lips and shoved her into a chair.
Roland regained consciousness, and the man asked him where General Carson was.
“I have no idea,” Roland croaked. “She never tells me anything. She left last night, so I suspect she is in Washington by now.”
The four men exchanged glances, and then the leader yanked Mecca to her feet. “You two are coming with us,” he grunted. He ran the back of his hand down the side of Mecca’s face. “You and I will have some fun a little later.”
Mecca mewled, pleading with her eyes.
“You want to talk?” the man said.
She nodded.
“If I take the tape off will you be quiet?”
Mecca nodded again, and the man ripped the tape from her mouth.
A little yelp of pain escaped Mecca’s mouth as she parted her lips to speak. “I need to use the bathroom before we leave,” she pleaded. “I can’t make it very far.”
The leader looked her over from head to toe and nodded.
“Can you remove the cuffs, please? she asked. “I’ll need to use my hands.”
The leader exhaled loudly as he considered her request. Then he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. “I’ll be standing outside the door, so don’t try anything funny.”
Mecca nodded and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She quickly pried open the window and pushed against the screen, praying she could punch her way through the snow accumulated against the window. In less than three minutes she was scurrying away from the cabin, heading for the cover of the forest.
A shot rang out, and a bullet hissed past Mecca’s face. “The next one will be in your back,” a voice yelled.
She was almost into the trees and considered making a dash for the forest instead of stopping, but the sound of heavy breathing directly behind her made her halt. The leader tackled her and sent her sprawling in the snow. He was on top of her before she could move.
He caught her face with his meaty hand and squeezed her cheeks between his thumb and fingers. “Have you ever had it in the snow?” He growled as he tore away her blouse.
Mecca screamed and fought to shove the heavy man off her, but she was no match for his brute strength. The other three men rushed from the cabin to see what was going on.
Mecca kept screaming.
“Shut up!” The man slapped her. Dazed, she shook the fog from her head and screamed again as the man ripped her bra from her. “Damn, those are nice,” the man leered.
“Boss! Boss!” his henchmen hollered.
“Wait your turn,” the man growled as he unzipped his pants.
Mecca’s eyes grew wide in terror.
“You’re gonna like this, Dr. Storm.” The man’s evil laughter died away as claws removed his head from his body and sent it flying. Mecca remained motionless as the mother bear hooked her talons into his torso and shredded it.
The bear turned and charged the three dazed men who were trying to make some sense of what was happening. She ripped the face off one and sent him sailing into the snowbank. She slit open the back of another as he tried to run away and lacerated the throat of the third. In a spellbinding fury, the sow ripped and shredded the bodies before turning to Mecca.
Mecca swallowed the bile that threatened to fill her mouth as the bear ambled toward her. The animal swung her head to the side and filled the frigid air with a bloodcurdling roar. Her cub ran from the trees and leaped into its mother’s arms. The bear cradled her baby, stared into Mecca’s eyes as if acknowledging that they were even, and then meandered into the forest.
Mecca pulled the remnants of her blouse around her breasts and shivered violently as she made her way back to the cabin.
Roland, still handcuffed to a chair, groaned as Mecca walked through the doorway. The cabin was cold, and the door hung on the frame by one hinge. “I’ll be right back, doctor,” Mecca mumbled as she entered their bedroom and pulled on one of Jericho’s sweatshirts.
“I think the key to your cuffs are in the slaughter out there,” she explained. “I can’t free you.”
“What happened?” Roland asked.
“The mother bear we saved from drowning killed all four men, but I don’t even know where to begin to search for the handcuff keys.”
“There’s a hammer and screwdriver in that top drawer,” Roland informed her. “I saw Jericho put them there. Maybe we can chisel them off.”
Mecca couldn’t stop the blush creeping up her neck. “There’s a pair of cuffs in our bedroom. I think Jericho left the key in them.” She scurried from the room without looking at Roland.
She found the handcuffs between the mattresses and gave a word of thanks that the key was still in them. Roland raised a brow when she returned to the room with the key in hand.
“Will it fit?” he asked.
“Yes, one key fits all handcuffs,” Mecca said, sharing the information Jericho had given her to ease her concern about the shackles.
“How do you know so much about handcuffs?” Roland asked as she opened the manacles.
Mecca’s dark eyes fixed on his. “Never mind,” Roland mumbled. “That was a stupid question.”
Chapter 42
The closer the snow tracker got to the cabin, the faster Jericho drove. Abby didn’t try to slow her down. She was as concerned as her agent.
“Oh God! God, no!” Jericho screamed as she spotted the bodies strewn across the snow. She fought to remain calm as her chest threatened to explode with fear.
She stopped the Sno-Cat just short of the porch and charged into the cabin. Her knees almost gave way when she saw Mecca. Abby ran to Roland, who was removing his handcuffs.
Mecca rushed into Jericho’s arms. “They know where we are,” she cried. “We must leave here.”
Jericho nodded and started giving orders. “Abby, Roland, grab whatever you need. Honey, can you get our things? I’ll fix the door the best I can. We’ll have to take the Sno-Cat. The weather’s getting worse.” Mecca clung to her as she continued.
“We’ll try to make it to the hotel where we stayed on our way here. I’m
going to get rid of the SUVs. If you can be ready when I return, we’ll be on our way.”
Mecca packed their few belongings and sacked up crackers and anything they might munch on. She didn’t see a store in their future.
As they packed everything into the back of the Sno-Cat, Jericho returned with two five-gallon gas cans. “I need to refill the Cat,” she explained.
“Where are the SUVs?” Abby asked.
“Over the cliff,” Jericho replied. “They won’t be discovered until summer melts the snow, and wild animals are already dragging off the body parts left by Mecca’s pet bear.”
“That was amazing,” Mecca said, releasing the breath she had been holding. “She came out of nowhere, as if in answer to my screams. She removed the threat to us and then picked up her baby and left.”
“So now you’re an animal whisperer too,” Jericho teased as they loaded into the Sno-Cat.”
“I’ve never thought so,” Mecca murmured.
##
It was after dark when they pulled under the motel’s portico. Jericho went inside to register. The news station on the TV in the lobby was covering a speech by the president. “I want to assure the nation and every American citizen that stability has been restored in our country.
“Thanks to the quick actions of General Abigail Carson and her officers, an attempt to disrupt operations of the government of the United States has been thwarted. The perpetrators of this most heinous crime have been arrested and will stand trial for treason.
“General Carson, if you are seeing this telecast, it’s safe for you to return to the Pentagon and assume your duties.”
“Wow, man! Some socialist radicals tried to take over our government,” the wild-eyed night clerk squealed. “What is socialism anyway?”
“The destruction of once-great nations,” Jericho said, handing the clerk her credit card. “Where a few become rulers and the majority live in poverty.”
“Really?” the young man said as he ran the card. “I thought it meant the government gave us all kinds of free stuff.”
