by Sharon Dunn
They moved as quietly and quickly as possible. After they’d been walking for at least an hour, Landon stopped. “I know there’s not much traffic after dark, but we should be hearing the sound of the road by now.”
She turned and studied the landscape behind her, not seeing any light or movement. “We must be going the wrong way.”
He didn’t respond. Instead he shifted direction and kept walking.
“If they did find your wrecked truck, wouldn’t they send the search and rescue chopper out again?”
“Seems like it,” Landon said. “They’re probably concentrating their efforts on trying to capture Gary.”
“Is anybody expecting you anywhere tonight?”
“I didn’t have any plans other than going home,” he said. “What can I say? I’m just Mr. Excitement.”
She laughed. “I’m kind of the same way.” The joke provided some momentary levity in an otherwise bleak situation. Because she wanted to maintain a low profile, her life consisted mostly of working at the diner and staying at home.
They kept walking. She zipped her ski jacket tighter around her neck as it continued to grow colder.
Landon stopped abruptly on a flat area that looked like a wide trail. “I have an idea where we are.” He switched on his phone’s flashlight again, revealing a pile of rocks that someone had stacked to form a sort of triangle. “If I’m right, there’s an off-the-grid cabin on the other side of these trees and down a hill. I know the owner. He only uses it seasonally. We can shelter there for few hours, get our energy back and warm up. Now that I know where we are, I might be able to get us back to the road.”
He picked up his pace and Natasha followed him.
She said a prayer of thanks that Landon knew the area so well. They moved through the forest and down a rocky incline. The cabin was hidden by trees.
The door was pad-locked. “No worries,” Landon assured her. “The owner asked me to check on it during the off season.” He stepped off to the side of the cabin, lifted a rock and pulled out a small container. “He leaves me a key to make sure the mice haven’t taken over inside.”
He unlocked it and pushed the door open, gesturing that she should go first. In the darkness, she could make out only the outlines of furniture and some canned goods on a shelf. As Landon worked his way over to a corner of the room, she could hear him shuffling around.
“Can you hold the light so I can get this lantern lit?”
Natasha stepped toward him, taking the phone. The screen revealed that there was still no signal. She aimed the phone at his hands.
Light spread through the cabin. Now she could see all of it. It was maybe twelve feet by twelve feet. With a table and an area for sleeping. A basin and a camp woodstove stove rested on a counter area.
“Not exactly the Ritz, but I’m not complaining,” she said.
Landon stepped over to the only window and drew the curtain. “We can’t risk the light being seen.”
She sat on the large wooden platform that must suffice for a bed. The owner probably didn’t leave any bedding behind because it would be too tempting to the mice to turn it into their new home.
Landon paced the floor. “The guy comes up here in the warmer months to fly-fish. He hauls his water from the river. I know it’s cold, but building a fire might draw the shooter to us.”
She shrugged. “This will do. Like you said, we can hike out when we are rested and maybe have some light.” Certainly, by then someone would be searching for Landon. Even if no one would miss her. Tomorrow was her day off, so she wasn’t even expected at the diner.
“That seems like the smart thing to do. We’ll only get more lost in the dark and cold.” Landon sat in the only chair.
“Of course, sunrise isn’t until almost ten.”
“True. Let’s just rest and get warmed up.” He placed the lantern on the floor between them. “Now, how about you tell me why that man was shooting at you?”
Natasha’s stomach tightened. She couldn’t hide the truth from him any longer.
* * *
By the glow of the lantern, Landon studied the woman who had almost gotten both of them killed. “That guy chasing us... He’s not out to get me, is he? He shot at my truck when you were behind the wheel.”
Natasha looked off to the side and then shook her head. “No, it’s me he wants dead.” Her voice quivered.
Her auburn hair had come loose from the tight braid she kept it in. Wisps of hair surrounded her face. The flickering light danced on her skin. She didn’t seem defensive. She seemed almost fearful.
“So, either you came up to Alaska ’cause you got into some kind of trouble down in the Lower 48—” she still wasn’t looking him in the eyes “—or you are in witness protection.”
Even if she was in hiding, Landon knew it didn’t necessarily mean she was law-abiding. Plenty of people in WITSEC rolled on their fellow criminals and disappeared into a new life courtesy of the United States government. In all his brief interaction with her at the diner, though, nothing about Natasha suggested she had ever been on the wrong side of the law.
The fact that she had risked her life to ensure Ezra had been brought home safe spoke volumes about her character.
She drew her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth. “Once that news story started to spread, I knew I needed to get out of here. For reasons of revenge—the mafia wants me dead.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry that news crew showed up.”
“You had no way of knowing. I have to leave Little Bear. It’s not safe for me. As soon as I can get in touch with the US Marshal I know I can trust...” She let out a heavy breath. “I’m going to have to be relocated again.”
“Why don’t you let me help you in the meantime?”
She looked at him. Even in the dim light, her gaze was piercing. “No one else can know.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“Please understand. Where I used to be, it didn’t matter if someone wore a uniform. Some people can be bought, some are just trying to protect the ones they love.”
Landon thought he saw tears rimming her eyes. “We’ll figure this out when we get back to town. Why don’t we try to sleep?”
“You have to comprehend what we are dealing with here. That hitman may have given up for the night or he might still be looking. But trust me, in the morning, he will have had time to call in reinforcements,” she said. “He doesn’t get paid until I’m dead. That’s how it works.” Placing her feet back on the floor, she rested her palm on her forehead and stared at the ceiling as though she were fighting off the need to cry.
Landon felt a tightness through his chest as a chill ran over his skin. Natasha had kept this secret for a year. He was sure that she spent a lot of time looking over her shoulder and feeling very alone in her fight. “I get it. We’re dealing with some really dangerous people. We’ll figure this out together.” The gravity of what she had told him sunk in. “I think I’ll keep watch for a while.”
“I don’t know if I can sleep.”
He took off his coat and folded it. “Use this for a pillow. It might help.”
“Won’t you be cold?” she said.
“I’ve got layers upon layers on. This place is pretty well insulated.”
After taking the coat, she tucked her legs up toward her chest and lay her head on the makeshift pillow. She flipped over once. A few minutes later her breathing indicated she’d fallen asleep.
Landon remained alert and listening for a least an hour before sleep overtook him. He awoke with a start to the sound of breaking glass.
SIX
Landon’s panicked voice jerked Natasha from a deep sleep to fully alert.
“Get down, we’re being shot at!” He pulled her to the floor. “Under here.” He pointed at the storage area under the bed platform.
Her heart pounded as she rolled under the bed that would provide some shelter from the ricocheting bullets in the tiny cabin. She peered out as Landon pressed in close to her in the tiny space. Glass spread across the wood floor of the cabin. Three shots had been fired.
Silence fell around them. She could hear the sound of Landon’s breathing as well as her own. Thirty seconds that felt like forever ticked by.
What was the hitman doing? Why had he stopped shooting? She whispered her next thought, knowing that the assassin might be right outside the window. “He didn’t stop because he’s out of bullets. He’s a pro. I’m sure he brought extra clips with him.”
Landon leaned close to her ear. “My thoughts exactly. I think he’s waiting for us to come out so he can pick us off one at a time. Now that he’s scared us, he’s counting on us trying to run.”
There were only two ways out of the cabin: through the door or the broken window. “He has a gun, though. What if he decides to enter the cabin?”
Landon seemed to be weighing options, as well. His gaze darted around the room. And then up to the ceiling. Make that three ways out of the cabin. He tugged on her sleeve and pointed up at a skylight. The hitman couldn’t watch the window, the door and the skylight.
“I say we wait him out, so he becomes more anxious or loses focus and then we climb out.” The game they were playing was a psychological one. This guy was a pro. He was used to having to wait for an opportunity to kill, but even a pro would grow impatient after a while. If they kept quiet, maybe he would wander away from the cabin or decide to check to see if they were even inside.
Landon nodded. “I’ll take up a post by the door. In case he does decide to come in, I can hit him in the back of the head before he has a chance to shoot you.” He pulled himself out from beneath the shelter of the tiny space and moved slowly across the floor on his stomach.
Natasha winced when a floorboard creaked where his boot scraped. Landon froze in place for a second.
She felt the sensation of having headphones on as her heartbeat thrummed in her ears. No sound came from outside the cabin. Satisfied, Landon crawled on all fours took up a position kneeling by the door. She allowed at least fifteen minutes to pass, keeping her ears tuned to any sound outside. All she heard was tree branches swaying in the breeze.
Crawling on her belly, Natasha dragged herself out from beneath the bed platform. Crouching, she pushed herself to her feet and stepped across the floor. When she stepped on broken window glass, her boot crunching the glass sounded like paper being crinkled. She took up a position beneath the broken window and slowly raised her head so just her eyes were above the windowsill. It was still dark. Her gaze darted around, seeing only the evergreens. No movement, no color suggesting that the hitman was on this side of the cabin, either close to it or on the other side of the trees. She turned toward Landon and shook her head.
They waited for another twenty minutes or so without hearing any noise. Her muscles grew stiff. Crouching she made her way back to the center of the room and scooted the cabin’s only chair so it was beneath the skylight. When she looked over at Landon, he nodded. She got on the chair, careful not to make any noise.
She glanced across the room. If the hitman walked past the window, he would see her. She stretched her arms up and pushed the skylight open. Cold air swirled around her. It would take substantial effort to pull herself through the skylight.
Landon must have picked up on her hesitation. He made his way across the room and laced his hands together, making a stirrup for her to use. As he pushed her from beneath and she pulled up, gripping the rim of the skylight, she was keenly aware of the amount of noise they were making. It wasn’t a racket, but any noise could alert the hitman if he was close by. She lifted the skylight only another inch so the motion wouldn’t call attention to her or get her shot if the assassin was looking at the roof.
She looked toward the river. The sun still hadn’t come up, but she could make out the outlines of her surroundings at least. The tree branches were thin enough this high up that she could see the area around the cabin. She spotted the hitman even though he wore clothes that made him blend into his surroundings. He was headed for the cabin, head down, gun in his hand. Maybe he’d gone to the river for a drink or to go to the bathroom. It didn’t matter this was their chance for escape. They had only seconds to act before he’d be close to the cabin.
She dropped back down with a thud. “We can get out of here through the front door if we hurry.”
Landon said nothing. Instead he turned and sprinted toward the door. She was right behind him. He swung the door open. The hitman would be close enough now to hear them. Both of them sprinted outside and through the trees that surrounded the cabin.
They ran through the darkness.
A shot rang out behind them. She didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know that the hitman was right on their heels. Landon veered off toward the cover of some rocks and trees, but slipped on an icy patch, catching himself by putting a hand out to stop his fall. She followed, pumping her legs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement as the assassin edged toward them. He was getting close enough to have a clean shot.
They hurried toward the trees. Landon seemed to know where he was going as he glanced around while still moving and then chose a path that led up a hill in a zigzag pattern. When the forest opened up, they headed downhill.
Off in the distance, she saw smoke rising above the trees. A cabin. As the sky changed from black to gray, she spotted more signs of civilization, various houses and barns dotting the landscape in the distance.
Finally, she heard the sound of cars rolling across pavement. They were close to the main road. Both of them slowed their pace. She turned slightly, not seeing any sign of the hitman.
“I think we lost him.”
“Let’s not count on that. He’s been tenacious in hunting us down.”
The assassin did seem to have some keen tracking skills to have found them at the cabin. Judging how quickly the hitman had gotten to Natasha’s house in the first place meant that he must already have been close to Little Bear. She had not gotten a look at his face.
They came out onto the road. Landon tilted his head toward the sky. “I’m not sure why they aren’t looking for us. Seems like we would have seen a chopper by now.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s see if we can hitch a ride into town and get to the trooper station.”
The last place Natasha wanted to be was in Little Bear. Even if they had managed to escape him this time, the assassin was still out there. She needed to stick with her original plan and escape to somewhere where she could fade into the background until she could contact Marshal Henderson. Waiting for her car to be fixed seemed foolhardy. There had to be another way out of town. A bus or something.
As they walked along the road, waiting for a car to come along, she scanned the hill they’d just run down. The hitman could still come after them. Traffic on this road was always light and, so far, they hadn’t encountered any cars. She felt vulnerable out here in the open. Once again, she felt the urgency to get out of town. As long as she stayed in this area, she had a target on her back.
A car appeared, slowing as it eased past them.
Landon waved. “I know that guy. That’s Melvin. He owns the hardware store in town.”
They ran toward the idling car. The man rolled down his window. Resting his hand on top of the car, Landon leaned in.
“What’s going on? You look like you’ve been fighting with a grizzly all night, Landon.” Melvin glanced at Natasha as recognition spread across his face.
She thought he looked vaguely familiar. He must have come into the diner. He certainly wasn’t a regular.
“It’s a long story. We could use a ride into town.”
“Hop in,” Melvin said.
Landon offered Natasha the front passenger seat. “I c
an sit in back,” she said. Melvin would probably expect small talk if she sat up front. She just didn’t have the energy for that given what the last twenty-four hours had been like.
She clicked her seat belt in as Melvin pulled back out onto the road. As expected, Landon kept the conversation with Melvin going. Then Landon pulled out his phone, saying he needed to make some calls.
Natasha rested her back against the seat and closed her eyes. Landon’s voice seemed to get farther away as she listened to him talk. His first call was to get his truck towed. The second sounded like he was talking to another trooper.
From the conversation, she gathered that Gary had been taken into custody. The manhunt had kept law enforcement busy. They had just gone by Landon’s house and started to worry that something had happened to him.
Gary’s capture was good news at least.
Her plan hadn’t changed. She knew it was up to her to get out of town and to find a place to hide until WITSEC could help her escape into another identity and a new location.
* * *
Landon put away his phone as Melvin slowed when they reached the city limits of Little Bear. Main Street with its two stoplights was a welcome sight. Melvin pulled in behind the hardware store. It was too early for the store to be open, but Melvin lived in an apartment above the store.
“Thanks for the ride,” Landon said.
Natasha opened her eyes and clicked out of her seat belt.
“You want to come with me down to the station?” he asked, turning to her.
She didn’t answer right away. She glanced nervously toward Melvin. “I guess.”
She was probably worried that Melvin would start to wonder why she’d been with him on the road and start asking questions. He hadn’t intended to give away any part of her secret.
They both stepped out of the car. Melvin got out, as well, offering them a wave as he went into the back entrance of the hardware store.
They circled around the building to Main Street. Natasha hesitated on the street corner.
