by Sharon Dunn
As he settled in for the long vigil ahead, he found his thoughts wandering to Natasha and how she was doing downstairs. It would be so much easier to pass the time if they were together. Despite the dangerous circumstances that had thrown them together, she was an easy person to be with. He stared out the window, surveying the view in front of him by sectors, looking for any change that might indicate they were under siege again. He prayed that the only thing he would see coming up the road would be a plow.
Three hours passed. He straightened and leaned toward the window. He’d spotted a flash of movement in the evergreens lining the road leading to his house. Or at least he thought he had, but he couldn’t be sure. It might just be a deer. He was still wound pretty tight. The attacker had been so relentless up to this point, Landon was having a hard time believing the hired gun would just give up even if he was injured. That thought made him sit even straighter. He had to assume they were still under threat.
ELEVEN
Before settling down in the chair by the fire, Natasha made the decision to open the curtains a little wider, so she had a full view of the trees in the backyard. Though it wasn’t visible through the trees, Landon had said there was a road behind his house. With the curtains open, she would be able to spot someone coming. But that also meant she was more of a target if the hitman settled in with his rifle. She’d taken every precaution she could think of to keep watch of her surrounding but not be shot at. She’d scooted the chair farther back so it would not be visible from the window.
With the electricity still out, the darkness in the house worked in her favor. Most important, she remained very still in the chair, knowing that someone with sniper skills was attracted to even the slightest movement.
She stared out at the trees, memorizing every shadow and every branch. The warmth from the fire made her drowsy, but she forced herself to stay awake. The days were so short, in another four or five hours, it would start to grow dark again.
Though the snow continued to fall, the wind had mostly died down. Everything about the scene through the window should have made her feel peaceful, but instead tension twisted inside her.
She jumped up at the sound of footsteps coming down the wooden stairs. She turned quickly, heart racing. Of course, it was a Landon.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I opened the window to get some fresh air to try to stay awake. I think I heard a plow.”
She rested a palm over her heart, which was still pounding. “But you are not sure if it is a plow? It could be a snowmobile.”
“Agreed. Maybe I was just imagining noises. I’m just wondering if you could give me a second opinion. I’ll keep watch down here.”
“Okay.” She stepped toward him.
He was as on edge as she was. She could hear it in his voice. She hurried along the hall and up the stairs into the room. She leaned toward the window and twisted the latch, then settled on the love seat so she’d be in the shadows. She was still as a statue for a long moment, hearing only her own breathing.
When she held her breath and closed her eyes, she could hear a sort of mechanical humming. So faint, it was almost indistinct from other outside noises such as the almost calm wind and the distant creaking of tree branches.
Something was definitely out there. The noise could just as easily be a snowmobile as a plow. Whatever it was, it was still far away but growing louder.
Landon shouted from the bottom of the stairs. “Do you hear it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“So, I’m not going crazy,” he said. “I think we need to find a hiding place until we’re sure it’s a plow.”
She rose from her seat with a backward glance, still nothing had come into view. She stared down the stairs. It was so dark that she couldn’t see Landon’s face clearly. “What do you suggest?”
“If it is the hitman returning, he’ll probably check the house first. There is a place we can hide in the shop.”
She hurried down the stairs, zipping her coat up. It took them only minutes to find hats and gloves. They stepped outside and off the porch.
She gazed out at the dark landscape. The pristine white snow created a reflective illumination. “It seems like we should see lights by now.” Whatever it was would have to come to the top of the hill before they would be able to see it.
“With the mountains all around us, sound sometimes echoes. Even if it is the plows, they could still be out on the main road,” he said.
They stepped through several drifts. Both the SUV, the truck and the car were half concealed by snow. The shop’s sliding door was still wide open, and snow had blown in front of it, as well.
Landon glanced nervously toward the road. “We can’t close this door, or he’ll know something is up. I’ll keep watch. Why don’t you find a hiding place?”
Natasha stared into the dark shop. It didn’t look like there was a back door. So the only way in and out was through the two doors on the front. The one that allowed Landon to park his car inside and the other people-size door.
He handed her his flashlight. “So you can get around. Lots of hazards back there.”
She took the flashlight and shone it toward the back of the shop. She saw now that Landon must be a woodworker. There was an assortment of saws and hand tools as well as a chair that looked like it needed only to be sanded and finished. She noticed a beautiful cedar box. When she stepped closer, the flashlight revealed that everything was covered in dust. It had been some time since he’d been out here working.
She crouched behind a workbench and clicked off the flashlight. She closed her eyes. The faint mechanical sound seemed to be getting louder, though it would fade out all together from time to time. The noise could be because the plow was working its way along the winding roads or, like Landon had suggested, it was just an echo.
The sound of Landon’s pacing reached her ears; his boots scuffing over the concrete.
Her legs were getting stiff. She stood and stretched and then sat again, pressing her back against the wall. It seemed that, if it was the snowmobile coming back, it would have arrived by now, even if the hitman was slowed by his injury and the drifted snow.
“I see lights coming this way.” Landon’s voice held a mixture of excitement and fear.
She rose and hurried to stand beside him where they were covered by shadows but could see through the open sliding door.
Illumination from the headlights danced across the white landscape.
She clenched her jaw and braced for whatever was about to happen.
* * *
Landon peered out as the mechanical hum of the machine drew closer. The lights were too far apart to be a snowmobile. He relaxed and turned his head toward Natasha, who was pressed against his back. “I think we’re going to be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Ninety-nine percent.”
The plow approached. Snow tumbled off either side of the bucket, clearing a path leading to the three vehicles. The plow idled and Landon stepped out into the open and waved. The driver got out of the cab. Even in the dim light, Landon recognized the profile of the driver. The red winter cap with the earflaps and the big belly. Earl Standish.
Landon stepped forward. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”
“Looks like you’ve been snowed in for a while,” Earl said.
Natasha, Landon noticed, had stayed behind in the shop. She must still be afraid...uncertain if it was safe. Her trust had been so compromised by all that had happened to her.
“I cleared it for you all the way to the main road.” Earl turned slightly in the direction he’d just come from and pointed at the three half-buried vehicles. “Wish I had time. I’d help dig you out. But I got a bunch of folks up the road who have been stranded for as long as you have.”
“We’ll manage,” Landon said. “Is the power on in town?”
“Their electricity stayed on through the worst of it. See you in the funny papers.” Earl gave Landon a salute and hurried back to the cab of his plow. The big machine made roaring noises as Earl dropped the bucket and continued down the road. His red taillights glowed as he stirred up the snow around the plow.
Landon hurried back to Natasha, who stepped out of the shadows as the plow drew farther away. “We need to get dug out and fast,” he said. “We’ll take the SUV. It’s more of a winter vehicle. I’ve got two shovels.” He grabbed the one that was leaning against the shop and then headed for the porch, where he kept the other one.
By the time he’d grabbed the shovel and made it down the porch stairs, she was already working by the back tire of the SUV to uncover it. They dug out, only the sound of shovels slicing through the snow filling the air. He was keenly aware of how exposed they were. The roads were clear. It would be nothing for the hitman to return and take aim from a distance with his rifle. He might even be able to park around the corner and approach on foot. They needed to hurry.
Natasha spoke breathlessly as she shoveled. “I thought you were going to loan me your car, so I could get out of town. That’s why I came here with you, remember.”
His shovel sliced through the snow. “Things have changed since then.” He turned and dumped the snow away from the vehicle, stopping for a moment to catch his breath and lean on the shovel. “I see how much danger you’re in. I can’t, in good conscience, just let you go off by yourself.”
She kept shoveling, taking only a moment to glance out at the newly cleared road and then at him. “Okay, what is the plan?”
Her response warmed his heart. Maybe she trusted him just a little bit now after all they’d gone through. “Soon as we get to a place where the phones work, why don’t you try to call your contact in the US Marshal’s office again. If he can’t meet up with you right away, it will just be a matter of hiding out for a while. I know a place that should be safe.”
“Where?”
“I have a friend in a village that is a couple hours’ flight from here. It’s remote, very safe. I will stay with you up until the time I can hand you off to the marshal. You say this marshal is the one you trust. If you want to stay alive, I am asking you to trust me, too.” He had cleared the driver’s-side door of snow. “Deal?”
She kept shoveling. “Okay.”
He opened the driver’s door and got in behind the wheel. The SUV had been sitting for a long time in the cold. The battery may have gone dead. He prayed it would start. He turned the key in the ignition. It sputtered. He tensed, and then the motor caught and roared to life.
He let out a heavy breath filled with thanks to God.
When he climbed out of the SUV, Natasha was leaning on the shovel. The winter chill made her breath form puffy clouds as she exhaled. “Don’t you have people expecting you for Christmas?”
She must have taken the time to mull over his plan and come up with an objection.
“’Course I do. But they will understand. I’ve worked the holidays before. I’ll just celebrate with my siblings a little late.”
“Thank you.” Her words were filled with warmth and appreciation. Again, she glanced down the road. Her back stiffened. “As long as I’m in Little Bear, he can find me.” Just like that, the hard edge had come back into her voice. “If he’s hurt bad, Tan Creti will just line up someone else. It won’t stop.”
Landon heard the terror in her voice. It didn’t seem likely that another hired gun would be close by. But he had to take her word for it. She, more so than him, was aware of the reach and the power of this mafia boss who wanted her dead.
“All I need is time to line up a pilot. I know a guy who might be available. Soon as we can get to a place where I can make a few calls.”
“Nobody can know where I’m hiding. Not even the other troopers.”
Landon nodded. They finished shoveling out the SUV and got in. Landon switched on the headlights, which lit up the front porch.
She stared at the house. “I’m sorry about dropping your gun. I’m sure it’s buried in the snow. I’ll pay you back for it.”
“We’ll deal with it when we need to. I still have a gun.” Once he got turned around, he rolled down the freshly plowed road. He pressed on the gas, pushing the SUV to go as fast as he dared. The last thing they needed to do was to slip off the road. He was keenly aware, though, that the hired gun might have hidden in the trees and be waiting for an opportunity to pick them off.
As the cab of the SUV grew warmer, Natasha took her gloves off and unzipped her winter coat halfway.
“Can you do me a favor?” He stared at the dark road ahead.
“Sure.”
“Keep checking my phone.” He handed it to her. “Let me know when you have a signal.”
“I imagine there are not that many towers to ping a signal off around here.”
“The closer we get to town, the more likely it is that we’ll be able to get a signal.”
She looked at the phone and then placed it in her lap just as they arrived at the main road. Judging from the piles of either side of the road, they must have had close to a foot of snow.
The only other vehicle they passed on their way toward town was a plow headed in the opposite direction.
Landon rounded a curve. As they approached the Kodiak Diner, he saw that it was dark and that there were no cars in the parking lot.
She placed her hand on the window as they drove past. “I’m going to miss that place...and the people I worked with.”
“You did a good thing saving Ezra from his erratic dad.”
“I hope things turn out good for him and his mom and grandma. They are good people.”
“Must be hard leaving people behind...over and over.”
She nodded.
When Maggie had died, he’d felt like a vital organ had been ripped from his body and he’d been told he had to live anyway. It was probably the same for Natasha, only she had to keep on doing it, losing everything that mattered.
They drove several more minutes until he could see the lights of Little Bear in the distance as well as the light of some of the homes and businesses that were outside the city limits. They hadn’t been attacked again, maybe the hitman had gone into town for medical care.
* * *
Natasha checked his phone. “I have a signal. I’ll see if I can reach Marshal Henderson.” She pressed in the memorized number. It rang twice. Static and a very faint “Hello?” came across the line.
He must be in place with a bad signal. All the same, it was good to hear his voice.
“Walter, it’s Natasha Hale. I need to be moved ASAP.”
“What happened?”
“Tan Creti sent an assassin. My face was on the news. That’s how they found me.”
The marshal’s voice was breaking up. “That is serious. We have limited administration over the holidays, and I am still up north. If you would be open to another marshal helping you...?”
“I don’t want to do that, Walter. I’m concerned about info being leaked to Tan Creti or him being able to buy someone off. We know there is a leak somewhere down the line because Tan Creti found me the first time I was given a new identity.”
“I get it. If you can meet me in Anchorage, I can get you to a safe house on December 26.”
“I can do that.”
“I will get in touch with you about the exact meeting place...on this cell number.” Walter’s voice warbled. “Can you stay safe until then?”
“I think so. I am with a trooper who is helping me. I trust him.” Natasha glanced over at Landon. The words echoed through her head, and she knew it was true.
“...be in touch.”
The line went dead.
“So?” Landon stared through the windshield. Snow was piled up on either side of the road
.
“He can’t make it happen until after Christmas.”
“Okay, I guess we go with plan B—we get hold of my friend.”
He pulled over into the parking lot of a convenience store on the edge of town. The lights were on inside, creating a warm glow. A lone clerk stood behind the counter. There was only one other car in the parking lot.
Landon reached his hand out for his phone. She handed it to him, and he pressed in some numbers.
Natasha glanced around, taking note of her surroundings.
His phone rang. He looked in the rearview mirror, watching a car ease along on the road leading into town. It slowed as it passed the convenience store. They were somewhat conspicuous in the trooper vehicle.
Natasha’s voice filled with tension. “I think we need to park somewhere else.”
TWELVE
Natasha craned her neck and peered out the window at the slow-moving car. It never sped up and then it slipped out of sight down a hill headed toward town. She tensed, feeling a knot in her stomach. Maybe that was the man who wanted to kill her. The car he’d been driving was very generic and dark in color. It was possible he was looking for a place to turn around and come back this way. It could also just be a curious onlooker. They couldn’t take a chance.
“Hey, Ted.” Landon’s pilot friend must have picked up. Landon glanced over at her and then spoke into the phone. “Can you hold on for just a second?” He handed her the phone and shifted into Reverse. “If you could talk to him and tell him what we need, that would be great.”
Landon pulled out of the lot, turned down a residential street and kept driving.
“Ted,” she said, “this is Natasha. I’m a friend of Landon’s. We need to charter your plane as soon as possible.”
“That might be a possibility,” Ted responded, “it depends on where you’re going. This storm is still affecting parts of the state, and flying is not a good idea.”
Her spirits sank. If they couldn’t escape by plane, what were they going to do?
