And here she was. Alone. No help...but she wouldn’t let that stop her.
You aren’t alone.
Ellie took a deep breath. She wasn’t alone. God was with her. God had made her, given her strengths.
Once upon a time, one of those strengths had been police work. Conducting investigations. She was a trained search and rescue worker and EMT, too. She could handle this situation.
She reached into the sled bag, found a flashlight to shine on him and enough gear to make a makeshift bandage. Then she unzipped his jacket, pressed the bandage against Seth’s wound. Then did her best to wrap it with an ACE bandage she’d found in the sled. She zipped the jacket back up and prayed she’d done enough. Then Ellie felt his forehead. Normal temperature so far, best she could tell. There was a fancy first-aid kit in the bag somewhere, but nothing that prepared for the contingency of someone getting shot, so she didn’t bother to drag it out.
When she was sure she’d done the best she could, she pondered her next steps. They needed to get out of here.
Ellie took a deep breath, faced the fact that he wasn’t waking up, not right now, and stood up, grabbing both of his feet. She dragged him toward her sled bag. He wasn’t going to wake up in time? Fine. She’d hook his team to hers and mush them both back this way. It wasn’t ideal. But it was what she could do.
She shoved her gear down into the bottom of her sled bag, pausing now and then to look up and around. She didn’t want to be caught off guard, and she had no idea if whoever had shot Seth was still around. Finally when she felt she’d made enough room for him to fit inside—there was a bit of a size disparity between them, so even though she’d been inside the bag earlier she was fairly certain he wasn’t going to fit without some adjustments—she grabbed his shoulders again.
“One more chance to wake up and help me,” she said and then braced herself against the sled and heaved him into the bag. She couldn’t do it without jostling, and she winced when she saw the side of the sled bag hit his wounded side, but it was what had to be done. She needed to get him out of here and back to Raven Pass.
Hooking the two teams together once she’d situated Seth proved challenging, but she managed.
“Ready?” she asked out of habit, as it was how Seth always started mushing. But this time it felt less like she was asking the dogs and more like she was asking herself. Was she ready?
Yes. She was. Ready to be who she was, without regrets or might have beens. Ready to be brave.
God, let me not be ruled by fear anymore. I’m tired of living that way.
“All right,” she and the dogs took off. Twenty-four dogs, even dogs who had been in a blizzard and working hard, ran substantially faster than twelve. Ellie had to use every ounce of focus to hold on to the sled. She found her way back to what she was fairly certain was the main trail.
How far were they now? She didn’t know.
She exhaled and kept mushing, kept praying and kept hoping that this was almost over.
The woods grew more and more familiar until Ellie recognized the trails as some she’d driven around while searching for Seth the other day. So much had happened since then, more than she would have ever thought possible. She dropped her eyes to the sled bag. Was he even alive?
A light in the distance caught her attention. Then a whir. A buzzing.
Snow machine engine.
She closed her eyes for a second. I need You. Please help me, she prayed.
And Ellie was not afraid.
Not when the machine drew closer. Not when they pulled directly in front of them, cutting her off from escape. The dogs stopped abruptly, not wanting to hit the machine, and Ellie almost lost her balance.
Then she focused her attention and her headlamp on the man in front of her—whom she recognized.
“Jared?”
He shook his head, any sort of friendliness gone from his face. “You had to keep pushing, huh? Warning you off wasn’t enough, just like it wasn’t for your friend. You had to keep pushing. Just like her.”
He didn’t know how much of a compliment that was. Ellie was proud to be anything like Liz.
“We don’t know anything. Not really, we don’t have any proof,” she admitted. He hadn’t said anything incriminating, and even if he left them alone right now as witnesses, they had nothing conclusive that would stand up against him in court.
He laughed. “You have enough. You have that package she sent you, don’t you?”
“There was hardly anything in it. It was a letter. She was just speculating, also.”
Something crossed his face; Ellie couldn’t quite explain it. Regret? Did he wish he hadn’t acted so rashly in killing Liz? He probably thought it was too late to turn back now, and in some ways it was. If Ellie lived through this, she’d see to it that he went to jail for murder and attempted murder on multiple counts.
But what she was saying was true. There was no proof. He could let her live.
“You know enough. And she did, too.” His face hardened. “She had to die.”
“You killed her?” Ellie had to know.
“Her boyfriend wouldn’t. So yeah.” He shrugged and something inside her screamed. Her best friend had died, her and Seth’s lives had changed forever, and he shrugged.
“He should have, as soon as she found out about the drug running. She started asking him questions, started noticing he had more money than a guy with his job should have had. And then she started turning up at places she shouldn’t have been. Like she was trying to catch him in something.” He shook his head. “She should have stayed out of it. That lawyer, too. He kept poking around, asking questions, and then he sent that letter to him.” He jerked his head toward Seth.
Ellie frowned. “How did you...?”
“Administrative assistants don’t make as much as they’re worth, it seems. Didn’t take much convincing to pay the lawyer’s admin to let me know if he communicated with Liz’s friend or her brother. Now. We’re done here.”
He held a gun up, level at Ellie.
“She didn’t suspect you, you know.” Ellie hoped to keep him talking. Gut instinct told her to. She had never faced this sort of situation when she was a police officer, but something told her to try this route. Maybe she’d just watched too many movies where the bad guy’s downfall came when he wouldn’t be quiet. But it seemed worth a chance.
“Oh, yeah?”
“No, she was sure it was someone who worked directly for Raven Pass Expeditions, not someone who worked with them.”
His grin was evil. “Brilliant, right? They do the trips, plan the stops and shoulder all that load, and I just get to cook and move product. Aaron told me his uncle was clueless. He was right.” He shrugged again. “It’s brilliant.”
Evil. It was the only word she could think of.
She opened her mouth to ask another question, any question. But he was pulling back the hammer on the large revolver that he suddenly had in his hands.
Something shook Ellie. She looked down. Seth?
He sat up. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said to Jared, his voice tight with tension and pain.
“Shoot you? Why is that? I’ve done it once.”
Ellie waited, held her breath. What was stopping him from killing them right now?
* * *
“For one thing, you’re not the only one with a gun.” Seth was holding up his revolver. Apparently his attackers hadn’t found it where he’d hidden it in his jacket. His muscles, usually strong, were quivering under the weight of the gun because of how much blood he’d lost. He couldn’t hold it up for long. But he’d known he had to try this when he’d heard them talking. Seth had lain there for a minute, formulating his plan. First, he’d pressed his emergency tracker, which was in his jacket pocket. He’d planned to ditch it on the trip back, so he’d taken it out of the sled and kept it close. If w
hat RPE had bragged about during the safety meeting was true, it should bring a law-enforcement officer almost immediately.
He’d also pulled up his phone, called Hodges and put the phone on speaker after whispering to him what was going on and to be quiet.
Then he’d felt the solid mass of the gun pressing against his side. Remembered he’d put it on under his jacket this morning rather than leaving it in his sled bag because of the threat against them escalating. And he’d heard Jared threaten Ellie.
“Yeah, but if I shoot you first, she won’t have time to get the gun,” Jared argued. His voice was growing more reckless by the second.
Seth nodded. “True. But even if you do that, the police are almost here.”
Jared laughed. “Nice. Good try.”
“I still have my tracker.” Seth kept his eyes on the man, hatred growing inside him. This was the man who had killed his sister. Who had tried to kill him and Ellie. Anger rose inside him, and mentally he dared the man to move. Give him a reason to shoot.
The sound of snow machines in the distance grabbed everyone’s attention. Two of them. Jared glanced behind him. He kept his hands tight on the gun’s grip.
So did Seth.
“Alaska State Troopers! Lower your weapons.”
Seth stared. Lowered it down, set it by his side. Relief and disappointment fought inside him. He’d been ready to kill the man who’d killed his sister. Had wanted to. But that wasn’t his place, wasn’t what needed to be done. God, help me. I don’t know that I’m ready to forgive him, but help me not be ruled by hate.
Relief swept through him. If it had been self-defense, it would have been justifiable, but he always would have wondered how much had been motivated by revenge. “Sounds like they’re going to take over investigating this case,” Seth heard Hodges say on the phone. He held the gun with one hand and shoved the phone in his pocket. He’d finish filling him in later, but he needed to focus.
Jared raised his revolver again, pointed it straight at Seth. Seth fumbled for the gun he’d set down. Self-defense was a different story.
A gunshot rang out from another direction, and Jared fell off his machine and onto the snow. One of the troopers had shot him.
It was over. Seth closed his eyes. Took a full, deep breath.
The troopers both approached him.
“Still breathing.”
Seth set the gun back down in the sled bag, turned to Ellie. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes were wide and beautiful. But not afraid. She seemed different somehow, since the last time he’d seen her.
“I’m all right. You? You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
He blinked. “I should probably see a doctor.”
One of the troopers was loading an unconscious but moaning Jared onto his snow machine.
“My friend needs a doctor,” Ellie said, sounding desperate to get him help. One of the troopers loaded him onto the machine. Her feelings for him were clear in her voice. No more walls between them, no more running or hiding. They’d both changed, this time for the better. For the first time in years, hope filled him.
“Take care of the dogs,” Seth said to her as his eyes started to close again. “I need to know you’ll take care of them.”
“I’ll take care of them. But you’re okay, Seth. You have to be. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
He nodded, overwhelmed with love for her, then felt himself slipping away.
EIGHTEEN
Ellie mushed back to Seth’s house the same way they’d gone the other day. Past the public-use cabin with the shattered window. Past the same trees. So much hand changed in such a short amount of time.
She took a breath, let it out slowly. She could relax now...at least regarding the case. It was over. Jared’s confession to the two of them might be enough to hold up in court, but the troopers had seen him there holding the gun, knew Seth had been shot. There were several things the man could be charged for, and maybe all of the charges wouldn’t stick, but enough of them would that Ellie felt fairly certain he’d be in jail for a long time.
They were finally free, both her and Seth...so long as he got better.
She needed to talk to him, she told herself as she went through the process of unhooking dogs, putting them back on their tethers at their houses and then watering all of them. She needed to tell Seth why she’d run. And maybe a hospital wasn’t an ideal place to have that conversation, but as soon as she’d taken care of the dogs as promised, Ellie would go over there and talk to him.
When she’d finished with the dogs, she started toward her car. She smelled like camping trip and animals, but she wanted to be there with Seth. Once, she’d been too late. She didn’t want to be too late again.
Tires crunching on the gravel made her look up. A light green Subaru was pulling into the driveway.
“I thought you’d want a ride to the hospital. I know I wouldn’t want to drive in your condition.” Halley’s usually cheery face was etched with pain, and Ellie appreciated the empathy. Everything had happened so fast, and then someone had to take care of the dogs. It was true, she’d rather not drive herself.
She was a little surprised to see Halley back in town, but Ellie figured if Jared had left the RPE expedition and they had no one to cook, they’d probably had to call the whole thing off.
“Thanks.” She brushed her hands on her snow pants. “I can...I can run inside and change quickly if you don’t want the stink in your car. I smell a little like dog.” She shrugged apologetically.
“You’re okay, just get in. Let’s go.”
Was her voice impatient? Ellie didn’t know. She was exhausted. Emotionally, physically, every way someone could be exhausted. She climbed into the car and shut the door. Halley put it in Reverse, hit the gas a little too quickly.
And Ellie had to stop herself from a sharp intake of breath.
Had Jared said he hadn’t worked with anyone from Raven Pass Expeditions? Was that why he’d seemed so upset by what they knew, even though all they’d known to do was suspect someone who worked at the company?
But not Halley. Surely not. She was all pretty blond hair and helpful cheeriness.
Ellie glanced sideways, careful to keep her expression blank.
But Halley was watching her, too.
“So. Thanks for the ride.” Ellie tried to keep up the pretense, even as fear crept over her again.
“Let’s drop the pretense. We both know you’re not getting a ride there. With any luck he’s already dead, and I’ve only got one of you to take care of.”
Heaviness settled in Ellie’s stomach. “Halley...”
“Don’t.” She gripped the wheel tighter. “Don’t say anything to me. I don’t want to hear it. You don’t know what it’s like. I worked for years to build this business, to take care of these clients...”
“At RPE?” Ellie still held out some small hope that maybe she’d misunderstood, and they were heading to the hospital after all, and she hadn’t climbed straight into the car with a crazy woman who wanted her dead.
“Did you think Jared did all this? That Jared was smart enough?” Again, that laugh. Void of actual humor, like a scratch on an old chalkboard. “And Aaron certainly isn’t.” She pressed the gas harder. “They were supposed to handle things like this.”
“Aaron. Of course. Aaron set my tent on fire.” He must have also been the one who shot at them, too. It made sense. They’d known he was involved, thanks to Liz, but with no proof, the man still walked free.
“A lot of good that did,” Halley mumbled. “You’re still here, aren’t you?”
Ellie frowned. “What about Brandt? The clients? You didn’t...”
“You can’t seriously think I’d hurt any of them?” She glanced Ellie’s way. “I don’t think you understand. To do that would be to admit defeat. To be desperate. Maybe Jared g
ot that way. But I’m calling the shots, and I am not desperate. I left him alive because I need Aaron’s overly optimistic uncle to keep running this business, keep being so focused on his ideals of adventures in the outdoors that he doesn’t notice anything going on behind the scenes.”
“Like drug running.”
Halley rolled her eyes. “Moving product. You’re so dated with your terminology. What is this, a cheesy cop movie?” She jerked the wheel to the right, down a gravel road that Ellie had explored.
That didn’t seem to bode well. Gravel roads in the middle of nowhere when someone was being held hostage rarely did.
“You haven’t actually hurt anyone yet, then. It’s not too late for you.” Ellie’s heart pounded. How much could one person take? Hadn’t she just done this earlier?
She wanted to go back in time and yell at herself. And Seth. Why hadn’t they considered that it could be two of the people on the trip? Or maybe they had and she’d just forgotten. But when Jared had shown up, seemed to take credit, she’d thought it was over. And then Seth had gotten hurt and she’d been distracted.
“It’s really not too late.”
“Oh.” She turned to Ellie. Stared her down. And then looked straight ahead and hit the gas. “It really is.”
“See, we will have an accident. Not a bad one. Just bad enough to bang up the car and explain any injuries you have. And then you’ll die of those wounds, which I’ll help with, by the way. And I will eventually heal and go free.”
All the sweetness, all the perkiness, covered up some of the worst evil she had ever seen.
Ellie took a deep breath. Prayed. God, help me know what to do when.
Her attention focused on the steering wheel. If she grabbed that, yanked it the other direction... Could she unsettle the other woman enough to gain control of the car?
Yes. It was the only choice she had.
“Sorry you didn’t get your happily-ever-after.”
Ellie looked ahead of them. Nothing but woods. She was going to drive them straight into the trees? Her attention was fixed straight forward. Her eyes unnaturally wide.
Alaska Secrets Page 19
