"Thanks,” she said with a wide smile. It was good that they hadn't told Connie. She could imagine how panicked her sister would've been if she'd known.
She looked at Jack.
He arched a brow and put his arm around her. “Let's go."
Kate shrugged and gave the ranger a little wave as she was escorted out of the building. Walking down the street beside Jack, she realised that she really had nothing to worry about. He'd come back to her after the mission. If he was protecting her so possessively from the local rangers, he'd definitely be back.
"We'll drive.” He opened the car door for her again and helped her up into the passenger seat.
Kate smiled when he got in, gunned the engine into life and reversed quickly, revving loudly as he stared at the rangers station.
She'd never had a man so protective of her before and it was a nice feeling.
Sidling closer to him as he pulled the car out into the traffic, she smiled up at him. He looked at her and then concentrated on the road. It didn't take them long to get to the lodge and as soon as they pulled up, she was out the door and heading straight for the building.
"Kate!” A familiar voice called out to her and she turned to see her sister and her friends walking towards her. “Oh my God! Kate!"
Her lips broke into a wide smile as she rushed to her sister and hugged her. As her sister squeezed her tightly, she bit her lip and mumbled an ‘ouch'.
"Steady.” Jack prised her and her sister apart and gave her a concerned look as his hand remained on her good shoulder. “You okay?"
Kate smiled at him and nodded. Jack smiled back at her, making warmth spread through her.
"Who are you?” Connie said.
"Huh?” Kate blinked herself out of her trance and then looked awkward. “Um ... Connie, this is Jack. He's a friend of Nick's. He came up during the snowstorm before it blocked the road."
Connie smiled broadly at him
"Jack ... this is Connie.” Kate intimated her sister.
"Nice to meet you.” Jack smiled at her sister and then turned back to face her. He frowned. “You all right?"
"I'm fine ... seriously.” She gritted her teeth against the pain as her arm throbbed, telling her that she was lying by saying that she was okay. “It might hurt a little ... but only a little."
"We've found your sister, can we get you to the hospital now?” He gave her a look that said it wasn't so much a question as an order.
"Hospital?” Kate felt sick. It had been bad enough when Jack had sewn it up, let alone having to go to a hospital to have it looked at. She couldn't imagine all the questions they were going to ask, questions that she didn't have answers to.
"Hospital?” Connie shrieked.
"Don't overreact.” Kate waved a warning finger at her sister and then turned to face Jack, giving him an unimpressed look as her sister panicked. “As for you ... fine ... hospital it is."
"Good.” He caught hold of her hand again.
Kate frowned at her two friends as they nudged each other and nodded towards hers and Jack's hands.
"Wait!” She tugged him backwards as he went to walk off and she caught sight of Jonathon and Ryan coming towards them. There was no sign of Nick. She looked at her sister. “Where's Nick?"
"Man ... don't get me started on that freak.” Connie scowled. “He ditched us. Went up the mountain with the rangers in their helicopter."
"Helicopter?” A bad feeling settled in Kate's stomach and it only got worse when she turned to look at Jack.
She could see by the regretful look in his eyes that he had to go. If Nick was heading back up the mountain, it could only mean one thing—they were going to move the weapons. Before she had the time to say anything, Jack kissed her briefly and then pointed at her arm.
"Get that seen to. I promise you that I'll come back,” he said with a smile and then kissed her again, his lips playing against hers for a few seconds before he moved away.
Kate just stared blankly when his hand disappeared from hers. She heard his Hummer's engine starting and blinked as she watched him pull away, heading back towards the mountain as fast as he could go.
"Kate?” Connie said.
The sound of her sister's voice made her come to her senses, and she quickly looked around, smiling as she caught sight of the flag flying over the ranger station.
She started walking towards it.
"Where are you going?” Connie called after her.
Kate looked at the mountain.
"Back up there."
Chapter 20
Kate plastered a wide smile on her face and tried to catch her breath as she stepped into the ranger station. She immediately locked eyes with the man that they had spoken to previously and walked straight over to him.
"Hey,” she said breezily, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt.
"Hey.” The man smiled back at her as he casually leant against the counter.
Kate mimicked his move and cringed as her arm throbbed. Standing up again, she continued to hold her smile and glanced quickly out of the window at the mountain.
"I hear my stepbrother has gone with the rangers,” she started and then curled a strand of her hair around her finger as she gave the man a coy look. “I don't suppose there's another helicopter? I just love them and I want to see what damage was done to the cabin."
"We only have one,” he said in an apologetic tone.
She visibly sagged and the smile dropped off her face. By now, Jack was bound to be making his way up the mountain and she had no way of catching him.
"Where's your boyfriend?"
"He had to go somewhere,” she answered automatically, not registering that he'd called Jack her boyfriend until after she'd spoken.
Was he her boyfriend? She had known who the man was talking about and in her heart she felt as though he was.
She frowned as confusion about the whole situation whelmed up inside her and turned to leave.
"I have a Jeep!” The man hurriedly called after her and she stopped a few foot short of the door.
She smiled as she looked at him. “That'll do."
* * * *
Jack slammed his car door and ran to the rear of it. Lifting the tailgate, he pulled his kit bag towards him and grabbed the sniper rifle. He put his gloves on and then loaded up his jacket, filling the array of pockets with clips of ammo. When he was done, he slipped his two handguns into their holsters.
He took a deep breath as he pulled the explosives case towards him and opened it up. Taking the belt out, he carefully placed one of the cylindrical metal explosives into each round leather cradle and then paused at the last one. Looking at it, he thought about the number of times he'd used one of these. He weighed it up in his hand. The metal felt cold against his fingers, even with his gloves on. The bar sitting across the top only had to be turned and seated into the recess in order to activate the display of red numbers. He'd have twenty minutes between setting the first charge and getting out of the cabin. Twenty minutes to set ten charges across the first floor. He'd work inside out, placing some charges in the building before setting the ones on the outside.
Gently putting the last of the explosives into its cradle, he strapped the belt on around his waist and hoped that the bombs were still as tough as they used to be. The ground was slippery and there was a high chance of him losing his footing at some point. The last thing he needed was for one of the charges to go off. He'd promised Kate that he'd come back and he fully intended to keep that promise.
Closing the boot of his car, he locked it and slipped the keys into his pocket. He shouldered his rifle and looked up at the sky. The pale expanse of ice blue sky had been replaced with a blanket of stars against a backdrop of rich navy.
He took a deep breath of the crisp, cool, air and then set off into the woods towards the cabin. His feet seemed to know the way, letting him keep the whole of his attention on listening for any noise in the woods. He didn't think that they would expect him ba
ck so soon, but he couldn't let his guard down.
As he continued to trek through the forest, he found his thoughts wandering back to Kate. He couldn't help wondering what she was doing right now. He presumed that she'd done as he'd instructed and had gone to the hospital to get her arm checked. He'd done his best to keep everything sterile when he was sewing it up, but he couldn't be one hundred percent sure, and it wouldn't take much for the wound to get infected.
He felt warm inside as he thought about the things that had happened that night. She'd been so strong, taking it all in her stride. He'd known as soon as he met her that she was strong, but she'd surpassed his expectations. That one night had seemingly changed everything. She'd taken the leap that he couldn't bring himself to do, and he was silently thankful that she had.
He smiled to himself as he thought about how good it felt to lay with her in his arms, to hold her tight while she was sleeping, and protect her. It had never been like that with his previous girl. He could see that now. She'd never let him get so close to her. She'd never let him look after her.
Not like Kate did.
Looking up at the stars as he moved through the trees, he wondered what she was doing right that moment.
* * * *
Kate heaved another sigh as she watched the stars moving above her. The guy at the ranger station had been nice enough to offer her a lift up to the cabin, but he was driving infuriatingly slowly.
She was never going to get to Jack.
She didn't know why she had this urgent desire to get to him. It was as though she could sense that something would happen if she didn't, and she'd never see him again.
She had to see him again.
"Can't this thing go any faster?” She looked over at the ranger as he was babbling on about his duties and life on the mountain.
"Regulations—” he started.
"Screw what the regulations say ... put your foot down.” She snapped at him and he looked shocked for a moment and then frowned.
"It isn't safe."
Kate sighed again. It wasn't safe. She was so tired of safe. She had a safe job. She lived safely with her mother and her sisters. Everything was safe. Everything except Jack. But in his case, he made her feel safe no matter how dangerous the situation they were in was.
"Come on, it'll be fun,” she said with a hopeful smile but he continued to frown.
Resigning herself to a fate of an achingly slow journey up the mountain, she leaned her elbow against the door and rested her chin on her hand. She had to get to Jack. She had to see him again.
Watching the trees passing by, her eyes scanned the darkness and she wondered just how far he'd got. He'd had a good fifteen minutes head start and was bound to be driving up the mountain at least three times faster than the ranger was.
She frowned as she looked over at him where he was driving the Jeep and still talking about his duties at the ranger station.
She was never going to get to Jack on time.
* * * *
Jack pressed himself against the wide tree trunk and peered around it at the courtyard of Donovan's cabin. There was a lot of activity, but still no sign of them moving the weapons, which meant they still had to be inside. He needed to get into the cabin again and make sure that Donovan was still around. The success of his mission depended on taking him out.
Moving in the opposite direction to the way he'd gone the last time that he was here, he moved away from the road and towards the edge of the plateau. He went from tree to tree, checking each time to make sure that no one was watching and then crossing the semi-open gaps between them. Working his way along to the edge of the woods on the left side of the house, he looked through the trees and frowned.
There was the ranger helicopter.
He brought his night-vision goggles up to his eyes, using them as binoculars so he could get a closer look.
Looking from the house across to the helicopter, he calculated that it was at least a hundred foot between them. He arched a brow as he looked at the ground surrounding the helicopter.
There were the rangers.
From where he was standing, they looked as though they were all dead, but he wouldn't be able to tell for sure without getting closer. The helicopter would be his ticket out of here when the time came. It had been a while since he'd flown one, but he was sure that he hadn't forgotten how; it was ingrained in him and was bound to come back to him the second that he found himself in danger.
Letting the goggles hang loose around his neck as he moved back along the tree line towards the house, he watched the men as a truck pulled up. It looked as though it was ex-military and was wide enough to carry a vast amount of weaponry. They were finally on the move.
He smiled as he saw Donovan coming out of the house and watched him as he headed straight for the trucks. At this distance, he couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but judging by the gesturing going on, the men were being instructed on how to load the truck and the pickups.
Pulling one of his guns out of its holster, he checked the clip to see how much ammo it had, and then readied himself to make a move. He would need to get back into the house first. He'd set most of the charges in there and then deal with Donovan. Hopefully he'd run into Nick along the way.
Looking back towards the helicopter, he tried to pick a route out through the woods that would take him around the back of the building. He wouldn't be able to get back in through the window on the first floor that he'd used last time—they would have that entrance covered now. Hopefully there would be a back door to the building, one that he could get into and then work his way up to the first floor without being noticed.
Hopefully.
He kept his gun down by his thigh as he moved back to the helicopter. Everyone in the courtyard was now preoccupied with loading up the vehicles with the first crates of weapons. He'd watched something similar before and knew that it would take at least an hour to get all the crates into the trucks.
Plenty of time.
He glanced down at the red snow surrounding the rangers. From the looks of things, Nick had been as thorough as usual.
Slipping into the helicopter, he flicked the switches on the control panel and checked the fuel levels were satisfactory before turning them all off again.
Dropping down from the helicopter, he ran across to the woods on the other side of the clearing and moved deeper into them. The ground was steeper here. The mountain began to rise up from this area, and it would give him a good vantage point over the back of the cabin.
He looked down at it as he reached the edge of the woods. The windows at the back were dark and there were a few men milling around outside, smoking and talking. He frowned at the rifles they were carrying and tried to figure out what make they were.
Taking his rifle down off his back, he knelt in the snow and aimed at one of the men, using the scope to see their weapons more clearly.
The rifles weren't dissimilar to his. They looked a little older than his, but they were basically the same. He closed one eye as he looked down the sight at the men. There were three of them. If he was quick, he could take them all out without a sound.
He waited for them to line up as they huddled around each other, their warm breath rising into the air and mixing with the smoke as they talked.
Firing three times in quick succession, he waited until they all slumped to the floor and then shouldered his rifle as he slid down the snow-covered slope to the ground. He hurried over to them, grabbing his handgun and putting a bullet in each of their heads to ensure that they were dead.
Moving briskly to the door, he eased it open and slipped inside. It was dark. He could hear people moving around on the other side of the house and could see light coming through beneath the door opposite. The area he was in was a kitchen. It was no wonder they hadn't bothered lighting this room; it wasn't important enough, and the men would be able to see well enough from the light shining through the door on the opposite side of the corridor wh
en they moved in and out.
He held his breath as he tried to get his bearings. He was over one side of the building. The stairs had to be along the corridor outside the room that he was in as they were nearer the centre of the cabin. He watched the shadows as they blocked out the light filtering in from beneath the other door.
He needed to place charges upstairs in order to avoid getting caught. There was no way that he was going to be able to place any outside in the courtyard without being seen so he was going to have to rely on the charges inside. If he placed eight of them throughout the length of the house, it would be enough to obliterate the place.
He glanced up at the mountain outside the door.
Hopefully he'd have enough time to get away before the mountain came down on him.
Taking hold of his night-vision goggles, he slipped them on and flicked the switch, giving himself a moment to adjust to the weird green tint that the world gained. As his eyes became accustomed to the goggles, he tweaked the settings so he could see clearly in the darkness.
Stepping through the door into the corridor, he avoided looking at the now blinding light that was coming under the other door, and began down the hallway towards the other end of the house.
He kept his gun up by his side as he moved, and tried to keep himself alert to any sound that could signal that someone was coming. Finding the stairs, he walked up them as quietly as possible and pointed his gun up them as he rounded the bend. He could still hear the men outside but they were quieter now.
Heading down the corridor towards the room where they'd held Kate captive, he opened the door on the right and stepped into it. The whole floor seemed to be as quiet as it had been last time.
Moving to the back wall, he pulled one of the bombs out of its cradle on his belt and twisted the top, letting it slot neatly into the recess.
He hated this bit.
It was time to blow his cover.
Working his way around his belt, he set each of the charges in turn until they were all telling him that he had twenty minutes to get the hell off the mountain. He let his jacket cover the bombs again and took a deep breath.
Cabin Fever Page 19
