Chapter 3
Jenny quickly made her way through the tunnel. It didn’t take nearly as long as it had seemed last night. The door at the end opened more easily this time. She closed and concealed it as she had before.
She darted behind some trees and looked back at the cabin in the clearing below. The first thing that registered was the quiet. No gunfire. Jenny watched as a dirty group of men in camouflage gathered outside the cabin. One man’s voice carried above the rest.
“They just disappeared. We saw them go in, but no one came out.”
“Don’t give me that bull crap about haints and such. You think the boss is gonna buy that when two of his men is dead in there?”
The largest man shoved one of the other men to the ground, then turned. He scanned the area around him. His gaze stopped. He looked right at her. Jenny slowly sank behind a tree, concealing herself completely. Her hair; she’d forgotten. Again! Pulling the hood up, she closed her eyes.
Someone grabbed her from behind. A strong arm banded her waist and a large, gloved hand covered her mouth. The man pressed his lips to her ear. Fear and awareness coursed through her body.
“I told you to go to the cave.”
Weak with relief, she pried Cord’s hand off her mouth. “I just got out of the tunnel.”
“There! I saw something move up there,” one of the men at the cabin shouted.
They didn’t move. Jenny didn’t breathe, but she was aware of the danger and every hard, square inch of the man whose body was pressed up against her from shoulder to ankle.
“Probably just a squirrel.”
“Check it out!”
“Aw, hell,” Cord said, then grabbed her hand and ran.
“There she is!”
“There’s someone with her.”
They darted into the trees. Cord shoved her into the crevice of a rock, then pulled a knife with a long, thick silver blade from its holder on his belt, cut some branches from a bush and covered her up. When concealed, all she could see was the feral look in his dark eyes as he placed the last branch in front of her.
Her breathing sounded unnaturally loud in the silence. Then they came, thrashing up the trail.
“Their tracks end here.”
“Spread out.”
Jenny put her hands over her nose and mouth and made herself as small as possible. She saw a man with an assault rifle approach. He poked every bush with his weapon. He was headed right for her. Cord silently came between the man and her. Then almost immediately, the man went limp. Cord threw him over his shoulder, and blended silently into the landscape.
Two more men appeared “Where’s Bob?”
“I don’t know. Probably back at the cabin. There’s no one here.”
“Yeah, you’re right. This is a waste of time.”
“She’s gotta come off this mountain sometime.”
“And we’ll be there when she does.”
“Yeah, puttin’ a bullet in her’s gonna be a real pleasure.”
Crude laughter trailed behind them as they retraced their steps to the cabin. Watching the men walk away, she should have felt relief, but instead terror clinched her chest. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t stop the replay of Cord so easily taking that man out, like he’d done it before.
That knowledge brought home the fact that she knew nothing about this man. She’d spent the night with him. Had even been irrationally attracted to him. She rubbed her forehead, trying to think clearly. He hadn’t tried to harm her. She’d never find her way off this mountain without him. He was her only hope for getting out alive. Still, one fact outweighed all the rest...
He might have just killed a man.
Jenny didn’t know how long she sat there, shivering against the rock in the freezing cold. She looked around the clearing. Where was he? Would he come back for her? Did she want him to? Her mind churned with the reality of the danger she faced from the men pursuing her and the dangerous man she had to trust to help her get back to civilization. And then there were the marshals who, up to now, had failed miserably at keeping her safe. She couldn’t help thinking how much better off she’d be on her own.
Someone began dismantling the brush covering her. Before Jenny could react, her arm felt like it had been placed in a vice grip. “Let’s get moving.”
Her heart barely had time to begin beating again before she was pulled upright to stand in front of the man she both feared and needed. “Lord, would you stop doing that? I had no idea who had just found me!”
“We don’t have time for this.”
She looked down at his hand, remembering what he’d done.
“Did you kill that man?” The question was out before she could stop it.
“Let’s go,” he said, pulling her along behind him.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You talk more than anybody I ever knew. He’s fine. He’ll wake up in an hour or so with the worst headache of his life. He deserves a lot worse.”
He moved them into a dense copse of trees. There was no path, but like before, Cord weaved through them like he knew the way. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? You could have killed him. You had a knife.”
Stopping, he brought her up short and pinned her with an icy glare. “You watch too much TV. First, I’m not a cop. I can’t just kill a man because ‘I can’ without there being consequences, and I don’t plan to go to jail. Second, there was no reason to kill him. I just needed him out of the way.”
“Where did you learn how to do that?”
Cord sighed. “I can take care of myself. Look, if you’re finished with your interrogation, we need to get out of here.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He began walking again, and she followed. “Where are we going?” she asked.
His sigh was loud enough to echo through the trees. “I have a car. If we make good time, we should reach it by noon.”
She’d run there if it meant she could be away from this present danger and safe again. “Safe” being a relative term. She hadn’t been safe since she’d stumbled on this crime ring.
What the hell were the police and federal agents who were supposed to be making arrests doing? Grady said he’d see that enough people were put away that she might even be able to come home, but every time she turned around, it seemed a dozen or more men were gunning for her. That had to mean it was more involved than they’d first thought. She’d done her best to get up to date information from the marshals by eavesdropping on their conversations, but had learned nothing.
For now, she’d follow this man off the mountain and into what was sure to be another precarious situation. Once he got her back to civilization, she’d make a run for it. How could she be worse off on her own?
They’d been walking for several hours in blessed silence, giving Cord a chance to reassess their situation. He’d clearly misjudged things. He didn’t have many facts, but he didn’t like what he knew. Jenny had to be in some phase of witness protection if she was in the custody of U.S. Marshals. Fine. His plan had been to turn her back over to them. But with them dead and their killers still on this mountain and looking for her, that wasn’t happening here.
How could a woman like her be in so much trouble? He’d read The Chronicle. It wasn’t known for hard-hitting investigative pieces. Just a bunch of small town, local interest pieces mostly. Besides that, there was no crime in Angel Ridge other than a few recent break-ins and the explosion that had leveled the newspaper.
No matter. He’d get back to his car and call Angel Ridge’s sheriff. With any luck, he’d drop her off, pick up his supplies in town and get to his cabin by nightfall. He didn’t plan on venturing out again until spring.
He was just about to turn and check on how Jenny was doing when a bullet whizzed past him and lodged in a tree. He instinctively moved to protect her, but she was prone with her hands over her head. “Get up.”
Before she had time to react, he got his gun out of his waistband, h
auled her to her feet, and pulled her along behind him as he sprinted over to an outcropping of rocks. He crouched behind one and got her down to her knees. A man with a rifle appeared where they had just been standing and looked around.
“Hey, Luke. That you?”
He was wearing a bright orange hunter’s jacket and a camouflage hat with ear flaps.
Another man appeared. “Back here, man.”
“Damn. My rifle misfired. Glad you was behind me.”
The hunter named Luke laughed drunkenly and slapped his buddy on the back. “Let’s find a couple of trees for our deer stands.”
They shuffled off in the opposite direction, and Jenny slumped against him. After a moment he said, “Just a couple of drunken hunters.”
Jenny nodded. “Yeah. Harmless in comparison to those other guys, huh?”
“Well, I don’t know if I’d call two drunks with guns harmless.”
She looked up at him, smiling. “That was sarcasm.”
Ignoring that, he made sure no one else was coming. Jenny seemed tired, but they weren’t far from the parking area at the trailhead. She could rest in his car. Regardless, he found himself asking, “You all right to keep going?”
“Of course.”
He made the mistake of looking back at her. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Great. Whether her reaction was from fear, frustration, or exhaustion, he didn’t know. He offered a hand, and she surprised him by taking it despite her obvious mistrust of him, which he had to admit he admired. She should mistrust a total stranger.
He helped her up, and she followed him over to a stream he knew was nearby. She sat on a rock as he fished a bottle of water out of his pack. “Here.”
“Thanks.” She took it and drank half in one pull. “How much further?”
“Not far. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes.”
“What happens when we get to your car?”
“We’ll be back in cell range, so I’ll call the sheriff over in Angel Ridge.”
She nodded and drank the rest of the water. “Let’s go then.”
She stood and walked over to him. Cord watched. She was a fine looking woman... “It can wait.” He looked out across the stream and up at the sky, heavy with snow-filled clouds. “It’s kinda peaceful here.”
She looked up at the sky, too. After a few moments had passed, she whispered, “That can change quickly. We just saw that.”
“For what it’s worth, they never should have had you on this mountain. It’s too close to Angel Ridge.”
“Is it? I didn’t know. Doesn’t surprise me, though. They tried everything. Guess they thought no one would look for me so close to Angel Ridge.”
The sound of the stream flowing by soothed, but looking at Jenny, he saw that nothing could put her at ease right now. Maybe they’d make enough arrests that she’d get her old life back. It might happen, but he knew it wasn’t likely.
They stood there for several moments allowing the sound of the stream to wash over them. Finally, Cord said, “We can go whenever you’re ready.”
She nodded and smoothed her hands over her hips, then rubbed her arms. “It’s getting colder.”
He shrugged out of his coat and handed it to her. She held up a hand.
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“It’s okay. I have a pullover in my pack.”
After a moment, she accepted it and said, “Thank you.”
Cord had to look away from her smile. It warmed him like the summer sun. He couldn’t go there. Wouldn’t go there.
Without speaking or looking at her, he hefted his pack and walked back into the woods. The sound of footsteps behind him and her scent his only assurance that she followed. The sooner he turned her over, the better. Prolonged involvement with Jenny Thompson would complicate his life. He didn’t need more complications.
Chapter 4
“I’d be happy to speak with you, but now’s just not a good time.”
“I haven’t had an update on my sister since they took her into protective custody, Sheriff. Surely you can spare five minutes.”
The pleading, soft look in the pretty brunette’s blue eyes spoke to him. Other than the hair color, she looked just like Jenny.
“Ms. Thompson, I will answer any questions you have. It’s just that we’ve had an emergency that requires my immediate attention. I’m sure you understand. My assistant, Clara,” he stood and raised his voice a bit when he said his clerk’s name, and like an angel, she appeared in his office door. “Ah, here she is. Clara, this is Jenny Thompson’s sister, Frances.”
“Frannie, please.”
Grady gritted his teeth, more than smiled. He didn’t have time for pleasantries and politeness. So he just nodded and moved towards the door, hoping she would follow.
She did, but said softly enough so that only he could hear, “Sheriff, I know two months have passed and it’s likely that you and everyone else in this town has forgotten all about my sister, but as you know, she and her family have made quite a sacrifice so this town and the people in it can be safe.”
Grady’s sigh was heartfelt. He’d woken up this morning with a funny feeling in his gut. Lark, or Candi as everyone else called her, had told him that the snowstorm due to hit today would be the worst for East Tennessee in more than a decade. Beyond that, he’d had a feeling that all hell was about to break loose in the case he’d been working with other state and federal agencies since Jenny had been taken into protective custody.
And sure enough, his cell phone and scanner had lit up like a Christmas tree about three this morning. The incompetence of U.S. Marshal Service knew no bounds. In all their wisdom, they had decided to hide Jenny in a hikers’ cabin on Laurel Mountain, of all places, on just the other side of the lake from Angel Ridge, never mind that Jenny had had to sign an agreement that she would never come back here. Apparently, that did not preclude them from keeping her within spitting distance of the town she’d been taken from.
Now, these hills were crawling with remnants of the crime syndicate Jenny had uncovered after Lark came to town this past fall to open up her business. These backwoods thugs had been re-enlisted to help flush Jenny out. The cabin Jenny had been held in last night had gotten shot up. Two marshals and two unidentified men were dead in his jurisdiction. To top it off, Jenny was missing. Even now, the highway patrol had a roadblock set up trying to find her. Like the people looking for her weren’t following local law enforcement’s every move.
In short, he had more trouble than a dog had fleas, and on top of it, Jenny’s sister was here in town at the worst possible time. She could never know that Jenny had been found everywhere the marshals had hidden her, and that it was a miracle she was still alive. Miss Estelee would say “when it rains it pours,” but Frannie was a complication he didn’t need right now.
“Grady, did you know there’s a roadblock—oh, I’m sorry,” Fuzz Rhoton said. “I didn’t know you were busy.”
Fuzz pulled up short in the doorway to his office just behind Clara. “Ms. Thompson,” he said, “this is Fuzz Rhoton. He helps out from time to time when the sheriff’s office needs extra hands.”
“And are you in need of extra hands now, Sheriff?” Frannie asked.
“As I said, there is a situation that needs my attention.” To Fuzz he said, “Could you go pick up the constable? With this storm, I have a feeling we’re going to need all hands on deck today and tonight.” He gave the man a meaningful look, hoping he got the underlying message.
Fuzz nodded, eyebrows raised, indicating he understood. “Of course. I’ll do that now.”
The man turned and headed back outside. “Clara, would you mind showing Ms. Thompson to the diner? Y’all could have a cup of coffee and a piece of pie while I take care of my pressing business. I’ll get there as soon as I can to continue our conversation.” He put his hat on. To his deputy, he said, “Woody, you stay here and hold down the fort. I’ll check in.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” the deputy agree
d.
Grady edged around everyone and out the door. His cell phone rang before he made it to his Jeep. “Wallace.”
“Sheriff, this is Cordell Goins.”
Grady pulled the phone back from his ear and checked the caller ID. The display read, “C. Goins.” This day was just full of surprises. Why in the world would Goins be calling him? He’d been in the area for years and had never spoken to him until now.
“Goins. This is a surprise. Everything all right out your way?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve been hikin’ for the better part of a week.”
“Good time for it. You’re likely to be confined to that mountain you live on for a good while after the snow comes, not that I can imagine that bothers you near as much as it does most.”
“Sheriff, if you don’t mind, I have a matter of importance to discuss.”
All right then. “I apologize. State your business.”
“I was hiking up on Laurel Mountain last night and ran into some trouble.”
Great. “I can imagine you did. There’s a unit of state and federal officers headed that way.”
“They’d be about a day too late.”
“No survivors then?” He didn’t want to say too much. Still, he prayed Jenny was all right.
“Only one that matters.”
“Male or female?”
“Female.”
Grady let out the breath he’d been holding.
“I was thinking to pay you a call.”
“Negative.” If Goins had Jenny, he could not bring her to town. Even if he got through the roadblock, they couldn’t risk Jenny being seen by her sister. “I’ll come to you. What’s your location?”
“Trailhead parking lot for Laurel Mountain, but it’s no good meeting here, if you get my meanin’.”
I'll Be There Page 4
