God, please help us now. Please don’t let us die today.
“Randy?” Judah frowned. “Who else at the mine are you helping?”
“What? You don’t think I could do all this myself?” He gestured wildly with the gun he’d been hiding, his finger shoved through the trigger guard. “No one thinks I can handle anything myself, but here I am, handling things...”
His words slurred a little, and Piper wasn’t sure he was completely sober. That could be to their advantage, if he’d had enough alcohol to dull his reflexes or response times. But it could be to their disadvantage.
“So wait...but you almost drowned?” Piper meant it as a statement but it came out as a question. Her head was still throbbing and her mind felt sluggish, like it had the pieces to put things together but just couldn’t quite do it. She was sleepy, so sleepy, and realized she likely needed to get to the doctor to be seen for a head injury.
It was a strange thing to think when you were standing in front of a man with a large gun trained at you, but Piper felt like she was entitled to have some strange thoughts.
“I didn’t. I set that up because I was going to drown you. It was going to be so easy. I’d been watching you. I knew if it was a water rescue, you’d break protocol and come immediately just to be able to save someone. I didn’t mean to get quite as drunk as I did, just enough that I’d have alcohol in my system to explain my near drowning, but you did exactly what I thought. You came and saved me, threw suspicion off of me. Which was the least you could do, since you’d already ruined one of my planned eliminations.”
“You mean murders?” Judah broke in.
Randy barely glanced in his direction. He seemed fixated on Piper. “You ruined it. You rescued that hiker, Jay Jones. You found the body of the woman I killed when she was camping. The whole SAR team kept getting in the way, but it was mostly you. I watched when you found the body, did you know that? And I saw how hard you worked and I thought...you could destroy my entire plan, so I knew you had to die. And I figured if I set myself up like a victim, well, even better, because it would draw suspicion off of me. But you rescued me at the lake. So I set up the rescue at the cliff, but you got away there, too. But I kept on coming after you, because you had to die.”
“Had to...” Piper trailed off. She didn’t want to finish that sentence. Not out loud, not in her head.
“Now you’re going to die.” He waved the gun around again for a few seconds, then slowly leveled the heavy barrel directly at Piper’s chest.
“Wait.” Judah’s voice was strong. Deep. “You sound like you had a really thought-out plan. Can you tell me why you decided to do it?”
“You just want me to confess.”
“You already have,” Judah said. “I just think it seems like a guy who has put as much effort into this as you have deserves to tell his story.”
Piper couldn’t believe the way Randy straightened up, nodded once and seemed to be giving great consideration to what Judah had said. “Maybe I do.” He considered. “Maybe I do.”
“Why don’t you tell us why you came up with all this? You work at the mine, so you just wanted to make operations easier by eliminating some of the sources of the discontent within the community?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t really get too much responsibility on my own there. I keep telling my Aunt Lisa I can handle it, to promote me, but does she? No. I thought if I helped her and got rid of some of the people who have been causing her problems, I could have a better job.” Here he waved the gun again. “More power, more money.”
The gun fired, the explosion echoing off the rock and down the river.
The bullet had hit a soft spot in the wall, splintering some layers of rock and making dirt fall in a steady stream down to the ground.
Then the world stilled again.
“So my aunt doesn’t need me. But she does, she just doesn’t want to admit it. There may be more people who need to have unfortunate accidents and I can’t have Piper getting in the way anymore. Besides, you two...killing you will get people off my back about those murders and then I can just live my life. They both made their choices, those people who died. They chose to get in the way of progress, of the mine. So they had to die, too. It’s not all my fault...” He trailed off.
Piper looked at Judah and wondered how much they could communicate nonverbally. If he was able to understand her expression well enough, maybe they could come up with some kind of plan. They definitely needed to disarm him. It would be best if they could restrain him somehow, also. Climbing rope would work well if they had any, but, well, if they’d had that they wouldn’t have had to free solo.
“How about we go into town and talk about this? You sound like a guy who has been overlooked and I want to listen to you, give you a fair chance.”
“A chance at what? You have to arrest me. And I’m not letting that happen.”
Judah looked at him.
“We’ve talked enough.” He moved to raise the weapon again slowly, but before he’d gotten it all the way to a ready stance height, a gun went off, the boom echoing.
Randy suddenly dropped to the ground. It was a clean shot, so Piper hoped medical professionals might be able to do something with it, help him somehow. She didn’t want him to die, even though he’d tried to kill her.
Piper looked around for the source of the shot.
Levi stood on the beach, fifty feet away.
“Sorry I took so long to get here,” he said as he walked in Judah’s direction, closing the distance between them quickly.
“I’m glad you made it.” Judah clapped his brother on the back. “Thanks for taking that shot.”
“I didn’t want to give things a chance to escalate any more. At least not with the case.” Levi looked from Piper, to Judah.
The unspoken message was clear. He clearly thought something was escalating between Judah and Piper.
And actually, Piper thought he might be right.
Levi went to where Randy had fallen, began applying pressure to the wound.
Piper watched, her mind wrestling with the way police officers were trained to render aid, even if they’d had to be the ones to inflict harm to save someone else’s life. It was a lot to wrap her mind around, but she knew it made sense. If she’d been called on right now to rescue Randy, she would have, even after all his attempts to kill her.
“You okay?” Judah asked her, wrapping his arm around her.
Piper nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’m okay. I hope he is.”
“I’m glad we caught him and it’s over.”
“I am, too.” Piper shook her head. “All of that because he felt overlooked by his aunt, who was the assistant manager?”
“And because the mine where he worked was threatened and he decided to take matters into his own hands and eliminate people who had spoken out against the mine’s negative effects.”
Piper let out a deep breath.
EMTs arrived on the scene then and took over for Levi.
“Let’s get you guys debriefed so you can get out of here,” Levi said, motioned toward where the cruisers were parked, back on the road.
* * *
Judah’s heart was still pounding in his chest as he led Piper to where several Raven Pass PD cruisers had clustered. She’d be able to give her statement there and avoid going down to the department another time. She’d seen enough of the inside of police stations to last her the rest of her life, probably.
Chief Moore was waiting for them beside one of the cars. “Everybody okay?” he asked.
Piper looked at Judah and they both nodded. “Yes, sir. It was close, but we made it.”
Closer than Judah would have liked, for sure. The image of Piper up there on the ledge would probably never be fully erased from his mind. But she was safe now.
And now he needed to face whatever was ha
ppening between them, for real, without the threat of danger, without adrenaline coursing through his veins. For him, this was going to take more courage than facing down a killer.
But it had the potential to have an incredible impact on his life.
“Can you tell me what happened, starting at the crash?” The chief directed the words to Piper. Piper told him the details, and Judah grew more and more amazed that she was okay.
Could it be that God had been directing them? Not just keeping them safe, but being real and involved in their lives? Judah knew it was possible. It was what he had believed was true all his life. But sometimes when the unusual happened, it was hard to feel like it was true.
But today, he knew it was. Felt it deep inside his chest, to his core.
Thank You, God.
“Judah, how did you find her?” the chief was asking him. Judah briefed him, gave him all the details he had.
“Levi fired the shot that took the suspect down,” Judah finished. All of them looked to the left, where Randy was being loaded into an ambulance. After he was attended to medically, he’d be going to prison, something that would help Judah sleep much better at night.
Chief Moore spoke. “We’ve got his gun in custody. I sent officers to his house and they found a rifle there the same caliber as the one that someone fired at the two of you at the police department. There’s more work to do evidence-wise, but I think we’ve got enough to put him away. And since he knows he confessed to you anyway, it’s likely he will just plead guilty.”
Judah hoped so. He didn’t want the man out of prison for as long as he lived, because he wanted Piper to be able to live in the full freedom of knowing that she was okay and there was no one out to get her.
Actually, there were a lot of things he wanted for Piper, but they hadn’t had time to talk about any of them.
Chief Moore continued. “Thanks for everything you did today, Wicks. I think it might be time to start talking about a promotion.”
With that, the chief walked away toward another group of officers, and Piper looked at Judah with her eyes wide.
“A promotion, huh? Do I get partial credit for helping you get that?” Her voice was teasing, her smile wide, though the crinkles around her eyes said she was tired. It had been an exhausting day.
“You think you should get credit?” Judah raised his eyebrows and grinned, then stepped toward her.
“I think if I hadn’t been in danger you might not have worked so hard.” Her words were honest and hit home. “I think you worked so hard because it was me.”
Judah’s face lost all hint of a smile as he stood there staring down at her. This was too important to joke about, and he wanted to make sure that with everything in her, she knew he wasn’t teasing her.
“It was because of you that I worked so hard,” he said in full honesty.
“I was kidding.”
“But I wasn’t.” Judah reached out both hands for hers. She set them inside his and it felt so, so right. “I pride myself on doing a good job with my work, but this was personal to me. Doing everything I could to make sure that the threat against you went away was something I did because it was you, Piper.”
“You said you loved me. On the rock.” Her face asked her questions for her, as it so often did, her blue eyes hopeful, but uncertain.
“I did say that. And I meant it.” Judah blew out a breath. “Piper, I know I messed up by cutting you out of the case. I never wanted to boss you around or make decisions for you or make you feel controlled.” He hesitated and tried to find the right words. “All I wanted was to keep you safe, but I guess I overstepped.”
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I handled it wrong, too.”
“We’re probably going to handle things wrong now and then. Maybe...” Judah trailed off. “Maybe sometimes people do and it’s okay anyway.”
“Judah?”
“Yeah?”
“You would never hurt someone on purpose. I know you better than that.” Her voice was full of hope so strong that Judah could feel it.
And yeah, when she said it that way...he could almost believe she was right. Either way, he did believe that it was worth the risk. Maybe he wasn’t the best at relationships, and it was hard to have a stressful job and maintain a good balance. But Piper was right. He would never hurt her on purpose. He couldn’t make decisions for her.
And despite thinking he’d known exactly how his life was going to go, despite being sure he would just have to give up any dreams of having a wife one day, Judah thought he might have been wrong.
Because it turned out love really was worth the risk after all.
“I love you, Piper. Not just when everything is crazy and we’re in danger on the side of a cliff. I think I’ve loved you for longer than I’ve realized. And I want to love you for as long as I live.”
She threw her arms around his neck so quickly that he almost didn’t know what was happening, and when he’d regained his balance, Judah laughed.
The sound was one that would have surprised him just a week ago, but he was getting used to it now. It turned out that being around Piper made him laugh a lot. And he could get used to that. He hoped she was still making him laugh five, ten, twenty years from now.
For the rest of his life.
And that he could spend that time making her happy, too.
“I love you, too,” she told him.
And Judah prayed, thanking God for letting him have this second chance, for showing him that there were some things worth fighting his fears for, and for Piper.
He thanked Him twice for Piper.
And then he pulled her in for a kiss. The first of many more to come.
* * *
Two weeks later, Piper was back at work. Jake had gotten a new car to replace the one that had been totaled in the wreck.
She’d seen Judah every night since then when he picked her up for dates, and some mornings, too, when he’d come by with coffee for her as a surprise at the end of his shifts. She’d laughed more these last couple of weeks than she ever had in her life.
There were still things to work out. Now and then Piper found herself reverting to old habits, to apologizing too much for something, and Judah had to remind her that he wasn’t like that. He wasn’t Drew.
And he wasn’t. In any way. He was Judah, and she was so very thankful for him.
“Day going okay?” Jake asked this morning as she walked in. Piper smiled at him. “It’s going well so far.” She smiled at Jake’s wife, Cassie, who was a doctor in town but helped out often at the SAR headquarters. She and Jake seemed so happy, and if Piper wasn’t mistaken, Cassie’s stomach seemed a little rounder...
Cassie caught her looking at it. “Finally showing, huh?” She laughed. “I’m four months along.”
“Oh my goodness. That’s amazing, Cassie. Congrats, you guys! Jake, you didn’t say anything!”
Her boss had walked into another room, but she heard him laughing. “Cassie told me she wanted to see how long it took for people to notice.”
Piper thought they were funny. If she ever got married and became pregnant, she’d probably tell everyone within the first five minutes of knowing herself. She couldn’t keep things like that from people, not good news.
“I’m going to go work on organizing the locker room.” The SAR team members were on call for part of their workweek and in the station for the rest of the week, doing odd jobs around headquarters.
Piper walked past Ellie and waved to her, also. She was working at a desk.
And there was Adriana. Weird that her entire team was here today.
And Levi. Wait. Why was Levi here, too?
Piper had just turned around, trying to figure out what was going on, when Judah walked into the room, smiling. He was holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
She hadn’t even kno
wn they were her favorite, until right now.
“Piper, I used to be kind of a loner.”
Quiet laughter came from more than one place in the room. Possibly from everyone there.
“But when you came into my life, you brought sunshine, hence the flowers.” He handed them to her. “You brought me into this group of friends,” he said and nodded to the people around them. “And most of all, you brought me the best relationship I could ever hope to have. You gave me your life, Piper. Your smile. Your jokes. Your climbing tips. I could never explain how much you mean to me, but I want to spend the rest of my life trying, if you’ll let me.”
Piper felt her eyes widen as she caught her breath. Was he...
“Piper Alison McAdams,” he started, “will you marry me?”
“I would love to,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. He pulled her into his arms, almost crushing her against his firm chest, and Piper laughed.
“You’re squishing me.” He laughed but loosened his grip.
“Can’t have that, now.”
“You make me laugh, Judah Wicks.”
“I hope to make you laugh for the rest of our lives,” he said with a smile, another laugh escaping his lips.
And Piper knew that God had taken care of her and blessed her beyond what she could have ever dreamed.
Thank You, she prayed, and kissed the man who would be her husband soon.
Husband. She liked the sound of that.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Forever.”
Happily-ever-after had never felt so perfect. Piper might never stop smiling. And that was fine with her.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Texas Baby Cover-Up by Virginia Vaughan.
Dear Reader,
Wow! I can’t believe we are at the end of the Raven Pass books. I have had so much fun with this made-up town, and have especially enjoyed getting to help people “visit” Alaska, my favorite state, through these stories. If you ever make it up here, there is no real town of Raven Pass to visit, but the views along Turnagain Arm are real, and the real-life town of Girdwood is similar to Raven Pass in some ways.
Alaskan Mountain Attack Page 17
