Rescue at Cedar Lake

by Maggie K. Black

  “But you don’t,” he said. “You’ll be safer hiding in an abandoned-looking, derelict house that they’re very, very unlikely to decide to search, instead of us zooming off through the woods toward some open slab of rock, in front of the very big, beautiful and obviously expensive cottage you used to live in.” He shook his head. “I don’t get where this is coming from. You’re the most sensible person I’ve ever met. You’re the last person who’d ever tell me to do something like this.”

  “Then shouldn’t that tell you something?” Theresa stepped toward him. Her gloved hands brushed his forearms. His arms parted as if, despite his frustration, something inside him still wanted to wrap his arms tight around her and lift her into his chest. “You used to say, ‘Baby, you’re the brains and I’m the brawn. You make all the plans. I’ll do all the things.’ How many times did you make that joke?”

  He didn’t answer for a long moment. They stood there, so close she could see their breaths mingling in the winter air. Then his spine straightened. He took a step back.

  “I remember,” he said. “I remember everything. But I’m not that guy anymore. I’m not your boyfriend or your fiancé or your adventurous friend or your scavenger hunt teammate. I’m Zoe’s colleague, Mandy’s bodyguard and the man who’s going to do what needs to be done to keep you alive, whether you like it or not. Now, you can choose to get on the snowmobile with me, or you can choose to go your own way on foot, because I can’t actually force you onto a snowmobile. But I’m not going to let some distant memory of the relationship we used to have a very long time ago sabotage what I came up here to do.”

  “You’re right.” She stepped back, too. The past was over. She knew that better than anyone. Alex had moved on with his life. So why was something inside her still trying to grasp what might’ve been? “I didn’t mean to imply I wasn’t taking this seriously, or that I didn’t respect the difficult position you’re in. Or to bring up things we’re probably both better off forgetting. Yes, I think Zoe was sending us a message. Yes, I think she wants us to head across the lake to my family’s old property. But I’m not going to stand here, on an open road, in the snow, arguing about it. Obviously I’m not going to set off alone, on foot through the snow, either. We’ll go with your plan and I hope you’re right. Just give me a second to go get my backpack.”

  “Thank you” was all he said. But even though she’d just agreed with him there was a sadness to his voice that twisted something deep inside her chest. She was cooperating. Alex had won the argument. What more did he want?

  They walked back to where Zoe’s car had been. Thankfully Theresa’s backpack was still there, tossed into the brush near where she’d first fought with Gnat. Alex took a few photographs of the tire tracks, but between the falling snow and the chaos it was hard to figure out how many sets of footprints there’d been. But one thing was clear—there were no tracks heading in the direction she thought Zoe wanted them to go. Maybe she’d been wrong.

  They got on the snowmobile and continued north, the sound of the snowmobile rumbling beneath them. The late afternoon sky grew darker. Snow fell heavily. Wind whistled around them seeming to cut straight through her clothes. She kept her hands steady on his waist and fought the urge to pull him close for warmth. He steered off the frozen road and onto an almost-hidden trail that cut through the woods. Thick chunks of ice the size of jagged boulders lined their path. Snow laden trees leaned heavily over the trail.

  Then the trees parted and an old farmhouse loomed out of the trees ahead. She felt Alex breathe a sigh of relief. He cut the engine at the edge of the woods.

  “Stay here, okay?” He slid off the snowmobile. “I just want to make sure everything’s okay.”

  He crossed a large driveway toward the derelict house. The place was huge and, judging by the road to her left, it seemed to be attached to the main highway by a long private road. Gaping windows of broken glass loomed above them like mouthfuls of broken teeth. Emmett the car salesman owned this place? She stood up and stepped off the snowmobile, letting her aching body stretch and her frozen limbs move to get some heat back into them. She couldn’t begin to guess what kind of money it would take to bring a property this large back to life.

  She watched as Alex crept along the side of the building. A window was open by the back door. Then his steps froze, his eyes searched the ground and he turned and started back to Theresa.

  She stepped toward him. “Is everything okay?” she called.

  He shook his head. His finger rose to his mouth hushing her. Her voice froze.

  There was a bang to his right. A figure in a dark ski mask burst out the back door.

  “Theresa, get out of here!” Alex pelted toward the snowmobile. “It’s a—”

  The world exploded around him, throwing him to the ground in a blaze of flames and broken wood, before her mind could even find the word trap.

  EIGHT

  The safe house exploded. Theresa watched in horror as a cascade of flames and flaming debris seemed to swallow Alex whole. Help him, Lord! Tears filled her eyes. Panicked prayers filled her voice. Then the smoke parted and she saw him. Alex’s hands rose as a tall, masked man held a rifle to his chest. Castor? With a move so quick she could barely see how, Alex leaped to the side, twisted the rifle up in the air and snapped it clear out of the masked man’s hands. The weapon flew into the flames.

  “Theresa!” Alex’s voice rose through the smoke. “Get out of here!”

  Castor’s fist flew at Alex’s face. Alex ducked. Then he dived, catching Castor hard with an elbow to the jaw. All she could see was a flurry of fists and blows as the two men struggled for dominance. Her pounding heart seemed caught in her throat. She’d never seen Alex fight like that before. Determination, purpose and control moved through every block and every blow with a force that took her breath away. But he was fighting cleanly, with a focus on defending himself and humanely bringing Castor to his knees. Castor was bigger, stronger and meaner, a man who fought dirty and was willing to kill without hesitation, as he tried to drive Alex back into the flames.

  She’d always known Alex was an athlete and strong. But even when she’d heard he was becoming a bodyguard and even after seeing him disarm Brick, part of her still hadn’t imagined that he’d have the discipline and power to fight this way. Or dreamed that he’d need to.

  A crack split the frozen air. The balcony above the men’s heads caved toward them in a cascade of burning wood. Alex disappeared into the smoke and flames.

  A cry slipped from her lips. Help me, Lord. What do I do?

  Falling snow sizzled against the burning house. She raced back to the snowmobile, landed hard on the seat and slapped her helmet’s visor down. Her body slid into the driver’s seat. Her hand reached for the handles.

  She wouldn’t leave him. No matter what, she would not leave Alex alone to die.

  “Get off that snowmobile! Now!” a harsh voice barked. For a fraction of a second she was too shocked to move. A second figure, imposing and masked, strode out of the woods. She blinked. Castor? But she’d just seen him fighting Alex in the flames. Then she saw the sneer on his mouth and realized he wasn’t the same man she’d left with a bloody lip back at the Rhodeses’ cottage. A knife flashed in his hand. “Get down on your knees. Hands up. Now!”

  Never. She started the engine. He lunged. His hand grabbed at her body, trying to drag her off the snowmobile with such force that for an instant she almost fell. She swung back, catching his jaw with her elbow. He grunted and slashed at her. The knife sliced through the side of her ski pants, nearly grazing her skin. She gunned the engine. He swung again. The snowmobile shot forward. And she heard the blade of the knife clang against the back of the snowmobile.

  She flew forward into the clearing. Thick forest lay to her left with a path she knew curved back to the lake. The road to the highway lay to her right. But s
he drove straight ahead toward the flames. Her eyes stayed locked on the smoke ahead. Hold on, Alex. I’m coming for you. The falling snow and smoke were red with flames. She swerved to a stop, yanked her helmet open and felt the heat sear her lungs.

  “Alex!” She screamed his name with all her might, praying he’d hear her.

  Flaming debris rained down from above her. How long would it take for the snow to put out the fire? How much of the forest would burn before it did? The masked man with a knife was charging through the trees after her. Any moment now he would catch her again, trapping her between him and the flames.

  Help me, Lord! If I don’t leave I could die. But I can’t leave without Alex. I’m his only hope.

  Then she saw him, running through the smoke and snow toward her. Relief exploded like laughter through her lungs. Then she felt Alex leap onto the snowmobile behind her. His arms locked around her waist. “Go!”

  Bullets thundered from the woods to their right. Wind licked the flames ahead, sending the fire straight at them. There was only one way to go. She’d have to risk the lake. She swerved right, driving straight down the hill, dodging between trees and rocks. Branches beat against them. Boulders loomed from the snow. Then they shot out onto the ice, the traction disappeared beneath them and there was nothing but the rush of the engine, the roar of flames and gunfire behind him, and the thick snow smacking their bodies.

  They flew, skimming along the ice. The trees and shoreline blurred beside them.

  Keep an eye on the shifts in the colors of the ice patterns, follow the channel markers and watch out for the buoys. Alex’s words from earlier echoed in her mind. All she had to do was trace the lines of the lake, and they’d eventually reach the safety of his cottage. But where were they? She didn’t know this branch of the lake and the channel markers had disappeared under the snow.

  Lord, help me. Please help me find a safe place for us to stop. A safe place for us to hide.

  Then Alex tapped her shoulder firmly. He grabbed her left arm and pulled it. The snowmobile swerved hard, responding to his touch. Then she felt his other arm come off her waist. Both of his hands slid on top of her forearms. He guided her arms, steering them from behind. Slight left. Little to the right. Now back to the left. Guiding her motions. Navigating for them as she drove.

  Thank you, babe. Alex would never steer her wrong.

  They were going to make it.

  The snowmobile hit a rock buried under the snow. They lurched forward. The snowmobile caught air. Alex flew off the back. But the hole in her pants leg caught on the machine. The snowmobile flipped, yanking her body along with it. She hit the ice and felt it crack beneath her. The snowmobile began to sink, dragging her with it. In vain she struggled to free herself. Freezing water hit her body, knocking the air from her lungs. She slipped under and thrashed against the snowmobile. Her pants ripped. Her leg tore free. Desperately she broke through the surface and yanked the helmet from her head. Her hands struggled to find something to grasp but the ice broke under her hands.

  “Alex! Help!”

  Nothing but the whistle of the wind filled her ears.

  Alex was gone, and she was going to drown.

  * * *

  Alex rolled, feeling the ice hit his body like cement. The air was knocked from his lungs. His head smacked the ice sending stars before his eyes. For a moment, he tumbled helplessly, tossed and jostled by the force of gravity even as he heard Theresa’s voice cry on the wind and the ugly, unrelenting sound of ice breaking. He braced his arms against the ice and slid to a stop, but even then his head swam so hard he couldn’t pull himself to stand up.

  Then he heard the sound of her fighting against the water and knew she’d gone under.

  “Theresa! Can you hear me?”

  God, please, may she be okay.

  He forced himself to his feet, blinded for a moment by the thick snow whirling in every direction. Dizziness swept over him. The thought of her being in danger beat hard inside his chest like a war drum.

  “Over here!” she called.

  “Hold on!” He flew across the ice toward the sound of her voice. “I’m coming!”

  “Stop! Wait! It’s not safe!”

  He slid to a stop, just as he heard the moan and strain of the ice beneath his feet. He dropped to his knees on the frozen lake, frustration building behind his eyes as he fought the sudden impulse to punch the ice in frustration and agony. It was too thin. If he wasn’t careful he could fall through, and then they’d both drown. Still, the urge to leap to his feet and tear across the ice toward her was so strong it took all his will not to. He shut his eyes so tightly it hurt. God, help me think! He’d taken extensive emergency wilderness survival training. He had all the knowledge he needed to get her out alive. He just had to stay calm. He had to stay focused and maintain self-control, even as he could feel the impulsive, headstrong young man he used to be rearing up inside him.

  “Alex?” Theresa’s voice broke and he could tell she was treading water. “I’m so scared and I’m so cold. I don’t know if I can make it out of the water on my own.”

  “It’s going to be okay.” A deeper calm than he’d ever felt before filled his voice. “You won’t have to. I’m coming to get you.”

  He started toward her, crawling slowly on his hands and knees, feeling the creak under him with every movement. He could hear her praying, softly and quietly, as he moved over the ice toward her. Forcing himself to go slowly when he knew she was in danger was agonizing.

  “Don’t try to pull yourself up,” he said. “Just drape your elbows over the edge of the ice, let it balance you, and tread water.”

  Then through the blowing snow he could see her face—white and terrified. Ice crystals had already started forming on her wet hair. She was hanging over the edge of the ice, one hand clenching her backpack, which she’d somehow managed to get off her back and toss out ahead of her onto the ice.

  It took everything inside him not to lunge across the ice and grab her.

  “You’re going to stay calm, okay?” He unwound the scarf from around his neck. “The biggest enemy we face right now is panic and I need you to be calm for me. Because, believe me, staying calm for you right now is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

  “It’s okay, babe.” She nodded. A faint, frightened smile crossed her lips. “I trust you.”

  That’s my baby. Emotion swelled in his heart. There she was, treading water in a frozen lake and still trying to reassure him. “Toss me the backpack. I’ll tie my scarf around it and send it back. Then we’ll use it to pull you out.”

  “I’m worried that if I let go of the backpack I’ll go back under.” Her teeth chattered. “I’m treading water but I can barely feel my legs.”

  “Okay, then. I’m coming to you.” He crawled closer, inch by inch, feeling the creak and strain of the ice beneath him. Then he felt his hand punch through the ice in front of him. He slid backward to keep from falling through. Several feet of ice-cold water spread between them. Prayers surged through his heart. He knew how dangerous it was to leap into the water to save her and how that would put them both in more danger. But he’d risk it, if he had to. If it was a matter of either jumping into the water or letting her drown it wasn’t even a choice.

  He’d risk his life for hers every time.

  “I’m sorry.” Desperation surged through his voice, and his voice almost cracked under the strain of it. “I can’t get any closer to you without jumping in.”

  “Then catch!” She hurled the backpack at him. He lunged for it, barely managed to grab it before it slid into the water. His fingers curled over the strap. Thank You, God! He looped the scarf around the handles and tied it tightly.

  A faint but courageous smile brushed her lips. Yet he could see the strain in her eyes. She wouldn’t be able to tread water indef
initely.

  “I’m going to back up,” he said. “Then I’m going to throw it back. I need you to loop your arms through it, so you’re wearing it across your chest, and hang on. Okay? I’ll pull you out.”

  “Okay.” Her voice was so faint he could barely hear it. He slid backward across the ice. How long was his scarf? Four feet? Five? Whatever it was, it could be the difference between life and death. He dropped to his stomach and lay there, just feet away from her, as she swam toward the edge of the ice. Then he raised the backpack above his head and threw. The backpack flew through the air. “Got it!”

  He felt the weight shift as she grabbed it. The scarf stretched and it was all he could do to keep hold of it. He sucked in a painful breath. Okay, now here was the hardest part.

  “Take a big kick and get as much of your body up on the edge of the ice as you can. Then I need you to crawl forward.”

  “Okay.” She kicked and launched her body up onto the ice. The ice creaked. Lines of cracking ice spread out around her like cracks on a windshield. Her body slipped back into the water and for a moment she disappeared, before she pushed her way back to the surface.

  “Theresa! Go limp! Don’t try to climb out. Any move you make could break the ice again.”

  For a brief second, she glanced up at the snow pelting down and he could see the fear flickering deep inside her eyes. Then her determined gaze met his and his mind flashed back to when he’d found her trapped underneath her capsized sailboat so many years ago. He’d expected her to be panicked. Instead, she’d been so strong and full of faith he’d known in that instant he was going to fall in love with her.

  “I trust you,” she said.

  Her body went limp in the frozen water. It was all on him now.

  NINE

  He lay on his stomach on the ice and felt her full weight pull back against the scarf. Alex gritted his teeth and pulled as hard as he could. His arms strained. His muscles ached. For a moment he felt the scarf slipping in his grasp and thought it was going to tear. Then he heard a gasp leave her lips as her body slid out onto the ice.