“Drop the gun,” he said, shaking her arm roughly. “Drop it, damn you. I’ll break your arm.”
Chapter Fifteen
The hum of the plane drowned out Nick’s thoughts for a while, but slowly he let himself think about his course of action.
Would talking to his father really answer any questions? Of course Pop would deny any involvement, and Nick would not be able to tell whether or not it was true. Nick had never possessed enough skill to read his father.
Nick remembered incidents, things he put together for the first time. Here, flying to confront his father, he remembered things long since buried in his memory’s vault.
Again he remembered his mother’s death and the family’s hushed reticence when he had asked about it. Her funeral, the pitying looks Nick received as he had come forward to say goodbye to her for the last time.
A face loomed at him out of his memory, a wizened old man leaning over to speak to his neighbor. “Does the boy know?” The question not quite quiet enough.
Other days when Great Uncle Charles ushered him out of the room as men with cigars between their teeth and diamonds on their tie clips entered. The flash of guns in shoulder holsters as they took off jackets.
Part of a phone conversation overheard, with Anton talking of deals and allegiances, of taking the opposition down.
The money, always the overflow of money.
And a new memory fought its way past Nick’s veil of denial. Anton had been the one to recommend Alex for Fly by Knight.
Each incident set aside as separate and unique, each with its own explanation, meant Nick had never put the pieces together like he did now.
Was he being stubborn, as Alex said? Was it smart to go rushing in, putting Cassie and Denise in danger just so he could hear what might be a pack of lies?
And what about leaving Cassie alone to deal with Alex while he satisfied a selfish longing to hear what he wanted to hear?
Before Nick fully realized it, he had banked the plane sharply, turning 180 degrees to head back the way he’d come.
* * *
Cassie watched Alex helping himself to a bag of pretzels and the beer in Nick’s refrigerator. Cursing herself for a fool, she strained against her bonds once again. Behind her back, the tightly wrapped belt bit into her wrists. She shuddered at the memory of how she had ended up helpless and under his control.
After the humiliation of lying on her stomach at gunpoint so he could straddle her to pin her to the ground, Alex had wrapped the belt around her wrists. Then he handled her far more than necessary, groping his way down from her butt, before binding her ankles with duct tape he found in the shed. Then he had thrown her over his shoulder to carry her into the house, one hand grasping her buttocks for good measure. The whole experience left her feeling like she needed a shower.
“Hey.” Alex came over to her, waving the gun under her nose. Cassie winced away from his ignorant handling of the weapon. “Quit wiggling. You wouldn’t want me to think you were getting away, would you? I’d hate to shoot you for no reason.” He laughed, his mouth full of pretzels, and sat down on the couch facing her.
“Can’t I sit in a chair?” She found the bricks of the hearth very uncomfortable.
“Did I get to sit in a chair all last night?” Alex sat forward, spilling beer on the floor. “Was I comfortable while you and Nick slept up there in that bed keeping each other warm? Don’t piss me off, lady. You won’t like it if you piss me off.”
“You’re probably right.” Cassie looked around the room, at anything other than Alex making a pig of himself. “What are you still doing here, anyway? Why not try to hike out of here?”
“When I can wait for Nick and use his plane to fly out? Forget hiking. I go by air.”
A few quiet moments went by while Cassie tried to wiggle the belt loose without attracting Alex’s attention. She decided a distracting conversation might be helpful.
“How old are you?” she asked. Alex just looked at her. “It just seems like you’re a little young to do time for kidnapping.”
To her surprise, Alex laughed. “Kidnapping’s the least of it, babe. Besides, it won’t be the first time I’ve done time.” He waved the gun casually in Cassie’s direction, grinning when she winced again.
“Nick hired you when he knew you had a record?”
“Anton hired me, put me through flight school, then talked Nick into hiring me. He needed a pilot.”
Cassie was afraid to ask more questions. She couldn’t believe he was so forthcoming as it was. But she had nothing to lose.
“What for?”
“What do you think?”
Cassie couldn’t suppress a snort of derisive laughter. “Kidnapping for one.”
“You’re right.” Alex got up to grab another beer. “Keep going.”
“Drugs? Weapons? Black market? More?”
Alex sat on the couch again. “I’ve moved enough contraband for Anton Knight to make Scarface look like a bum.”
“Why are you telling me this? You’re going to go to jail when this is over.”
Alex got up and sat on his heels in front of Cassie, pushing the gun into her cheek. She leaned away from the cold steel. “I ain’t going back to jail. That’s all there is to it. When loverboy gets back, I fly out of here.” Alex waved the gun in a general southerly direction and stood up to pace to the window. “You two get to see just how well provisioned this place is. I’ll smash the radio, and by the time you get out of here, I’ll be in Peru.”
“You’ll let us go? Even knowing what I know about Anton Knight?”
“Maybe. I couldn’t care less what you do after I’m home free. Take Knight down if you can. I’ll be looking out for number one.”
“You’ve thought this out, haven’t you?” Cassie sat as motionless as she could while still working at the belt. If Alex had gotten loose, she could too.
“All the way down to money. Yeah, I’ve got a stash. I’ve been planning this for a long time, though it’s all coming down too soon. I’ll just have to sell the bike, that’s all.” Alex talked to himself more than Cassie now, and she didn’t say anything to break the little trance he’d put himself in. “They treat you like a king in Peru, if you have American dollars.”
“Hail King Alex,” Cassie muttered, concentrating on the belt. She realized she had said the words aloud only when she found Alex standing in front of her again.
“Think of that when you’re up here starving and I’m in the tropical sun with slaves to bring me my dinner.” Alex took a swig of beer.
“They’ll kill you in Peru,” Cassie snapped, unable to contain her contempt. She didn’t know anything about Peru, but she doubted Alex would be able to stay out of trouble there. “You’d just be a stinking gringo with money. They’ll take it from you and kill you, throw your body to the dogs.”
Rage flared in Alex’s eyes. He slapped her across the face, spilling what was left of his beer on her shirt front.
Cassie reeled from the blow, landing heavily on her side since her hands could not prevent her fall. “You’re really a son of a bitch, you know that, Alex?”
“Ha! You flatter me.” Alex moved back across the room, looking out the front window. “I’m just a guy who’s looking out for his own best interests, you know? I got myself in a spot, now I’m getting out.”
Cassie struggled to sit up while Alex watched her from the window. “You look like you could use a hand,” he said, making no move to help her.
“A free hand,” she muttered, finally propped up against the wall. “What are you going to do when Nick gets back?” She spoke to distract him while she worked at her bonds. Sweaty moisture made the leather slippery now, and her hands had slipped a little while she was getting up.
“Shoot him,” he said casually, looking her over.
Looking down, Cassie saw her wet shirt had pulled tight across her chest, displaying provocative curves. She shifted, trying to loosen it. “You said you’d let us go.”
/> Alex crossed the room, setting the gun on the coffee table before he knelt in front of her. “You are fine, but you know that, don’t you? You look an awful lot like Felicity. Do you do the things she does?” Alex reached out to her and she stiffened, but he only straightened her shirt for her.
“Too bad I can’t afford any distractions right now.” He stood and picked up the gun, then sat down on the couch, his gaze raking over her with disconcerting directness. “It’s a shame to think of you dying slowly, all alone out here. You wanna come with me?”
Cassie scowled at him. “I’ll go with you, and the second you turn your back on me....”
Alex laughed, cutting off the rest of her threat. “I don’t need a woman with me; I just got turned on for a second.”
Cassie’s retort died on her lips as they both heard the roar of a plane coming in over the ridge, low and fast. Alex ran to the window, pressing his face against the glass to look out. The plane circled, and Cassie could hear it coming in to land. She had to warn Nick!
Alex crossed the room, grabbing an apple from the bowl of food he had scrounged. “Open wide,” he said.
“What?” The second her mouth opened, Alex crammed the apple in, forcing her mouth wide. Her teeth sank in to ease the tautness of her jaw, but there was too much apple to bite through. Her lips formed a tight seal, forcing her to breathe through her nose.
“Ooooh, that looks so sexy. I only need you quiet for a minute. Then it will be too late.” He patted her cheek and went to the window.
Furious, Cassie pushed at the apple with her tongue, trying desperately to bite through it. She had to warn Nick.
The motor of the plane shut off. As she struggled with both the apple and the belt, Cassie kept her eyes on Alex watching from the corner of the window. He pressed himself closer to the wall as Nick’s step sounded on the porch.
The handle turned, and Cassie saw Nick through the window in the door. Her teeth finally snapped through the apple and it fell to the floor. Cassie let out an involuntary cry of pain when she bit her tongue.
As Nick came through the door, his eyes went wide when he saw Cassie by the woodstove.
“Behind you!” Cassie shouted.
Nick dove forward, narrowly avoiding the butt of the gun Alex swung at him like a club. He turned around immediately. Alex recovered his balance, switching his grip to the gun’s handle. Nick grappled with him, and for an instant it looked like he would win the gun, but then his hand slipped, and Alex took advantage by tugging at the gun with all his might.
Nick went with the pull, carrying the two of them out the front door and off the porch, still in Cassie’s view. Alex stumbled backwards, taking Nick down with him. They rolled on the grass, each searching for the dominant position, the gun pressed awkwardly between them.
Cassie watched them roll out of her sight and renewed her frenzied struggle with the belt. Sliding her wrists together now, the belt gave enough to let her hands move almost freely. Then her right hand slid out, scraping painfully against the buckle.
The crack of a gunshot shocked her into stillness, hands poised in the act of removing the belt. Echoes tossed around the little valley, the last one dying away before Cassie moved again to peel the tape from her legs and stand up.
“Oh, God.” Cassie grabbed the fireplace poker and ran to the door, trying to listen for sounds of struggle over the thundering of her heart. She peeked around the doorjamb to find Nick staggering to his feet, the gun in his hand. Rushing to him, she scanned his body with her eyes.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” He took her arm, and she wasn’t sure who the gesture was meant to comfort. They both turned to look at Alex writhing on the ground in pain. Blood stained his shirt, seeping around his hand where he clutched his shoulder.
Cassie knelt beside him, trying to push Alex’s hand away. “Get some bandages,” she said without turning away.
She heard Nick’s steps as he crossed the porch. Alex swatted at her hand, trying to roll away from her.
“Dammit, hold still. I’m trying to help you.”
Alex ground his teeth together and sat up with a groaning grunt. “Leave me alone.”
“Lie down. You’re going to bleed to death. Let me look at it.”
“I didn’t think it would hurt like....” Alex fell backwards, his body going slack as he passed out. Cassie shoved his jacket off his shoulder and tore the bullet hole in his shirt to look at the wound. The metallic smell of fresh blood assailed her nose.
Cassie looked away, taking a deep breath to fight down nausea at the sight of the raw, bloody wound. “Ugh, nasty.”
Back at her side, Nick handed her a towel torn into strips. She looked up at him as he tore wider strips off another one. “I don’t know what to do.”
“How bad is it?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen an actual bullet wound up close. It looks...like a mess.” She rocked back on her heels and sat down.
“Did it go all the way through?”
“A .357, at that range? What do you think?” Before Nick could comment, Cassie put her hand on his arm. “Sorry, I’ll...look again.”
She swallowed and turned to look at Alex’s shoulder again, taking one of the strips of towel to wipe at the wound. He groaned, tossing his head to one side. “Have you got any pain killers?”
“Just aspirin.”
“No good. He needs something stronger than that, and not something that thins blood out. Oh, jeez. It did go straight through.” Cassie forced her mind to be objective. This is just an extension of firearm safety classes, she told herself. The body isn’t real. Alex didn’t help by whimpering as she lifted the shoulder to get a better look.
“His shoulder is shattered. I can see little bits of bones all over the place. Oh God, Nick this is so gross. He’s going to need a doctor. What do we do now?”
* * *
Nick thought hard as he watched Cassie attempting to tend Alex’s wound. Part of his mind focused on dealing with the crisis at hand, but another part reeled, agog that he had just shot a human being. How the hell had things gotten this far?
“We’ll take him into Juneau.”
“They’ll want to know what happened. What are we going to say?”
“We tell them the truth.”
“What about your dad?”
Nick looked down at Alex, seeing the blood and knowing it could well be him lying there in a pool of his own blood instead. Both he and Cassie could be dead. He looked back at her, and resolve hardened in his heart, as painful as it was necessary.
“If Alex is telling the truth, Pop’s been breaking the law. He’ll just have to deal with it when the police come get him.”
“Are you sure, Nick? I mean, it’s your father.”
“I’m sure, Cassie. Can you do anything for Alex?”
“I can try.” Her shaking hands betrayed the calm tone in her voice. “He’ll need something to dull the pain soon.”
“I’ll go see what I’ve got.”
Nick went into the house, leaving Cassie to start wrapping the wound. In the kitchen he dug through cabinets and drawers, looking for something stronger than ibuprofen. He ended up with a bottle of whiskey and the ibuprofen, which he brought out to Cassie.
“This is the best I could do,” he said, squatting beside her. He looked at Alex’s shoulder, wrapped tightly with towels and looking something like a pitcher’s shoulder after nine long innings. Blood already seeped through in some places. “He’s still bleeding.”
Cassie nodded. “I put pressure on it, but first aid class was so long ago, I didn’t remember exactly where the pressure point is, so direct pressure will have to do. We’ve got to get him to a doctor.”
“Okay. Get him to swallow this, and I’ll get your coat.” Nick stood up just as the radio came to life.
“Knight to Blue Sky.” They heard Denise’s voice loud and clear.
“I’ll get it,” Nick said. “Just sit tight, ’kay?”
<
br /> Cassie nodded, and Nick bent to kiss her on the cheek.
He went inside to the radio cabinet.
“Knight to Blue Sky, do you copy?”
She sounds nervous, Nick thought. Just before he picked up the handset, he heard someone speaking softly in the background. Then Denise spoke, as though she wasn’t holding the transmit button down.
“Look, he’s not there. I told you he wouldn’t be there; he’s coming into town today.”
“Try it again,” the voice said.
“Knight to Blue Sky. Are you there, Nick?”
Nick picked up the handset. “Blue Sky here. What’s up, Denise?” He tried to sound as though he hadn’t heard anything, glad Denise had let him know about the someone sitting there with her.
“Nick! You’re there.” Dismay filled her tone.
“Yes, I was just about to leave. Whatcha got?”
“Nick, I tried to tell them....” Denise’s voice cut off. Static crackled over the airwaves for a moment.
“Denise, what’s wrong.” No answer. “Leave her alone, you bastard!” Nick barked into the handset.
“Nick, she’ll be all right.”
“Frank? Frank?!” Hearing the voice of a man he had known all his life—an employee of his father’s—shouldn’t have caught him off guard, but it did. “What’s going on?”
“Your father wants to see you, Nick. Come to his house tonight, or the girl walks the ice road before it ices. Got it?”
“Is he there? I want to talk to him.”
“He’s not here, Nick. You should know that. Come to his house, and bring the woman. Bring Cassandra.”
“All right, all right. Just don’t hurt Denise.”
“Bring Cassandra,” the man repeated.
“Frank?”
Silence. The radio waves sang with static, empty of the information Nick desperately sought.
Nick grabbed Cassie’s coat and ran out the door.
“Who was it?” Cassie asked. She held the whiskey bottle to Alex’s lips, and he sputtered and coughed, ending up with more dribbling down his chin than down his throat.
Knight Before Dawn Page 13
