Snow Stalker

by M K Dymock

  As she climbed back into the Jeep, the sound of a shot echoed through the canyon and across the snow-covered flats.

  She jumped in and gunned her engine and shot up the canyon. The kids were up there.

  56

  As a scared teen, Ryan had run away without thinking from the danger. Now he ran without thinking again, following the road to the cabin. He abandoned the tracks and the snowmobile and dashed into the trees. He’d left the girl; he wouldn’t leave Sean.

  Thick bushes slowed him down, which was probably a good thing, considering the noise he made busting through. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a headlamp he’d carried with him ever since his and Mina’s long night. Only a hint of light lined the high canyon walls.

  Not wanting to make a target out of his head, he turned the light on but kept it in his hand and pointed to the ground. He found his way through the few openings in the trees toward what he hoped was the cabin and Sean. After a while, he didn’t need the headlamp as the soft lights of the cabin broke their way through the forest.

  A large area around the cabin had been cleared of trees for about twenty yards, making it impossible to approach it without being seen. Ryan lay on his stomach and crept to the edge.

  The windows were covered with drapes that let out light and nothing else. The hum of a generator powered the cabin. Nothing moved, and no sign of Sean.

  Ryan didn’t have a good decision to make. Taking the snowmobile to go get help would take hours, and he couldn’t abandon Sean. But maybe he was a fool; Sean could be right now sitting in the house, working things out, or by the shed, wondering what happened to him.

  Ignoring those thoughts, Ryan crept closer to the house. Even with all his layers, the cold forced its way through as he lay on the frozen ground. He clenched his jaw to gain control of his shaking teeth as he crawled his way around the edge of the woods to be closer to the front porch.

  All of his creeping was for naught as a gun cocked behind him.

  57

  The sound of the gun cocking echoed through the trees. Mina’s gun, an automatic, didn’t require a bullet in the chamber, but she wanted to get this guy’s attention without making too much noise. She also didn’t want to speak and let him know she was a woman. Let whoever think she was a six-and-a-half-foot Marine.

  She angled her headlamp directly on the man’s face as he turned over. With his hands shading his eyes, she knew she wouldn’t appear as anything more than a shadow.

  “Don’t shoot,” the man said.

  “Ryan?”

  “Mina?”

  She lowered the gun a few inches before lifting the gun back up. “What are you doing here?”

  Ryan yanked his head to the cabin behind him. “Keep your voice down,” he whispered. “Do you want them to hear you?”

  “Who?” Her suspicion reared up at his constant ability to show up in the wrong place.

  He hesitated. “I don’t know. Whoever fired the shot.”

  “Show me your hands,” she demanded.

  He held them up, empty.

  Mina shone the light around the area. The blast she’d heard ricocheting through the canyon resembled a rifle, not a pistol. But she couldn’t be sure; she’d been far away. She’d gotten her Jeep halfway up the canyon before the snow sucked her in and had come the rest of the way on snowshoes. “What are you doing out here?”

  “I came with Sean. His family owns this house, and he found out Cate and James had come. Wanted to see what was what while I waited by the shed.” Ryan scooted deeper into the forest and closer to her.

  His proximity didn’t lessen her anxiety. She couldn’t get a read on him, and that drove her crazy. She needed a category to file him in. Suspect, date, crazy person, something.

  “Then the gun went off,” he continued. “I can’t find Sean. I’ve been trying to get closer to the cabin to see what’s up. Why are you here?”

  “James has a warrant for his arrest.” She crouched down beside him with a view of the house.

  “Why are you here alone? Where’s the sheriff?”

  “On his way.” That could be a lie, but she hoped she told the truth. “You head back down the canyon road and wait for him. I’m going to get closer to the house and see what’s going on.”

  “I’m not leaving, not until we find Sean.”

  Mina faced the cabin and the shadows that moved behind the curtains. She didn’t have time to argue. “Ten minutes. Stay here, and I’ll be able to find you.” A large granite boulder, twice as tall as Mina, sat in the middle of the woods, probably a piece broken from the canyon walls. “Then if I don’t come back, you promise me you’ll go down to the road and call out.”

  He reached out and took the sleeve of her coat. “You’re not going alone.”

  “If something happens, one of us needs to get out and get help.”

  He thought of Sean and the gunshot. “Ten minutes.”

  Mina crept through the trees to the back of the house, where the lights didn’t shine.

  58

  On the other side of the cabin, the heavy brush grew closer to the porch. It would offer more concealment to creep to a window.

  Mina’s heavy breath crystallizing in the night air didn’t come from exertion. She tried to calm her rapid heart, which seemed to pulsate through her entire body. Each side of the house offered no more information than the first. She came around the last corner to the front. Here the yard had been cleared from the road in.

  Lights from the windows shone on the porch and cast shadows onto the white snow. Untracked snow covered the yard except for several sets of footprints coming from road.

  One window facing the porch wasn’t covered with any drapes. Probably to look out and see if anyone was coming. Mina needed to get to that window without anyone seeing her. She would advance from the side where she had cover and come around the porch. Her jacket and snow pants were completely black, which helped in the shadows but would call way too much attention when crossing snow.

  She imagined a gun pointing out of every window, waiting for her to expose herself. Had Phil sensed evil in the woods? Would she know what it felt like to lie in the snow as your life drained away? “Stop it,” she whispered. “Do it now.”

  She ran across the snowy expanse and didn’t stop until she flattened herself against the cabin. Even if they looked out the side windows now, they wouldn’t see her.

  How much time did she have before she was due to meet Ryan? She didn’t want him doing something impulsive. Her watch glowed with the numbers—six more minutes. She made her way to the corner. One last turn and she’d be in the light. With her teeth, she ripped off her glove and slipped her gun out of its holster. The cold metal offered a small degree of reassurance.

  She turned the corner and inched her way around to the porch, keeping her back to the wall. She slipped over the railing like mounting a horse. Praying no one had come in the last minute to peer out, she crept to the window and looked in.

  Cate, her back to Mina, stood in what appeared to be a living room with couches and a game table set up. She threw stuff from the table into a box propped on her hip, green and red plastic things.

  Monopoly? They were playing Monopoly? Mina tried to smack her forehead with her hand before realizing she still carried a gun.

  All of this and the family was taking a simple retreat? No, that didn’t make sense. What about all the calls claiming James was going to hurt the children? Had that been a misunderstanding the family had sorted out. Where was Sean?

  Before Mina could decide whether it might be a good idea to just knock on the door and say hello, Cate paused in her cleaning of the game. She straightened up and stared down at the box as if debating its contents.

  She flung the box across the room, its pieces and money flying all over. With one swift slap, she knocked over the table, sending the game board crashing to the ground. Mina tightened the grip she’d just relaxed.

  Cate turned around. “Aren’t you dead
yet?”

  59

  Had Ryan dared to take a standing position, he would’ve been pacing the woods. Instead, he kept perfectly still while his blood did the rushing.

  He didn’t bother to check the time. Ten minutes or not, he wouldn’t be leaving Sean and definitely not Mina to their own devices. A movement caught his eye; Mina came around the side of the porch to one of the front windows. After a second, she crept to the door.

  It was like watching a horror film, and he wanted to scream out “not to open that door.”

  He moved to a crouching position like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun. Ryan could cover the ground in a few seconds should he need to; he’d ignored the pain from his feet this long. He inched forward to get as close as possible to Mina.

  She retreated from the porch and faded back into the darkness. He didn’t so much as sigh in relief. He didn’t have the breath for it, nor the inclination to make that much noise. She probably saw Sean inside talking with the family. Everything is fine and you are both overreacting.

  He held on to that sentiment as long as he could, which was less than a minute. That’s when he saw the slight movement in the snow, a few feet beyond the forest’s edge. A hand reached up.

  60

  Mina jumped back from the window, sure Cate stared straight at her. But no, the other woman’s attention seemed directed another way.

  With an annoyed glance, Cate strode out of sight but returned carrying a knife. She made her way toward the door and disappeared from view.

  A part of her Mina didn’t know existed took over, and instead of running back and out of sight, she crossed the five or so feet to the door, determined to meet the fight head-on. She lifted her weapon and placed her finger on the trigger.

  The door never opened.

  She grabbed the doorknob and turned—locked. With one hand still holding up her gun, she lifted the other to pound on the door but thought better of it at the last second.

  All Cate had to do was refuse to open the door, and there wouldn’t be much Mina could do about it. While she would try to find a way in, Cate could continue whatever plan she had. She’d read about too many family murder/suicides to believe she could stop this by talking. She also couldn’t account for James. Was he part of this? Would Mina be taking on two armed killers?

  Mina returned to the window but couldn’t see Cate or the knife. She leaned forward, trying to find an angle that would offer more visibility. On her tiptoes, she could barely make out the floor closest to the front of the house.

  Was that blood? A dark stain soaked the braided rug by the door.

  Could she break a window? These weren’t cheap panes, but thick ones to help hold out the cold. By the time she could crawl through, Cate would be on her with the knife and whatever other weapon she carried.

  Do something, her brain screamed.

  There had to be something, a back door or an open window. She scooted backwards away from the window. Her heel found the edge of the porch, and she slipped back into the blackness.

  She would send Ryan for help while she tried to find a way in. The entire trip around the house lasted less than eight minutes. She returned to the large granite boulder.

  Of course, Ryan was gone.

  She whispered his name, once, then louder. A branch broke in the thick brush, and she fumbled for her gun, cursing that she’d put her glove back on. Before she could lift it up, Ryan whispered, “It’s me. I found Sean.”

  Ryan had dragged Sean through the snow and back into the trees, where he lay gasping for breath. Blood soaked into the wet snow from his thigh, taking Mina back to the day that started all this.

  She knelt next to him. “We’ll get you out.”

  He sucked in air. “Shot me from the house when I was walking up. Didn’t see who.”

  Cate had to be expecting the police to show up eventually. Maybe she or James mistook Sean for them. “Ryan is going to haul you to the snowmobile and get you out.”

  “No,” Ryan whispered.

  “We all leave together,” Sean said.

  “I can’t leave without knowing the kids are safe.” Mina had a hard time believing the woman who picked up the twins from ski school with a hug could hurt them. But the dead men in Cate’s wake would argue. She would not underestimate this woman. “I’ve got to get into the cabin,” she said. “I’ve got to find the kids.”

  Sean sat up, his face creased with pain. “I know a way in.”

  61

  On the other side of the cabin, where the woods grew closest, a small trellis covered in vines wound its way to the upper windows. “We used to sneak out to howl at the moon when we were kids,” Sean had told Mina when describing the spot.

  She studied the trellis, weighing their very bad options. Ryan pulled at the wood, but she put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. That thing wouldn’t stand the weight of a normal man, but maybe it could a small…okay, very small woman. Not to mention the tiny window in the loft it led to.

  Mina found a foothold and pulled herself up. A few feet off the ground, she hesitated, but the trellis held. Hand over hand, she continued up until reaching the window. To her surprise, since nothing about the day had proved easy, the window slid up without trouble.

  Nothing stirred in the room as it lay in complete darkness. The window was so small the only way through would be headfirst. Not exactly the best way to enter a room ready for a fight.

  Under her feet, a piece of the old trellis snapped off, and she grabbed the windowsill for support. She pushed through the open window. Halfway through, when her hips met the edge, she got stuck.

  Downstairs, it sounded like Cate was throwing things against a wall. Mina frantically undid the zipper of her snow pants and her utility belt. She pulled the belt through the window and dropped it on the floor. Like a snake shedding its skin, she pushed herself through.

  She landed on a hardwood floor with a thud, her pants around her ankles. The moving downstairs stopped, and footsteps sounded. Mina slid the window closed, grateful it didn’t squeak.

  On the other side of the loft, a soft light shone from a staircase leading downstairs. The footsteps grew closer. Mina rolled away from the window behind something solid, a bed. Unfortunately, the bed came too close to the floor to enable her to crawl underneath.

  The steps stopped just inside the loft. A light, maybe a lantern, highlighted the room, casting odd-shaped shadows.

  Mina reached down for her gun but only found emptiness. It and the belt still lay in a pile by the window. She grimaced as the light moved around the room. She was about to be caught, literally, with her pants around her ankles. With their synthetic material, pulling them up would be like sending off a flare to her position. But leaving them down would make it far harder to fight off an attack.

  The light grew larger. Steps went to the side of the room across from her. The light must’ve come from a lantern, as it gave off a more haloed effect versus direct. After a few seconds, the light grew closer. With her face pressed flat against a rug, she could make out a set of legs on the other side of the bed.

  Mina lay flat and forced her body to stay entirely still. What she couldn’t control, though, was the trembling of every inch of her. She pressed her lips closed to keep from screaming.

  After eternity, or only thirty seconds, the light receded. Footsteps retreated down the stairs.

  She pulled her pants up as she stood. Someone lay in the bed, and Mina collapsed down, waiting and listening. How had anyone slept through her crash through the window?

  From the floor, she peered up over the bed into the face of Kelly, fast asleep.

  Before Mina could experience any relief, the complete stillness of the child set off alarms. Despite not knowing what she’d do if it worked, Mina reached out and grabbed Kelly’s arm, shaking her slightly, then harder. Nothing.

  She ripped back the covers laid her cheek against Kelly’s lips. A small amount of breath came out. Alive. She shook off the te
ars of relief and used her to fingers to sort out a weak pulse. Please don’t let me be too late.

  With one stride, she was across the room to the other bed. Mina found Chris in a similar state. She could only assume they’d been drugged. Enough dosage to keep them asleep, or enough dosage to ensure they didn’t wake up?

  Either way, she had to get them out.

  Downstairs, the racket resumed. If James and Cate were down there fighting it out, she’d let them go at it.

  Mina scooped the little girl into her arms, or tried to; the six-year-old was more than half her size and completely dead weight. Half hunched over, she stumbled to the window and slid it up.

  At the slight sound, Ryan looked up. She pushed the little girl’s head partially out so he could see what she intended to do. His startled face in the moonlight turned quickly to steel, and he nodded. He would catch her; Mina knew this.

  She wrapped her arms around girl’s chest and lifted her feet through the window. She wouldn’t take a chance on sending her out headfirst. Kelly’s head bobbled up and down, and she mumbled a “Mom.” Mina wanted to rejoice at even that little bit of life, but kept quiet. Mina lowered her slowly out the window until she grasped Kelly by only the arms.

  “Okay,” Ryan whispered from the bottom.

  Mina said a prayer that was no more than a whispered “please.” She let go.

  The second she released her grip, she pushed her head through the window. Kelly lay across Ryan’s shoulder, potato sack-style.

  Mina did a quick fist punch in the air before turning back to Chris. As she reached his bed, more footsteps creaked on the stairs. She grabbed him and turned to the window.

  The steps reached their destination.