Snow Stalker

by M K Dymock

  62

  As a child, Ryan had fallen in the cold waves of Big Sur. Each time he tried to find his feet, another wave came and pummeled him into the sand. A lifeguard had finally yanked him out. That same feeling of being pushed to the brink of death again and again had been his constant companion since getting off the plane.

  He could’ve fled this place a week ago. But as Ryan trudged through feet-deep snow toward the woods, a little girl he barely knew over his shoulder, he held no regrets. He would save this girl.

  Once he reached the woods, the snow thinned out and he moved as fast as the moonlight would allow. The girl slung over his shoulder didn’t move but only offered the occasional groan. What had they done to her?

  Once in the trees, he found a stump and propped her on it. She breathed, but barely. He grasped her shoulders and shook her slightly. She didn’t respond. He did it again, but harder. No response.

  Glass broke in the cabin and he jerked around, but couldn’t see anything beyond the dim windows. He swallowed the yell on the tip of his tongue for Mina. He didn’t know if she’d been discovered yet or not.

  Behind him, the girl groaned. “Cold,” she mumbled. Ryan ripped off his jacket, leaving himself only a shirt, and bundled her up like a doll. He needed to run back to the cabin and find Mina. But what about the girl? He’d find Sean. Bullet hole or not, that man would protect her.

  By the time Ryan made it to the spot where they’d left Sean, he was gone. Ryan swung around in a 360. This was the place; he could still spot blood on the smashed snow where Sean had lain.

  The only other tracks led back to the mouth of the canyon. Ryan plunged ahead, doing a half jump, half run through the deep snow.

  Every attempt to run resulted in him tripping over a bush or a log and almost dropping the girl. He desperately wanted her to be able to wake up but didn’t want it to be now. He could imagine the scream of a girl being carried out of her home by an almost stranger.

  “Ryan.” He about did drop the girl at the unexpected call of his name.

  He whipped around to find Sean leaning on a stick for support. “I found their snowmobile key and figured we could use it to get out or at least disable it so they can’t follow.” His eyes widened at the sight of the still girl in Ryan’s arms. “Is she alive?” he asked with a hoarse whisper.

  “Yes, but she’s out of it. I’ve got to go back to Mina.” He held out the girl as if making an offering. “Can you get her out on the snowmobile? We’ll take the other one.”

  Sean weighed the options. “Get us to the sled. Once I’m on that, the leg won’t matter.”

  They made it in an agonizing few minutes. It only took a few minutes to deposit the girl on the sled.

  Sean stared at Ryan. “You two follow or I’m coming back for you.”

  Before Ryan considered his next step, a scream broke through the wind and dark.

  63

  The light filled the room, ushering in Cate, knife in hand.

  Mina clutched Chris to her, unsure whether holding him or putting him back on the bed was the right decision. Would his mother hurt him?

  Then she saw the knife—more specifically, the blood on the knife. Her gun lay behind her by the window still in its belt.

  Whatever surprise Cate’s face displayed at the sight of Mina, she quickly replaced it with relief. “Mina, you found us. Thank God.”

  “What’s wrong with Chris?”

  “James.” Cate took a step forward without lowering the knife. “I think he gave the kids some Benadryl or something.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He was going to kill us. He just tried to kill me downstairs. Mina, I…” Sobs burst from her as she held up the knife. “I think I killed him. He’s downstairs on the floor. We need to get help.”

  Even in this moment, Mina couldn’t help but be in awe of Cate’s abilities. Despite everything she knew, everything she saw, she still wanted so much to believe this woman. Chris shifted in her arms, bringing her back to what was at stake in trusting her. “Help is coming. Sol is bringing in the state troopers, but let’s get the kids out of here. I’ll haul them out, okay?”

  “Why isn’t Sol or anyone else with you now?” All softness had bled out of her voice. “How long have you been here?” A rush of thoughts crossed Cate’s face as she calculated Mina’s presence and what that meant. Mina could watch her life being measured and knew the end sum would be zero.

  She shifted Chris from one arm to the other to conceal another step toward her gun.

  Cate clenched the knife tighter, a decision made. “Put him down.”

  Mina still didn’t know if the boy served as a shield or if his mother cared. Whatever he was, Mina wanted him out of the equation. The cold breeze carried from the window. If she pushed him through, how hurt would he be? And how quickly could she do it before Cate jumped her with that knife?

  Mina took another step. “We know James just got out of prison, and we know he’ll do anything to keep from going back. You did the right thing, the only thing to protect your kids. I’ll tell them that when they get here. You didn’t have a choice.”

  Cate smiled her oh-so-gregarious smile that could make a person feel right at home. “Oh, Mina, you are a friend. Give Chris to me. I don’t want him to be afraid when he wakes up.”

  The window was closer than the gun. Her arms ached at Chris’s weight, and she would have to put him down soon. The snow creaked outside. A footstep? “Why did he drug them?” Mina couldn’t fight as long as Chris was in the room.

  Cate glanced to the other empty bed. “Probably didn’t want him to know what was happening.”

  The girl’s bed sat empty, but the bedding had been bunched up. Cate hadn’t yet realized one twin was already gone.

  They measured each other from across the room, both knowing they lied to one another but neither yet ready to call the bluff. Did Cate hope what Mina did? That she’d be able to turn the tide in her favor before the moment when it all went down?

  The window lay one more step away. Mina raised her voice in hopes Ryan waited below, ready to catch another kid. “Why don’t I take the kids out of the house? Then we can sort this out.”

  Cate gestured to the staircase behind her. “Let’s go.” With each step Mina had retreated, Cate had taken two closer.

  Mina’s heel scratched the wall behind her. It was now or never.

  “I heard you before outside, prowling around. Too bad I missed with the rifle.”

  Mina’s backside touched the windowsill. She maneuvered until Chris’s feet stuck out the window.

  “You must’ve been around when I killed James.” Her fake emotion disappeared as Cate had grown tired of the charade. “If you think holding on to Chris will save your life, then you’re wrong.”

  Mina shifted him further out, but his clothes snagged on the sill. “You’re not going to hurt your son.”

  “Grayson sure didn’t think I’d hurt him when I jumped on the lift beside him at the last minute. You know, when I pushed him off over a ravine and then jumped after him when the ground was closer, he actually asked me to get help.”

  Mina fumbled for the snag, trying to unhook Chris.

  Cate advanced closer. “He had no idea what I was capable of. I wonder if he figured it out before I stabbed him and left him to be covered by the storm.” She shrugged as if knowing was nothing more than an idle curiosity. “Whatever happened to him after I left didn’t do me any favors.”

  “What did happen?” Mina asked. Chris’s pants tore out of the snag.

  “I don’t know, but you know, Mina, better than anyone what I’m capable of. I’m going to only ask once more. Put Chris down.”

  Before Mina could take a breath, Cate charged across the room. Mina shoved Chris as far as she could. He cried out.

  Mina let go of his feet and brought her arm up to shield her face as Cate came at her with the blade.

  64

  Mina dropped to the floor as Cate charged her, and Cate stabbed empty air. Sh
e jumped on Mina, who grabbed her arm in a desperate attempt to stop the incessant stabbing. Cate didn’t aim; she kept stabbing until she could find a target.

  The knife found a target. Mina yelled in pain as the blade sliced through her coat and into her forearm.

  She thrust her hips in the air, sending Cate, who straddled her, onto the floor. Her belt and holster had disappeared into the shadows cast from the bed. Mina rolled to it, pushing the box spring up into Cate. Anything to create a barrier between her and the knife. With the mattress between them, she charged Cate, slamming her into the wall.

  Cate’s grip remained tight on the knife, and she pushed right back. A slash through the thin mattress reached Mina’s other side. She muffled her cry of pain, not wanting Cate to know she had an advantage.

  A figure came up the stairs behind Cate. Ryan. He wrapped his long arms around Cate, pinning her arms to her side and pulling her away.

  Mina dropped the mattress and rushed forward to grab her legs.

  But Cate wouldn’t be contained, and she wouldn’t give up. She turned the knife on Ryan and stabbed him in his torso. His arms released, and he slumped to the floor.

  She turned with her arm lifted. Mina jumped on the floor to find her gun.

  Her mind didn’t even register she had the pistol in her hand as she pointed it at Cate and fired and then again. Cate collapsed on the floor; she didn’t even let go of the knife as the first bullet felled her.

  She lay between Mina and Ryan, who stared at each other, unable to believe they were still alive. Mina walked up to Cate, who gasped for each breath. She grabbed the knife and wrenched it out of her still-tight fingers. Cate glared at her with hatred, finally using an honest expression.

  “Are you okay?” Ryan gasped.

  “Yes. You?”

  “The knife got tangled in my hoodie.” He crawled to a standing position. “Mina, you are not okay.”

  Mina tore her eyes away from Cate and glanced down to realize she was bleeding through her jacket. “No, I’m not.”

  She sank to the floor. Ryan tore his hoodie off and pressed it against her side.

  Mina smiled weakly at him. “How many layers did you wear?”

  He added more pressure, his eyes not meeting hers. “Didn’t want to get cold again. I’ll bring the snowmobile around and load you up.”

  Cate sputtered next to them. Ryan took the gun Mina had dropped next to her and pressed it back into Mina’s hand. “I’ll carry you downstairs,” he said with his eyes on Cate.

  “Just go get the sled. The closer, the better.”

  “I’ll be right back.” He jumped to his feet.

  “The twins?” she whispered.

  “Kelly is with Sean. I left Chris on the porch.” Ryan jumped up and ran to the stairway, stopping once to look back at her.

  Once he was gone, Mina scooted backwards until she leaned against the open box spring. “Cate,” she said as loud as the seeping blood would allow.

  The body twitched. One hand opened and closed, and Mina wondered if she still was trying to grasp the now-gone knife. Cate’s mouth opened and blood trickled out.

  65

  Mina opened her eyes to see Ryan sitting asleep in a chair beside her. She tried to lift a hand, but an IV with way too many drugs made the effort too much. The memories of the last few weeks, especially the last day, rushed in.

  She examined this man whom she’d only known a short time and whose life had been decidedly traumatic since that day. His beard had filled in his gaunt cheeks, and his clothes showed the living they’d done. Mina smiled at a piece of duct tape crossed one knee.

  The smile faded. Where were the twins? And where was Cate? “Ryan.”

  He jumped to his feet, his eyes searching the room until he settled on hers.

  Mina attempted a smile. “Easy, buddy. It’s not like I stabbed you.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Are you okay? I’ll call the doctor.”

  She now knew what people meant when they described a stabbing pain. But if anyone ever used that phrase to mean a side ache, she’d smack them. “What happened with…” There so many questions. “…with everything?”

  “Let me get your doctor.”

  Before he could escape the room, she called out, “Are the kids all right?”

  A sad smile crossed his face. “They’re alive and healthy.”

  The doctor returned to tell her she was lucky to be alive, but she no longer had a spleen. She didn’t feel as lucky then.

  Sol hovered around the door until the doctor and Ryan left.

  “Is Cate dead?” she asked as soon as they were alone.

  “Yes, and James.”

  That settled in her gut with a different kind of hurt than the wound. She wanted so much for none of this to happen. “But the twins?”

  “They’re okay. Doctor said they’d been drugged, but not enough for permanent damage. You saved them.”

  She glanced out the window to view white plains. The hospital they’d life-flighted her to had to be far away from the mountains of Lost Gorge. She’d remembered parts of the trip, a snowmobile ride and then a helicopter. “Did I? I still don’t know if Cate would’ve hurt them.”

  Sol settled on her bed. “She killed her own husband. She may have killed at least two innocent men. You weren’t in a position to know what she was fully capable of.”

  No, Mina could admit, she wasn’t.

  Ski season ended in May, like it always did. The snow melted into an ugly muddy mess that finally yielded wildflowers, like it always did. But it seemed to take a long time that spring.

  The same knife used to kill James and to stab Mina had small traces of blood from Phil. They theorized Cate had killed both men and kept Patrick’s boots to frame James.

  The treasure trove of evidence on Grayson’s computer gave Cate plenty of motive. She’d apparently taken moneys in sum of $25 million under the table from less scrupulous investors than Phil. It had never been recorded and was never found.

  Also found in Grayson’s email was a message from Cate inviting him to town to do a story. He had no idea the woman he’d been investigating sat on the other side of the message.

  Everyone had a guess about what happened to Grayson’s body after Cate killed him. The popular theory was that wolves got to it. The other theory, one that would not go away, was that Bigfoot had torn it apart to haul it away.

  Mina never said one way or another which theory she ascribed to. Better not to believe she knew everything, she decided. What mattered was that he went home to his sister to be properly mourned.

  Mina waited on hold and had been for several minutes when a knock came to her door. Ryan didn’t wait for her response and walked in. She mouthed “just a second” as the receptionist came back to the line.

  “We have you confirmed with a start date of June 1 for law enforcement training.”

  “Great, that’s what I have,” Mina said.

  “Looking forward to it, Deputy.”

  She’d expected a huge objection from her mom when she’d explained her career choice. “I know this isn’t what you wanted?”

  “Is it what you want? Have you finally settled?” her mother had asked.

  Mina had looked up to the high peaks surrounding the town she would serve. “Yes.”

  “Then be happy.”

  Mina hung up the phone as Ryan gave her a kiss. “Seriously, eight weeks?” he said. “Don’t they even have a spring break?”

  “Oh, please. You won’t even know I’m gone. You and Sean will be traipsing through the woods for Bigfoot mating season.”

  He shot her a stern look. “We men don’t traipse,” he said in a false bass before breaking a smile. Saving the kids had released a lot of the guilt he’d carried. He now knew what sort of man he was. He still hunted Bigfoot, but more out of hobby than necessity. “Plus, I do have to get that website somewhat functioning.”

  “I know. So frustrating work has to interfere with fun.”

>   Ryan had moved to town full-time, working remotely as a freelance developer.

  Though she’d finally accepted a full-time job with Sol, Mina insisted on one condition. She did not work on a powder day unless he’d already gone through every other deputy in a 100-mile radius.

  Ryan had promised to learn to ski come winter.

  For more Lost Gorge Mysteries, click here.

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  Also by M.K. Dymock

  Fall Hunter: A Lost Gorge Mystery

  About the Author

  M.K. Dymock is an analyst by day, a writer by night, and a ski instructor by weekend. Most of her stories involve the outdoors since that’s where she finds adventure and inspiration. Follow her adventures at weekendwomanwarrior.com or on Twitter @WeekendWomanWar.