Present Danger

by Elizabeth Goddard

  When the deputies and Haymaker were out of earshot, he said, “You didn’t have to stay, you know.”

  “And leave you alone out here in these millions of acres that I know so well?” A hint of a smile edged her lips to take the bite out of her sarcasm.

  “The sheriff might come too. Maybe my sergeant.” He wasn’t sure who to expect next, or if he would be assigned to investigate if this turned out to be a crime. Whatever. Someone just get here, and soon.

  Why did you really stay behind? “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She lifted her face to the treetops and shuddered as if to shake off the emotion. “I’ll be fine. How’s his wife going to react when she hears the news?”

  “I’m glad that’s the sheriff’s job.”

  “My grandfather knows Jim. Or knew him. I think Jim was his insurance broker too.” Terra dropped her chin and stared at the ground. “I hope we can wrap this up quickly, since Jim wasn’t a loner or a stranger by any stretch. He knew a lot of people.”

  “Which could make this more difficult,” he said.

  “We’re talking like we know he was murdered. I find it hard to believe.”

  He’d spotted the bloody slash in the back of Jim’s shirt. It was clean rather than jagged, as one would expect of an injury that had come from trees or rocks. Jack scratched his jaw. This guy wasn’t dressed for a hike this far out. Jack wouldn’t get ahead of himself on it. He could be jumping to conclusions that came far too naturally to him after too many undercover hours spent with murderers and traffickers.

  “So, um, you were FBI.” Terra crossed her arms.

  Uh. Oh. He knew where this conversation would head if he didn’t redirect it.

  He couldn’t read her eyes because she’d donned her sunglasses again. Jack got the feeling she was gazing off into the distance because she didn’t want to look at him. They were alone for a few minutes. No need to act special-agent tough, but she’d suddenly put the cast-iron composure in place. A protective measure? If so, he could understand that she was sensitive about the topic, so why bring it up? Then again, Terra might want answers about what had happened before. Answers he couldn’t give her.

  “Yeah, I was FBI. Now, as you can see, I’m with the county sheriff’s office. Congratulations, by the way, on your new job. I always knew you’d come back.” Cringing inside, he wished he could take the words back. She could find a way to take them wrong.

  Sure, he’d kept tabs on her like some stalking idiot. He’d walked away from what he could have had with her, for her sake.

  “Thanks for the congrats. And you’re back too. Now look at the two of us.” She didn’t bother to cover up the sarcasm with even a half smile this time. “What happened to you, anyway?”

  Which happening did she refer to? “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. FBI was your dream.”

  Jack heard what she wasn’t saying, loud and clear—she thought he’d given her up for that dream.

  “Now you’re here,” she said. “Something must have happened.”

  Yep. Something had happened, all right, but he had other reasons for returning. “Aunt Nadine has dementia, so I came back to help her.”

  She removed the sunglasses, and now he could see the crystal-blue sincerity in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jack.”

  His aunt had raised him. She’d taken him in after his dad had failed him so completely. She was a much older sibling to his father, fifteen years his dad’s senior.

  “It’s manageable. She’s doing well. The medicine is helping.”

  Even if he’d been offered the sergeant or captain position, he would have remained an investigator so he could be more available to Aunt Nadine, though even this position was proving to take up too many hours.

  “There was no one else.” Aunt Nadine had lost her granddaughter, Sarah. That painful loss was the proverbial white elephant in the room.

  “I understand.” Compassion suffused her gaze. “I hope she knows what you’ve given up to stay here with her.”

  He shrugged, grateful to see the coroner and his crew heading their way. Jack had been ready to give up the undercover work, but more than that, he hadn’t gotten over the fact that no matter how hard he tried he hadn’t been there in time to save a trafficked young woman. And if that wasn’t enough to eat him alive every day, the secret he kept would see to it.

  SIX

  Fun fact for you,” Terra said through gasps as she hiked.

  “Oh yeah?” Jack trailed her. “What’s that?”

  He wasn’t breathing nearly as hard as she was. Terra had thought she was in great shape until now.

  She paused to look out over a vista, and maybe catch her breath—majestic mountains and welcoming valleys spread over miles, easily seen from this point on Stone Wolf Mountain. “Montana has at least three thousand named mountains.”

  “By mountains, you mean what?”

  “Anything from a foothill to a peak.”

  He’d stopped next to her and leaned over his thighs. Catching his breath? Terra took some satisfaction from that. When he straightened, he stood a head taller than her.

  “Fun fact for you,” he said.

  “Okay. I guess you can play too.”

  “There are eight towns in Grayback County.”

  Terra snorted a laugh. “How many towns are in the state?”

  He hung his head. “Now that, I don’t know.”

  When he lifted his face, his green eyes held shadows as he looked out at the magnificent view. “We should get going before it gets too dark. We still have a couple of miles, and I don’t want to get lost.” He winked. “That’s why I wanted you along.”

  “So you wouldn’t get lost?”

  A tenuous grin lifted his cheeks, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. She had a feeling his comment had a deeper meaning, and one she wasn’t willing to explore.

  “Let’s go then.” She led him next to a rocky outcropping until they reached a meadow of short grass just before the evergreens grew thick and dark. Images of the deputy coroner and his assistants carrying Jim’s body away flooded her mind. A county tech had arrived to collect possible evidence, most of which would be submitted to the Montana State Crime Lab.

  The deputy coroner had been quick to identify what he believed was a knife wound to the back.

  Deputies, rangers, and forest service law enforcement were now searching for a murder weapon.

  Sergeant Aaron Brady had officially assigned Jack to the investigation. Then Terra and Jack had left what was now labeled the secondary crime scene and hiked to the top of the granite cliff to the primary crime scene, where they believed Jim was murdered then pushed or thrown off the cliff. The area had been cordoned off to protect the scene until evidence techs were done. They had kept their conversation to theorizing about the investigation rather than crossing over into anything personal, and for that, she was grateful.

  This wasn’t her investigation, and she wanted answers about Jim’s death, so she was happy to be involved.

  “Another fun fact,” she offered, “which you probably already know. The Gallatin National Forest encompasses almost two million acres and several counties. It seems to me that whoever killed him, stabbed him, and then dropped him out here—”

  “Because . . . given the terrain here several miles from the trail, we shouldn’t have found the body so quickly. The killer had hoped by the time we found human remains, we wouldn’t suspect or be able to confirm foul play.”

  “At the same time, he or she didn’t go as far as they could have to dump the body.”

  “So they didn’t have the time to spend dragging a body around,” he said.

  “Or packing on a horse.” Terra picked up her pace. “We spotted the droppings a quarter mile away, remember.”

  “Jim also could have been riding, and was killed, then tossed. Or those droppings could have no relationship to this investigation. But we’ll know more once we hear from the deputy coroner.”


  Talking about an investigation with Jack seemed completely foreign to her yet natural at the same time. Law enforcement agencies had to work together, especially when covering such a vast area. They continued on in silence until they reached the base of Stone Wolf Mountain’s north face and . . . the Rocky Mountain Courage Memorial.

  Terra waited for the dizziness to pass.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes.” Liar. “I can’t help but think this mountain is a death magnet.”

  “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have—”

  “Don’t.” Terra stood tall and drew in a long breath. She’d been the one to lead them in this direction.

  Stone columns pointed to the sky and stood like sentinels at the memorial. Each column featured a plaque with names.

  Her mother, a forest ranger, had been forever memorialized here, along with the others who had died on the mountain. Some had died for various reasons and at other times, but her mother, along with two others, died while trying to save someone stranded after a plane crash. A SAR team was dispatched, and an avalanche killed three members of that team. The pilot survived the crash and the avalanche. Other plaques memorialized those who had died on the mountain to save thrill-seeking souls who had ventured out in the winter to climb or ski or snowboard in the backcountry. Terra’s mother, Erin Larson’s stepfather, and Alex Knight’s father had given their lives to help others.

  Terra strolled forward to look at the larger brass plaque, which provided general information about the memorial. The smaller plaques found on the pillars detailed each individual’s act of heroism.

  Their courage was commended as the ultimate sacrifice. Terra read the Scripture verse on the plaque.

  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

  She calmed the emotions that threatened to escape. She hadn’t been back to this memorial since she’d left for her job with the National Park Service in southwest Colorado. Before that, she and Erin and Alex would visit the memorial every year on the anniversary of the incident that had killed their loved ones. At least they’d started out that way, but over time they’d begun coming once a year when they were able to get together. In fact, they were planning to visit the memorial together in a few days.

  The pain and grief of losing her mother at fourteen—fifteen years ago—had never truly dissipated. Maybe that’s because she’d lost her dad shortly after her mother died. He’d left Terra in her grandfather’s care. Her older brother, Owen, had already enlisted in the Army by then.

  As she remained frozen in place, the memorial served to remind her of her biggest fear—to lose someone else she loved. And, God forbid, on this mountain.

  She could skirt the edges—much like she’d done today with Jack. Search for people on SAR missions. Do her job in the entire region, but she hoped she would never be required to go anywhere near where her mother died. Gramps took her and Owen one summer to see the place. She wasn’t sure why—maybe that was more about him wanting to see where he’d lost his daughter, and he didn’t want to do it alone.

  Terra had fled down the mountain.

  Jack, however, had climbed the summit of this mountain, and probably all ten peaks in this county, if not more. For a few moments, Jack had strolled around the memorial and given her space, but he approached now and remained by her side, silent but there all the same, as if he sensed she needed reassurance. If she needed that from someone, he wasn’t the person she would want it from.

  She hadn’t expected to see him today, or frankly, ever again.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Yes. I know. It’ll be dark before we make it the rest of the way.”

  She slung her pack over her shoulder. Together they found the path from the memorial that led back to the trailhead and where the incident command center had been located for today’s search for the twins. When they made it to the bottom, they would get into their vehicles and go their separate ways.

  “Do you still keep in touch with them?” Jack asked.

  She knew instantly who he meant. Terra, Erin, and Alex had been teenagers at the time of the shared tragedy, though Erin and Alex were older than she was. They found support and encouragement in one another and had bonds deeper than many siblings. Owen wasn’t around, so she needed Erin and Alex. Together they decided they could do no less than be willing to die for others if necessary and vowed to make the world a better place. Lofty dreams for those so young—but somehow those dreams had helped ease the pain of loss and given them a vision for the future.

  “Sure.”

  “I have to admit I was a little jealous of your friendship with Alex,” he said, then sighed. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to dredge up all that junk.”

  She shrugged. “If you don’t mind, let’s leave the past in the past.”

  “Of course.”

  At least when it came to her past where Jack was concerned. However, Terra would still like to know what had happened to Jack in the FBI, but she was absolutely certain he wouldn’t be willing to share with the line she’d just drawn. Terra was still working through so much—would it take a lifetime to heal?

  “Erin’s in Seattle right now, but she comes to see her mom. She’s coming up this weekend, in fact.” Terra wouldn’t bring up that one of Jack’s coworkers, Detective Nathan Campbell, and Erin had experienced a heart-wrenching breakup. Terra believed that Nathan was the reason Erin moved. That and more opportunities in the city, but he was definitely the catalyst that sent her away.

  “And Alex?”

  Terra stopped.

  His expression softened. “By your reaction, it would seem something’s going on between you two.”

  Terra realized there’d been no jealousy in his tone.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. There’s nothing going on between us. He thinks of me like a sister.” She hiked past him. “Don’t you need to focus on finding Jim’s killer?”

  “You’re right.” Jack stayed behind her and said nothing more.

  She’d shut him down, so why did she still want to know what he was thinking? He probably wouldn’t ask for her help again.

  Terra wanted to be involved in the investigation, and she’d just blown her best chance.

  SEVEN

  At the Outskirts Motel, where Chance had paid cash for a room, he counted out what was left of the few bills he always kept with him for emergencies. If this wasn’t an emergency, he didn’t know what was. He’d at least purchased a cheap burner phone. Depending on how long it took him to get out of this situation, he wasn’t sure he could live on a hundred and fifty bucks. If he survived this, he would make sure to increase his emergency cash on hand.

  If Chance didn’t figure out who was behind the deliveries, he would be dead. But there were worse things than death.

  Chance stared at the phone. What an idiot he’d been nearly twenty years ago. One simple mistake born of greed and stupidity had brought him to this point in his life—the ripple effect of one stone tossed on a pond.

  He set the phone aside, piled the two shabby pillows behind his head on the bed, and rested his aching body while he surfed the television for a local news channel. Maybe he would learn more about his plane crash. He’d communicated with the NTSB that he’d been in the hospital and would call them soon.

  Maybe his delivery contact had seen the news that the plane had crashed, but Chance doubted that, even then, he would be given mercy if he didn’t deliver the package. This one last delivery that was to secure his freedom forever might be the delivery that put the nails in his coffin.

  Chance sat forward as a news story played about a body found in the forest, and the images revealed a vaguely familiar face.

  Fuzzy memories came back.

  He’d been twisted up in the cockpit for how long, he didn’t know, when a concerned face appeared, the voice gruff as the man had spoken.

  “Don’t worry, buddy. Help is on the way. You hang in
there. You’re going to be all right.” That man’s face now appeared on the television.

  A sick feeling engulfed Chance.

  He had no doubt that saving Chance’s life had cost Jim Raymond his own.

  EIGHT

  The next morning, Jack rose early and showered. He tried to get Terra out of his mind, but he couldn’t shake images of the past that collided with yesterday’s encounter. Distance and time had never completely removed her from his thoughts. Pulling on a T-shirt, he thought back to her words. She wanted to put the past behind them. Could they ever truly do that? Facing Terra and interacting with her had taken all his mental muscle. Emotional dexterity too.

  Last night, he’d only been trying to make conversation to ease the pained look on her face at seeing the memorial again, nothing more, and she’d admonished him.

  He forced his thoughts back to what mattered—finding Jim Raymond’s killer. Was the killer still in the area? The county or state? Had Jim sold someone insurance that hadn’t paid as promised and they had taken revenge?

  Jack read a text from Deputy Sarnes—more information about Jim’s activities that might or might not be related. His head was spinning in too many directions. He thought through his next steps. Sheriff Gibson had told Jim’s wife, Pauline, the news last night and instructed Jack to hold off on talking to her until the morning. Said she was too upset to be coherent and that a doctor had given her a sedative. Jack was as compassionate as the next guy—or detective or special agent—but would have preferred to speak to her last night.

  Regardless, news of a killer on the mountain would spread like a Montana wildfire through the county seat, Big Rapids, where Jim was known and loved, and eventually throughout Grayback County.

  The pressure was on to find a killer.