by Lark Avery
So when I heard a snow machine approaching, relief and embarrassment washed over me. Dane might be a selfish rat bastard, but it was awfully hard to talk yourself out of loving someone.
With the thick snow, I couldn’t see anything. I waved the snow machine down, not wanting him to run me over by accident. My heart thumped hard in my chest when it pulled up alongside me.
I blinked, wishing my eyes were deceiving me.
Gary was driving the snow machine, while Max rode on the seat behind him.
“Need a lift?” Gary waved a big mitten in greeting.
“Doesn’t look like you have room!” I shouted over the engine noise. I was a slight person, but there wasn’t really room for more than two on a snow machine. Plus, now I was in full-fledged pity party mode.
Gary and Max hopped off the machine. Gary pulled a blanket from a saddlebag and handed it to me. “This should help.”
“What are you guys doing out here?” I gratefully accepted the blanket.
“We were worried about you,” Gary said. “Dane can be such a—”
“Asshole.” I finished for him.
Gary’s eyes widened in surprise. They had frost on them just like his beard did.
Max had been standing there without saying much when he pivoted and punched Gary right into the gut.
“Ooof!” Gary exhaled, dropping to his knees before crumpling to the ground.
“What the fuck?” I rushed to Gary. He curled on his side, gasping for breath. I turned on Max, who was calmly removing his helmet. “What’s the matter with you?”
Max climbed on the snow machine. “Get on.” He jerked his gloved thumb behind him. “You’re coming with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Why did you hit him, you psycho?” I brushed Gary’s hair away from his face. He was still trying to catch his breath after getting the wind knocked out of him.
“You will get on this machine with me now, or I’ll kill you here.” Max pulled a pistol out of his snowsuit pocket.
“What’s the matter with you?” My anger at Gary’s suffering bubbled into a rage. Who did Max think he was? Snow Ridge didn’t need an electrician that badly.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop my shaking. I looked from him to my friend writhing in the snow. “Gary, are you OK?”
“Come with me, or I’ll shoot you right here,” Max said, calmly. “My boss won’t be pleased with me, but I’m tired of your whining.”
His boss.
Oh, fuck. Max was working with the Trapper.
If I resisted, Max would kill me. If I went with him, the Trapper would kill me. The only thing that would buy me time was stalling. Time for Dane to find me. Time for me to work out an escape.
“We can’t leave Gary here.”
I knelt next to Gary. His face was scrunched in pain. I pressed my hand to his arm and mouthed “Get Dane” to him. As far as plans went, this one seriously sucked.
Max waved me onto the snow machine. I wasn’t trying anything crazy in close range with him having a gun. Thank God, he didn’t know about the baby.
We drove the snow machine further into the mountains. The blanket was better than nothing, but I was still getting pretty cold without a snowsuit.
“Hey, you got another blanket around?” I tapped his shoulder while he was driving.
“You should have a snowsuit on,” Max yelled back, not taking his eyes off his driving.
“Next time I’m abducted, I’ll try to dress more appropriately.” Fuckwit, I added silently.
Max slowed the snow machine.
Uh-oh. Dread accumulated inside me. Had he decided to kill me anyway?
He got off his machine.
I didn’t move. If he wanted to kill me, he was going to have to work at it.
Max put the key on a lanyard around his neck. Then he unzipped his one-piece snowsuit.
“What are you doing?”
“Wear this. You’ll be warmer.” He climbed out of the suit and handed it to me.
OK. Yes, I would be warmer, but he was going to get cold out here pretty quickly. Given the current situation, I wasn’t going to cry about it. But it wasn’t good that the Trapper wanted me this badly.
I shrugged into his suit without further discussion. If he got cold enough, I would stand a much better chance of escape. I zipped the suit up. It was too long but blissfully warm.
I climbed back on the machine, waiting for Max. If only he’d left the key in the ignition, but I got none of the breaks my detectives did.
All thought was wiped from my brain as I took in Max’s outfit.
He stood with snow swirling around his knees wearing a leather collar, assless chaps, thigh-high boots, and not much else. That was what he was wearing under this snowsuit?
Before I could formulate any of the questions crowding my brain, a female voice behind me said, “You’re late.”
Shit. This day just kept getting worse.
I turned around to find a familiar fur coat and hat. Their owner’s face was now visible to me. She looked like a Russian grandmother who was also a bloodthirsty killer.
“I’m Rika. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Her red lipstick feathered into the thin skin around her mouth.
“Fuck you.” I’d taken my helmet off to say it. Really, what else could I say? The situation was way beyond pleasantries.
A sickening fear crept over me.
Rika’s smile revealed gums and rotten teeth. “Stupid girl. Still, haven’t figured it out yet?”
Apparently, the shock had muddled my brain.
Rika gave me a hard look from under her fur hat. “Don’t underestimate my intelligence because you overestimated your own.”
“Dane.” I had to tell him.
Rika read my thoughts. “Max, make sure you get her back to the house before you freeze. I’ll be along shortly.”
“You can’t make me help you,” I said.
Rika raised her hand, and my tongue lay heavy in my mouth. “Time for talk later. Now you are my guest. Go get settled in at my house.”
I climbed on the snow machine behind Max. My mind whirled in a million directions; I would do anything to protect this baby.
7
Dane
Outside the inn, my snow machine wouldn’t start. Incredible. I gave the back tread a swift kick, which did nothing but stub my toe. My first order of business was to repay Rika and tell her to leave Trudy alone. Then I’d seek Trudy out and try to make things right between us before I left town. I bent over the snow machine engine again, trying to figure out what was wrong. My skill was solving financial problems, not mechanical ones.
Fuck this. I couldn’t concentrate on fixing the machine. I had to pay Rika back and see Trudy. The first thought gnawed at me, and the second was like a fire under my skin. I’d never felt so agitated before in my life.
I made my way to Trudy’s cabin on auto pilot. I had to see her. Rika could wait.
Before I knew it, the cabin came into view. Even covered by deep snow, its shabbiness made me wince. It wasn’t just the peeling paint and gutters pulled down by thickened ice, it was the loneliness of the place.
When I’d thought of Trudy over the past years before returning to Snow Ridge, (and I’d thought of her more than I’d ever admitted), I always imagined her surrounded by her family. But they were all long gone thanks to what Rika had done. My shame at not speaking up when I guessed the truth weighed on me like a giant ice block.
“Trudy?” I called, turning the open door handle. Her cabin was without power and heat. And it smelled rank.
Paperback novels teetered in stacks along the walls. Her bed in the corner was unmade. Family-picture collages covered the walls. Her place was lived in but strangely silent.
Oh, God. If something happened to Trudy . . . My heart thundered in my chest. Something wasn’t right.
Gary padded out from her kitchen, dabbing a washcloth to his bloodied face.
I cove
red the distance between us in two strides, grabbing him by his North Pole Community College sweatshirt. I lifted him off the floor.
“Where is she?”
“Hey!” Gary swatted at my arm. “Put me down. I stopped here to call you but the phone is out of order.”
“Where is she?” I struggled for calm. The sight of him in Trudy’s place made me want to tear his head off.
“Why should I tell you?” He sniffled.
“Do you really want to test me? Go ahead. I’m half mad with worry. The other half of me is just plain mad. And it’ll make me feel better to take out all this pent-up anger on someone. Do you want it to be you?”
Gary flinched. “Don’t hit me.”
I stopped, setting him down. “I never hit you. What the hell is going on?”
“He hit me when he took her.” Gary stared at the floor as he spoke.
My entire body flushed with heat, then a chill. “Who?”
Gary blubbered, reminding me of a faucet that had sprung a leak. “I thought Max was my friend.”
“You’re sure it was Max, who took her?”
He nodded.
“Where?” I said through clenched teeth.
“It must be the Trapper.” Gary wiped his nose on his sleeve.
Fuck. I should have killed that woman before when I had the chance.
I am a fucking idiot. All my fancy education and brains would be wasted if I lost Trudy. How could I have denied that for all these wasted years? If I’ve lost her . . .
All that mattered was protecting her. Spending the rest of my life apologizing for my stupidity would not be penance enough. I had to hope she would forgive me. As far as rescues went, this was pretty lame. I had no snow machine. Trudy had some hunting rifles. There was no one else around that I trusted. Gary would have to do.
“I want to help.” He wiped his nose on his sleeve again.
“We can’t go in on snow machines.”
“I can keep up.”
“You sure?”
“I run marathons.”
“Let’s go.” I’m coming for you, Trudy. Hang on.
Chapter Trudy
Rika was clearly a psychotic bitch, but I had to admit she had a great sense of style. We arrived at her chalet perched on the slope of Mount Noel. This was supposed to be a sacred place. No mountain climbers or vehicles were allowed. Apparently, Rika disregarded this. Her glass lair was straight out of a James Bond movie.
“How can it be so easy to find?” I asked.
“Because if you make it this far, she wants you to,” Max replied, pulling his snow machine into a three-vehicle garage carved into the earth.
He could barely move his legs, they were so stiff with cold, but he wasn’t getting any pity from me. I’d have stepped over his frozen body in a heartbeat if it had helped me escape. When he motioned me through the door into the house, I was glad to leave his sorry ass alone.
The door opened to a staircase that led up without any other exits. The house was built into the side of the mountain, so the lower levels were in the earth, and the all-glass upper levels faced surrounding mountains. I would’ve enjoyed it if I weren’t a prisoner. Jail was still a jail, even if it was a nice one.
The inner main-floor walls displayed Rika’s taxidermy collection. It was disconcerting to see so many animals from the area here on display. Had Gary unwittingly been doing her taxidermy for years? He’d mentioned a generous anonymous client a while back. I was pretty sure I’d identified her.
This was a terrible time to be tired, but I was. I sank down onto a fancy midnight-blue armchair. I put my feet up on the coffee table. I might as well rest while I could.
I was still in shock about the pregnancy. Honestly, I shouldn’t have been surprised we’d been fucking like rabbits. I think deep down it was what I always wanted. I could never have Dane as a partner, but now I would have his child. And that was something I wanted more than anything. A part of Dane, a part of us that I would be able to love for the rest of my life.
But first I had to get out of this fucking mess.
A chiming bell startled me awake, and I hadn’t realized I’d drifted off. Judging by my stiffness, I’d been asleep for a while. It was dark out, but that was no help. The days were short this late in the year.
I followed the delicate chime to a long dining table filled with mouth-watering meats, fancy vegetable dishes, and a few fresh pies. It looked like the product of a gourmet cooking show. I hadn’t seen any employees, but I doubted Rika was a secret Martha Stewart. Rich people always seemed to have employees you never saw.
Rika waited for me at the head of the long dining table. Candlelight and fine china complimented the crystal stemware. She wore a white flowing floor-length gown that looked suspiciously like a wedding gown. I was getting the picture that she didn’t often entertain guests. Being a psychotic murderous bitch really limited socializing.
“Please help yourself.” She waved a hand at the spread before us.
My stomach growled. I wouldn’t touch her food. God only knew what she’d done to it.
“He’ll come for us, you know that.”
“Us?” Her lidded eyes widened.
Fuuuuck.
“Me. Dane will come for me.”
“But you didn’t say me. You said us. And I don’t think you meant to include me.” She rubbed her hands together as if she’d just won at bridge. “You’re pregnant! Oh, this is a delightful twist. Does Dane know? I can see by your face he doesn’t. I can’t wait for him to hear the news.”
This bat shit crazy woman had destroyed Snow Ridge once. One way or another, she was going down. Although I admit my circumstances just then weren’t promising. My mind churned over possible escape plans.
“You’re dining for two now. Eat up! You’re going to love the after-dinner entertainment.” Rika downed vodka like it was water, but she didn’t touch the food either.
Glancing outside, the snow had finally stopped. The clouds cleared away, leaving a starlit sky. I had to admit she had quite a view.
Rika cocked her head as though she was listening to something, but I couldn’t hear anything. “Sounds like the floor show is about to begin.”
This woman was such a drama queen. What had Dane ever seen in her? I really had to wonder at the taste of a teenage boy.
Then he was here like I’d conjured him from a dream.
“Trudy!” Dane pounded on the front door. The china rattled on the table.
“Stay where you are,” Rika said, rising from her seat. “I’ll get it.”
She crossed to the double doors in the foyer. Her swishy ballgown skirt floating behind her. She opened one side, then blocked the entrance with one hand on her hip and the other on the door frame.
I followed her but kept my distance.
“I want to talk to Trudy,” Dane greeted her.
Tears sprang to my eyes at the sound of his voice. He was here. Somehow things had to work out. I moved so that I was able to see him.
“Manners, Dane. Don’t you even have a hello for me?”
Dane spied me standing behind Rika. “I’m taking Trudy, and we’re leaving now.”
He looked pissed as hell—and hot. His dark hair was tousled while his eyes burned with rage. He was breathing heavily like he’d run here from Snow Ridge.
Seeing him, my tears slid down my cheeks. I was kidding myself. I loved him. I always would. Nothing would change that.
“Here is what I borrowed. With interest. Give me Trudy.” Dane thrust a fat envelope toward Rika.
“The price has changed since the mother of your child has joined me. What I have here is payment enough. Your debt is paid. Good-bye.” Rika slammed the door in Dane’s stunned face. She immediately bolted the door.
I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Crap. This rescue wasn’t going well at all.
Rika removed a rifle from where it hung above the front door. She turned, aiming the gun at me while she stared down
the scope.
“What are you doing?” I squeaked, backing into the wall.
“What do you think?”
“You’re going to shoot me.”
“Have I ever given you a single reason to think I’m an idiot? Men like Dane never give up. They have to be stopped. Don’t look so glum. We can mount his head over the fireplace.”
I stalled. Watching her load that rifle, Dane was a dead man if he stormed her house. And he would. I’d seen the look in his eyes when she told him about my pregnancy. He would kill or be killed.
I had to distract Rika.
“A bullet leaves less mess. And believe me, I want his head intact for my collection.” She tucked the gun under her arm. Now was the time. Opening the door while hanging onto the gun, distracted her.
“Stop!” I rushed Rika, but she struck me with the butt of her gun.
I saw the damned thing coming, but I turned my head too late. It hit me square in the temple.
Fuucck. That hurt. I dropped to the floor. I saw stars but didn’t blackout.
Rika threw open the door, aimed, and shot Gary standing on her front doorstep.
She moved to her front step, staring down at Gary. Black smoke trailed into the air over his body. She nudged him with her slipper. Gary didn’t move. She raised the gun again, pointing it at his head.
“No!” I grabbed a carved Native American pipe displayed on the wall. Most likely, it was stolen, I thought, as I heaved it across the room. I’d have to be a superhero to throw the thing through the door on the first try and nail Rika, standing out in the snow.
It didn’t even make it past the foyer, hitting the doorway edge. Rika spun at the sound.
“Ha! You throw like a girl!” She crowed.
“I wasn’t trying to hit you.” My eyes darted to the right, where Dane was closing the distance between him and Rika.
Dane was all dark vengeance. He hunted to kill.
Rika pointed the gun at Gary’s head again.
Dane’s movement caught Rika’s eye. She jerked the gun up in surprise. I pushed open the other side of the double door and rushed to Gary.
Rika pointed the gun at Dane. “Even better.”
Dane leaped, roaring as he twisted his body in the air. I shrank back as he bore down on me, Gary, and Rika. In midair, Dane swatted at Rika.
