A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (37 page)

The water was frigid as all rivers this close to the mountains can be. The snow melted at the top bringing the frozen water downhill towards the ocean and the more snow there was, the higher the river rose with the runoff. My breath caught as we made our way into the deeper water, and caught again, when Frank shouted, “Move your ass, we’ve got company.”

Lucy and I turned, following the flashlight’s beam to see two glowing eyes in the distance. I knew it was Cowboy, felt it deep in my bones. He had a grudge against us and seemed to be waiting for the right time to exact his revenge. Two of his captors, battling to cross the river would be the perfect time to attack, so I let go of Lucy’s hand and shouted, “Swim for it.”

Lucy didn’t have to think twice, she leaned down, and dove in, kicking hard for the other side. When she made it, I followed her lead and dove in, kicking hard against the current. Frank was waiting for me when I reached the edge and pulled my waterlogged body from the river. Once on dry land we looked back, saw Cowboy was at the river’s edge, and took off across the flat meadow that separated us from civilization.

Waterlogged and stiff, it seemed like we were moving in slow motion as the lights of the town grew closer. Just as the field ended and buildings became visible, a barbed wire fence shot up in front of us, stopping our escape. Six lines of wire kept us from the safety of the town, and the only way around it, was over. Frank went first, cussing, barking out “Fuck,” as he snagged clothes and flesh on the thorny barbs. When he made it to the top, he dropped his pack, jumped to the ground, and turned, reaching out his arms and hollering, “Don’t look back just fucking climb, now!”

I, of course, looked back while Lucy was climbing and saw the dark shape of a bear running straight at us. Dropping my pack, I tossed it over the fence and then grabbed hold of the top wire and started climbing the wobbling fence. Lucy made it to the top, Frank pulled her over, and then turned to me and reached out his arms. As I took hold of his hands, I heard the roar of Cowboy as he made his way up behind me. I screamed, “Pull me over, pull me over, pull me over,” as the giant bear reared back on his hind legs.

Frank pulled, I began to fall, but my jeans caught on a barb. Not caring if I ripped my leg open, a few stitches were better than being the beast’s dinner, I yanked hard, heard my jeans rip, and then fell to the other side landing on Frank. Then my foot felt like a vice clamp had wrapped around it. I screamed as I flipped to my back and saw Cowboy had hold of my boot, trying to pull me back under the fence. I started kicking the giant bear as Lucy tried to pull me backwards. Finally, I got one good kick in and Cowboy let go long enough for me to crawl back and out of his reach.

“Move it before he tears the fence down,” Frank shouted. So, I rolled to my knees, grabbed my pack, and the three of us hit the ground running towards the lights Trails End, leaving Cowboy in the dust.

Ten minutes later, soaked, muddy, and probably covered in bugs, we stumbled through the doors of Last Call. Every head turned, and the place went quiet. Too exhausted at this point to say a word, we limped to the bar, crawled up on a stool, and I hollered, “Ralph, bring a bottle of Tequila and three shot glasses . . . and a phone if you have one, we seemed to have gotten ours wet.” Then I laid my head on the bar to catch my breath.

“Holy, shit that was close,” Lucy, mumbled.

“Not a word about how close, you hear me?”

“He won’t hear it from me, I like my head just the way it is,” Frank whispered as Ralph placed a bottle, three glasses, and one cell phone in front of me.

I stared at the phone, then looked at Lucy and Frank. When I started to push it towards Frank, he threw his hands up in an unequivocal “No way in hell.”
Right, I’m on my own I guess.

Ralph didn’t move away when I picked up the phone, in fact, the whole bar seemed to have moved closer to our group. Shrugging, I turned the phone on, dialed Max’s number, and then held my breath as I waited for him to answer.

“Tell me you found her,” he bit out and I melted a little at how worried he was.

“She found herself so you can call off the National Guard.”

“Jesus, Mia . . . where the fuck are you?”

“Currently, I’m at Last call having shots with Lucy and Frank.”

Dead silence.

“Max?”

“Give me a second,” he growled, so I gave him five, then ten.

“Are you mad?” I whispered when I made it to fifteen.

“Mad doesn’t cover what I’m feeling right now,” he mumbled back.

“If it makes you feel any better we were lost for a short time (tiny lie) but we found our way back on our own. Oh, and we found Nala and helped her out of a trapping pit.”

“There's a lot of things that would make me feel better, you in my bed bein’ one of them. That bein’ said, for the sake of our relationship I’m gonna hang up now before I say somethin’ that’ll piss you off and send you packin’ back to Seattle.”

“Shit, you are mad. I’m sorry, Max. I didn’t mean to get lost.”

“You never mean for shit to happen, it’s just you, my adorable pain in the ass,” he mumbled. “I need to call off half the state of Alaska then I’m gonna go home and take a shower. Hopefully, by the time I do all that, I won’t feel the need to wring your gorgeous neck.”

“You know the sooner you learn that I’m just me, and shit happens, the better off you’ll be,” I advised.

“Right, and the sooner you learn that I’m just me and won’t ever stop tryin’ to keep you safe the better off you’ll be.”

“So we agree we both need to ease up?”

“Nope, I agree you’ll never change and you agree that I won’t either.”

“Works for me,” I smiled.

“It doesn’t work for me,” he groused, “but I’ll come up with a way to rein you in eventually,” he threatened and then gave me dead air. (Note to self: Give Max a wide berth for a day or two.)

“Sounds like Thor doesn’t know how to handle being lassoed by Wonder Woman,” Frank chuckled.

“I’m hardly Wonder Woman,” I answered as I handed Ralph, his phone.

“Oh, I don’t know, the way you manage to get out of scraps that would kill most people makes me think you have a super power of some sort.”

“I think it’s more likely she has nine lives,” Lucy scoffed.

“Whatever it is that keeps me from falling victim to my bad luck, I’m not complaining,” I yawned.

Grabbing the bottle of Tequila, I filled each glass to the rim. Raising them, we toasted each other for surviving yet another encounter with Cowboy.

“Guys, how are we supposed to get home?” Lucy asked

“Do they have taxis in this town?” Frank inquired.

“I’ll call Maxine maybe she—”

Just then, the bar door slammed open and Shane walked in with two other men. When he caught sight of us, he headed our direction, smiling.

“Figures half the state would be out lookin’ for you three troublemakers and here you sit takin’ shots.” Leaning against the bar, Shane looked us over and his brows shot up as he asked, “You fall off the ridge again and take these two with you, Roberts?”

“NO! We had another . . . you know what, never mind, Max is mad enough. I don’t need him hearing about our escapades.”

Shane pulled a piece of grass from my hair and then felt the sleeve of my shirt.

“You’re soaking wet, are you tryin’ to catch a cold?”

“We don’t have a way home to change,” Lucy broke in.

“Some doctor you are, everyone knows you can’t catch a cold from being cold. Hypothermia yes, but not an actual virus,” I chided.

“I’m not a doctor I’m a vet.”

“Even a veterinarian knows how the body works.”

“Not a veterinarian a vet, as in served my country. I was a medic in the army and got the nickname doc while overseas.”

“Wait, how did you know what dose to use on the bears?”

“Google.”

“But you said you’d done it before.”

“I have, just not on an animal.”

“So you knew how to use our tranquillizer gun because you’re a vet?”

“First in my class in marksmanship,” Shane smiled.

Frank and Lucy both shrugged at his explanation, obviously not caring that he could have overdosed the bears. Ethically, I should care, but I was too tired to fight about it so I grabbed my glass and filled it again.

“When you three are done gettin’ wasted, let me know and I’ll drive you home, or is Max comin’ down the mountain to get you?”

Throwing back my drink, I let the alcohol warm me from the inside out before I answered.

“Max is taking a shower in an attempt to keep from strangling me right now, so I doubt he’s headed back down.”

“Excellent, you, me and Lucy make three,” Shane replied, rubbing his hands together and wiggling his brows.

“No, that would be you, them, and Frank makes for an awkward fourth wheel,” Frank reminded him.

“Not to mention, eww,” Lucy laughed.

Shane sighed in mock disappointment and then leaned fully back against the bar, both elbows resting on the scarred wood.

“I’ll have to pass too, lover boy. I have all I can handle with the mountain god. Besides, something tells me I’m not enough woman for you,” I laughed.

“Story of my life, too much time not enough women,” He answered dramatically.

“She’s out there,” I told him as I patted his shoulder, “or I should say
they’re
out there.”

Ralph was kind enough to feed us before calling it a night and then we loaded into Shane’s truck and headed for home. He dropped Lucy and Frank at Maxine’s first and then dropped me off outside my cabin on the lake.

After waving goodbye, I entered and turned on the light, that’s when a large hand covered my mouth. Screaming in earnest, since no one could hear, I tried to break free as a strong arm pulled me back against a hard chest. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as the taste of fear dried my mouth. Then I panicked and clawed at the hand that silenced my screams. In a last ditch effort, I brought my right arm up, slammed it hard into his gut, and then bit down on his palm. He growled “Fuckin’ bitch” when my sharp teeth tore through his thick flesh. Ripping his hand from my mouth, he raised his other hand and cracked my temple with the butt of a gun, sending me tumbling to the floor.

In my daze, I didn’t have time to brace as a boot connected soundly with my ribs. Sharp pain, the likes I’d never felt, shot up my ribs as stars burst brilliantly behind my eyes. Rolling to my back, gasping great gulps of air, I turned my head and caught sight of my worst nightmare. Reaching out my hand, I choked out “Max,” as I stared at his blood-covered body. When he didn’t move, my breath stole from my lungs and then from the depths of hell I screamed “MAX,” right before stars exploded behind my eyes again. Stunned senseless from the blow to my temple, my head lolled to the side as darkness seeped in, clawing at my consciousness. Blinking twice, trying to keep my eyes focused on Max, I lost my fight and slipped defenseless into unwanted slumber. 

Twenty-Two

A Reason to Kill

Darkness, velvet in color like a night with no moon or a life with no hope, pulled me under. Then the knowing came. I knew I was going to die, knew that Max was probably dead, and I knew whatever this bastard had planned for me would pale in comparison to a life without my Thor. If Max was dead, he might as well stick that gun between my eyes and pull the trigger. I’d tasted beauty these past few weeks, tasted what it meant to love someone, to find your match in every sense of the word. As opposite as night and day, we fit together like two puzzle pieces, one clumsy and headstrong and one strong, brave and perfect in every particular.

A sense of floating, as if I lay adrift on an air mattress lazing away on the waves of an unknown lake had me jerking awake. My vision, though fuzzy, finally made out the face of my attacker as he carried me across the cabin and dropped me on the bed. His face was sinister backlit by the glow from the fireplace. If I hadn’t believed in evil before, I surely did now. His eyes were dead; no emotion played behind them as he grabbed my arm and secured it to the headboard with a plastic cuff. I didn’t fight him as he did this, I was too busy staring at Max’s lifeless body, at the blood that pooled around his head.

“Is he dead,” my voice trembled.

“Yes, the King of Trails End lives no more.”