Aim to Kill (33 page)

“I’ll go down and free her leg,” Zack said.

“You’re too big,” Quinn said. “I’m thinner.”

“You’re both too big,” Olivia said. “Look at that crevice. It’s too narrow for either of you. I’m going.”

“Olivia,” Miranda began, then stopped and nodded. “I agree. But we have to find another way down.”

They told Nina to stay put and someone would come down to help her. Olivia walked with Miranda several hundred feet down the trail until they found a safe place to rappel down the slope. “This is what we’ll do,” she told Olivia. “You free her leg and we’ll pull her up. Then, I’ll send the rope back for you. You cinch it under your arms, just like I told Nina, and we’ll pull you up.”

“Why can’t I just come back this way? It’s not as steep.”

“This ground isn’t stable. That crevice—I don’t trust it. I think it’s deeper than it looks from here. You need to step carefully. The earth could give way anywhere and you’ll be in the middle of a rock slide. The entire
Cascade
Mountain
range isn’t stable. Remember, Mount St. Helens is part of it.”

“You’re not saying we’re sitting on a volcano.” Olivia tried to make light of it, but saw Miranda was serious.

“If you mean is the mountain going to explode tonight, no. But there’s continual seismic activity that’s too sensitive for us to feel. The constant minute shifts underground loosen the rocks and earth, making the ground itself dangerous in steep areas like this. The crevice Nina is stuck in is actually a split in the mountain caused by repeated earth movements.”

“Miranda, I have a Ph.D. and I barely understand you.”

“Okay, more than you wanted to know. But you have to be careful. As soon as I saw the terrain I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t want to scare Nina, and I doubt Quinn or Zack would allow you to do this. Seriously,
Liv
, their weight wouldn’t have held. You’re light enough; I think you’ll be okay. But please,
please,
be careful. Especially until you get that rope around you.”

“I promise.”

Miranda explained to Olivia the best way to navigate the slope and approach the crevice. The ground was much rockier here, and Olivia lost her foothold several times, sliding partway down until she flattened her body enough to scoot down like a crab. Finally, she reached the rocky crevice and slowly made her way back up the narrow opening to Nina.

Miranda was right. The space was deep. Olivia couldn’t touch the bottom, and had to use the sides of the crevice to balance and move forward.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Nina cried when she saw Olivia. “I was so scared. First of him, then—I thought I’d die stuck here, no one would find me.”

Olivia hugged her, as much to soothe herself as the girl. “I am so proud of you, Nina. You beat him.”

“You got him, right? I saw his truck crash. He wasn’t moving, but I didn’t go back there.”

“You did the right thing.”

“Is he—is he dead?”

Olivia wouldn’t lie to her. “He’s not in the truck.”

Nina shook his head. “No. No! I saw the crash. I—
ohmygod
, he’s going to come after me!”

“No, I won’t—”

Nina started to flail and pull at her leg. Rocks started falling from farther up the slope.

“Nina, stop moving,” Olivia commanded.

“What’s going on down there?” Zack called from above.

“It’s okay!” Olivia yelled. To Nina, she said, “There are dozens of cops all over this mountain. He’s not going to get you. I promise. You have to remain still and let me get your leg free. This ground is not stable. We have to be careful.”

Nina nodded, her entire body shaking not only from the cold, but from fright.

Olivia knelt in the crevice, bracing herself against the sides, feeling cool air rise up from underneath her. Vertigo overwhelmed her and she paused, taking deep breaths to gather her bearings.

She felt around for Nina’s foot. Her ankle was wedged in between rocks. Using her fingers, Olivia tried to scrape away dirt and loosen one of the rocks, but it was stuck. She started wiggling Nina’s ankle back and forth, back and forth until she could move it to the side and up, out of the hole. Nina whimpered, but she kept her cries silent.

“It hurts,” she finally said when Olivia stood.

“It could be broken, or sprained.” Olivia held Nina’s cheeks. “Are you ready? Hold on to the rope tightly, but let them pull you up. Stay as still as possible. It’ll be slow work, but you can do it. Okay?”

“Okay. I can do it.”

“I know you can.” Olivia called up. “She’s ready!”

There was a lot more noise up the slope, car doors slamming. More deputies must have arrived. Flashing red lights cut through the growth. An ambulance, most likely. They’d had one ready at the lodge in case they needed it.

Olivia braced herself in the crevice and awaited her turn.

Zack didn’t like Olivia going down the slope herself, but Miranda was right—she had the best build for the job, considering the terrain. He was antsy and knew he wouldn’t be at ease until Olivia was back up the mountain. Safe.

He and Quinn took brisk orders from Miranda as they prepared to bring Nina up. “We’re going to use this tree as a pulley of sorts,” she said as she wrapped the rope around it. “Put those gloves on, Quinn. That rope will leave some nasty burns if it gets away from you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can it, Peterson,” she said.

Though the banter seemed light, Miranda’s face showed strain and worry.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “We’re just trying to get two people up a steep slope at one o’clock in the morning with a killer wandering loose in the woods. What could be wrong?”

“Miranda,” Quinn said, “you’re not telling us something. Is Olivia okay?”

“She’s fine,” Miranda snapped.

“What she’s not telling you,” Doug Cohn interjected, “is that this slope is unstable. That’s why we had that little rock slide a few minutes ago.”

“Unstable? How?”

Doug explained how this side of the mountain experienced regular rock slides, and that the continuing seismic activity made any treks off established trails dangerous.

“Why’d we let her go down there in the first place?” Zack demanded. “We should have waited until we had a team in place.”

“Because a ten-year-old girl was trapped in that crevice,” Miranda said, “and neither you nor I nor Olivia would have wanted her to wait hours for rescue after what she’s been through.”

Zack sighed. “You’re right.”

“Do we have lights yet?” Quinn asked. The sheriff’s department had hauled a high-wattage construction light to the scene.

“Just about,” someone called. A few minutes later, the bright light not only lit up the side of the mountain, but provided warmth as well.

“Okay, let’s get Nina out of there,” Miranda said. “Start pulling on the rope. I’m going to watch her ascent. Listen to my orders.”

“Always,” Quinn said.

Miranda rolled her eyes, but gave a half-grin.

Zack saw something in the newlywed couple that he never remembered having with his ex-wife, or any of the women he’d dated. Solid respect, playfulness, and deep affection. From the silent looks to the discreet touches, Quinn and Miranda obviously had something special between them.

Something that Zack wanted for himself.

He’d never thought that way before. He’d been content with casually dating. He was a cop—the job came first.

But the job was important to Quinn Peterson, and his wife not only knew it, but relished it. At the same time, there was no doubt in Zack’s mind that Peterson would drop the world to be with his wife.

That kind of support and love was hard to come by.

He and Quinn slowly pulled Nina up. Hand over hand, they developed a rhythm that worked. He glanced down the slope, saw Nina, and then Olivia farther down, hunkered in the crevice, holding on to a young tree that seemed to be growing precariously on the slope.

There was something about Olivia—something more than her brains and beauty, her dedication to her job. Something he wanted to explore more fully.

Like he’d told her this morning, he wanted to spend time with her. When this was over. When Driscoll was behind bars.

The thought of having Olivia all to himself for a week or two, to learn everything about her, thrilled him.

“Hold it!” Miranda suddenly called, and both Zack and Quinn halted their movements.

Zack heard rocks rolling. He thought they would stop. They didn’t.

“Nina! Stay still!” Miranda called down.

Nina cried out, then Olivia screamed.

“What happened?” Zack looked down and couldn’t see Olivia.

“She’s okay. She slipped.”

“I can’t see her!”

“I see her hand. Get Nina up. Fast.”

Miranda didn’t have to say it twice. Quinn and Zack worked double time to bring the girl up the slope. They handed her off to the
EMTs
who were waiting, and Miranda tossed the rope down to Olivia.

“Olivia! I’m sending down the rope. Grab it.”

The earth was still moving, rocks bumping down. It wasn’t an earthquake, Zack realized; it was the disturbance of people on this steep, unstable slope that was causing the loose ground to fall away.

“Why isn’t she taking the rope?” Zack asked, fear evident in his voice.

“She can’t see it.” Miranda’s lips were tight. She called down. “Olivia! The rope is three feet to your right. You’ll need to let go of the tree.”

“No!” Olivia’s voice was faint, but she sounded petrified.

“You have to!” Miranda called.

“I’ll be okay. Give me a minute.”

“
Dammit
!” Miranda said, running a hand through her hair and yanking on the dark ponytail hanging down her back. “She doesn’t have a minute,” she mumbled.

Rocks continued to fall, and Olivia cried out.

Zack’s heart beat double time. He shouted, “Olivia St. Martin! Grab the damn rope
now
!”

He saw her hand let go of the tree and for a split second, Zack thought she’d fallen deeper into the crevice. Then he saw both her hands reach up, feeling for the rope.

“Six inches,” Miranda called. “Right there. Yes! Pull it over your head, under your arms, right now. Now. Okay. Good.”

She turned to Quinn and Zack. “Get her up. Fast.”

As they pulled, a huge chunk of ground gave way, and they scrambled for a foothold. They felt additional weight on the rope, and Miranda grabbed the end and helped pull. Hand over hand. Hand over hand.

Olivia scrambled up the last twenty feet herself. A huge gash had sliced her forehead open, and blood was dripping down her face. Zack pulled the rope off her and looked down the slope.

He wished he hadn’t.

The rock slide had widened the crevice. He couldn’t see the bottom, even with the industrial lighting. The thought that Olivia could have fallen to her death terrified him.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She breathed heavily in his arms, her entire body shaking violently.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Zack repeated. “You’re okay.”

He murmured words of reassurance in her ear, for himself as well as Olivia. He didn’t want to let her go.

He kissed her hair, her cheek, her neck. She held him tightly, her arms wrapped around his back, under his jacket, trying to be as close to him as possible. Her shaking subsided and he tilted her face to look at him, wincing at the gash on her head.

“You need to let the EMT take a look at your head.”

“Later.” She leaned up and kissed him.

He returned the kiss with fervor. Needing to taste her, to feel her response, that she was fully alive and breathing in his arms. “
Liv
,” he whispered into her lips. “I was so scared.”

“Me too,” she murmured. He pulled back and looked at her, wanting to understand where they were going because these intense feelings scared him, almost as much as her falling. The thought of Olivia walking away at the end of the case filled him with a terrible sense of loss.

In her eyes he saw relief and desire, the same yearning he had for her.

She buried her face in his chest. “Hold me. Just for another minute.”

He would have been happy to hold her forever.

But Chris Driscoll was still on the loose.

In the military, Chris Driscoll had learned that a backup plan was necessary for survival. Without a plan, you die.

The little bitch got away. She wasn’t an angel at all, but a demon sent to trap him. He hadn’t been thinking when he pursued her. If he had waited, she would have returned. If he had listened better, he would have found her.

He was so angry and surprised when she attacked him that he’d chased her, then lost her. She eluded him. She sent that deer into his path and he crashed.

But he’d prepared for failure, like any good soldier. He just needed a car.