Nora Roberts Land (38 page)

When she opened it, her brow furrowed, worsening her headache. “An article from Richard’s paper?” She checked the date. It wasn’t today’s edition.

“Check out the focus of the article.”

She read the introduction and immediately found flaws with its lead. Talk about slanted. “David McBride?” Her stomach did a flip-flop.

“Tanner’s brother.” He let his bombshell hover in the air.

Her palms grew damp. “What? Why?”

“Exactly.” He popped another candy in his mouth. “Reporter’s questions. Why would Rick-the-Dick print a nasty article about Tanner’s brother when Tanner was working for him?”

She pressed her palms to her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Find out,” he said and left.

After she read the article three times, she lowered her aching head, more confused than she’d been last night. Why would Rick-the-Dick write this about Tanner’s brother? Moreover, why would Tanner keep working for him?

Who the hell was Tanner McBride?

She had a sinking feeling he was hiding something else.

Chapter 50

C
licking through her emails a few hours later, Meredith paused when she saw one from Gene. She hit the link.

Meredith, I ran another drug test on Jemma’s blood after we talked and found something. Can you come by the lab today?

Meredith sat up in her chair. Talk about great news! They could hand the Attorney General’s people more evidence. Leave it to Gene to follow through.

She grabbed her coat and went to find her grandpa. She sure as hell wasn’t contacting Tanner. Her grandpa wasn’t in his office, and after asking around, she discovered he was interviewing a city council member until noon. She wrote a note and put it on his desk in case he finished early. She didn’t want to worry him.

Since it was only a few blocks away, she settled for a New York power walk down Main Street to the Justice Center, which housed the police department, the sheriff’s office, the coroner’s office, and the local courts. She had new evidence to collect.

They were going to take these bastards down.

***

Gene’s lab had a sterile antiseptic smell that tickled her nose. The stainless steel counters gleamed. Her gaze tracked to the small doors in the far wall, and she shuddered. No need to think about the bodies inside.

“Gene?” She pocketed her gloves in her purse.

Goosebumps broke out across her arms as she surveyed his tools. Scalpel. Saw. Oh, no need to look anymore. She struggled to find something else to focus on. His Halloween cardboard cutout skeleton in the corner didn’t help. If Jill had been there, she’d have found something to joke about.

The thought of Jill only made her want to cry. She missed her sister and didn’t know how to make things right between them.

When the back door opened, she turned with a smile. “Hey, Gene.”

The man was wearing a sheriff’s uniform. Her lungs seized. Her body locked.

“Barlow,” she breathed out.

Her mind screamed,
Run.
She spun around.

Knocked into a table. Charged around it.

She reached for the door, ready to sail out and slam it in Barlow’s face.

Strong arms grabbed her shoulders from behind, making her sockets scream. “Don’t struggle. It’ll only make it worse.” Rough hands dug into her skin when she tried to wrench free.

“Where’s Gene?” Oh, God, please don’t let him be hurt too.

“He’s on vacation today since the weather’s so nice. The IT department has his email password. All I had to do was say he was under investigation. They gave it up instantly.”

She exhaled sharply, relieved Gene was okay. She didn’t know what Barlow had planned, but it was clear he and Kenny had reached a whole new level of desperation. Hadn’t last night proved that?

Tanner was right. Desperate people did stupid things.

She didn’t want to end up like Ray. She wouldn’t.

“You’re hurting me,” she whined, hoping he’d lower his guard, giving her the chance she needed. The door was only a few yards away.

His grip loosened. “Behave. Then I won’t have to.”

“Okay.” Her voice quivered.

He dropped his hands. She swung her purse in an arc, smacking him in the neck.

She raced to the door.

She was nearly there when Barlow clamped his hands around her chest. He squeezed her like a python. She saw stars. “I can’t…breathe.”

“Stop fighting me! Kenny picked up Jill. We’ll kill her if you try to escape. Do you understand?”

Her legs turned to rubber. “You have Jill?” she choked out. “Oh, God…I want…to see her.”

“Not part of the plan. Now, I’m going to let go. Remember, I’ll call Kenny if you make a break again. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded.

“Now, I need your phone.”

Barlow spun her around and yanked her purse away. He riffled through it, his mouth curving when he produced the sleek silver device. He scrolled through it.

“These are incredible inventions. You don’t even have to call someone to communicate anymore.” His fingers punched the small screen.

“What are you doing?” she asked, panting.

“You’ll see.” Barlow slid her phone into his pocket. “Now, we’re going to drive. If you do anything, Jill dies. In an accident, of course.”

Her ribs tightened, the first warning of a panic attack. She steeled herself. She couldn’t let that happen. Not now. “Where are we going?”

Barlow took her arm, his hands sweaty. “Shut up. Don’t make a wrong move as we leave.”

His car was out back. She studied him as he drove east, taking them out of town. His lips were pressed tightly together, and his eyes looked mean. Maintaining control took effort, but she managed to do it. She needed to.

“How could you do this?” she said after awhile.

“God! Why do people always want to know? Look. We didn’t plan any of this. What happened to Jemma was shit luck.” He tapped the steering wheel in jerky movements. “If she hadn’t died, we wouldn’t be here. Fucking heart murmur!”

“And Ray?”

“Damn kid got nosy. Grew a conscience. It was his fault he went off the road. We just wanted him to leave town.”

The
tap, tap, tap
of his fingers continued as he drove, the sound hitting her like a hammer. How could they not see they were to blame? Anger grew into rage. “What could be worth this?”

He snarled at her. “Money! You wouldn’t get that, would you? Driving your brand-new Audi after a stint in the big city. Do you have any idea how much money we’re getting from the pot Kenny’s buddy sends us from Afghanistan? It’s laced with some strain of opium. I don’t understand the chemical crap, but it’s untraceable in most drug tests. Our sales were up thirty percent!”

No wonder Gene hadn’t found anything. Her stomach quivered. “I see.”

“You just had to get Gene curious with your questions, didn’t you?” His tapping continued to beat in time with her racing heart. “Yesterday, I heard Gene had ordered a more advanced drug test. Kenny and I knew we had to move fast.”

“We didn’t tell Gene anything!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll switch the drug tests if he finds anything new.”

Thank God he didn’t know about Peg’s tests. Her hands clenched in her lap. She looked out the window. They were heading into the mountains. Where in the hell he was taking her? Where did they have Jill?

The car swerved when Barlow took the turn too fast. He braked hard, tires screaming. She breathed slowly, suppressing a panic attack.

“What did you do with my phone?”

Barlow gripped the steering wheel and barked out a dark chuckle. “I texted your boyfriend. Told him you’d found something.”

She gripped the seatbelt, her lungs burning now. “He won’t come.” Oh, please let that be true.

“Fuck that! He wants to take us down so bad he can smell it.”

Sweat rolled down her back. “He’ll think it’s odd I texted him.”

“No, he won’t.” Barlow turned onto a mountain trail coated with packed snow. The four-wheel drive chimed when he hit the button. “You didn’t spend the night at your parent’s house because you’re talking. Of course, your asshole boyfriend had to come save the day. Kenny was going to cut your brake line too.”

Ice slid down her legs. “He’s a regular Boy Scout,” she agreed in a daze, the sunlight harsh on her eyes.

“Well, you got a reprieve. But today’s another day.”

The car bounced as it hit the ruts, snow crunching under the tires. Two gleaming snowmobiles caught her eye. Barlow pulled to the end of the road.

“Tanner will come. It’s obvious to everyone in town he’s nuts about you. Now get out. And remember what I said about Jill.”

She opened the car door, scanning the area. Where is she?

He marched forward. “It’s time for us to take a little ride.”

“Where are we going?” Ice-cold dread squeezed her throat.

He pointed. She glanced across the sparkling expanse of the snowy basin at the menacing rock wall that was locally dubbed “The Great Wall.” The towering shadow of Thorn’s Peak pierced the ocean blue sky. She shivered when the wind thundered in from the west, shaking the pines like they were fragile Christmas ornaments.

Her gut bubbled with fear. “But that’s Killer Pass. Only idiots go up there this time of year.”

“But Tanner’s an extreme risk taker. He’s mentioned wanting to go. We’ve had some sunny weather, making it the perfect outing for an adventuresome couple like you two. It’s an excellent day for snowmobiling, don’t you think?”

“But it’s an avalanche basin.”

His mouth formed a maniacal grin “Yes, it is.” He lifted his phone in her direction. “Now, say cheese.”

She froze, rooted to the spot. She prayed Tanner wouldn’t come.

Barlow planned to kill them.

Chapter 51

T
anner tossed the yellow envelope into the passenger seat and waved goodbye to Hugo. Peggy would test the Swiss army knife for prints as soon as she received it in the mail tomorrow. Maybe it would give them their first piece of direct evidence.

He didn’t care if Arthur was calling in the cavalry. If he could hand them someone’s fingerprints, he would. That would be more damaging than a lab test. No question.

Tanner thrust his homemade coffee in the cup holder. It sloshed out, making him curse. His routine was shot. No morning swim or coffee. He tried not to think about how much it had hurt not to have Meredith in his bed this morning. It wasn’t just his routine, he realized.

It had become his life.

Nothing he could do to change the situation until he solved the case and told her the truth.

Tanner’s phone buzzed with a text as he drove down his driveway. He hit the display and swerved when he saw it was from Meredith.

Found something. Evidence at Killer Pass. Headed there now. Don’t tell Peggy yet.

Damn her. Even after last night she wasn’t backing down. He threw the phone aside. His gut quivered. What could she have found this morning? The place where Kenny had hidden his car and the drugs?

Dammit, he’d told her to stay out of it! What was it going to take? Wasn’t pulverizing her heart into dust enough?

He scanned the glen of trees, thinking. Why tell him? Okay, maybe she wanted to prove that she wasn’t giving up on the case. Even as pissed off as she was, who else would she tell? Her grandpa? He couldn’t climb Killer Pass.

Still, the allusion to Peggy bothered him.

Was it a trap?

He started counting to ten to calm down, but got as far as four before he slammed his fist on the steering wheel.

“Fuck!”

He took the curve too fast, sliding, fighting for control of the vehicle. Locking his hands around the wheel, he headed there to meet her.

It didn’t matter if it was legit or a trap.

It involved Meredith.

He didn’t have a choice.

***

Kenny was leaning against Barlow’s car when he arrived at Killer Pass. Tanner scanned the space as he left his vehicle. The snowmobile caught his eyes. He didn’t see Meredith anywhere. His guts oozed out of his body.

“I had a feeling Meredith wasn’t feeling up for a hike today. Where is she?”

He caught the phone Kenny tossed him. Meredith’s picture shone on the display. She was squinting in a sea of snow. She looked scared.

“And yet you came. Must be love,” Kenny drawled sarcastically. “Turn around. Hands on the car. Feet spread.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

The punch Kenny delivered to his guts made him grit his teeth.

“Give me your phone.”

When he handed it over, Kenny shoved him forward. “Okay, let’s go.” Kenny pointed to the snowmobile. “You take the back. If you try anything, I’ll shoot you. And she’ll die.”

His words burned like a brand. Tanner kept his breaths slow and deep, trying to maintain his focus. If he could get to her, he could save her. He had to believe that.

“You will anyway, right? Me too. Isn’t that the plan?”

“Shut up.”

Tanner straddled the seat behind Kenny. He hadn’t killed before, but now he understood how a man could be driven to murder. He’d do anything to protect Meredith—and himself.

Snow misted his face as they cut through the trail, the engine revving. Tanner looked up at the sun, its rays hot on his black fleece. The snow was wet and dense under the snowmobile. He knew that Killer Pass had a reputation for avalanches. He’d learned a fair bit about avalanches in Afghanistan, where mountains towered above many of the villages he’d visited. Moderate weather alone wouldn’t do the trick.

He had a bad feeling the criminals were planning on helping Mother Nature craft another accident.

He wasn’t going to let that happen.

In the distance, he spotted Meredith’s red coat and another dark form—his gut told him it was Barlow.

His breath caught in his throat as he peered across the acres of snow. He’d seen his share of avalanche basins, but this one took the cake. The Great Wall curved like a comma. The rock face was pocked with holes, small havens for birds or bats, and a few larger openings dotted the harder-to-reach areas.

The tree line stopped where the rock started. Thorn’s Peak towered boldly to the left of the wall, its rugged landscape somehow both terrifying and beautiful. It pierced the sky before angling out at a forty-degree angle. Completely free of trees, it flowed into Killer Pass in smooth, silky lines. A humpback-shaped ridge dotted with pines and conifers hunkered down next to the pass.