Loe raamatut: «Fugitive Trail»

ONE

Southwest Rocky Mountains,

Colorado

The wind picked up and whipped big snowflakes around Deputy Sierra Young’s head as she followed Samson, her K-9 mountain rescue English mastiff, up the densely wooded incline. She maintained a steady pace but her heart rate increased along with her breathing.

She hoped the small plane hadn’t crashed too high in the San Juan Mountains. That could make it impossible for her and Samson, as well as the SAR—search and rescue—volunteers, to reach the site before nightfall or the snowstorm grew worse. But they had to find the plane before they could rescue anyone.

Two snowmobilers had returned to the small tourist town of Crescent Springs, Colorado, earlier this afternoon claiming they’d seen the prop plane go down but they hadn’t been sure where it had crashed.

She’d brought Samson as far as she could before releasing him to find any human scent. Samson had been trained to find humans, whether air scenting for anyone in the wilderness or tracking a specific person. He was smart and used his skills to find whoever he was searching for. The other SAR volunteers searched downwind from Samson. It was important to spread as wide a net as possible. The victims could have escaped and gotten lost in the mountains, or they could be trapped in the plane. Or worse.

She couldn’t think about worse.

Lord, please let us find and save them, whoever they are.

Before the weather turned too harsh or night took over. Sure, Samson could work through the night, but not in this weather. The terrain and elements during the winter months here in the Rockies were currently too harsh for searching at night. Sierra worked as a part-time deputy and K-9 mountain rescue handler for the county. She knew that Sheriff Locke would protect the volunteers, and if it became too dangerous to search, he would call it off.

Samson’s massive two-hundred-pound form plowed up the hill through the deepening snow, giving credence to his aptly picked name. Snow could tire out some breeds of search dogs and limit their time searching, but mastiffs were the stronger working-breed dogs, and Samson hadn’t tired yet.

An old friend—Bryce Elliott—had given Samson to her when he was a puppy, and had even named him. After the attack when she’d been a detective in Boulder, she’d wanted a big dog, and Bryce had surprised her with the English mastiff. A pang of regret that she’d left her friend behind when she’d moved from Boulder stabbed her at the worst possible moment. She missed Bryce. But she needed to focus on this search.

The sheriff radioed he was calling the search, bringing her back to the present.

At the same moment, Samson alerted her.

“Wait, no. Sheriff,” she said into her radio. “Samson…he’s found something. Let me check it out.”

“All right. I’m on my way to you.”

Her leg muscles burned as she tried to keep up with the big dog scaling the incline until they topped it, then to a terraced ridge and a well-over-a-hundred-foot drop.

Sierra stood tall and caught her breath. Her heart lurched.

A red Cessna rested on the ledge—halfway on, halfway off. The banged-up plane looked partially crumpled on one side. She could make out a figure inside the cockpit, and another one outside, beside the plane. Both were utterly still.

Sierra radioed the sheriff. “I found it. I found the plane. I see two—” Bodies, but she didn’t want to say the word. “We need to check and see if they’re alive.”

“Good work, Sierra,” he said. “Wait there while I let everyone know to head your way. And…be careful.”

“Always,” she responded.

If the two people she spotted were still alive, it would be a difficult rescue at best, getting them down this mountain. The most difficult part would be saving the person inside that plane that teetered on the ledge. In the snow and cold, even if they had survived, hypothermia most likely would kill them if the SAR team didn’t get here quickly and get them medical attention.

She signaled for Samson to remain then she hiked closer to the wreckage in the deepening snow. A man rested face down in the snow and would soon be completely buried. Sierra removed her glove and brushed the snow away then pressed a finger against his neck. His body was cold and he had no pulse. Sorrow bled through her.

She released a heavy sigh. SAR missions with Samson always started with the hope of rescue. Of finding a lost hiker or helping someone who’d fallen by bringing them to safety. Always the hope that she would find survivors and the day would end well. But more times than she’d like to admit, the searches ended in tragedy when they found victims of an adventure gone wrong.

The wind whipped around the mountain blasting the snow at an angle and causing a near whiteout. Not good.

She eyed the small plane and from here couldn’t see the other person. Should she get closer and see if she could help?

She hoped the rest of the search team arrived soon. An eerie metallic sound resounded from the plane. Its position was precarious at best. Could the howling wind push it over? She spared a moment to wonder what these people had been thinking, taking the plane out on a day like today. The plane probably shouldn’t have been flying in this weather, and she guessed that the weather had everything to do with the crash. But she wasn’t here to question them; she was here to save them…if she could.

She crunched through the snow to get closer to the plane and look inside the cab.

The pilot remained inside, his body hunched over. It was possible that his position meant he’d remained warm enough, if he was still alive.

“Can you hear me? Are you all right?” She crept even closer to the plane.

The sheriff had said he and the others were coming. What was taking them so long?

The pilot shifted. Her heart jumped. She radioed. “Hurry, sheriff. The pilot is still alive. He’s going to need medical attention…”

Metal scraped.

The plane shifted. Fear skated across her nerves. “The plane is in a precarious position. It could fall from the ledge at any moment. I’m not sure what to do!”

The radioed squawked but a burst of static meant she couldn’t understand the sheriff. Panic built up in her chest. Sierra eyed the plane and the junk scattered around the crash site. She searched for anything she could use as a rope. Samson whined, sensing her growing anxiety.

“It’s going to be all right, Samson. You found the crash site. We’re going to save the man who’s still alive.” What was she saying? She had no idea if she could actually save him, but she could hope. And she could try.

God, please help me!

Was there anything worse than finding someone and then being completely helpless to save them?

The man groaned inside the plane. She had to reassure him so he would hang on to the will to live.

“Hold on! Help is coming.”

She peered at the wreckage. It would be too dangerous to try to get in and get him out with the plane shifting on the ledge. She had to find a rope.

The snow was quickly covering the scattered wreckage—duffel bag, sheets of metal, clothing articles. Then she spotted what she needed—a wire rope used in aviation.

She eyed the airplane then the top of the slope. Something must have held the SAR team up. She couldn’t risk waiting if they weren’t going to make it in time. She found a boulder on which to secure the rope and tied the other end around her waist. Then she edged slowly to the plane.

Sierra ducked under the broken wing. Nothing about this was safe. The plane was completely unstable, but that was the whole reason she needed to act—and act now. She had to get this guy out, even though, depending on his injuries, that could also be dangerous for him.

The mangled door creaked when she pulled it open and then toppled to the snow-covered ground. Sierra yelped and jumped out of the way. She could enter only on the passenger side because the other side of the plane was hanging near the ledge. She couldn’t reach it.

“Help,” the man called from inside.

Fear tried to seize her but she had to remain calm and focused, especially if she was going to have to do this alone. She leaned into the cockpit and inched onto the passenger seat to get a better look at the man. Blood covered his forehead and temple from a gash. It oozed from his lips. He likely had internal injuries.

“Can you hear me? If you can, give me your hand.”

Maybe she could grab onto him and pull him out through this side of the plane. Medical personnel would go at this much differently, but there wasn’t time to wait.

The man’s eyes popped open. Those eyes. They peered at her and into her and through her. His face was almost unrecognizable under the blood and bruising but she had never forgotten those eyes.

Sierra froze. Damien Novack. Air whooshed from her. She couldn’t breathe.

No. It couldn’t be. “What… What are you doing here?” The question squeaked out of her making her sound feeble.

Afraid.

Somehow, even though he was injured and probably dying, he managed to offer her a sinister, bloody smile. To her horror, he lifted a weapon. Aimed it straight at her.

Screaming, she ducked as gunfire exploded then froze in place. Where was the sheriff? She glanced up hoping she’d see him coming over the ridge. Instead, she spotted footprints, barely visible as the relentless snow continued to bury them. The prints led away from the plane and tracked along the ridge until they disappeared completely.

Someone else had been on the plane.

Then she heard what sounded like the weapon tumbling from Damien’s hand. She could hardly believe he had been able to shoot to begin with, given his obviously severe injuries. His anger and need to see her dead had been enough to drive him.

Heart pounding, Sierra peeked inside the cab again and Damien’s eyes tracked her. “Doesn’t matter that I missed. He’s coming for you,” he said.

“Who… Who is coming?” Dread filled her.

“You know who. He came for you before. This time he won’t fail.”

Raul Novack, Damien’s brother.

Moments ago, she thought there couldn’t be anything worse than losing someone she was trying to save. But now she realized that wasn’t true. There was something worse. Indecision warred inside of her. She truly did not want to help this man. He’d perpetrated countless evils and if she helped him to survive, there could be more victims down the road.

But she couldn’t serve as judge and jury. She couldn’t take a life or refuse to give her best to save someone in danger—God would know, even if no one else did. She grabbed the weapon he’d tried to kill her with and set it aside.

Regardless of the fear that tried to strangle her, Sierra reached for him. “The plane is going to fall. Take my hand or you’re going to die.”

He coughed up more blood. “I’m as good as dead anyway.”

Then his face went still. His eyes blank.

He was gone, and she knew it. He’d known he was going to die and he cared only about attacking her with his gun and his intimidating threats.

Samson barked. The plane shifted. Sierra reached for the man she knew to already be dead, but it was no use. She couldn’t free him. The plane moved and she realized she had only seconds to escape.

She backed out of the open doorway and ducked just before the remaining broken edges of the wing could hit her. Still, metal scraped her body, eliciting a cry of pain, and snagging her coat. If she didn’t get free, the plane would try to take her over the ledge too, causing serious injury when the wire rope wouldn’t release her.

“I got you!” The sheriff appeared and slashed the arm of her coat away from her body and gripped her arms. “I got you,” he said again, breathless.

She slumped to the ground, the adrenaline whooshing out of her body.

Samson licked her and whined, warming her frozen cheeks, and comforting the icy cold fear that had stabbed through her.

Damien Novack had been here. And he hadn’t been alone.

She let her gaze follow the tracks and, in the distance, along the tree line, she noticed that a man stood watching. Damien’s brother, Raul—

He’s coming for you…

Bryce Elliott checked into his hotel across the street from the Crescent Springs Toy Store—the reason Sierra had given for returning to her hometown. Her father had been struggling to keep up with the store, and needed her help. Bryce had suspected health issues were involved too but Sierra hadn’t said.

That wasn’t the only thing she hadn’t said. Bryce believed that her father was only part of the reason she’d given up her detective job with the Boulder police department. He suspected that Sierra had never gotten over the night Raul attacked her, even though she had been given the go ahead to return to work.

But no one else knew her as well as Bryce. She’d needed to escape Boulder, and maybe even escape Bryce. The place and the people served as reminders to her of what had happened. He was glad she had found a way to move on. Before she’d made that physical move from Boulder to Crescent Springs, though, she’d made an emotional move when she pushed him away. They’d been close and had been growing closer every day. He’d taken a risk with her, putting his heart on the line for the first time since being utterly rejected by Rebecca, a woman he thought he loved a couple of years before he met Sierra. But with Sierra, he’d been ready to try again. Then Raul and the night of violence happened. After that, everything between Bryce and Sierra had changed. He had sensed her slipping away from him, and had experienced the pain of rejection all over again.

He cared about her and was here for her, but that didn’t mean he would let himself fall for her. Definitely not. None of what had happened between them should matter now.

What did matter now was that she was in danger, and Bryce wouldn’t let her go through that alone.

He sucked up his nerve and crossed the recently plowed street in the throes of an ice festival, presumably the biggest event of the year for the small out-of-the-way town in southwest Colorado. Other than ice climbers, most people opted to visit Telluride and Purgatory in Durango to ski. Crescent Springs offered an ice park to celebrate the ice climbing sport—beginners and professionals from around the world came to the small town to climb the frozen waterfalls of the gorge.

Moisture surged on his palms as he drew near the toy store he’d seen only on the website before this moment. Bryce drew in a deep breath and pushed open the door. How would she react when she saw him? That question had kept him company as he traveled here from Boulder.

The smells of plastic and cinnamon and peppermint wafted over him. He had no idea if he would actually find Sierra here, amongst the toys, but it was a start. Aisles of toys blocked his view, but as he browsed, he noted the store was relatively crowded. An older man’s voice offering customer assistance drew his attention to the cash register and counter at the back of the store. A young woman he didn’t recognize stood next to the older man he assumed was Sierra’s father. She took payment from the customer and bagged toys.

“Can I help you?”

The voice. That voice. Turning to Sierra, he grinned. In a flash he took in her bright blue irises, her lithe and petite form, and the perfect lips that often turned up in an amazing smile, but which now morphed into a huge O.

She gasped. “Bryce, what…what in the world are you doing here?”

“Ah. You’re glad to see me.” He instantly regretted his slightly sarcastic tone. “It’s good to see you too.”

A frown emerged on her face and seemed to war with a tenuous grin.

“Well of course. I mean…of course I’m glad to see you. Why wouldn’t I be glad to see you?” She reached forward and hugged him. This was the Sierra he loved—well, loved to see. She was wonderful. Except he sensed her wariness.

When she released him and stepped back, he saw the fear flashing in her eyes. Her face shifted as though she was searching for the right response, though he saw a spark of amusement when she noted the section of the store he’d stopped in. “Any particular type of baby doll you’re looking for? I’m guessing this is for a niece? Or do you have…um…a daughter?” Sierra handed him a doll.

Like a fool he took it automatically.

“No. I don’t have a daughter.” It had been only a year since Sierra had left Boulder, and they hadn’t kept in touch. “I’m not married and don’t suddenly have a young daughter.” He put the doll back on the shelf. “Nor do I have a niece.”

He jammed his hand into his pockets, wishing he could go ahead and shrug out of his coat. It had kept him warm outside, but in here he was downright hot.

Sierra turned and walked away, still lacking the usual bounce in her step that he hadn’t seen since she’d been attacked in Boulder.

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” she called over her shoulder. Then she stopped at the counter. “Are you here for the ice climbing festival? I didn’t know you were a fan. You might have said something back when I was in Boulder—we could have visited my hometown together.” Sure they could have visited her hometown together while they were still “together.” A pain flitted across her features. Had she forgotten that in Boulder, after Raul’s attack, she’d distanced herself from him? No. And that made his appearance all the more awkward.

He stared too long, struggling to find the words. “I came to check on you.”

A deep bark resounded from somewhere inside the building and rattled through him. “And Samson. I…missed him.” And you, Sierra.

I’m worried about you. But he kept that to himself for now.

She eyed him, then walked around behind the counter. The man he’d seen earlier stepped from the back room. “Dad, this is Bryce Elliot. I used to work with him in Boulder. Bryce, this is my dad.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Young.”

“Call me John. It’s nice to meet you too. My daughter told me about you. You had her back when she was there in the city. Thanks for taking care of her for me. You can stick around if you like and keep up the good work.” John winked at Bryce then grinned at Sierra.

She gently elbowed her dad and scowled at him, though love poured from her expression. “Dad. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“And me. Your daughter took care of me too,” Bryce said. They had, in fact, saved each other from certain death. He had no idea how much Sierra had shared with her father about what really happened. Bryce suspected she would have kept most of it from John, choosing to spare him the pain of knowing what his daughter had gone through.

“You want to see Samson?” she asked.

“You know I do.”

“Come on back.” She led him through the door past an employee area where boxes of toys were waiting to be stocked. Then through another door into a kitchen where Samson popped up to greet them. “We have an apartment at the back of the store. It takes up two floors. It’s enough for the three of us. Me, Dad and Samson.” She rubbed Samson’s head.

Wagging his tail, he barked and lumbered over to Bryce. “Wow, he’s gained some more weight.”

“It takes about three years for them to be full grown, and he’s about four now. He could still get bigger, but I train him often and keep him in good shape.”

“I’d say that I named him appropriately.”

“Well, I kind of liked your initial suggestion of ‘Tiny’ for a name, but I think you’re right. Samson suits him.”

Bryce leaned toward Samson and ran his hands around the dog’s ear and enormous head. “Hey, buddy. How’re you doing? Did you miss me?”

He received a wad of drool across his face and shirt. Bryce smiled to hide his inward cringe.

“You’re the one who got him for me.” Sierra’s tone told him she was thinking about the reasons why.

“You said you wanted something big.” He pet Samson, then glanced up.

She crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. “Why are you really here, Bryce?”

His stomach sank as he noticed something in her eyes. “You already know.”

“You’re here because Raul and Damien escaped prison.”

He nodded. Should he tell her that his thoughts went immediately to her when he heard the news? “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Did Captain Stephens call you?”

“I called him.” She gestured for Bryce to have a seat at the kitchen table. She grabbed mugs and poured coffee without asking. Sugar and nondairy creamer were already on the table.

“Why did you call him?”

Sierra took a seat and then placed her elbows on the table. She pressed her face into her hands. “A plane crashed yesterday.”

“Oh, no.”

“Samson and I found the crash site. The state is working to recover the bodies. One died before I arrived. One survived only minutes after I reached the plane. But before he died—” horror crept into her eyes “—Damien tried to kill me. He shot at me. I dodged that attempt, but then…then he told me that Raul was coming for me.”

“Oh, Sierra… I don’t know what to say.” He’d heard about the escaped convicts on the news like everyone else in Boulder and immediately contacted his old boss and BPD captain for the details.

“That’s not all.” Her voice cracked and, though she tried to appear unaffected, he didn’t miss the shudder that ran over her. “I saw footprints in the snow from a third person—someone who escaped the plane alive. Then I saw him, Bryce. I saw Raul. He was on the edge of the tree line. He just stood there watching. If the sheriff and SAR team hadn’t caught up to me, I don’t know if Raul would have come back to the plane and tried to kill me.”

She rubbed her arms and stared out the window to the woods. “As soon as I saw him, I tried to point him out to the sheriff, but Raul had disappeared. It was snowing hard so you could barely see anything. I wanted to go after him, but the sheriff wouldn’t let me. If the sheriff hadn’t seen the tracks in the snow before they were buried, I’m not sure he would have believed me about the presence of another man—and I’m still not sure he believes it was Raul.”