Loe raamatut: «Tracker»

ONE

“I’m not leaving without my son.”

He pressed the gun against her spine, the cold muzzle chilling against her thin shirt. Late-afternoon sunshine shot over the Elk Basin, giving the vast Montana sky a pastoral rendering. But right now, that sky looked ominous.

She didn’t want to die here.

Penny Potter twisted around and tried to break free from the man who’d come crashing out of the woods and tackled her just seconds before. Heaving a shuddering breath, she screamed at her former boyfriend, “Jake, there is no way I’m letting you take Kevin out of the country! I told you last time, neither of us is going with you.”

Jake Morrow’s blue eyes matched the sky, but the bitter flash of anger seared Penny’s heart. “Yeah, but you took my boy and ran away.”

Apprehension and fear gnawed at her, but Penny tried to stay calm. She had to keep her head and get back to Kevin before her ex found him. “I can’t leave the country with you. I’m not going to put Kevin through that. They’re all looking for you, Jake. Just go and leave us alone.”

“You might not be willing to come with me,” Jake said, his actions filled with a wild recklessness that made her shiver in spite of the late summer heat. “But my son sure is not staying behind. You’re going to take me to him. Now! Or you’ll never see him again.”

* * *

Special Agent Zeke Morrow moved silently through the underbrush, his K-9 partner, an Australian shepherd named Cheetah, taking the lead as they canvassed yet another grid of rocky hills and tall ponderosa pines. He’d checked in with several of the other members of the FBI Classified K-9 Unit who were scouring a ridge on the other side of the woods. Nothing yet. No sign of Jake Morrow.

“Where are you, Jake?” he asked in a low whisper, his gaze scanning every shift of leaves and every snap of twigs. He had to keep going in spite of the deep-boned fatigue that threatened to weigh him down.

Could his half brother, Jake, really be somewhere inside this vast wilderness? After picking up a tip that the former agent, now wanted by the FBI for turning corrupt and joining forces with the infamous Dupree crime syndicate, had been spotted buying supplies and ammunition at a truck stop a few miles from here, Zeke had talked to several of the residents who lived along the edge of the wilderness preserve. One of them, a young science teacher who’d been on a hike, had seen someone matching Jake’s description going into the Elk Basin early this morning.

“And there was another man with him but he took off in a big black van,” the nervous fellow had stated. “Don’t mention my name, okay? Those two looked loaded for bear.”

The other guy had been described as short in stature with long, stringy hair and wearing glasses. Sounded a lot like Gunther Caprice, a wanted criminal who’d managed to fly under the radar since the Dupree family business had started to unravel. He’d probably dropped Jake off here and was hiding out somewhere. But what were they doing here of all places?

Unless this was another one of his brother’s ruses to fool all of them. Or...perhaps this was the big break they’d all been waiting for.

Zeke’s gut told him that his half brother was indeed somewhere in these woods. But that still didn’t explain why Jake had decided to come back to Montana when he knew he was a wanted man. What possible motive could he have?

Jake, who’d once been a valuable member of the elite FBI Classified K-9 Unit, had gone off the deep end after joining up with the notorious Dupree crime family. Fellow agent Ian Slade had fallen in love with the only crime-free member of the Dupree clan. Esme Dupree was willing to testify against her brother, Reginald, but she’d left the witness protection program because she feared for her life. Ian grudgingly became her protector after a trek through the Florida Everglades, where eventually her older sister, Violetta, shot and killed Angus Dupree in order to save Esme’s life. But now Ian and Esme had gone into hiding in another country until Jake was found and Reginald Dupree was brought to justice. Couldn’t happen soon enough for Zeke. The whole team had been playing a game of cat and mouse with Jake all spring and summer.

Almost six months of searching for his armed and dangerous half brother had brought Zeke back to Montana a couple of days ago. Reports kept coming in—sightings of the rogue agent near the Elk Basin and in other areas close to Billings. Was he trying to get back to headquarters? Or was Jake just messing with the entire team?

I have to find him and try to reason with him, take him in alive.

Zeke stopped and gave Cheetah some water, patted him and checked the dog’s protective FBI vest. “Good boy. You’re doing great. Show me where to go next, okay?”

Cheetah would do his job. The medium-sized dog had a sweet temperament, but he was trained in search and rescue and could turn serious with one command. His K-9 partner never quit, so Zeke wouldn’t, either.

Cheetah lifted his snout and sniffed the hot August air. Then the dog tugged at his leash and headed east, back toward the main trail out of the basin.

Zeke followed, the sound of distant voices causing his pulse to rise. Could he finally be on the right track?

* * *

“No!” Penny tried to break away, but Jake grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and jerked her back so hard pain shot through her neck. Praying her son was okay, she tried to stay calm so she could see a way out of this.

Shoving her ahead of him on the rocky path into the thicket, Jake kept one hand in a death grip on her arm. “Let’s go. We’re getting Kevin, and either you both go with me, or I’ll take him and you won’t even have time to regret it.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she pleaded, wondering how Jake had found her. She’d been all over the country, using fake names, constantly changing her appearance and hiding out in dives with her now two-year-old son. Penny hated dragging Kevin from pillar to post and hiding him in secrecy, but she had to protect him from his father. She’d thought since almost six months had passed and no one had found Jake, she’d be safe coming back to Montana. Especially here in the remote wilderness in the Elk Basin, an area she’d loved all of her life.

But then, she’d always underestimated the dangerous man holding her against her will now. Penny had wanted to believe Jake was one of the good guys, but she could tell even before he’d disappeared that he’d changed. She’d heard the rumors and a few cryptic news reports after he’d been presumed kidnapped by a member of the Dupree crime family. But as the months wore on, things had taken a sickening twist.

Now Jake was wanted by the very people who used to trust him and work with him—his own FBI team. Their work was classified, but she knew they’d searched her former house and probably taken some pictures she’d left there so they could easily identify her and Kevin. They were most likely searching for her, too. She’d taken off long before they showed up, and she’d had to leave several other temporary locations.

All because she’d been trying to get away from Jake.

Her ex was in deep trouble and from what she could glean, it had something to do with the criminal syndicate that his former unit had tried to infiltrate several months ago. Jake had gone missing once the dust had settled on that botched mission. She’d heard they’d captured Reginald Dupree that day, but his uncle Angus Dupree had escaped and taken Jake hostage. Angus was dead now, or so she’d heard. All she knew was Jake was a wanted man, according to the few news reports she’d heard.

The reports had also implicated Jake as a willing accomplice. He’d betrayed his unit for money and power. And yet here he stood, holding a gun on her in a desperate attempt to get out of the country. With their son. That would happen over her dead body.

“Jake, let me go. You can’t take a toddler on the run. Let us be and...maybe one day I can send you pictures or...find a way for you two to reunite.”

“No,” he barked. “No, Penny. I lost my father. I won’t let that happen to my son.”

Her heart sank. Jake was in a mindset where he refused to listen to reason. “I understand,” she said, not giving up but giving in for now.

It was too late for Jake to do anything but run. He would kill her and take their son. He wouldn’t give up without a fight, but neither would she.

* * *

Zeke’s phone buzzed. “What’s the status, Agent Morrow?”

Max West, the Special Agent in Charge, checking on him again.

“Cheetah’s picked up something, sir. I heard voices on the other side of one of the main trails heading east. Headed that way now.”

“I’ll send some backup. We got nothing here.”

After ending the call, Zeke put his phone away and listened. There. Again. Shouts into the still, dry air. A woman’s scream.

Cheetah growled low and alerted. Zeke’s heart pumped new energy into his tired body. They hurried through the scrub brush and outcroppings, but he couldn’t decide if he was relieved or if this dread burdening his soul would overtake him.

Help me make the right decisions, Lord.

* * *

Jake clamped a sweaty hand over her mouth. “That was a big mistake,” he said, his tone full of rage. “But I doubt anyone heard you. You’re so predictable, Penny, hanging around out in the woods with people trying to have a wilderness adventure. I’ve been watching you for days, getting a handle on your routine. No one will ever find you out here.” He dropped his hand. “But if you scream again, you’ll regret it.”

He was right.

Penny blinked away tears of frustration and looked around frantically at the deserted trail. No one in sight. She’d finished guiding a wilderness tour over an hour ago and watched the busload of about twenty people head out in the other direction. Tired and hot and not as alert as she should have been, she’d started hiking the couple of miles toward home, her mind on seeing Kevin. Jake had waylaid her near the small town of Iris Rock, where her son was safe inside the Wild Iris Inn with the owner, Claire Crayton.

Claire knew what to do. Penny had explained when she first moved into the boardinghouse that her ex-boyfriend might show up and try to cause trouble. Under no circumstance was the older woman to allow Kevin to go with anyone except Penny. Claire had nodded toward the shotgun she kept behind the check-in counter and promised her she’d take care of Kevin, no matter what.

Now Penny wished she’d warned Claire that the father of her child might be armed and dangerous and wanted by the law. But she’d never dreamed Jake would hold a gun on her or threaten her life.

Please, God, keep Kevin safe.

Penny entreated that simple prayer over and over while she looked around for a way to escape. Since she’d been a trained guide for years, she knew this basin better than most. She knew the nooks and crannies, the hills, valleys and meadows and all the streams and waterfalls; knew the animals and the seasons. If she could make it across the trailhead to the open meadow, she’d be able to hide in the tall grass and inch her way toward the foothills.

“Don’t even think about it, sweetheart,” Jake said, his breath hissing like a snake against her neck. “You’re smart and I have no doubt that you can survive out here. But it would be stupid to try and outrun me.”

Penny glanced at the semiautomatic handgun he pressed into her ribs as a reminder, her heart pumping adrenaline while she thought of her sweet little boy. Kevin had his daddy’s dark blond hair and deep blue eyes.

“What happened to you, Jake?” she asked, stalling but also wanting some answers. “Why would you risk everything and ruin your career? I’ve heard rumors—”

“Later,” he snarled. “I’m not going to explain all of that right now. Besides, what do you care? You ran out on me.”

Pushing her forward, his anger shimmering from every pore, he checked both ways along the path into the woods.

He wasn’t going to talk, and he was too wired to tolerate her feeble attempts to save herself. Penny cast a desperate glance over the vast open country between the surrounding hills, the August heat burning her. Her only chance was to try to run as fast as she possibly could. She waited for Jake to loosen his grip on her arm before she broke free and plowed through the brush, only to stumble on a jutting rock and fall face-first into the dry bramble.

He caught up with her and jerked her back up. “Nice try.” Stroking a gentle finger against her cheekbone, he said, “Now you’re bleeding. Next time, things might get even worse.”

* * *

Zeke followed the sound of voices, Cheetah taking him back into the woods. A woman. A scream. Even if this didn’t involve Jake, someone could be in trouble. Not many people hung around here this late unless they were camping or had gotten lost on one of the many trails. The sun would be setting in about an hour. Needing to think this through, he halted Cheetah to get his bearings and hurriedly checked the map coordinates on his phone. They were about two miles from the small town of Iris Rock.

The town where Penny Potter used to rent a house.

Penny had been Jake’s girlfriend and she was now the mother of his child. But she was so off the radar, no one had been able to find her. Could Jake have come back here looking for her and his son, one last time? While that didn’t make much sense, Zeke’s gut burned with the sure knowledge that someone was in trouble up ahead.

“Let’s go,” he said to Cheetah. The animal took off in an eager run, straight toward those echoing voices.

Then Zeke heard something else off in the distance. The hum of a vehicle hitting ruts in the dirt. Hopefully, his backup had arrived.

* * *

“We’ll keep walking,” Jake explained. “I have someone coming with a vehicle full of supplies to pick us up just over that north ridge. We’ll have our son and we can leave tonight. I have plenty of money hidden away, baby. We can go somewhere warm and tropical, a place where they will never find us. I’ll take care of both of you.” His husky whispers sent a cold chill down her spine. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Now he was trying to sweet-talk her? Penny closed her eyes and swallowed back the painful knot lodged inside her throat. Resolve and revulsion overtook any sympathy she might have once had for him. She was strong now, strong in her newfound faith and strong in her love for her child. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Jake, and neither is Kevin.”

“He’s my son.”

The words held a threat.

She had to make a move.

Penny practiced self-defense on a regular basis since her job required her to be out in the middle of nowhere with strangers following her around and wild animals approaching unexpectedly. But could she take down a six-foot-three-inch muscular man? A deranged, desperate fugitive who didn’t have anything to lose?

Except the one person he loved in the world. His son.

Her heart swelled when she thought about Kevin. So innocent and precious. He’d never know his father. But if she didn’t make a move, he’d never have his mother, either.

“Quit stalling, Penny,” Jake said, his voice as hard and dry as the surrounding countryside. She stared at the flat, brown land leading to the distant woods and hills and spotted a lone scarlet-colored fairy trumpet. The pretty flower beckoned her. It had survived the hot summer. She would, too.

Lord, help me in my time of need. Give me the strength to do what I need to do.

With a grunt and all the energy she could muster, she whirled and elbowed Jake in the ribs, one booted foot latching against his left calf so she could trip him. Still in motion, she jabbed at his eyes with two fingers, surprising him.

He put a hand to his face and went down with a groan, giving her just enough time to slip out of his grip and slam her heavy backpack against his head.

Clutching the bag against her as protection, she spun away from his crumbled body and took off toward the forest about fifty yards across the meadow. If she could make it to the tree line, she could hide up in the hills until nightfall. Or longer if necessary. But she couldn’t hide. She had to call the boardinghouse and warn Claire before Jake got to Kevin.

But right now she had to outrun the man she once loved. Her heart hammering in her chest, she pushed with all her might and took off, her hiking boots kicking up dust.

Thinking she’d made it, Penny glanced back when she was about ten yards from the thick stand of ponderosa pines and aspens leading to another trail. Jake stumbled toward her, his gun raised.

He wasn’t going to let her live.