Kat jerked awake to pounding on the cabin door downstairs. Someone rammed the heavy wood door, trying to force it open. She sprang out of bed only to hit her head on the low loft ceiling. She swore under her breath when she remembered where she was: Kurt’s cabin in the second bedroom upstairs. Her heart thumped in her chest. Whoever was outside wanted in badly.
She inched her way towards the ladder leading downstairs and peered over the edge. Even in the dark, her bird’s eye view from the loft gave an advantage over the intruder. The cabin door was already open a crack, the moonlight outlining the doorframe. She was trapped. No escape route.
The door gave way with a final crack. A man burst in, his dark form silhouetted in the doorway against the moonlit sky. Kat held her breath as he turned to shut the door.
Kurt had mentioned a cabin break-in once before. Transients sometimes looked for cabins to crash in. This guy might just grab food and leave. Unlikely in the middle of the night though, since it was too dark to travel and there were no other cabins nearby. He would stay until morning, which meant he would check out the whole cabin, including the loft. When he did, she’d better be ready. She felt around on the floor for a weapon but found nothing. She cursed her stupidity at leaving her pack with her pocketknife downstairs.
The stove. Even if it wasn’t still burning, it would be warm to the touch, a sure sign the cabin was occupied. And her backpack sat in plain sight on the kitchen table. With the door shut it was dark again, but Kat could follow the intruder’s shadow as he surveyed the cabin. He crossed the room and headed straight for the loft ladder. He stepped on the bottom rung and hesitated as he looked around.
Kat ran to the bedroom and grabbed a ski pole from a pair hanging on the wall. She tiptoed back to the ladder and stood at the side. She waited for the man’s hands to reach the top rung. He would be stronger than her; the element of surprise was her only advantage. Her pulse quickened as she waited, knowing she’d only get one chance.
She stabbed at the intruder’s knuckles, then dug the pole into his flesh and twisted. To her horror the hulk kept advancing, reaching the top with his free hand.
“Hey, what the—” He abruptly stopped.
“Back off!”
But the man had already wriggled his hand free. She stabbed at his other hand as he dropped down one ladder rung. She recognized him at the exact moment he saw her.
“You!” Landers stared up at her, eyes wide with shock. “How did you get here?” He paused and shook his right hand out.
“I should ask you the same thing.” Kat jabbed his remaining hand with the pole. This time she kept it there, impaling the soft fleshy part with the tip of the pole. “Get out!”
“Kat, what the hell? You’re hurting me. Get that thing off my hand.”
“No way. Turn around and leave. Now.”
“Calm down—I can explain everything.”
She dug in harder. “Explain what? That you betrayed us? Get out.”
“I can’t go anywhere until you release my hand.”
Kat lifted the ski pole and held it high as Roger Landers stepped back down the ladder. But he only dropped two rungs, just enough to be out of reach. “Keep moving.”
“We need to talk first.” He studied her.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She pointed the ski pole at him, but kept it just out of his reach.
Landers didn’t move. “You don’t understand. Just come down here and we’ll talk.”
“Not a chance.” He wasn’t getting anything else from her.
“I know where Jace is. Just come down here, okay? I promise not to do anything.”
Kat lowered the ski pole. Was it a trick to get her downstairs? But what if he could find Jace? Landers had been in the room with Jace at some point. Surely Nathan and Victoria were involved in Jace’s disappearance. “Where?”
“Locked up. At the Hideaway Bay jail. He told me to come here if things went sideways. To hide from Nathan.”
Had Jace been imprisoned at the precinct when she visited, mere feet away?
Landers couldn’t know about Kurt’s cabin unless Jace had told him. At least that part must be true. Kat lowered the ski pole and slowly descended the stairs, careful not to take her eyes off Landers. She followed him to the table and watched him sit down. She remained standing, wary.
“I’ll give you five minutes to convince me. Then you’re gone.” She knew she wasn’t a threat to Roger Landers without a weapon. The ski pole worked only while she was in the loft, where she had a height advantage. Still, she wasn’t giving in.
Did Kurt keep a gun in the cabin? If so, she’d better find it before Landers did. Even if she didn’t know how to use it.
“Why is Jace in jail?”
“Nathan had him hauled into Hideaway Bay for questioning.” Landers unzipped his jacket and placed it on the chair nearest the door, like he was planning to stay awhile.
“What for? Jace didn’t do anything wrong.” Nathan Barron might be powerful, but unless the Hideaway police were corrupt, they wouldn’t arrest Jace without proof of a crime.
“Nathan wants him charged for theft. For stealing those documents out of his hotel room.” Roger Landers sat down at the table, holding his hand. “I think you broke my hand. And it’s bleeding.”
Kat felt a momentary pang of guilt. Then she remembered Landers’s inaction when Victoria injected her. He didn’t stop Victoria, leaving Kat to be dumped unconscious at the train station. She didn’t owe Roger Landers anything, especially not sympathy.
As a matter of fact, he owed her. She crossed her arms and ignored him.
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m bleeding. Where’s your first aid kit?”
Kat glared at Landers. “Why didn’t they arrest you? You were in the room too.” Was he working with them? Jace had disappeared and she got a needle poke. Only Landers had escaped unscathed. Too many parts of his story didn’t make sense.
“Jace said he acted alone. I have no idea why they left me out of it, but we need to work together. Let’s focus on getting Jace out of jail, and the real criminals behind bars.”
“The real criminals?” He hadn’t answered her question.
“Nathan and the World Institute, of course.” He winced and wiggled his fingers. “The World Institute is committing the biggest crime of all.”
“They haven’t broken any laws,” Kat said. Nathan, Victoria, and the World Institute might be unsavory, but the World Institute itself hadn’t done anything illegal. Only Nathan had, with the Research Analytics fraud. Not to mention his assault on her and probably Jace. Maybe the World Institute was reprehensible, but discussing world domination wasn’t a crime. She was sick of Landers and his conspiracy theories. It was his fault they were in this mess.
“They will. Or else they’ll change the laws to suit their needs. Now they’re putting their plan into action. The debt crisis was just the start, orchestrated by World Institute members. Their banks made big fees off risky loans, not caring if they failed or not. Enough bad loans and the government had no choice but to bail them out. Why? Because letting them fail has a cascading effect. The same people running government are or were running the banks. All those treasury secretaries and bank governors come from the banks. It’s incestuous.”
“You’re implying the bank failures happened on purpose?” Kat walked over to the kitchen table and struck a match. She lit the kerosene lantern and sat at the opposite end of the table from Landers, wishing she’d never met him.
“Sure. A few profit, but the majority pay. Not only do bad loans enrich the bankers; they also further the goals of the World Institute. When governments bail out the banks, they raise taxes to remain solvent. When they can’t raise taxes any higher, they simply print more money. At best, the currency devalues. At worst, it becomes worthless. No matter what they do, we taxpayers ultimately foot the bill. Eventually the currency fails, and the World Institute swoops in as savior.”
“Why didn’t you say all this to Nathan Barron when you had the chance?” Here she was, stuck in a cabin with no power and no cell coverage. Was it with a friend or an enemy? Roger Landers said the right things, but his actions spoke otherwise. “Why should I even listen to you? You didn’t help me at the hotel.”
“It’s complicated.” Landers leaned back in his chair, nursing his sore hand.
“How complicated can it be?” Exactly the sort of thing people said when there was a cover-up.
“If I say anything too soon, they’ll suppress it. Once my new book is out, they won’t be able to stop it. It will expose them, and they can be charged.”
“Charged with what, exactly? This is just all about you—your book, your investigation. Getting famous, and getting credit.” Everyone else was collateral damage. Like Jace.
“I don’t know—the lawyers will figure that out.”
“You’ve just told me they’re ruining people’s lives. Yet you’re willing to let them continue so you can publish your second book?” Kat rose. She’d heard enough lies tonight.
“I’m not giving up years of research for nothing. The book is payback. If other people are harmed by it, there’s not much I can do.”
“Sure there is. If writing a story is the answer, why not do it right now and expose them? Sooner is better.” Suddenly it occurred to her—that was exactly what Jace wanted to do. Jace was a threat to Landers. Publishing now meant Jace could get the scoop on Landers.
“A few more weeks or months won’t make much difference. They aren’t going to dismantle the currencies and governments overnight. Where’s that first aid kit? I really should bandage my hand.”
Kat shook her head. Suddenly she knew what was bothering her. If Jace really did tell Roger Landers to meet at the cabin, why didn’t Landers know about the key under the flowerpot?