The door exploded inward with the deafening sound of splintering wood. Jackie followed Roman into the room, her heart in her throat. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark, since the curtains were pulled securely over the windows.
She blinked, willing her eyes to take it all in.
But there was nothing to see.
Only a neatly made bed and a small lamp perched on a bedside table.
Jackie groaned. “She’s not here. I was wrong. Oh, Roman, I was wrong.”
Roman didn’t answer. He walked to the bedside table and retrieved a bottle concealed in the shadow of the lamp. He held it out to her. “Sleeping pills.”
“Pills? Why…?”
He held up a hand and began to slowly walk the perimeter of the room. “Sometimes people put in hidden rooms, to store their gun collections or extra food in case of bad weather.” He stopped when his fingers found a rectangular outline in the wood-paneled wall. Reaching down to the bottom where the wall met the floor, he found a small indentation that served as a handle, all but invisible to the casual observer.
He motioned her away, and pulled it open.
A minute later he stepped inside. “Jackie, come here.”
His voice was intense, but she needed no urging. She was in the tiny room in a flash.
The space was no bigger than a walk-in closet, the far wall lined with a gun rack filled with rifles. On a small cot lay her friend.
“Asia, can you hear me?” Jackie sank down and grabbed her cold hand. The girl didn’t answer. “She’s freezing.”
He nodded, pulling the thin wool blanket around her body. “No heat. Only the blanket to keep her warm.”
They chafed at her wrists until her eyes fluttered open.
“Jackie?” she whispered. “How did you find me? I thought…” Tears collected in her dark eyes and ran down her haggard face. “I thought I would die here.”
Jackie squeezed her fingers. “No, honey. No. It’s going to be okay.”
Asia shuddered suddenly. “It’s him. It’s Mick.”
Jackie tried to calm her. “I know. We figured it out.”
Tears trickled down her face. “I thought he loved me. I really believed him. He was using me, like he used all the other girls at the other offices.”
Jackie wiped her face. “You don’t have to talk about it now. We’ll work it all out.”
She shook her head, eyes pained. “I just didn’t see it. Maybe I didn’t want to. Mick tried to discourage me from investigating the discrepancies I found. I thought he was worried about my safety. Dumb, huh?”
“I believed him too.”
“Then when he showed up with a black eye and broken ribs.” Her eyes closed. “At least, he told me they were broken, but that was a lie too. I’m not sure he even knows when he’s lying. He’s crazy. He idolized his father but when his dad and mom got divorced, everything fell apart for him.”
Jackie remembered the look in Mick’s eyes when he spoke about his father.
“His brother overcame, became a surgeon and Mick just couldn’t stand it. He wanted to be somebody important, somebody with money and power.” She sighed. “I think he might have fallen in with the crime ring when he worked at his brother’s medical office. Remember, he told us about a crooked doctor there?”
Jackie nodded.
“I’m sure he didn’t want to tell his boss about how we were looking into Reynolds’s billing practices because it made Mick look like he’d been careless.”
Jackie shook her head. “I can’t believe you were here all the time, Asia. Why didn’t you go to the police in San Francisco when you figured out it was Mick?”
She grimaced. “I didn’t put it together until we landed in Alaska. That’s when I heard him on the phone. He told whoever it was he’d ‘clean it all up.’ Suddenly the pieces fell together, but it was too late. He brought me here. I didn’t see a single soul to ask for help.”
Roman patted her shoulder. “That’s the downside of living in remote Alaska. You can go a long time without running into any neighbors.”
She nodded, sniffling. “I got hold of my phone for a minute, when he wasn’t paying attention, but he found me and took it away. Oh, Jackie, I’m so sorry. I’ve been such a fool and it almost got us both killed. We should have gone straight to the police, the minute I had a suspicion.”
Jackie took both her hands. “We were tricked, both of us, by a man who is as good a liar as anyone I’ve ever met.”
Roman tapped his watch. “Asia, if you think you can move, we need to get out of here. It’s going to be dark soon, and we’d better get you to the hospital and let the police handle things when Mick returns.”
Jackie helped Asia to a sitting position and pulled on her shoes. She was cold, so cold and thin.
She felt suddenly furious. “Did he feed you? Please tell me he did that much.”
Asia nodded. “Yes. And he brought me a blanket and let me out to use the bathroom, but other than that, I’ve been trapped in here. I begged him—I told him I’d never tell a soul.” She began to shiver uncontrollably, tears rolling down her face and soaking her shirt front.
Jackie squeezed her in a hug. “Don’t think about it right now. We’ll get through this as soon as you’re someplace safe. Okay?”
Asia pressed her lips together and stood on shaky legs.
Jackie tucked an arm under her shoulder and steadied her friend while Roman found her jacket in the bedroom closet and bundled her in. They made their way through the quiet cabin, stopping to listen every few feet for the sound of Mick’s snowmobile returning.
Roman looked out the window into the swirling snow. “No sign of him.”
He dialed Wayne’s phone and told him they were returning with Asia.
“Right. No sign of our man down here. Cops are on their way.”
Roman pocketed the phone and turned to both women. “Asia, we’ve got two snowmobiles and a truck parked about two miles downslope. Can you hold on to Jackie, just until we make it to the truck?”
Asia nodded, still shivering. “To get out of here, I can do anything.”
He looked at Jackie.
She was overwhelmed once again. Here he was, putting everything on the line to help a woman he hardly knew.
Without warning, he leaned close and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Almost there.”
She let the feeling linger on her skin.
And then they plunged into the snow.
Roman drove the lead snowmobile down the slope. They would be safe in another mile, back in the truck and headed to town. An inexplicable anxiety nestled in his gut. Something felt off. Paranoia? Fear that he’d lose Jackie now, when she had become his entire world again?
He tried to focus on the gleaming piles of snow that collected on the road, picking the smoothest route he could. Asia was probably near hypothermia and the shock of being out in the rapidly dropping temperature could push her over the edge.
They rounded a tree-lined bend in the road. He saw the truck, lit by the last rays of sunlight, and Wayne, hands tucked in pockets, waiting to greet them. He hustled over, his breath making puffs of silver in the near dark.
Wayne offered Asia a hand and helped her off. “You must be Asia. All right, ma’am?”
“Yes, but cold.”
Roman didn’t like the faintness of her voice. She was getting weaker. “Let’s move.”
Jackie helped Wayne load Asia up in the cab of the truck. Roman quickly slid the machines into the back and climbed up behind them. “Okay, Wayne. We’re…”
His voice was lost in the rifle shot.
It drilled through the front windshield, splintering the glass into a web of cracks.
“Get down,” he yelled, leaping off the truck and scrambling to the front.
Wayne was bleeding from a cut on his head. “When I get hold of that guy, he’s paying for this windshield.”
With relief, he turned to Jackie where she crouched over Asia, shielding her.
“I’m okay.” She swallowed hard. “Asia is too. Is it Mick?”
“I think so. He must have circled around in front.” Another shot exploded over them, burying itself into a tree and showering snow on them.
“We’re pinned down. I’m going up to get him.”
Jackie grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his forearm. “No, he’ll kill you.”
He covered her hand with his own. “I’m not going to let him kill me. I’ve got something important to do.” He gave her a tight smile, hating the fear that shone in her eyes.
“Let’s wait for the police. Please, Roman.”
“We might not have that much time. Keep Asia safe.”
He ignored her cry of protest and called to Wayne. “As soon as the shooting stops, get this truck out of here. Don’t wait for me.”
Wayne gave him a long look and nodded. “Careful, son.”
Careful. As Roman crept into the trees, using the truck for cover, he knew he’d have to be as careful as he’d ever been in his life.
The shots came from behind an outcropping of rock, off to the right side of the road. The spot was accessible by a steep trail, nestled among massive alder and pines. Roman’s mind raced as he made his way closer.
They were locked in a waiting game, and Mick could not afford it to go on much longer. He could get off several shots from his position, but he could not be certain he’d done the job. He would need to move closer—Roman was counting on it.
He had to know they had phones, had probably called the police, so he’d be in a hurry to finish things and get away, hide until he could find an escape route. Yes, Mick would be in a hurry.
Roman smiled. If there was one thing Alaskans knew about, it was patience.
He found the perfect tree, just below the bend in the road, and began to climb.