Tanner skidded to a stop in the lobby. Vinny was behind the reception desk, fist bunched in the fabric of Mara’s jacket. The knife he held in his other hand was poised to plunge between her shoulder blades.
“Stop right there,” Tanner thundered, sighting down his weapon. “Drop the knife, Vinny.”
Dark eyes glittering, Vinny swung Mara in front of him like a shield, sliding the blade around to her throat. “Put it down, or I cut her.”
Mara’s mouth was a tight line of terror, fingers digging into his forearm as she struggled to keep him from choking her. A mug from a tray on the table wobbled and fell with a crash.
“Bad idea to hurt her, Vinny. You’re not getting out of here, so at least make it easy on yourself. Let Eli take the fall.” Tanner’s body was tingling with adrenaline. He had no shot, not without risking Mara. Britta barked from behind him, but she maintained her position.
Vinny shook his head. “Nothing about this stupid job has been easy. I’m not leaving until I do what I’m gettin’ paid for. In too deep now to bug out.”
“No you’re not. You can stop this.”
“And what? You’ll let me go? Uh-huh. Sure.”
Tanner tried to edge to the side, but Vinny held Mara close. He could see no way out that didn’t involve injury to her.
Mara stared at Tanner and blinked twice at him. What was she trying to say? His palms felt slippery around the weapon. Whatever she was planning could get her killed. No, don’t try anything. He willed her to understand.
Five seconds later Mara reared backward, driving her head into Vinny’s chin. He let out a grunt. When he recoiled, Mara somersaulted over the check-in desk and into the lobby, stumbling and falling on the floor near Tanner’s feet.
“Britta,” Tanner yelled.
Britta ran to Mara, tugged at her sleeve, urging her up, and yanked her out of Vinny’s range.
Vinny’s mouth streamed with blood from a split lip. With a howl of outrage, he hurled the tray full of coffee mugs.
Tanner held up a forearm to block the missiles as they rained down, smashing on impact. Vinny used the distraction to bolt. With Tanner and his revolver standing between him and the door, Vinny spun on his heel and took the stairs two at a time, the knife still clutched in his fist. Mara and Britta were crouched in the corner, safe for the moment. He charged toward the stairs.
“Tanner,” Mara screamed, but he hit the stairs after Vinny, trying to predict the guy’s next move. There weren’t many avenues of escape on the second story. He could wrench open a window, jump out maybe. Or lie in wait for an opportunity to kill Tanner so he could get to Mara. That wasn’t going to happen. With his head start, Vinny reached the top with Tanner ten steps behind him. Pete appeared on the landing.
“Look out,” Tanner yelled.
Pete reacted. With one sweeping motion, he pulled a framed print off the wall and brought it down squarely on Vinny’s head. In a river of broken glass, Vinny’s body snapped back and cartwheeled. Tanner had only a moment to flatten himself against the railing to avoid being taken down by the flailing limbs.
Vinny tumbled along the remaining steps, landing in an untidy heap on the ground floor. Tanner plunged after him. Britta barked with urgency. She looked as though she wanted to run to Tanner.
“Stay, Britta,” he yelled as he sprinted back down the steps. Britta knew enough in an emergency to keep close to whomever Tanner directed, no matter how upset she was. And he wanted Britta and Mara to stay well clear of the fallen Vinny until he was dead certain Vinny was immobilized.
Vinny was lying on his back, arms flung wide, the knife loose in his grip.
Tanner was on him in a moment, stripping the knife away and sliding it out of reach, checking him for other weapons. Vinny’s eyes were closed. “Hey,” he said, tapping Vinny on the shoulder.
Pete stared. “Is he dead?”
Vinny was stone still, a goose egg bump rising on his forehead. His chest rose and fell. Tanner got a strong pulse from his wrist.
“Alive. Get the handcuffs and zipties from the backpack in my room, okay Pete?”
Pete disappeared to complete the errand.
“Mara...” he called over his pounding heart. He risked a quick look at her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, clinging to Britta’s collar. “Are you sure he’s alive?”
He knelt and checked the pulse at Vinny’s throat again. “Breathing and he has a pulse.”
He heard Mara gulp.
Pete came down the stairs, holding on to the railing. Tanner noticed he had a violet bruise on his cheekbone.
“What happened?”
“He got me when I was cleaning Ellen and George’s room. Knocked me out with one punch and took the keys.” Pete glared at the fallen man. “Glad I had a chance to return the favor.”
Tanner wiped his sweaty brow. “Much appreciated.”
Pete shrugged. “Told you I was a fan of cops.”
Tanner smiled. “And I’m now a loyal fan of innkeepers.”
Mara stood and started to move closer but he stopped her. “I’m going to cuff him before anybody moves.” Since the man was obviously injured, he secured his hands in front instead of behind. “He needs a doctor.”
Pete shook his head. “Don’t think there’s a way to get him to one, just yet. I’ll try to get a signal again in the attic, but what do we do in the meantime?”
“I’ll carry him to Ellen and George’s room and secure him to the bed. At least there’s heat and electricity up there.”
Pete shrugged. “Okay. I guess. I worked as an EMT for a while, so I can monitor his vitals. Ironic, since I gather he was itchin’ to kill both of you. If there was any justice, he’d be dead.”
“God’s got His own reasons why people live or die.” The words seemed to come out on their own. Once Tanner said it, the statement seemed to circle and echo in his own ears. God chose. He had decided not to allow Allie to be cured and Tanner had never wanted to experience that emotional punishment again, yet in the last few moments He’d also allowed Tanner and Pete to prevent Vinny from ending Mara’s life. Why? It was dizzying trying to understand. And if he couldn’t understand, how could he ever be certain he wouldn’t feel excruciating loss again?
He couldn’t. No guarantees, for him or anyone else. He found his pulse hammering double time when he allowed himself to consider what would have happened if he’d arrived a minute later. In a span of sixty seconds he might have lost Mara. Emotions he’d have to process when they were back in Olympia. He forced his body and brain into action.
Vinny was heavy and it required both Pete and Tanner to carry him up the stairs. They tried to jostle him as little as possible to prevent further injury. He released the cuffs and repositioned them, fastening one of Vinny’s wrists to the bedpost without straining him too much and circling his ankles loosely with zip ties. He removed anything close to Vinny that he might use as a weapon if he roused, the lamp, the heavy alarm clock. He was as comfortable as the circumstances would allow, still nonresponsive but breathing steadily. Pete promised to check vitals after he tried for a signal.
Tanner wiped his brow and returned to the ground floor. He found Mara holding a paper towel to her arm. Blood stained the white a brilliant red. His breath hitched as he ran to her. How hadn’t he noticed she was hurt? Why hadn’t she told him? “How bad?”
“Not bad.”
He propelled her into a chair. “Sit. You could be going into shock.”
“I’m not...”
But he hardly heard. He was spinning in circles. “Pete,” he roared. “Where’s a first aid kit?” But Pete was in the attic, too far away to hear. “I’ll find it. It’s probably behind the desk.”
“I don’t need a first aid kit.”
Fumbling through the cabinets, he snatched up a clean towel and dropped to a knee in front of her. Britta whined, tail spinning in agitated circles as she shoved her head between them until he ordered her to sit.
He reached for the paper towel. “Let me see. Do you need stitches? Pete’s got medical experience. Did you hit your head? You’re trembling. Don’t get up, you might fall.”
She stood anyway, setting him back on his heels. “Tanner.”
Her tone was sharp, popping through his mental fuzz.
“What?”
“I got a nick from one of the broken mugs. That’s why I’m bleeding. It’s a teeny cut, nothing more.”
“Oh. Okay, but you...”
“I’m trembling,” she said, chin quivering, “because...well a woman’s allowed to tremble if she’s nearly been killed by a man who’s been tracking her for months, right?” He heard a sob building underneath.
“Yes.” He got up, reaching for her.
“And I’ve been strong, through all this, haven’t I? Strong, through months of being hunted and stalked and freezing and starving.”
“Absolutely.”
A tear trickled down her cheek and he reached to brush it away. “Real strong, Mara. A tiger, like I said.”
She cried freely now, as he gathered her to him, the tears hot over his hands as he cupped her cheeks.
“Pete’s been hurt,” she choked out, “but it’s still not over. Vinny’s caught but Eli’s not and the team isn’t here yet, so this horrible dangerous limbo continues. And if you hadn’t come in, Vinny would have...” Her emotion strangled the words.
“But I did.” He folded her into his chest, rubbing her back and holding her tight. “And you’re the strongest, most amazing woman I’ve ever met. That head butt and somersault over the counter were phenomenal.”
“They were?” Her voice was a high squeak.
“Yes, they were, honey. A perfect ten. And you know what else?”
“What?”
“It’s okay to cry.”
“Good,” she said, the tears running in earnest.
He held her until the sobs subsided into quiet sniffs. By then, Pete had returned. “No signal, but Vinny’s vitals are steady.” He fetched a first aid kit and bandaged the nick on Mara’s forearm.
She didn’t want to go rest in her room and Tanner didn’t blame her, not with Vinny occupying the space directly adjacent. If only the downstairs was warm, he’d insist she stay there. He itched to hike to a high spot outside, try and summon Asher and fill him in, but he would not leave Mara’s side, not until Eli was in custody.
Mara was right. It wasn’t over. There was time yet for Eli to make a last stand.
And Tanner and Britta would be sure he didn’t get the chance.
As the sun began to sink behind the pines, Mara tried to rest. Britta was with Tanner, patrolling the exterior of the building, checking doors, windows for any sign of Eli. They’d have worked their way to the far side of the inn by now. Pete was watching Vinny who had not shown any signs of consciousness.
All her emotions were jumbled into a tangled ball. She still burned with the embarrassment of her admission and arrogance. Telling Tanner she wanted a relationship with him, refusing to acknowledge that he didn’t want one in exchange. Now she had the trauma of needing him for comfort after she’d almost been executed. Well, wouldn’t anyone need some support at that kind of moment? She paced the tiny room, shoving the remains of the broken lamp into the trash can.
Terror and mortification were a horrible combination that made her stomach churn. She flopped onto the bed, pulling the pillow over her face with a groan. Between the two situations, she felt like she was unraveling. At the present, she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in the snow so deep even Britta couldn’t find her.
A beep, followed by a crackle of static made her sit up. Had she fallen asleep and dreamed the noise? She heard it again, a soft buzzing.
A radio?
She dove to her knees and looked under the bed where she found a black handheld radio unit. Vinny must have dropped it during their tussle. Another crackle and a whisper sent terror coursing along her nerves.
“Where are you?” the voice snarled.
Her body recoiled. Eli. Of course. He was trying to contact his fallen cohort, Vinny.
She thought about going for Tanner, but fury unlike anything she’d ever known swept through her. The months of misery, physical and mental, the feel of Vinny’s knife against her throat...it all hardened into a shard of rage that threatened to flay her apart. She squeezed the radio button.
“Vinny is unconscious and handcuffed,” she spat. “And you’re going to be arrested, Eli. For your gun running, and what you did to Jonas and Stacey...” The words nearly choked her. “And what you did to me. It’s over. You lose. How does it feel?”
There was a long silent pause as she gripped the radio, hot blood cascading through her veins. She tried to get hold of her emotions and allow reason to return. What was she doing here, compromising a piece of evidence? Talking with a murderer? Had she totally lost it in her months as a fugitive? She was about to put the radio down and run for Tanner when it crackled again.
“You’ve been a pain in my behind since the moment I met you, Mara. So aloof and self-righteous. You thought you were some kind of hotshot, didn’t you? Had to stick your nose in my business when you could have just done your job and fawned all over your big brother.”
She was shaking with rage. “Oh, I did my job. You were using those lodges for illegal purposes, and I knew it. I set out to bring you down once I saw you loaded those boxes into Stacey’s lodge. All I needed was a few good photos to take to the team. I’m only sorry I didn’t get the chance, but the team followed the trail when I left off and what do you know? We caught a rat. Busted, Eli. Got you for the smuggling. Now we’ll get you for the murders too.” Glee flooded her senses. They’d won. He’d lost.
“Not gonna happen, Mara. I can convince a jury, no matter what the evidence says. I’m extremely charismatic.” The words were filled with venom. “All you did was cost me time.”
His bravado didn’t completely cover the tiny shred of uncertainty. She’d gotten to him now, and she relished the feeling of being in control. “Enjoy your self-delusion while you can. It doesn’t matter if you kill me or not. Regardless, the team will make sure you go to jail or spend the rest of your life living as a fugitive, the way you forced me to live. That’s even better justice than I could have hoped for.” She laughed. “You’ve wasted your precious freedom chasing me and it’s gotten you nothing.”
He was breathing heavily. “But I’m not done yet, Mara.”
“Yes, you are.” It was past time to get Tanner. “Gotta go, Eli, but I’ll give your regards to Vinny. Maybe he can be a cell mate for you.” She was about to drop the radio.
“All right. Tell you what. Maybe I’ll walk right over to that inn and surrender myself to your cop right now, but you need to do one thing first.”
“What’s that?”
“Look out your window.”
Something in his smug tone jangled alarm bells in her stomach. She inched to the curtain, careful to stay out of view in case he was ready to take a shot. At first she saw nothing in the failing sunlight. Then a gleam of yellow caught her attention, thrown from behind the snow-clad bushes.
She could not identify it. In her backpack was a banged-up pair of binoculars which she fetched and angled out the window, still staying out of full view. A beam of the setting sun roved over the object. The binoculars brought it into focus.
A sweater, yellow and worn. The same one from the keychain photo she’d kept all these months.
Her blood turned to ice.
She could not see the patch on the left elbow but she knew it was there because she’d sewn it herself. It was her father’s favorite sweater, one he never seemed to shed since he was always cold.
Through the cascade of panic, she rallied a threat of logic. Eli was bluffing. The sweater wasn’t proof that Eli had her father, only that he possessed the garment. A simple trick to terrorize her. Her dad was in a safe house. Asher arranged it.
But what if he had gotten to her father somehow? Paid a worker at the facility for information, or to follow Asher when he’d relocated their father. That could be why Eli had been absent the past few days, leaving Vinny to terrorize her. He could have returned to Olympia and snatched her father from the safe house. Her muscles pulsed with terror. Her frail father, confused and vulnerable...
She hoped her voice wouldn’t shake when she spoke into the radio. “You don’t have him.”
“So arrogant, Mara. When will you learn not to underestimate me? I’ve collected a whole network of spies. It wasn’t hard. Got him stowed away someplace safe and only I know where. I had to listen to Daddy dear ramble on and on about his ‘Marbles’ before I locked him up. He thinks you’re some kind of perfect child. If he only knew.”
Her stomach knotted. Her nickname. The one only her father used. How would Eli know that unless...? But he could have heard Dad rambling to the caregivers? Paid one for information.
Eli laughed. “Poor Daddy’s probably getting hungry since he’s all alone where I imprisoned him. There’s only so long an old guy like that can survive, especially without his blood pressure pills and his glaucoma drops and that stuff he takes for acid reflux.”
He knew her father’s medications. He knew everything.
He paused. “So silent, Mara. Not so cocky anymore, are we? Yeah. I told Daddy I’d let him out if you cooperate, but if you’re not in the mood...”
With trembling fingers she pressed the radio button to respond. “You don’t have him. You could have found that information out another way.”
“Call your brother up. Right now. Have him contact the safe house and have them report that Daddy dear is gone and there’s a tied-up cop there who needs rescuing.”
But she couldn’t call. No phone service. Tanner could try to text Asher again. Confirm...
Eli interrupted her thoughts. “A simple exchange. You for him. You come, and I make a phone call and tell the authorities where I stashed your dad.”
Mara for her father. She struggled to breathe.
“Climb to the base of the cliffs before sunrise tomorrow. If the cop and the dog come, they die too.”
“No.”
“No? As in you don’t think I can kill them? Didn’t we just discuss the fact that you don’t give me enough credit? I’m looking at the cop right now. He’s coming back around the front with his dog, wearing some ridiculous sweatshirt under his jacket. Easy shot for me. Want me to kill the dog? To give you that proof you’re always looking for? Let me just put the radio down for a second...”
“Please, no,” she blurted. “Don’t hurt them, or my father.”
“The only way they live is if you show up tomorrow. Alone. Make your decision.” The radio clicked off, leaving her staring at it.
The only way...
It was likely Eli hadn’t abducted her father, that it was all a trick. But he knew more than he should and he definitely had a bead on Tanner and Britta. If he didn’t get what he wanted he would kill them without a qualm. Her thoughts spun.
The team would arrive, flush Eli out and arrest him.
But their timing was unknown. And Eli would make sure he would cause maximum damage before he was arrested. Holed up in the trees, he could pick the responders off as they arrived—Asher, maybe the new recruits, Willow, Tanner, Britta...her father. Who knew how many would die because Eli didn’t get what he wanted...her.
Maybe she could trick him somehow. Get him to spill her father’s location and escape. At least stall until the team arrived to back up Tanner. Her throat constricted, as if someone were crushing her windpipe. There was no alternative and she knew it. She could not, would not, let anyone else die. She’d set this whole terrible ball in motion when she’d run instead of trusted her team. Now it was up to her to make it right.
The old grandfather clock chimed as she heard Tanner and Britta entering through the inn’s front door. Almost six. Her brain was misfiring, sending jolts of panic and disbelief along her nerves. She knew even without her testimony Eli wouldn’t stand a chance of escaping imprisonment no matter what delusions he believed. She was confident in the PNK9 team that they’d craft a tight case, but in Eli’s arrogance, he’d imagined a way he could defeat them all. Plus, he blamed her for ruining his plans. Maybe it was no longer a way to escape for Eli, but to exact revenge. He had to make himself a winner no matter what.
She thought back to Eli’s comment to Vinny.
“I can pull off Mr. Misunderstood to a jury about the smuggling, but if she takes the stand and convinces them I killed Stacey and Jonas... We’ll kill them and bury them somewhere where they’ll never be found.”
Kill them and bury them somewhere.
Not only her, but Tanner and Britta.
All they’d suffered, the narrow escapes, the excruciating cold, and hunger and injury... Tanner and Britta had endured it all for her. And they’d do it again. Once she told them about the radio message and the sweater, Tanner would order her to stay in the lodge while they marched off to capture Eli. She chewed her thumbnail. Perhaps the team would arrive before dawn.
But if Eli had taken her father and left him without food or medicine, he wouldn’t last long, not in his frail condition.
The decision she knew she had to make froze her in place.
Tell Tanner, risk his life to save hers and possibly her father’s?
Go alone? Hope she could stall Eli long enough for help to arrive, or maybe come up with a way to save Dad and herself? She caught her own reflection in the mirror, wild-eyed, small, frantic.
The cracked glass of her old watch glimmered in the lamplight. She figured she had about another nine hours to come up with a plan to outwit Eli and sneak out of the inn without Tanner or Britta finding out.
She took a deep breath and spoke the words to herself.
Lord, I will save my father with Your help. I will prevent Eli from taking anyone else’s life.
The tap on the door shot her to her feet.
Tanner and Britta entered. “Hey. Do you want to get some dinner? I suspect it’s cheese sandwiches again but...” His words trailed off. “What’s wrong?”
“I...uh, nothing. Wondering when the team will get here, is all.”
“Good question. If I know your brother he’s commandeering a helicopter even as we speak.”
“Probably.” She wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. “I’m not hungry right now, though. You go ahead.”
“You sure?”
“One hundred percent. I’m too excited to eat.” That part was totally the truth.
He shifted uneasily. “I could bring something up.”
With a bright smile, she shook her head. “No appetite. When we get back to Olympia there’s a giant burrito with my name on it.”
“Okay. Britta will stay with you then.”
There was no way she was going to talk him out of leaving the dog on duty.
After another searching look, he let himself out.
Her legs gave way and she sank down on the floor next to Britta. The dog swabbed her face with her tongue, perhaps trying to blot away the anguish she must be able to detect.
“Britta, you have to take care of Tanner, okay?” She blinked back tears. “He’s going to need you to be strong for him.”
Once he knew what Mara had done...and why she’d done it, he’d understand why she hadn’t told him.
Tears rolling down her cheeks, she lay down next to the dog and waited.