Untraceable
“What’s the problem?” Cade caught his breath, then focused on Rhea. Jason and Liam stood up as if they were answering a challenge.
“No problem,” Rhea said. “I told her not to unpack. We’re hiking out.”
Cade frowned.
Isaiah came into the circle of light, Zach right behind him. Zach shoved Isaiah forward.
What was going on?
Zach held two guns and pointed one at Isaiah and one at Cade. “I’ll need your weapons and all communication devices.” He glanced over at Heidi. “You, too, sweetheart.”
Heidi gulped for air. This couldn’t be happening. What would Cade do? She watched him, willing him to hear her pleading.
Don’t try to be a hero now, Cade. Please don’t.
“I don’t have anything on me,” Heidi said.
“You’re going to have to prove it.” Zach waved the gun. “Take off your coats.”
“What?” Cade said. “It’s too cold out here! We have to stay the night on this mountain.”
Zach pressed the gun into Isaiah’s temple. “I don’t need all three of you.”
“Yes, you need us all.” Heidi didn’t hide the desperation in her plea. “Whatever you’re planning, to hike out tonight like Rhea said, you definitely need all three of us. You’ll never make it without our help. We are the bare minimum required.”
Angling his head, Zach studied her, considering her words.
The way Isaiah slightly shook his head, as though he was ready to die for them right here and now was too much for Heidi. She couldn’t allow that. Cade could not get his weapon out in time to do anything for them. Isaiah had to know that.
“Do as he says, Cade.” Heidi took off her own coat and arctic cold swirled around her. She shivered.
Wind rippled over the small fire and almost snuffed it out, but Heidi knew the darkness wouldn’t help them.
“You should listen to her,” Zach said.
Cade quickly stripped from his jacket, revealing his shoulder holster and the weapon inside. He handed it over to Jason.
“Radios and SAT phones, cell phones, everything.”
Cade’s expression turned dark and menacing as he handed over everything that would connect him to their brother David, who was monitoring this rescue mission from the command center at the base of the mountain. Adam, Cade and Heidi’s other brother, had been called out on a separate search and rescue. The Warren siblings were spread out tonight.
“Is that everything?”
“We came here to help you,” Isaiah said. “A storm is approaching, so we don’t have time for this. Why are you threatening us, pointing those guns at us?”
“If you don’t want our help, we’ll just be on our way,” Cade said.
“I like to hear that, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen. We’re going to be on our way. All of us. You’re going to lead, and we’re going to follow you out.”
Isaiah looked at the cliff face they’d just scaled. “We’re not equipped to help you back up that cliff, not in the dark. Not with a storm closing in. There’s a reason we brought supplies to make it through the night and longer, depending on the weather.”
“Why did you call us? Why do you need us?” Heidi asked the question, but she thought she already knew the answer.
“The supplies you brought, and we need you to guide us out,” Jason said.
Finally, someone besides Zach spoke up. Maybe if they could somehow take him out, the rest of them could be overcome.
“Our small plane crash-landed up there.” Jason pointed behind them. “Two people didn’t survive, the pilot died. Another guy, too. The rest of us...we made it this far, but knew we needed to call for help or die in the mountains.”
But why the guns? Obviously, there was much more to this than they were being told. They were desperate to get out tonight, which was also a risk. So desperate that they would hold a search and rescue team at gunpoint. Why were they in such a hurry? What were they running from?
Fear gripped Heidi at her next thought.
Were they fugitives?
She didn’t watch the news enough to know anything.
Heidi wanted to ask, but her brother gave a slight shake of his head. Knowing too much about this group in need of help could be deadly. But sooner or later the SAR team would learn the truth, and Heidi feared that truth, when it came, would cost their lives.
* * *
“Look, I don’t know why you think you need to hold us at gunpoint. This whole thing is some sort of crazy.” Isaiah regretted the words as soon as he said them. “You asked for help and you got it. That’s what we’re here to do, but you have to trust us. And believe me when I say we can’t guide you out of this saddle tonight.”
Isaiah’s heart battered his insides. He thought he’d already seen enough trouble to last him a lifetime. But he needed to try to talk their way out of this.
Zach didn’t appear to like to be challenged, especially in front of his friends. He stepped toward Isaiah, waving his weapons around, his thick gloves raising the threat of him accidentally putting too much pressure on a trigger guard. Isaiah didn’t think Zach had the safety locked on either weapon.
An image of a woman covered in blood suffused his mind. He shook the memory. A vise gripped Isaiah’s chest. He wanted to grab the guns and stop this insanity.
“Didn’t I already warn you that if you slow me down, I’ll get rid of you?” Zach aimed both guns at Isaiah, point-blank.
“No!” Heidi screamed.
Zach made a mistake, standing too close. Isaiah could grab him, disarm him, but with Cade and Heidi so near and Jason holding the other weapon, that would gain Isaiah nothing. He couldn’t risk someone else’s life, but then again, if he didn’t take the chance now he was risking all their lives.
To Isaiah’s regret, Heidi put herself in the line of fire and pulled on Zach’s arm. “Please, don’t.”
“Get back, Heidi.” Isaiah skewered her with his gaze. He didn’t need her risking her life for him.
“To get out of these mountains, you need all three of us,” she said again.
Zach’s gaze slid to Heidi. It was all Isaiah could do to keep from wiping that leer off his face. But he didn’t have to worry about it for long. Zach slammed his weapon into the side of Isaiah’s head, just under his helmet. He fell back into the snow, dizziness engulfing him.
“Isaiah!” Heidi’s scream sounded as if it was coming from the other end of a tunnel.
She appeared by his side. “Isaiah,” she whispered. “Talk to me.”
He tugged off the helmet and grabbed his head. “These things don’t protect against raving lunatics.”
What had he expected from Zach, anyway?
“Heidi’s right,” Cade said to Zach. “We can help you climb out tonight, but it’s going to take all three of us.”
Ignoring his pounding head, Isaiah focused his vision. He had to stay with it. Heidi scrambled over to the medical kit a few feet away.
“I’m not convinced,” Rhea said. She looked at Heidi.
What? That woman expected Zach to do away with Heidi?
Cade’s tension was palpable. “In addition to our equipment and expertise, you’ll need us to physically assist you down. There are four of you. You need all of us.”
Something ran down Isaiah’s neck. He pressed his gloved hand against the side of his head where he felt a knot and drew it back. Blood. Zach had given him a gash.
This was an absolute nightmare.
“That settles it, then,” Zach said. “Now that we’re all in agreement, let’s get this stuff put away and get geared up.”
Heidi dropped next to Isaiah. She examined his head and swabbed it, then looked him in the eyes. He wished she wouldn’t do that. Give him that look that showed him how much she cared, and yet how much she couldn’t care. How much he’d hurt her, on top of everything else that had happened.
“You shouldn’t challenge him like that,” she whispered. “Just do as they ask. We’ll make it out of this. We have to.”
She moved to stand, but he grabbed her wrist. “Don’t put yourself between me and anyone like that again.”
Shaking her head, she tried to stand, but he kept his grip on her. “Do you hear me?”
“You’d do the same for me,” she said.
Yes. Yes he would, and more. But he couldn’t have her risking her life for the likes of him. He didn’t deserve the sacrifice.
Heidi stood and offered her hand. Of course, Isaiah could stand without her help, but he took her hand anyway. Felt the strong, sturdy grip beneath her gloves. Maybe Cade had been right. Heidi needed to get back into climbing and helping people. Search and rescue. Only Isaiah was certain she didn’t need it to come at her like this, with crazy people waving guns around.
The moon finally dipped behind the north summit, and the silhouette of thick clouds edged into the sky from the west. Isaiah put his helmet back on.
“Hey!” Zach directed his attention to Isaiah and Heidi. “What are you doing? Let’s get the gear packed up and ready to go.”
Isaiah growled under his breath. This guy had no idea what he was getting them all into. He bent down to help Heidi pack the tents and stuff the equipment back in the pack. The helicopter had dropped more gear. How were they going to carry all of it down? He watched Cade studying all their supplies, probably wondering the same thing. If they were really going to do this, hike out tonight, at least until the storm prevented them from going farther, there were few items they could do without. Added to that, they had no idea how long Zach and his crew were going to need their assistance.
David monitored their activity from the command center and would want an update soon. Isaiah had no idea what they would tell the man. Did Zach even have a clue about that? And did he have a clue that it might be mid-April but up in these mountains it might as well be the dead of winter? Well, except there was more daylight. The thing was, if they went tromping off into this mountain wilderness and survived, at some point, another team would be sent to search for them when they went missing.
Oh, yeah, someone would look for them.
But the storm could very well prevent that search from happening anytime soon, and with Zach pressing them they could be far from here by then. They might never be found.
How far was Zach planning to push them?
Isaiah finished zipping the last pack, itching to ask Zach exactly that. Just how far were they intending to hike? How long would they need the SAR team’s assistance?
How long before Zach killed them?
THREE
Heidi decided to wait until the last possible moment to tug her heavy backpack on. As overfilled as it was, it would weigh her down and tire her out before they made whatever unreasonable destination Zach had in mind. They’d yet to learn where exactly it was he wanted them to guide him other than off this saddle between the summits. All she knew was that leaving tonight was a potentially lethal idea.
Regardless, she couldn’t afford to slow them down. By killing the other man in the group, Robbie, Zach had already shown he didn’t have patience. Didn’t care about others. A radio squawked somewhere. Heidi stiffened. They had to update the command center. That had to be David calling.
Zach approached her. Why me? Heidi wanted to be invisible.
Her nerves slid down her back and into the snow at her feet. Please, God, make me invisible. She didn’t want this man to look at her. To talk to her.
But somehow she knew it was already too late. He’d...noticed her. The look in his eyes confirmed it. He tugged her tight and leaned in close, his breath warming her cheek. She could fight him with everything in her and even wound him, but she knew that would only end up hurting Isaiah or her brother in the end. So she stood her ground instead.
Then Zach smirked at Isaiah while he kissed the side of her head. She tried to move away, but Zach held fast. A shudder crawled over her.
Even in the firelight, she saw the murder in Isaiah’s dark hazel eyes. She could see Cade’s jaw working from where he stood behind Isaiah—the very reaction Zach was going for. This was it then. Zach would use her against them until this was over. She was their weakness. She hoped that his actions meant nothing more than taunting Isaiah and her brother, and had nothing at all to do with an actual attraction to her. God, please, no.
Holding her close, Zach pressed the gun against her well-insulated coat. “Say anything wrong, and she pays for it.”
He jabbed her rib cage and she winced. With his other hand, he lifted the radio from his pocket and tossed it to Isaiah.
“What do you want me to say, then?” Isaiah’s scowl deepened. “What about the body of the guy you shot?”
“Say nothing about him. Tell them everything is going as planned. You’re settled in for tonight. But tell them you’ll hike out tomorrow. We don’t need the helicopter to hoist anyone out, after all. We’re all fine here.”
Heidi couldn’t help but think that was good. David would probably suspect something was wrong but, then again, maybe not. It wasn’t as if he could imagine this scenario they’d walked into. He would have no reason not to trust their assessment.
Eyes flashing, Isaiah replied on the radio, relaying all that Zach had demanded. Isaiah’s pensive gaze never left Heidi. Something fierce and protective burned there, and it took her breath away. Now she couldn’t help but fear for Zach. What would Isaiah do to the man once he got the chance?
She didn’t want Isaiah to put himself in harm’s way for her, or to do or say something he’d regret later. Finally, Heidi was able to withdraw from Zach, and she noticed Rhea watching her with those crazy eyes.
“Well, then, we’re wasting time. Let’s gear up and head out.” Cade tossed the heavy packs, along with the bags dropped by the helicopter, to each of the climbers, since they apparently didn’t have their own gear except for the one green bag.
Jason, Liam and Rhea stared down at the stuff and back up at Zach.
“What’s all this?” Rhea asked. “We can’t carry this stuff.”
Zach shrugged. “We have to make it as far as we can tonight. Do the best you can.”
“We’ll need as much of that as we can bring.” Isaiah tossed headlamps to them.
Heidi almost smiled at that. He always thought of everything. And it was a good thing, too, especially for this unexpected situation because these people wouldn’t be able to see their way down. Maybe if the SAR team could show them what exactly they faced rappelling, Zach would change his mind. But he appeared to be a man on a mission and nothing would stop him.
The big question of the day: What was driving him?
This was insane. She didn’t want to be anywhere nearby if one of them fell or got hurt. She couldn’t go through that again. She had no idea what kind of shape this motley crew of criminals was in, but she’d guess they had no clue what they were in for.
Cade folded up the map he’d been looking at and tucked it in his coat. He started off, heading southwest. “Let’s go, then.”
Unmoving, Zach cocked his head.
“Wait,” Isaiah said. “Why that way?”
Are you kidding me? She wished he’d stop talking. Zach looked irritated anytime Isaiah said anything, making her more scared that he would be the first of them to go. Something inside whimpered at the thought. But...how could this end any other way?
“Isaiah,” she said, hoping she didn’t have an audience. Everyone seemed preoccupied with their gear.
When he gazed at her, she willed him to understand, read her thoughts. Don’t stir up more trouble for us. Just follow Cade.
But she knew Isaiah and Cade hadn’t been getting along the past few weeks, and that would probably play into this whole mess. She hoped she wasn’t the cause of the rift between them.
Isaiah directed his next words to Cade. “We need to talk about the best way down. If we choose the wrong way, we could all die.”
* * *
Isaiah knew what Heidi wanted. She wanted him to follow her brother, like always, but maybe neither one of them was thinking right. Maybe Isaiah was the only one capable of thinking this through.
Cade got in Isaiah’s face. He sure wished he could use this to his advantage like he’d seen in the movies. He and Cade distract the bad guys and then punch them. Take them out. But no. That wasn’t going to happen tonight.
Fury rippled in Cade’s overstressed face. “We hike out through Rush Gulley. It’s the only way.”
“Not with the storm coming. We’ll be too exposed and get the brunt of it on that side of the mountains. Our whole purpose in bringing this gear is to make it through the night. Protect them from the storm. The deadly temps.”
Cade worked his jaw and looked away, breathing hard, pondering Isaiah’s words.
Then Zach was in the middle, playing with his gun again. “Do I need to kill one of you so we don’t have to waste time arguing on the best way out? We hike out the safest and fastest way to the ice field.”
“What?” So there it was. Zach’s destination. “Why the ice field?”
“Because that’s my only ride out of this frozen world. I have four days to get there.”
“We’ll never make it,” Cade said. “That’s too far.”
“It’s only thirty miles. We’re that close. So we take shortcuts if we have to. Go over the mountains instead of around them. You can do it. You’re mountain climbers.” Zach grinned.
As if that would appease or charm them into agreeing. Isaiah wanted to punch him. They didn’t have all the gear they’d need for such a trek. Or the food or supplies. It was a death wish at best.
In this weather and terrain, they’d be fortunate to make five or six miles a day, tops, and that wasn’t counting the added burden of inexperienced climbers. Isaiah wanted to inform him there was no possible way, but he’d already done enough damage.
“Safest and fastest don’t go together,” he said.
The temperature dropped as the storm pushed arctic air deeper into the mountains. Isaiah sometimes wondered how it could get colder. They needed to keep moving or they’d get hypothermic right here. They needed to get the blood pumping. Sure, he wanted to take Zach down, but first and foremost, he was part of a search and rescue team, and he’d see this through. He’d get these people out and to safety, and then let the authorities deal with them. He didn’t want to hurt them.
Unless he had to. He would do whatever was necessary to protect Cade and Heidi. His heart staggered at the thought of harm coming to her.
Hands at his hips, he looked at the ground, waiting for Cade to say something. He didn’t want to get into it with him, but he’d needed to question Cade on his decision. He doubted any of them were thinking as clearly as they could under the circumstances.
“Isaiah’s right,” Cade said. “The north face will be tough going down. But it’s the quickest way to your destination, so you should be glad about that. You’ll have to stick very close to us, but I figure we have an hour, maybe two before we have to set up the tents to weather the storm.”
“No. We keep going,” Zach said.
“We won’t make it if we don’t stop. The storm will be a blizzard. A whiteout. Do you get that? We won’t be able to see where we’re going, even with night goggles and headlamps. We couldn’t even if we were in broad daylight. This terrain is deadly all by itself. Be realistic, man.”
Still looking at his boots sunk in the snow, Isaiah shook his head, mostly to himself. There was no good way out of here in the dark during a storm. But if he put himself in Zach’s head, maybe he could imagine why the guy was so desperate.
“I get it,” he said. “You want us to be gone by morning, so if the storm clears out, we’ll be untraceable.”
Zach nodded to Isaiah, respect in his eyes. Isaiah couldn’t say he returned the sentiment.
“So tell me.” He was going to do this thing. Ask the forbidden question that he knew Cade and Heidi wanted the answer to, too. But they were afraid to know the truth. The way Isaiah figured it, their lives were already forfeit. Might as well know the whole of it. “What or who are you running from? What did you do?”
The guy’s eyes narrowed.
“Come on, man. We’re risking our lives for you out here. Tell us what this is all about.”
“Isaiah, no. We don’t need to know what’s going on.” Cade glared at Isaiah, then directed his words to Zach and the others. “It’s none of our business. All we care about is getting you out of here and to safety, and we want to be left to make our own way. Let’s agree on that.”
Cade was right, and Isaiah had proven himself a bigger idiot than he thought possible.
Jason stepped up next to Zach, his headlamp blinding them.
“Armored-car robbery,” he said. “That’s what.”
Cade’s form deflated as he blew out a big breath. The look of pained disappointment he gave Isaiah hit him in the gut. He’d pushed things too far, he saw that now. Cade was right. They didn’t want to know what this was about. Isaiah had just sealed their fates.
“We escaped,” Jason continued. “Made it out. Nobody had a clue where to look. Then we hit a snag in Zach’s big plans when our plane crashed. You want to know how much money?”
Jason opened his mouth and sucked in a breath, but Zach punched him in the face.
Grabbing his nose, Jason howled and cursed Zach. “What’d you do that for?”
With a single look, Zach silenced him. Too bad that couldn’t have worked to begin with, before the punch to the face.
“Now if we’re done with the small talk, lead on.” Zach gestured ahead of him.
The wind picked up and the snow clouds slowly crept across the sky. Once the clouds blanketed the region and hid the moon, this clan would depend completely on the goggles and headlamps. And once the storm hit, their feeble lighting would be of little help.
Before he turned to lead the way, Cade gave Isaiah one long shake of his head. Isaiah hoped Cade could see the regret in his eyes, but he was sure it wouldn’t matter. This wasn’t the first time Cade had given him that disappointed look lately, but at least this time Isaiah knew the reason for it. Now wasn’t the time to try to figure out what had been bothering his friend, especially since he likely already knew the answer to that. He tried to shove the unwelcome thoughts out of the way.
They would have to work together as a team in a way they never had before. This would require all their energy and focus and trust.
Trust. Why had this particular search and rescue scenario hit them when the trust between the three of them was at an all-time low?
Let it go, man. You don’t have time to worry about that now.
Carrying the heavy packs and gear, everything they’d need to survive, the group trudged behind Cade as he led the way off the saddle, careful to stay out of the path of the avalanche that could spill from the cornice above at any moment.
Zach hiked next to Isaiah, pulling up the back, and pointing his gun at Isaiah for fun. “Don’t forget that I have guns. Will kill.”
“Well, Zach, I’m intimidated by you, sure,” Isaiah said. This guy felt big and strong with the weapons he didn’t handle all that well. “But facing off with nature in this part of the world scares me more. If you’re not scared yet, you will be.”
FOUR
Heidi struggled to keep up with Cade. With his big strides, he covered the ground quickly, even in the snow-covered saddle. None of the SAR team members had removed their crampons yet, and they hadn’t tasked the climbers to wear them or snowshoes until required. The snow wasn’t loose enough that they sank into it here, but the terrain indicated that they were approaching a sharp drop.
That was only one problem they would eventually face. Added to that, they’d have to be sure this group knew how to use an ice ax for self-rescue, or a technical ice ax if required. Argh. Did they even have all the equipment they would need? She doubted it. Heidi’s breathing hitched. She wanted to pull her hair out. This wasn’t going to work.