Cutting Edge

CHAPTER THIRTY

Hooper passed Quin off to the paramedics. She had lost consciousness completely in the car, her skin extremely pale.

“She was injected with heparin,” Hooper told them. He pulled the vials out of his pocket and showed the EMT. “Will one of these counteract it?”

The EMT handed the vials to the lead paramedic. “This is heparin, this is ethylene chlorohydrin.”

“Can that help her?”

“It’d kill her pretty quickly if injected.”

Duke had been right, Hooper thought. If Nora had found Quin she might have taken what O’Dell said on the video at face value and injected her thinking she’d save her, only to end up killing her.

“Is she going to be okay?” Hooper asked.

“She needs blood.” He got a vial ready.

“What’s that?”

“Vitamin K. It will counteract the effect of the heparin, but it’s going to take a while. Have you typed her?” he asked the EMT.

“A-negative.”

“Ask around, we need blood now. She’s not going to make it to the hospital.”

Hooper was B-positive. He called his SWAT team, which was only five minutes up the road. “Anyone there have A-negative blood?”

A moment later, one of the men responded. “O-negative.”

Hooper asked the medics. “Is O-negative acceptable?”

“The universal donor. Get him over here.”

Duke’s lungs were burning as he reached the base of the fire tower. Here, the smoke wasn’t as bad, but it was getting worse every minute. He quietly climbed the ladder to the top of the tower. Maggie O’Dell was holding a slingshot and was so focused on her target that she didn’t hear Duke as he stepped silently into the open-air tower.

Duke quickly assessed the situation. The tower was twenty feet square, open on all sides with three-foot-high walls. There was nothing inside, nothing to hide behind. Just him and Maggie O’Dell.

Her back was to him. Her backpack, full of rocks, at her feet. Rocks that she was pummeling Sean and Nora with below. But the smoke was growing thicker, and he could practically see her body tense in frustration. Her perfect plans were not-so-perfect, Duke thought. In a few minutes Sean and Nora would be safely away, or the smoke would be too thick to see them.

He approached cautiously, slowly, drawing his gun. He didn’t want to shoot her. He didn’t want to kill anyone, even someone as vile and psychotic as Maggie O’Dell.

She froze. She’d sensed him.

“Hold it right there,” he said gruffly.

She didn’t move.

“Put down the slingshot. I have a gun.” He took another step toward her, a watchful eye on her hands.

She whipped around and fired the slingshot at him. But her aim was off. The rock barely grazed his shoulder. Damn, it still hurt, but he wasn’t out. He held his gun steady on her. “Drop it.”

Maggie’s face twisted in anger. “You! You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Hands up, Maggie.”

“No. You can’t make me.”

“Quin is safe. We found her, she’s already on her way to the hospital. She’s going to live.”

Duke wasn’t certain that was true, but he wanted to convince Maggie that she’d failed. He needed her compliant. He didn’t have handcuffs, but he couldn’t very well wait here in the tower until help arrived. Forest fires were erratic and could shift direction without warning. Right now, winds were low, but at any time that could change.

He didn’t know if she had a gun, but she had a knife strapped to her belt. He watched her hands. A knife could easily kill even if thrown twenty feet, and Duke was much closer than that.

“Get your hands up now!” he ordered for the second time. He saw her calculating her options.

He approached her, finger on the trigger. He would have to shoot her if she went for the knife. She stood there, lips tight, glaring at him. “You’re screwing with my plans,” she snapped. “I don’t like that!”

Duke put the gun to her neck and unsheathed the knife in one fluid motion. She stood perfectly still, neither helping nor hindering him. He didn’t trust her. After everything she’d done, she wasn’t going to come in this easy.

He had no place for the knife, and tossed it over the side of the fire tower.

“You first,” he said, gesturing toward the ladder.

“I don’t want to go.” She crossed her arms.

“The fires you set are heading this way.”

“I know. You’ll just die with me I guess.”

“I’m not dying today, sister, and neither are you, unless you try some dumb-ass move. Now get a move on.”

She glared at him.

“Fine,” he said. “Nora had a lot of questions about your handiwork, I guess you won’t be able to answer them.”

“Don’t talk about her!”

“She’s on her way to her plane right now. She’ll be out of here and you’ll be stuck. She can tell the media anything she wants about your activities. Your murder spree.”

“I didn’t kill anyone who didn’t deserve it!”

“Your best friend deserved to be poisoned?” Duke shook his head. “And what did Quin ever do to you other than offer you friendship?”

Her face reddened. “She ignored me! She was so scared of what Nora would say she didn’t want me anywhere near her. Well, I showed her! I will not be ignored!”

“Then you’d better get your ass down that ladder or Nora English will make sure you’re not even a footnote in serial killer history.”

Maggie laughed harshly, ending with a cough. “Sure, we’re both killers. She killed my father, I just balanced the scales.”

“Nora had nothing to do with your father’s death.”

“That’s what she told you, but she’s a liar. She set him up, him and our mother. Can you believe she testified against her own mother? Sent her to prison for the rest of her life?”

Duke pushed harder. He had to get the woman out of the tower and off the mountain. He didn’t know how much time they had. “Do you know how we found Quin? Through Lorraine. Your mother ratted you out.”

“Bull-fucking-shit. My mom didn’t know about any of this. But she hates Nora as much as I do, she’d approve.”

“When Nora told her you’d kidnapped Quin, Lorraine was heartbroken. Told Nora about Templeton’s cabin in the woods and exactly how to get there.” He’d fudged the details a bit, but saw that it was working. Maggie was shaking, her mouth open. He went on. “She picked Quin over you.”

“I don’t believe you!” But her expression said she did. She believed it because he was here and had told her he’d saved Quin.

“We have Quin,” he said, “and your cat and the duck you stole from Butcher-Payne. It has a broken wing. You thought it might not be able to survive on its own.”

Her lip quivered and tears streamed down her face. “Lorraine told you?”

“Lorraine told Nora.”

That did it. She practically collapsed into herself and shuffled across the floor toward the ladder.

“Hold it,” he said as she was about to step down. Gun to her head, he quickly patted her down. He still didn’t trust her, but he couldn’t find a weapon on her.

“Okay,” he said. “Go down slowly.” He coughed, the smoke was thicker, and he feared they wouldn’t be able to find their way to the plane. He hoped Sean knew exactly how to get there in the dark, because they might as well be blind in this smoky forest. He couldn’t see any flames, but he smelled the aromatic scent of burning pine. He prefered it in his fireplace.

This high up he had a perfect cell phone signal. He called Sean. “I have her. I don’t have cuffs, but she’s unarmed.”

“Hold on,” Sean said, and Duke heard him ask Nora about handcuffs. “Nora has a pair,” he said.

“Good. We’ll meet you at the road. I hope you know how to get to the plane.”

He watched Maggie carefully walk down the ladder. Methodically. Slowly.

“I do. Hurry.”

“Maggie suddenly slid the rest of the way down the ladder, her hands tempering her fall as they loosely held the wooden sides. That had to sting, but Duke had no time to think. She was already at the bottom.

“She’s running,” he told Sean, stuffed his phone and Colt in his pants and followed Maggie’s lead.

Nora tensed. “Did Duke just say she was running?”

“Yes.” Sean stood next to her protectively. “We need cover. Can you walk?” He coughed, the smoke becoming a major problem for both of them now.

“I have to,” she said.

Sean helped her up. Shoulder aching, Nora was limping and could practically feel the bruises growing on her thigh and back and head. But she no longer had the urge to vomit, and while her head throbbed, she felt marginally better.

Apprehensive, she watched the mountainside for Maggie or Duke. The smoke waffled in, hanging eerily in the air. It was nine in the morning, but it might as well have been dusk.

“Are you okay?” Sean asked quietly.

“Why?”

“You’re listing to the right.”

“I didn’t notice,” she said. “My head hurts, but-”

“I think you have a concussion. Here-this is a good place to take cover while Duke tracks her.” He helped Nora over a fallen redwood tree. It was large enough that if they sat behind it, they would be mostly out of sight. She pulled her gun out. Maggie couldn’t think she’d be able to get to them, not three against one, but Nora knew that Maggie didn’t think logically. Maybe in her own mind it made sense, but not to Nora.

“Sit still,” Sean said, “I’ll keep-”

Movement to the west had them both bracing for attack. But it was Duke who emerged from the woods.

“You’re both okay?” he asked, partly jogging, partly sliding down the mountainside to reach them.

“Yes,” Nora said.

“Nora has a concussion,” Sean said.

“We don’t know that-”

Duke squatted beside her, touched her face, her head, his hand came away with sticky blood. He kissed her lightly, then helped her stand. “We need to get out of here. You need a doctor, and the smoke is getting so thick I don’t know if Sean will be able to take off.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Sean said. He glanced at Duke, concern on his face. Nora caught the exchange.

“Boys,” she said, “I’m okay. Really. Do you know which way Maggie went? She obviously knows this mountain well, she can disappear and we won’t be able to find her.”

“Right now, getting the three of us out of the middle of this forest fire is my number one priority,” Duke said. “We’ll come back and search for her when it’s contained.”

“She could be long gone,” Nora said. She wouldn’t be able to rest knowing that Maggie O’Dell was free to go after the people she loved.

“We’ll cross that bridge later.” Duke helped Nora over the log, down to the road, and then they stayed to the side, away from the steep incline down into the deep canyon. Duke kept his gun drawn, knowing that they weren’t safe from Maggie yet. “You do know how to get back, right Sean?”

“Yes. Keep to this road.” He had a compass in his hand. “Where the road meets itself, we head two degrees northeast and we’ll hit the plane in less than a quarter mile.”

Duke was extremely worried about Nora. She insisted she was fine, but she couldn’t walk in a straight line. That made her vulnerable, and Maggie was in the woods. Waiting.

Duke had watched her, listened to her, and knew Maggie wasn’t going to run away. She wanted revenge on Nora for a whole host of things that had little to do with her in the first place. But in Maggie’s head, Nora was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in the young girl’s life. Maggie fully intended to go after her now, especially because Nora was physically nearby. Duke didn’t think that Maggie would be able to help herself.

He made hand motions to direct Sean to keep his eyes forward, and Duke would scan the mountainside and rear. The smoke had him at a disadvantage, but his military training gave him an edge. He relied more on his ears than his eyes.

Nora tripped and Duke caught her before she fell to her knees. He steadied her and said, “We have to move faster.”

“I know,” she said.

Cough cough cough.

Duke listened. The coughing came from the tree line right above them on the mountainside. Maggie was there, just out of sight, but he’d heard her.

“Duke-” Nora had heard her as well.

“Keep moving,” he commanded. He glanced at Sean and motioned for him to flank Nora’s left side. “Faster.” Maggie had uneven terrain, which gave them a second advantage. He couldn’t rule out that she had a weapon. He had frisked her, but not as extensively as he would have liked. And for all he knew, she could have had a hidden cache near the fire tower.

The road curved up ahead, signaling they were halfway to the plane. Helicopters in the distance told Duke that fire suppression was in full force. A far distant siren gave him additional hope. The smoke didn’t seem to be thickening any more, and visibility was about twenty, twenty-five feet. He hoped it was better in the field where Sean had landed, or they’d be calling for a helicopter.

A glimpse of movement in the woods above them. Maggie was traveling parallel, and Duke suspected she was either trying to make it to the plane before them, or running to cut them off.

Duke said to Nora, “Come on, sweetheart, pick up the pace. We have company.”

Though Nora was limping and in pain, he didn’t have any choice. He had to push her. They needed to reach the curve first.

A sharp sting hit Duke on the side of his jaw and he stumbled and fell to his knees. He could see nothing but black and stars for several seconds. He started to shake it off, called, “Nora-”

She’d stopped when he fell. “Duke, you’re bleeding!” She started toward him.

“No!” he cried as he heard a screech from the trees and saw Maggie running down the mountainside, gravity aiding her momentum as she lunged toward Nora.

Duke jumped up, Sean right behind him, as Maggie slammed her body into Nora’s. Nora had only a moment of realization before she fell to the ground.

The women rolled across the road, Maggie holding Nora by the shoulders, forcing her to come with her.

Maggie was aiming them for the cliff. She planned to kill herself, and take Nora with her.

Duke sprinted, reached for Nora’s shirt and caught the collar, pulling her back. Sean dove like he was sliding headlong into first base and maneuvered his body between the women and the edge of the cliff.

“Sean!” Duke shouted. He was precariously close to the edge, but he controlled his slide and his body thwarted Maggie’s plan. Her head hit Sean’s legs. Duke tried to pull Nora away from the deranged killer, but Maggie held on to her body tightly.

Nora screamed and Duke saw the knife in Maggie’s hand. She brought up her arm, her face full of unstable rage, and Duke saw blood dripping from the blade.

She’d stabbed Nora.

Duke aimed his Colt at Maggie’s hand and without hesitation, fired one two three.

Her hand was no longer there, only a bloody pulp from three well-placed bullets.

Maggie was on her knees, screaming in pain, inches from the edge of the precipice. Nora was beneath her. Too close to the abyss. Too close to death.

Sean scrambled to grab Nora under the arms and pull her to safety, while Maggie caught hold of her waist with her uninjured hand. On purpose, Maggie put her own legs over the edge, holding on to Nora’s lower body. Nora cried out. “Duke!”

“I’m right here!” He maneuvered for a shot, but it wasn’t clear. He was sweating, unable to get a lock on Maggie.

Nora pleaded with Maggie. “Let me go!” She tried to kick the woman away, but Maggie held on tight. Her grip on Nora was the only thing preventing her from free-falling hundreds of feet.

“Never! You’re dead, Nora, dead!” Maggie screamed.

Duke shouted, “Sean!”

“I have her! Do it!”

Duke aimed and fired a bullet between Maggie’s eyes. Time seemed to freeze. The shock on her face, the realization that she was dead right as the bullet hit. Her body fell, her weight dragging Nora farther over the edge, the dry earth crumbling, jeopardizing both Sean and Nora.

Maggie disappeared from view and Duke heard the sick thump of her body hitting a tree. Nora’s legs had disappeared over the edge. Sean had her by one biceps.

“Duke! She’s slipping!”

Duke crawled over and grabbed Nora’s other arm. “Now!” he told Sean. They pulled Nora up and onto safe ground.

There was so much blood on her. Duke didn’t know what was Maggie’s and what was hers. “Nora, where are you hurt?” He had to stop the bleeding.

“My thigh,” she said. “She had a knife strapped inside her thigh. When she tackled me I felt her reach for it. I’m okay.”

Duke highly doubted that Nora was okay. He pulled off his shirt and found the knife wound on Nora’s upper thigh. It went deep on the outside of her leg. He pulled off his shirt and tied it as tight as possible around the gash.

He then inspected the rest of her body. She winced when he found the place on her shoulder where Maggie had pummeled her with rocks. There were a myriad of scrapes and bruises and she was going to feel like shit for the next few days. But she was alive.

“God, Nora, I-” He couldn’t say it out loud. He thought he was going to lose her. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. “I love you, Nora. Don’t scare me again.”

Nora rested her head against his chest. “Why did she do it?” she asked, but Duke didn’t think she expected answers. He didn’t think there were any that they could understand.

“I had to-”

Nora reached for his face, tears streaming down her own. “Shh. She gave you no choice. I just-I wish it was different. I wish I could have fixed it before-but I don’t know. It’s such a tragic waste.”

Nora closed her eyes and started coughing.

Sean said, “We need to run, folks, or we’ll be in serious shit.”

“She’s in no condition to walk.” Duke picked her up. She held on to his neck. “Lead the way, brother.” He looked around. “The smoke isn’t getting worse. It might be improving.”

“I hope so,” Sean said. “I don’t think I could get out if it’s this bad where the plane is parked.”

“I’m proud of you, Sean.” They walked briskly in silence until Sean led them to an old logging road that branched off of Last Chance Road. If you want a full-time position at Rogan-Caruso, you have it.”

“Thanks, Duke. I appreciate it. Let me think about it.”

Duke frowned. “What do you need to think about? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“Maybe I do. But I have some other ideas I want to explore.”

Nora squeezed the back of Duke’s neck. He glanced down at her in his arms, still concerned, but pleased that the color was returning to her face.

“Sean will be fine in anything he does,” she said.

“I know. I just want to keep my eye on him,” he whispered. “And you.”

“Good,” Nora said with a weak smile. “I want to keep my eye on you, too. I love you.”