The Kill

CHAPTER 26

Zack had told Olivia that Miranda was coming with them on the helicopter search, but seeing her was still a pleasant surprise. Miranda gave her a big bear hug and asked, “How are you?” then glanced at Zack, who was talking to the pilot. “Quinn told me everything,” Miranda whispered. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Olivia relaxed. “Thank you. We’re so close. I don’t want to blow it now and not be here when we find him.”

“I know, Liv. I know exactly how you feel.”

Out of everyone, Miranda did understand. Having her friend here, not only to find Nina but as support, grounded Olivia. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was in Seattle when you called the other day.”

“We’ll talk about that later. Now,” she looked over at Zack, “I assume that’s Detective Travis?”

“Yes.”

“He’s umm, well, as sexy as Viggo Mortensen in Lord of the Rings.”

Olivia blushed. Miranda knew Olivia loved Tolkien’s trilogy. “Miranda! I hadn’t noticed.” Of course she had, the minute she saw him.

“Then you’re blind.” Miranda glanced at the sky. “We need to get a move on. The fog is creeping in.”

Zack approached. “Miranda Peterson?”

“Yes.” She shook his hand. “Let’s get going and I’ll tell you my plan on the way.” She handed both him and Olivia copies of a map of the central-west section of the Cascade Mountains.

“I just got word from my partner,” Zack said as he put on headphones and adjusted the equipment in the front of the helicopter to fit his long legs. “They found the owner of the truck. It’s registered to Karl Burgess. He and his wife left on vacation early this morning. Their neighbor said they drove themselves to the airport. Boyd is on his way to find Driscoll’s vehicle. We have a warrant and will tow it to the lab, plus have a twenty-four-hour stakeout at the airport in case he returns for his car.”

“I hope he doesn’t come back,” Olivia said. Miranda and Zack both looked at her skeptically.

“If he returns, Nina is dead.”

Zack coordinated with the sheriff’s department from the helicopter and listened to Miranda lay out her plan. They spoke through microphones attached to the headphones they all wore, their voices competing with the helicopter noise.

“Until the sheriff’s department says otherwise, we’re assuming the witness is accurate about the white truck he saw turning onto Road 56. That puts us… here.” She pointed to where Road 56 was accessible from the main highway. “In here are homes and cabins, spread out. Within a mile or so, the mountain starts a steep climb up. Here is the middle north fork of the Anchor River; you can see how Road 56 crosses it here and… here.”

“All the way up the mountain,” Zack said. “I’ve been up there. Beautiful in the summer, impassable in the winter.”

“There are two places we can land other than this field near the turnoff. We can go up three miles to a lodge which has a flat, wide meadow. I talked to them already and cleared it. If we need it, it’s there. Or, we can land here.” She pointed about a mile farther up the mountain. “It’s a campground owned by the Boy Scouts.”

“He won’t be anywhere people might see or hear.”

“Agreed. He wants privacy, but he also wants accessibility. I’m thinking he’s already staked out a site.”

“He doesn’t need a lot to survive,” Olivia interjected. “His house was bare bones. Nothing extraneous. He won’t need a fire. He’ll plan ahead with a sleeping bag maybe, a space blanket. Water. Rations.”

“I agree,” Miranda said. “He was in the military; he knows how to live with minimal supplies. But he’s also going to want an escape route. He’s not going to isolate himself so much that he can be trapped.”

“But he’s been killing for years. He’s not going to think we’re on to him,” Olivia said. “We only learned his identity this morning.”

This morning? It had been a long day, Olivia realized. She rubbed her temples, suddenly weary. She was surprised when Zack reached over and massaged her neck with one hand.

She caught his eye.

“It’s almost over, Liv,” he said as if she were the only one in the copter. “We’re going to get him. Tonight.”

Miranda glanced from Olivia to Zack, then cleared her throat. “So, I’ve marked out grids on the map. The sheriff’s department is checking every trail off Road 56 to see if a truck has recently driven up it. They’re going in on horseback, vehicle, and foot. We have stations set up here-at the lodge where we can land-at this ranger’s station, and here, at the sheriff’s substation at the base of the mountain.”

“What if he sees the activity and kills her immediately?” Olivia asked.

“What else can we do?” Zack said. “If we do nothing, he’ll certainly kill her. But I assume, Miranda, you have a plan to minimize our activity.”

She nodded. “They’re radio silent. All conversation is via secure channels. If he’s monitoring commercial radio or television, then he’ll know we’ve identified him. We have his picture going up on all the networks throughout western Washington, and the Amber Alert is out, which puts his face and description on thousands of websites in the country. He’s not getting away. We just have to find him before he kills Nina.”

Zack studied the map. “Your husband said you were in search-and-rescue. Liv, I thought you said you two went to the FBI Academy together?”

“We did,” Miranda said. “I left before graduation. Long story.” She glanced at Olivia, and Olivia felt awful that her friend was covering for her. “I was the director of Search and Rescue in Montana before Quinn and I got married last June.”

“Oh.” Zack’s face darkened as he remembered. “Oh. The Bozeman Butcher.”

“Yeah, well, that’s over.” A cloud fell over Miranda’s face and Olivia reached for her.

“I didn’t mean to bring it up,” Zack said.

“I’m fine. Now we have The Seattle Slayer on our hands. Don’t you just hate the crap the press comes up with?”

The pilot said, “I have a transmission coming in from Special Agent Quincy Peterson.”

“Put him through,” Zack said.

They all heard Quinn’s voice through the headphones.

“The sheriff’s department has found the truck 1.6 miles off of Road 56, well past the Boy Scout campground. They’ll meet you at the camp and take you there.”

“Nina?” Olivia asked, leaning forward.

“There’s no sign of Nina or Driscoll. The truck was in an accident-hit a deer. Air bags deployed, but there’s some blood in the cab. None in the back of the truck. What’s your ETA?”

“Four minutes to camp,” the pilot said.

“I’m about fifty minutes out. Doug Cohn and his assistant are with me. I have two agents following. And Travis, your partner Boyd found Driscoll’s car in the long-term parking lot at Sea-Tac. He’ll be in contact if there’s anything of use in the cab.”

“Thanks, Peterson. Out.”

Zack stared at the truck slammed against a redwood tree, one tire in a deep gully so the back tire didn’t even rest on the ground. In the middle of the road, a deer lay dead. It had barely been alive when the first sheriff deputies arrived on the scene; a park ranger had been summoned and he put the animal down just before Zack, Miranda, and Olivia arrived. Zack didn’t even have to look at the skid marks to surmise what had happened.

Deer crossed road, truck hit deer, and the impact forced the truck off the road, into a gully, and up against the tree.

“Why couldn’t the bastard be dead behind the wheel?” Zack muttered under his breath.

The deputy gave him a half-smile. “That’d be too easy.”

Zack didn’t want to disturb any evidence, but he needed as much information as he could get to figure out what had happened. Why Nina was not in the truck and where Driscoll had gone. Did he still have Nina? Was she alive? The sheriff’s department was bringing in additional lighting, but all they had now were a few heavy-duty flashlights.

The air bag had deployed and there was blood on it, as if Driscoll had hurt himself or perhaps got a bloody nose on impact. When Doug Cohn arrived, he would process the entire vehicle.

With gloved hands to avoid contaminating evidence, Zack went through the cab. He found maps, registration for Karl Burgess, some books on tape, a pair of movie ticket stubs. All appeared to be old, and likely left by the owners of the truck.

In the camper shell, Zack found ropes. Loops were still in them, and he held them, wondering what had happened.

Had Driscoll untied her? Had Nina freed herself? Had he heard the news reports and dumped her in the mountains-dead or alive-in order to escape?

Where had he gone?

Zack walked around to the front of the truck and put his hand on the hood. A hint of warmth. The accident probably happened an hour to ninety minutes ago.

He slowly circled the truck, sweeping his light back and forth. The third time around, something caught his eye.

He squatted, knees cracking, and picked up a shell casing. Was it new? There was no hunting allowed in this area of the Cascades, but that didn’t mean hunters hadn’t crossed the unmarked boundary.

He put it back where he’d found it, marking the spot with an evidence flag he’d taken from the deputy’s kit.

Standing, he looked around with his light. He saw it. Disturbed earth, footprints.

Driscoll’s flight path.

“Hey, Deputy.” Zack waited for the young cop to reach him. “This looks like a path of some sort. Where does it go?”

The deputy consulted a detailed map of the area. “Okay-the Boy Scouts use this area a lot, but primarily in the summer. The weather is too unpredictable in the fall. The main camp was where you landed… here. Two miles away. The Scouts mark off trails every year as part of their program. This path looks like one of theirs-it’s not on the map.”

“You don’t know where it goes?”

“Their program has the kids making paths with the goal to reach the main camp. There’re a lot of requirements; it’s been a long time since I was in the Scouts. But… less than half a mile from here is a fork of the Anchor River. He’d be able to follow the river all the way down the mountain. There’s enough foliage to hide. The spruce is pretty thick all through this region.”

“Okay, let’s assume he’s uninjured. On foot, it’s still going to take him hours to get down the mountain. We need a team of trackers to head to a lower part of the river and start working their way up; another set starting from here and trying to track him. We might be able to intercept him. He can only follow the river or come back up to this trail. From what I remember of the map, there are some sheer drop-offs west of the river.”

“Correct. How far down?”

Zack called, “Miranda? Miranda!” Quinn’s wife seemed to have an intuitive grasp of the terrain, though apparently she’d lived in Seattle only for a few months. She might have a good idea of how far Driscoll could get down the mountain with his lead time.

She didn’t answer, and he pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Travis here. I’m trying to locate Miranda Peterson and Olivia St. Martin.”

Crackle. “Travis? Miranda here. Liv and I are checking out something up the road. It looks like there was a scuffle. Hold.”

Hold? Dammit, he didn’t like the idea of two women-no matter how well trained-off tracking in the middle of the night when a killer was on the loose.

“Where are you?”

“About point-six miles up the trail from your location.”

“I’ll meet you there. Stay visible.”

“Got it.”

Zack turned to the deputy. “Keep the area secure. I’m heading up the trail to see what they discovered. Keep the channel open-if there’s any trouble, let me know.”

With all the men in the woods, Zack didn’t think Driscoll was around. He was probably hoofing it down the mountain as quickly as possible, hoping he could get to the main road and disappear before they caught up with him.

His cell phone didn’t work up here, so he used his radio on the secure channel to call into the sheriff’s substation and relay the information he’d picked up from the crime scene. Before he hung up, twelve rangers and deputies were on their way to the base of the mountain to follow the middle north fork of the Anchor River up in the hopes of apprehending Driscoll as he made his way down. Another six were on their way to the Boy Scout camp, where a makeshift checkpoint had already been established.

Zack hoped he wasn’t wrong about Driscoll’s flight, but he had a bad feeling it wasn’t close to being over.

Please, God, if you’re listening, please make her okay.

Careful not to trample the evidence, Olivia ran through the scenario in her head.

A small camp had been set up. No fire, but a sleeping bag, backpack with rations and water, and a slick plastic tarp.

Olivia suspected that Driscoll used the tarp to transport the bodies back to town to dump. She wondered why he didn’t leave them in the wilderness. It would take much longer to find them. That was a question for the psychology experts in the Bureau. If she had to hazard a guess, either he wanted their bodies to be found for burial or closure, or he had a subconscious wish to get caught.

Or maybe something less profound: maybe he simply wanted to prove he was smarter than everyone, that he could get away with the “perfect” crime.

The ground was moist up here, littered with pine needles and pebbles and lots of wet dirt. The foot impressions were excellent-she and Miranda had flagged several she thought would make good casts.

The smaller set of footprints led down the mountain, but with the fog growing thicker and her flashlight not providing enough illumination, she wasn’t sure if they belonged to Nina.

“Miranda, come over here,” she called, wanting her friend’s expert advice.

“I just got off the radio with your detective. He’s on his way up.”

“He’s not my detective,” Olivia said.

“Hmm.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Olivia shook her head. “Save it. Look at these.” She shined her light on obvious footprints that headed down the mountain.

“Someone was running, but the ground is moist and they slid here… and down here,” Miranda said.

“They look small.”

“Small for a man.”

“I’m thinking Nina escaped,” Olivia said, hope bubbling. “What if she got away somehow? What if she ran and ran and got away from him? We need to go after her.”

“I agree, but you need to prepare yourself that she might already be dead.”

“No. Why? Why do I have to? She could just as easily be alive. I can’t be too late.”

“This isn’t all on your shoulders, Liv.”

Olivia shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said. “I didn’t mean that. You understand better than anyone.”

“It’s okay, Liv, but I just want you to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Look here-” Miranda parted two spruce saplings and pointed to deeper impressions in the earth. “He pursued her. He may have caught up with her.”

“Or she could have got away,” Olivia said stubbornly.

“Yes, she could have. Or she ran and he caught up to her and killed her. Or he thought it would be easier to find her in the truck. Or maybe he wanted to escape.” Miranda’s eyes were filled with compassion. “Liv, prepare yourself, okay?”

Olivia closed her eyes, pictured Nina dead. Nina’s face turned into Michelle Davidson, then Missy.

“No. She’s alive. I feel it.”

“Olivia!”

Zack’s voice cut through the still fog.

“Over here!” she called, and watched as his shadow emerged. The quality of light was surreal with the flashlight beams bouncing off the mist.

“What did you find?”

Olivia walked him through the evidence. “Zack, I think she escaped. She’s probably scared to death, terrified, and cold. We have to go after her. Miranda has extensive experience tracking.” She glanced at Miranda, hoping she wouldn’t contradict her. Olivia knew she was putting her friend on the spot, but right now finding Nina was the most important thing.

She had to be alive.

“I agree,” Zack said.

Olivia was about to protest when she realized Zack was on her side.

“The three of us will go, stay in sight of one another. I’m going to call in our location.”

When he spoke to the deputy, he learned that Quinn Peterson and Doug Cohn were only fifteen minutes out.

It was surprisingly easy to follow the tracks, even in the dark. The beams from the flashlight made each impression stand out, and they proceeded at a steady pace. At first, the ground dropped away and Olivia feared Nina had fallen down the steep slope to her peril; there were several long, sliding impressions. But only a hundred feet downslope the ground leveled out. In the dark mist, the smell of spruce and pine and damp dirt overpowered all other scents.

Nina had to have been terrified. Running at night from a man who wanted to kill her for no reason her ten-year-old mind could fathom. But what impressed Olivia more than anything was that Nina had the wherewithal to escape in the first place. She was an amazing girl, and though Olivia didn’t know her, she was immensely proud of her.

Nina had zigzagged down the slope for several hundred yards. Even with a down vest over her sweater, Olivia was chilled. Nina had no warm jacket and would be freezing.

A flash of yellow to Olivia’s left had her stopping. Miranda was leading, focused on the ground, while Olivia took the middle and Zack the rear. “Stop,” she called.

“What do you see?”

“Look.” She pointed to a bright yellow spot on the ground. Her heart leapt into her throat.

Nina was last seen wearing a bright yellow windbreaker.

“Stay here,” Zack commanded.

He sidestepped over to the jacket, cautious. He squatted, then came up with the jacket and brought it back.

It was ripped to shreds. From the looks of it, by a sharp knife.

Miranda held out an evidence bag and Zack placed the windbreaker in it, then marked the spot with a red flag.

“Oh no, oh no. You were right Miranda,” Olivia began, her hands shaking.

“She’s not here.”

“But-”

“There’s no blood on the jacket.”

Olivia blinked, looked at the shredded material through the clear bag. “I don’t understand. What happened?”

They were silent for a minute, then Olivia spoke up, tentatively at first. “What if she removed her jacket? What if she realized the color would attract him in the dark?”

“And placed it in an obvious spot. Then went in the opposite direction,” Miranda said, nodding. “I think you’re right.”

“Why is it shredded?” Olivia asked.

“He was enraged,” Zack said. “She’d outmaneuvered him. That would explain why he didn’t pay attention to the road. The marks on the trail indicate he’d been driving way too fast for the soft ground. He overcorrected when he saw the deer, hit it, then slammed into the tree.”

“Makes sense to me,” Miranda said. “Let’s fan out, figure out which way she went.”

Ten minutes later, Zack called Miranda and Olivia to his location. “Look.” He pointed to a mark on a tree.

N.M.

It was faint, low on the tree, and looked like it had been made by her thumbnail or a small branch. “She may have been marking her path in the hopes of retracing her steps in daylight,” Zack said.

“Maybe she’s hiding. Laying low until it’s safe,” Miranda said.

Olivia called, “Nina!” Zack and Miranda joined her.

“Nina!”

Their voices had an odd, hollow sound in the mist. The entire mountain seemed to hold its breath, waiting.

A bright light cut through the trees and Olivia stifled a scream. Zack took two strides and got in front of her, gun drawn.

“It’s the trail we drove in on,” Miranda whispered.

A Jeep passed slowly only ten feet from them as they hid in the trees. It then stopped.

Zack put his finger up to tell them to stay quiet, and walked along the edge of the trees to the vehicle up ahead. Voices trickled down.

“That’s Quinn!” Miranda said, and emerged from the woods.

Less than twenty feet away, the white truck was still up against a tree.

Olivia stayed back from the group, watching Quinn and Doug Cohn and three others emerge from the Jeep and start talking. Quinn gave Miranda a brief hug, and Zack explained what they’d learned and what they believed happened to Nina.

“Did you find anything useful at his house?” Zack asked Cohn.

“More than enough for a conviction,” Cohn said. “That case you found? Both the underwear and the hair was stored inside, among other things. Maps, old notebooks detailing his plans, fake identifications in dozens of names.”

“What about the stone in the garden? With angel in Morse code engraved on top.”

Cohn’s jaw tightened. “Buried two feet under the stone was a blood-soaked tarp and sheet. Considering the location, I’ll bet we’ll find the blood matches Jillian Reynolds. We also used Luminol in the bedroom and discovered traces of blood under Driscoll’s bed.”

Olivia put her hand to her mouth and walked away. Though the police had done a basic search of the island, they didn’t go into any homes because they thought they knew what happened to Jillian. She couldn’t swim, so they figured she must have drowned. Driscoll had kidnapped her, hidden her away until the search was called off. Then he killed her and dumped her far into the woods so no one would find her for a long time.

She walked off the side of the trail.

Then she saw it.

“Zack!” she called.

Zack, Quinn, and Miranda came running down the trail. “What happened?” Zack asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Look.”

Small footprints followed the edge of the trail, then disappeared down the slope opposite from where they’d emerged when they saw Quinn’s car.

“When we drove up, we must have passed her. But she didn’t know if it was safe to come out. She’s hiding here someplace. We have to find her.”

The four of them started jogging back down the trail, calling for Nina.

“Nina! The police are here. We’re all over the mountain. Please come out. Your mother is waiting.”

Over and over. Olivia called until she was hoarse.

They paused for a minute to drink water that Miranda had brought in her sack.

“Help!”

Olivia held her hand up to stop everyone from talking. Was it her imagination? Had she really heard a cry for help?

“Help! Help, please!”

“Nina?” Olivia called.

“I’m stuck! Please help me!”

“We’re coming!” Zack shouted, and started in the direction of the voice.

Nina had slid off the trail and fallen down a steep slope. They shined all their lights down to see where she was.

“Thank you! Thank you!” They heard her but couldn’t see her.

“Where are you? Nina?”

“My leg is stuck. I fell into this hole. I can’t get out. Please help me.”

“I have rope,” Miranda said, and opened her pack. “We can’t go down this way. We’ll fall down the slope as well.”

The sharp drop-off was obvious in the light, but Nina wouldn’t have been able to see it running in the dark. She was stuck in a crevice. Looking carefully, Olivia saw her head poking out.

“We’re going to lower down a rope,” Miranda called to the girl. “There’s a loop on one end. Pull it over your head and tighten it under your arms. Then hold on to it.”

“But my leg. I can’t move it.”

“I’ll go down and free her leg,” Zack said.

“You’re too big,” Quinn said. “I’m thinner.”

“You’re both too big,” Olivia said. “Look at that crevice. It’s too narrow for either of you. I’m going.”

“Olivia,” Miranda began, then stopped and nodded. “I agree. But we have to find another way down.”

They told Nina to stay put and someone would come down to help her. Olivia walked with Miranda several hundred feet down the trail until they found a safe place to rappel down the slope. “This is what we’ll do,” she told Olivia. “You free her leg and we’ll pull her up. Then, I’ll send the rope back for you. You cinch it under your arms, just like I told Nina, and we’ll pull you up.”

“Why can’t I just come back this way? It’s not as steep.”

“This ground isn’t stable. That crevice-I don’t trust it. I think it’s deeper than it looks from here. You need to step carefully. The earth could give way anywhere and you’ll be in the middle of a rock slide. The entire Cascade Mountain range isn’t stable. Remember, Mount St. Helens is part of it.”

“You’re not saying we’re sitting on a volcano.” Olivia tried to make light of it, but saw Miranda was serious.

“If you mean is the mountain going to explode tonight, no. But there’s continual seismic activity that’s too sensitive for us to feel. The constant minute shifts underground loosen the rocks and earth, making the ground itself dangerous in steep areas like this. The crevice Nina is stuck in is actually a split in the mountain caused by repeated earth movements.”

“Miranda, I have a Ph.D. and I barely understand you.”

“Okay, more than you wanted to know. But you have to be careful. As soon as I saw the terrain I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t want to scare Nina, and I doubt Quinn or Zack would allow you to do this. Seriously, Liv, their weight wouldn’t have held. You’re light enough; I think you’ll be okay. But please, please, be careful. Especially until you get that rope around you.”

“I promise.”

Miranda explained to Olivia the best way to navigate the slope and approach the crevice. The ground was much rockier here, and Olivia lost her foothold several times, sliding partway down until she flattened her body enough to scoot down like a crab. Finally, she reached the rocky crevice and slowly made her way back up the narrow opening to Nina.

Miranda was right. The space was deep. Olivia couldn’t touch the bottom, and had to use the sides of the crevice to balance and move forward.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Nina cried when she saw Olivia. “I was so scared. First of him, then-I thought I’d die stuck here, no one would find me.”

Olivia hugged her, as much to soothe herself as the girl. “I am so proud of you, Nina. You beat him.”

“You got him, right? I saw his truck crash. He wasn’t moving, but I didn’t go back there.”

“You did the right thing.”

“Is he-is he dead?”

Olivia wouldn’t lie to her. “He’s not in the truck.”

Nina shook his head. “No. No! I saw the crash. I-ohmygod, he’s going to come after me!”

“No, I won’t-”

Nina started to flail and pull at her leg. Rocks started falling from farther up the slope.

“Nina, stop moving,” Olivia commanded.

“What’s going on down there?” Zack called from above.

“It’s okay!” Olivia yelled. To Nina, she said, “There are dozens of cops all over this mountain. He’s not going to get you. I promise. You have to remain still and let me get your leg free. This ground is not stable. We have to be careful.”

Nina nodded, her entire body shaking not only from the cold, but from fright.

Olivia knelt in the crevice, bracing herself against the sides, feeling cool air rise up from underneath her. Vertigo overwhelmed her and she paused, taking deep breaths to gather her bearings.

She felt around for Nina’s foot. Her ankle was wedged in between rocks. Using her fingers, Olivia tried to scrape away dirt and loosen one of the rocks, but it was stuck. She started wiggling Nina’s ankle back and forth, back and forth until she could move it to the side and up, out of the hole. Nina whimpered, but she kept her cries silent.

“It hurts,” she finally said when Olivia stood.

“It could be broken, or sprained.” Olivia held Nina’s cheeks. “Are you ready? Hold on to the rope tightly, but let them pull you up. Stay as still as possible. It’ll be slow work, but you can do it. Okay?”

“Okay. I can do it.”

“I know you can.” Olivia called up. “She’s ready!”

There was a lot more noise up the slope, car doors slamming. More deputies must have arrived. Flashing red lights cut through the growth. An ambulance, most likely. They’d had one ready at the lodge in case they needed it.

Olivia braced herself in the crevice and awaited her turn.

Zack didn’t like Olivia going down the slope herself, but Miranda was right-she had the best build for the job, considering the terrain. He was antsy and knew he wouldn’t be at ease until Olivia was back up the mountain. Safe.

He and Quinn took brisk orders from Miranda as they prepared to bring Nina up. “We’re going to use this tree as a pulley of sorts,” she said as she wrapped the rope around it. “Put those gloves on, Quinn. That rope will leave some nasty burns if it gets away from you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can it, Peterson,” she said.

Though the banter seemed light, Miranda’s face showed strain and worry.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “We’re just trying to get two people up a steep slope at one o’clock in the morning with a killer wandering loose in the woods. What could be wrong?”

“Miranda,” Quinn said, “you’re not telling us something. Is Olivia okay?”

“She’s fine,” Miranda snapped.

“What she’s not telling you,” Doug Cohn interjected, “is that this slope is unstable. That’s why we had that little rock slide a few minutes ago.”

“Unstable? How?”

Doug explained how this side of the mountain experienced regular rock slides, and that the continuing seismic activity made any treks off established trails dangerous.

“Why’d we let her go down there in the first place?” Zack demanded. “We should have waited until we had a team in place.”

“Because a ten-year-old girl was trapped in that crevice,” Miranda said, “and neither you nor I nor Olivia would have wanted her to wait hours for rescue after what she’s been through.”

Zack sighed. “You’re right.”

“Do we have lights yet?” Quinn asked. The sheriff’s department had hauled a high-wattage construction light to the scene.

“Just about,” someone called. A few minutes later, the bright light not only lit up the side of the mountain, but provided warmth as well.

“Okay, let’s get Nina out of there,” Miranda said. “Start pulling on the rope. I’m going to watch her ascent. Listen to my orders.”

“Always,” Quinn said.

Miranda rolled her eyes, but gave a half-grin.

Zack saw something in the newlywed couple that he never remembered having with his ex-wife, or any of the women he’d dated. Solid respect, playfulness, and deep affection. From the silent looks to the discreet touches, Quinn and Miranda obviously had something special between them.

Something that Zack wanted for himself.

He’d never thought that way before. He’d been content with casually dating. He was a cop-the job came first.

But the job was important to Quinn Peterson, and his wife not only knew it, but relished it. At the same time, there was no doubt in Zack’s mind that Peterson would drop the world to be with his wife.

That kind of support and love was hard to come by.

He and Quinn slowly pulled Nina up. Hand over hand, they developed a rhythm that worked. He glanced down the slope, saw Nina, and then Olivia farther down, hunkered in the crevice, holding on to a young tree that seemed to be growing precariously on the slope.

There was something about Olivia-something more than her brains and beauty, her dedication to her job. Something he wanted to explore more fully.

Like he’d told her this morning, he wanted to spend time with her. When this was over. When Driscoll was behind bars.

The thought of having Olivia all to himself for a week or two, to learn everything about her, thrilled him.

“Hold it!” Miranda suddenly called, and both Zack and Quinn halted their movements.

Zack heard rocks rolling. He thought they would stop. They didn’t.

“Nina! Stay still!” Miranda called down.

Nina cried out, then Olivia screamed.

“What happened?” Zack looked down and couldn’t see Olivia.

“She’s okay. She slipped.”

“I can’t see her!”

“I see her hand. Get Nina up. Fast.”

Miranda didn’t have to say it twice. Quinn and Zack worked double time to bring the girl up the slope. They handed her off to the EMTs who were waiting, and Miranda tossed the rope down to Olivia.

“Olivia! I’m sending down the rope. Grab it.”

The earth was still moving, rocks bumping down. It wasn’t an earthquake, Zack realized; it was the disturbance of people on this steep, unstable slope that was causing the loose ground to fall away.

“Why isn’t she taking the rope?” Zack asked, fear evident in his voice.

“She can’t see it.” Miranda’s lips were tight. She called down. “Olivia! The rope is three feet to your right. You’ll need to let go of the tree.”

“No!” Olivia’s voice was faint, but she sounded petrified.

“You have to!” Miranda called.

“I’ll be okay. Give me a minute.”

“Dammit!” Miranda said, running a hand through her hair and yanking on the dark ponytail hanging down her back. “She doesn’t have a minute,” she mumbled.

Rocks continued to fall, and Olivia cried out.

Zack’s heart beat double time. He shouted, “Olivia St. Martin! Grab the damn rope now!”

He saw her hand let go of the tree and for a split second, Zack thought she’d fallen deeper into the crevice. Then he saw both her hands reach up, feeling for the rope.

“Six inches,” Miranda called. “Right there. Yes! Pull it over your head, under your arms, right now. Now. Okay. Good.”

She turned to Quinn and Zack. “Get her up. Fast.”

As they pulled, a huge chunk of ground gave way, and they scrambled for a foothold. They felt additional weight on the rope, and Miranda grabbed the end and helped pull. Hand over hand. Hand over hand.

Olivia scrambled up the last twenty feet herself. A huge gash had sliced her forehead open, and blood was dripping down her face. Zack pulled the rope off her and looked down the slope.

He wished he hadn’t.

The rock slide had widened the crevice. He couldn’t see the bottom, even with the industrial lighting. The thought that Olivia could have fallen to her death terrified him.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She breathed heavily in his arms, her entire body shaking violently.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Zack repeated. “You’re okay.”

He murmured words of reassurance in her ear, for himself as well as Olivia. He didn’t want to let her go.

He kissed her hair, her cheek, her neck. She held him tightly, her arms wrapped around his back, under his jacket, trying to be as close to him as possible. Her shaking subsided and he tilted her face to look at him, wincing at the gash on her head.

“You need to let the EMT take a look at your head.”

“Later.” She leaned up and kissed him.

He returned the kiss with fervor. Needing to taste her, to feel her response, that she was fully alive and breathing in his arms. “Liv,” he whispered into her lips. “I was so scared.”

“Me too,” she murmured. He pulled back and looked at her, wanting to understand where they were going because these intense feelings scared him, almost as much as her falling. The thought of Olivia walking away at the end of the case filled him with a terrible sense of loss.

In her eyes he saw relief and desire, the same yearning he had for her.

She buried her face in his chest. “Hold me. Just for another minute.”

He would have been happy to hold her forever.

But Chris Driscoll was still on the loose.

In the military, Chris Driscoll had learned that a backup plan was necessary for survival. Without a plan, you die.

The little bitch got away. She wasn’t an angel at all, but a demon sent to trap him. He hadn’t been thinking when he pursued her. If he had waited, she would have returned. If he had listened better, he would have found her.

He was so angry and surprised when she attacked him that he’d chased her, then lost her. She eluded him. She sent that deer into his path and he crashed.

But he’d prepared for failure, like any good soldier. He just needed a car.

He knew exactly where to get one.