Sarah Varland - Alaskan Ambush

But he was wrong about one thing—she had changed. But not in that way. She was still the best tracker Moose Haven had, and she appreciated that Micah remembered, had confidence in her that wasn’t swayed by her small size, her gender. She’d had to convince more than one new SAR volunteer that she was, indeed, in charge of their team and capable of it. Kate nodded. “I can get us off the mountain.”

“I’d appreciate it. If there was any other way, if I could lock you up here and know you’d be safe and find my way down alone...”

“But you can’t.”

“I know. But just...know that I would.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I hate that I’m dragging you into this.”

“You aren’t.”

The way he narrowed his eyes made it clear to Kate she wasn’t the only one who struggled with past familiarity with someone warring against a suspicious nature. Micah Reed, suspicious? She could see him as a cop. He’d always wanted to help people and it was a way to do that, a noble one. But he had been one of the most trusting people she’d known, back then.

Maybe they’d both changed.

Maybe not for the better.

“Seriously, Micah.” His name rolled so easily off her tongue, and she wondered for half a second how it would feel to start a friendship again with this man, who’d been one of her closest childhood friends—she’d always found it easier to be friends with boys than other girls. “Someone is after me. I’m already dragged in.”

“Who?”

Kate raised her eyebrows. “The guy who was shooting at me. So are you going to tell me who he is?”

“Later. I have questions too, but if we don’t leave now...”

Micah moved toward the door and Kate followed, then hesitated. “Actually maybe it’s better if we stay. You know?”

“Why?”

“He hasn’t shot at us lately. We have shelter here. He could be waiting outside the door.”

Micah shook his head. “No. We need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Call it gut instinct.”

“I don’t believe in instinct—I believe in observations and making choices based on those.”

Was that a snort she heard from him? “Kate, come with me. I really think—”

A sudden shot shattered the glass, which rained down on the cabin floor in a spray of shards. Kate felt the world slow as Micah reached out, took her in his arms and moved between her and where the shot had come from all in one smooth motion. “Run. I’ll follow you. But pick the best, most isolated path down this mountain that you can.”

Kate nodded, and went for the door.

“On my count,” Micah said as another bullet came in the open window and pinged off the edge of one of her metal stools. “One... Two...”

“Three.”

She shoved the door open, stepped into the blackness.

Before her eyes had even adjusted, she began to run, determined to use every ounce of energy she had if it meant they could outpace whoever was after them. The moon had been full only a few nights before and even now as it was waning, providing enough light for her to see through the darkened shadows the trees created against the bright white-blue of the moonlit snow. Kate dodged a long-hanging branch, wound through the spruce trees and did her best to bury them so deeply in the brush that no one would be able to find their trail, despite the fresh snow. Even if someone did find the trail, Kate already had a plan for that. She could circle the area where they camped tonight, create some false tracks. Anything that would throw off whoever was following them.

Because they weren’t getting off the mountain tonight. And Kate knew enough from her basic first-aid classes to know that even if he’d rather press on and play hero, Micah would need to rest at least for a short time to give his body a chance to recuperate. The gunshot was only the beginning of what he’d been through, if Kate’s guess was correct. She had a small first-aid kit in her backpack that she never went into the mountains without. When they could stop, she’d do what she could for him.

“Go faster! Don’t wait on me—I can keep up.”

Kate had already been pushing as hard as she could—but she found another gear somewhere, avoided a tree root that curved upward enough it stuck out of the snow and took a sharp left turn.

“Be careful!” She barely raised her voice above a whisper, not wanting to give away their location, but wanting to warn him as the trail she’d picked suddenly sloped downhill. Kate kept running. She paused for a second at a drop-off, only about five feet, then climbed down it before picking up her pace.

A glance back now and then confirmed Micah was staying with her. She didn’t see the shooter anywhere.

Kate didn’t know how long she ran, only knew that by the time she felt she had no choice but to slow down, her heart was beating out a crazy rhythm and her lungs were burning for air. She took a deep breath of it, reached into her backpack pocket for her water bottle and took a long swig.

“Why did you stop?”

“Because some of us didn’t have to pass a police fitness test and I needed to breathe.”

“You’re the very definition of an Alaska girl.” He surveyed her doubtfully. “You aren’t going easy on me because of my arm?”

In the chaos, the urgency, she’d actually forgotten about his arm for a little while, besides the reminder to herself that they’d need to stop eventually. He honestly seemed to be concerned that she’d gone too easy on him, though, which was nice. She’d rather be overestimated than underestimated and she’d had plenty of the second in her life, first as a kid trying to keep up with her brothers and their friends, and even as an adult woman working search and rescue.

“No, I have to breathe.” She took a few more breaths then looked behind them, listening but hearing nothing other than the sounds of scraping spruce branches in the wind. For the moment, there was a brief calm.

Rather than being reassured, though, Kate felt her chest tighten, then her whole body. Her muscles were all ready for fight or flight, and probably would be for some time.

“Tell me who you were after. What are these guys like?” she asked around panting breaths.

Micah frowned. “I said we could talk later.”

She shook her head. “Tell me now. Knowing a person I’m tracking, knowing what they’re like, routes they’re likely to take based on what I can gather of their personalities—it all helps. I’ve never tried to avoid being tracked, but I assume it’s the same concept in reverse.”

He nodded in understanding, shifted on his feet as he thought. “Thieves and smugglers. We thought they were the heads of the organization but now it seems they’re just extremely talented but lower ranking. No known activities besides their illegal ones. No legitimate jobs.”

“Not from Moose Haven, right?”

“One of them has a cabin here, but no.”

“They’re from Anchorage then?”

“Wasilla. But their crimes have mostly been committed in Anchorage, with a few in other locations. Fairbanks. Juneau.”

“Sounds pretty far-reaching.” She nodded, running through criminal profiles again in her mind, trying to get a handle on what they’d be like. “All right, ready?”

“If you are.”

She paused. “Can I see about your arm first?”

He shook his head. “Later. I want more space between us and whoever is shooting.”

Kate started running again, hoping the people pursuing them would lose the trail in the darkness. She was almost tempted to pray; she was so desperate to not be caught. The idea of how close she’d already been to several bullets—she didn’t want to think about it. People knew she was tough; she’d certainly heard her siblings brag about that many times and while it always made her smile, it wasn’t entirely true. She was tough in one context—the woods and the mountains and the backcountry. The backcountry could kill you, but it was logical, usually played by the rules. Even wildlife behavior could be predicted to a degree and Kate had had several run-ins with moose and bears that had ended well for everyone because she’d understood the rules too and played by them.