Colder Than Ice (30 page)

Sighing, she picked up the phone. This was not a call she looked forward to making.

 

Mordecai was furious when the guides called him off the hunt. “By God, why now? I'm so close!”

They're going to the house, Mordecai. You have business to take care of. Leave the boy. There will be another chance with him.

“Another twenty minutes,” he snapped. “In another twenty minutes I can have the boy and be on the way out of here.”

Searchers are fanning into the woods even now. If you're caught, Mordecai, your mission ends unfulfilled. You won't have brought Lizzie to her rightful end, and you won't have passed your gifts on to your heir. It will all have been for nothing.

“To hell with my mission! Jesus, I'm tired of it. I'm so tired of it all.”

Suddenly Mordecai's head filled with a roar, like that of an avalanche, or the thundering floodwaters of biblical lore. So loud it was deafening. So powerful, it filled his skull with pressure that threatened to split it apart. He pressed his palms to his ears, his face twisting in agony, and dropped to his knees there in the forest.

Gradually the roar faded, leaving him with a pounding head
ache, his entire body trembling and weak. “I'm…sorry. Forgive me my pathetic human condition. I'll do as you say.”

Go down, get to your vehicle and activate the counter measures you prepared for the house.

“And after that?”

We'll guide you. Trust in Spirit, Mordecai. Spirit knows.

Closing his eyes, still on his knees, Mordecai bowed his head. “Thy will be done.”

 

Beth held her breath waiting. Then Julie picked up her cell with a brisk, “Julie Jones.”

“Hi, Jewel. It's Lizzie.”

There was a pause. Her friend was probably startled to hear from her, especially in D.C.

“Honey? What's wrong? Is everything okay?”

Beth drew a breath, let it out. “Dawny's here.”

“What?”

“She got wind of what was happening here and came out. Apparently she's been lurking around for a few days now, and we didn't even know she was here.”

She could almost see Julie's brow furrowing. “Something's happening there?”

“You mean it hasn't hit the wires yet?” Then again, she thought, it had only been a few hours since the paper ran her story. “She's safe, Jewel. She's upstairs now. Arthur Stanton is here, and by morning he'll have this place crawling with Feds.”

“Is Mordecai there, Beth?”

Beth sighed. “Yeah. He's in town. But it's no secret. They know where he's been staying, and there's a team headed over there now to check his place out.” She stopped there, but Julie was waiting for her to go on. “Stanton sent me another body
guard. A decent one this time. His name is Joshua Kendall. Dawn and Joshua's son, Bryan, have been playing detective. Mordecai saw them, went after them, wound up chasing them through the woods.”

“Oh, my God,” Julie whispered. Beth could hear Sean's voice beyond her, asking what was wrong. “We're checking out,” Julie told him. “Dawn's in trouble.”

“She's fine, Julie. Bryan led Mordecai off in another direction and gave her time to slip away. She showed up at the door tonight, and that's the first I even knew she was in town.”

“When I finish hugging her, I think I'll kill her,” Julie said. Then, “Sean, do you have Lieutenant Jackson's number with you?”

“Jax?” Sean replied, his voice coming from very close to the phone. “Yeah, I've got it. Hold on.”

Beth went on. “Bryan's still in the woods somewhere. Joshua's looking, and the police chief is forming search parties to go help. I'd be there, too, but…”

“But you don't dare leave Dawn.”

“I don't want to leave her. And she won't leave me. Jewel, it's as if she feels like she has some kind of obligation to do something about Mordecai.”

“Yeah, we've talked about it. You can't reason with her. I tried taking her for therapy after everything that happened last year, but that didn't help, either.”

Beth sighed. “It's not right.”

“I know. Look, we'll be there as soon as we can.”

“It's not going to do any good. Look, either he's going to come after me, or he's going to leave town. Your being here only gives him a wider range of targets.”

“We'll be there.”

She heard Sean's voice but couldn't tell what he was saying. Julie said, “Hold on, hon,” and covered the phone with her hand. Their voices were muffled. Then Julie's came back on the line. “It's not going to be as easy for us to get there as I thought. There's an ice storm here. Sleet and freezing rain. I didn't realize how bad it was, but Sean says the airports are canceling flights. Jesus, I hate this.”

“It'll be all right.”

“I'm calling Cassie Jackson. I don't know what she can do from Syracuse, but she's the best cop I know. And she has a vested interest in Dawn. And Mordecai.”

“Have her call me. But meanwhile, don't worry, Jewel. I'm watching over her.”

“Easier said than done. But I know you are. Can I talk to her?”

“She said she'd call you before bed. I've got her soaking in the tub right now.”

“God, poor thing. Is she all right?”

“She got pretty cold, plenty wet, had a few scratches and bruises from stumbling through the forest in the dark, and I imagine she's exhausted, as well. Not to mention scared.”

“She must have been terrified.”

“Still is. For Bryan, I mean. She wanted to change clothes and go out looking, but I wouldn't let her.”

“Yeah, well, if there's a window in that bathroom, you might want to nail it shut. If she
can
get out, she
will.
”

A chill rippled over the nape of Beth's neck. “Don't worry,” she assured Jewel. “I'm watching her like a hawk. She'll call you soon.”

“Okay, honey. Take care.”

“You, too.” Beth hung up the phone. Then she hurried up the stairs, stopped at the bathroom door and knocked on it. “Dawn?”

No answer.

She pounded this time, then tried the knob. It was locked, but Dawn wasn't answering. Beth stood back and delivered a sharp kick to the door. The lock consisted of a small bolt that slid into a bracket on the frame. The bracket was held in the door casing by two screws, and her kick was stronger than the wood that held them. The door popped open, and Beth stared in at the bathtub brimming with water and the open window beyond it.

“Dammit.”

Beth raced along the hall, checking bedrooms until she came to her own. Dawn wasn't there. “At least I know where to start looking,” she whispered. “Be okay, Dawn.”

Beth went to the window to fling it open. “Dawn! Dammit, Dawny, you wait for me or I'll kick your ass when I catch up!”

“What's going on?” Arthur Stanton's voice came from behind her, and Beth turned to see him standing in the hallway.

“Dawn sneaked out to go looking for Bryan. I'm going after her.” She yanked open a drawer, searching for the items she had managed to get unpacked. Tugged out two unmatched gloves and a knit hat. Then she grabbed her thickest surviving socks and pulled them on, as well, turned and headed down the stairs.

“You should stay put,” Arthur said. “I've got men ten minutes out, I can send them as soon as they arrive.”

“I'll leave a breadcrumb trail for them.” She opened the closet door and found Maude's winter boots. She'd bought the hot namebrand, long before they were the favored footwear of inner city youths. Probably five years old, barely worn and likely worth three times the purchase price at the moment. Leather on bottom, waterproof rubber on top, fleece lined and heavily laced.

She stomped her feet into them, jerked the laces tight and tied them, then grabbed Maude's parka off the hanger and put it on. She headed into the kitchen and opened the cupboard where Maude had kept emergency supplies. First aid kit, candles, flashlights, lanterns. She grabbed a flashlight and dashed out the back door and across the lawn, ignoring Arthur, who was chasing after her and shouting at her to wait.

She went to the edge of the woods, stopped and snapped on the light, looking around. Stanton was beside her within a second. “This is where she and Bryan first encountered Mordecai,” she told him. “They took off running—that way, I think. She'll take the same path they did then, I imagine.”

“Look, Beth, if I don't wait for my men, they're not going to know what to do when they get here, much less where everyone is.”

“You got walkie-talkies?” she asked.

He frowned. “Yeah. In the car.”

“Get me one. I'll go after Dawn. You wait here for your men and then come after us. We can stay connected by radio.”

He nodded. “It's a good plan.”

“I'll wait sixty seconds for that radio, Arthur,” she said. “And then, if you're not back, I'll go without it.”

 

Joshua trudged steadily through the darkness, up the steep hill, following the stream Dawn had pointed out. The dread in his belly grew with every step he took. It was so big now, he felt close to vomiting. But he couldn't let himself stop long enough.

God, if anything happened to Bryan…

He couldn't take it, that was all.

When he reached the place where the stream bed curved
sharply right, at the beaver dam and the little pond, he went straight and began looking for Dawn's signal. He found it after walking a good distance—maybe close to the fifty yards the girl had estimated—thanks to the beam of his flashlight. He shone it around the ground, locating the pile of deadfall where Dawn had been hiding.

Hell of a man, his son was, hiding her and leading the maniac away. God damn, he better be all right.

From there, Dawn said Bryan had gone up the slope on an angle that veered to the left. Josh followed, but he disliked not having an exact idea of where his son was. Bryan could have changed direction at any time, and probably had, to try to lose Mordecai.

He had the most hollow, horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. The temperature had dropped to a bone-numbing level, and the fluffy snowflakes had by now become a heavy snowfall. Just what they needed.

“Hold on, Bryan. I'm coming, I promise. Just hold on.”

 

Bryan had hiked about as far as he figured he was capable of hiking. He was so damned cold his teeth kept starting to chatter, and he had to clamp his jaw hard against it, for fear the insane man would hear. He was shivering so hard he thought he'd strained some muscles. God, it was cold.

His fingers were numb and burning. His feet felt like heavy lead lumps as he pushed on, stomping over uneven ground, tripping more often than he had before, and landing harder. And yet every time he paused to catch his breath and strained his ears to listen, there were sounds. Snapping twigs, rustling brush, swaying limbs. Some of it might have been the wind or animals scurrying through the forest, but
he couldn't be sure. One thing he did know: he couldn't go on much farther.

He had started scanning the forest for a place to hole up about the time the snow started falling. He estimated it had been maybe three hours since he'd sent Dawn for help. And the fact that he wasn't seeing any sign of help on the way made him worry about her. God, he hoped she'd made it back okay. Maybe it had been a mistake to send her off on her own. Maybe something had happened. She might be lost or hurt or…

He closed his eyes, and before he could prevent it, the thought rushed through his head that he wished his father were there. He reminded himself that he was angry at his father, that none of this would be happening if not for his father screwing everything up, just like he'd screwed up when he shot Beth in the first place.

Yeah, trying to do his job and eaten up with guilt ever since.

He'd screwed up again by taking on this job of protecting her without knowing all the facts.

Probably out of guilt again. Protect an innocent to make up for having killed one. Even though he really hadn't.

Screwed up even more by not telling her the truth.

Out of fear of losing her. Dawn's right about that. The idiot loves her and doesn't even know it.

And he screwed up even more than that by trying to send Bryan away when things got dangerous.

Yeah, to protect me.

He glimpsed a fallen tree up ahead. Its roots had pulled up from the ground when it toppled, and they formed a plate the size of a small flying saucer at its base. Bryan glanced behind him, then walked around to the underside of the upright root platter. A huge hollow in the ground marked the spot where
the roots had once rested. White snowflakes were beginning to gather and stick on the blackened earth. Up close to the base, where the bottom of the root plate rose up from the ground, long, twisting tendrils tangled in thick masses.