Deception (24 page)

“Come on.” She gave the boy’s behind a little tap. “Help me check the gas gauge.”

Topping off the tanks and starting the engines took only a few minutes. When they were finished, they both went in to change into their ski clothes while Ashley, true to her word, went in to start a fire.

“Are you sure you won’t join us?” Jill asked as she and Frankie came down the stairs ten minutes later.

“I’m still thinking.” Ashley walked out to the garage with them, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. “Let me watch you guys for a while, okay? if I decide to go, I’ll catch up with you.”

“Okay, but be sure to follow my trail. With all that snow, it’s hard to tell where you’re going unless you’re familiar with the terrain. And be careful of that edge up there.” She pointed toward a steep hill.

“Don’t get too close or you’ll end up in the river.”

Ashley touched her forehead in a military salute. “Yes, boss.”

Jill turned to Frankie, who was jumping up and down with excitement. “As for you, young man, you hold on to me and you don’t do anything crazy or the ride is over. Is that clear?”

Frankie bobbed his head in agreement.

“Good. Put on your helmet.”

Within moments, they were sliding downhill, slow at first, as Jill tested the deep powder, then faster as she felt the powerful machine respond. Soon they were in the open field, bypassing the two-to-three-foot moguls for smaller bumps that weren’t as harsh.

Despite being one of the larger sleds in its class, the Ski-Doo handled beautifully, with both skis holding firmly on to the snow, even as Jill executed a series of sharp turns.

Cranking up the speed, she headed for the summit, that wide-open area that overlooked the Beaverkill River and offered a spectacular, endless view.

Behind her, Frankie tugged on her sleeve, shouting to be heard above the roar of the engine. “Faster, Jill.”

Laughing, Jill gave another quick push on the throttle, experiencing a familiar thrill as the sled shot forward.

“Hey!” Frankie nudged her again. “Here comes Ashley!”

Surprised, because she hadn’t thought Ashley would be changing her mind so soon, Jill stole a quick glance in one of the hood-mounted mirrors. Still well behind her, the other Ski-Doo was flying in their direction. But it couldn’t be Ashley, Jill realized. She would never ride at such high speed. And her ski suit was light blue, not black.

irritated, Jill threw another glance in the mirror. Though her father had installed No Trespassing signs throughout the property, he had been adamant about not fencing it in. As a result, a rider or two, attracted by all that wide-open space, occasionally ventured in until they were chased away.

But this sledder, Jill realized, had no intention of leaving. Instead, he kept barreling toward them in a straight path.

What the hell was that fool trying to do? Kill them?

Unaware of the danger, Frankie pounded her back. “Don’t let her catch us, Jill!”

Trying to keep a grip on her mounting fear, Jill pulled away from the path of the incoming snowmobile, which, she now realized, looked exactly like the other Ski-Doo. What was going on here? Had he taken her sled for a joyride? Right under Ashley’s nose?

Before she could answer her own question, the rider had changed course, just as she had, and was coming toward her again, at full speed.

She had to get away from this maniac, get back to the house, or to Joshua’s cabin.

Opening the throttle, she drove the machine downward, swerving wildly to keep the other sled from colliding into her.

But because of Frankie, she didn’t dare go as fast as she would have if she had bean alone. One hard bump or too sharp a turn and he could fall off.

The other sled continued to gain until it was less than ten feet away from her.

As the machine suddenly roared past, missing hers by a hair, Jill’s blood went cold. He wasn’t trying to hit her.

He was trying to force her over the cliff and into the icy river below.

Frankie’s arms tightened around her waist. The poor kid. He, too, must have realized something was wrong and was scared. But she couldn’t think about that now, and she had no time to reassure him. She had to concentrate on keeping them both alive.

Before she could move away from the dangerous edge, the rider was back, readying for another pass.

Adrenaline pumping wildly through her bloodstream, Jill cranked up the speed and sent the sled flying toward the woods. There, in the relative safety of the dense forest, she might be able to lose him.

The man in black followed her down, bounding over moguls with an expertise that exceeded that of any rider she knew. She would have to outsmart him by leading him where she hadn’t planned on going— Deadman’s Drop—then veer off into the woods and hope he’d overshoot them.

But there were risks. If she didn’t turn off in time, she would send her own snowmobile flying over the edge. Years ago, before her father had bought the property, a sledder had met with such a fate and died, hence the name.

Praying she’d spot the old, faded caution sign in time, she sped forward. Then, as the forest began to thicken, she saw it, a weathered cedar plank nailed onto a tree.

Tightly gripping the handlebars, Jill gave a sharp twist to the left and tore into the forest, clamping on the brake handle. The maneuver sent their machine skidding for several feet before it finally hit a tree.

Jill and Frankie were propelled into the air just as the other snowmobile flew by. Jill hit the ground with a thud.

Dazed and a little disoriented, she lay still for a moment. When she was sure no limbs were broken, she pushed herself onto her elbows and looked around her. Frankie was nowhere near.

Nor was there any sign of the rider.

“Frankie!” Filled with cold panic, Jill pulled off her helmet and scrambled to her feet. The snowmobile was a short distance away, its left side smashed in One ski was twisted into a figure eight, its tip pointing toward the sky. Beside it was Frankie. He lay motion less, his eyes closed.

“Frankie!” Jill plowed her way toward him and dropped to her knees. “Frankie, wake up.” She shook him gently.

When there was no response, she clamped her teeth over one glove to free her hand and quickly felt for a pulse. She almost cried with relief when she felt its strong beat beneath her fingers.

She had to get help. Shaky but clearheaded, she glanced up toward the trail they had just left. if her sense of direction was correct, the house was straight up the hill, about a mile away. Not an easy walk in two feet of snow and with a boy in her arms, but she’d have to do it.

She would do it.

The morning sun had disappeared behind a dark snow cloud and flurries had already begun to fall.

Soon the temperature would be dropping. She had to keep Frankie moving, make sure he’d stay warm.

Just as she was about to scoop him up in her arms, she heard a soft groan.

“Frankie?”

The boy’s eyes opened and a corner of his mouth pulled into a small smile.

“You’re okay.” Laughing and crying at the same time, Jill took his beautiful face between her hands, resisting the impulse to cover it with kisses. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “I think so. “‘Cept for my ankle. I think it’s broke.”

“Let me see.” Her fingers moving quickly, she unlaced his boot and pushed his pant leg up a few inches. His ankle was red and swollen but it didn’t seem to be broken. “It looks like a sprain.” She left the boot untied and lowered the pant leg over it.

“Jill?” Solemn hazel eyes stared at her.

“Yes, Frankie?”

“That wasn’t Ashley, was it?”

Jill didn’t answer right away. The last thing she wanted was to scare him any more than he already was. On the other hand, he was too smart for an outright lie. “No, it wasn’t.”

“Then who was it?”

“Some show-off who wanted to play games—stupid games.”

“But … it looked like he had your other sled.”

Smart kid. “Oh, I don’t know about that. All sleds look alike, you know.”

He looked around him. “Is he gone?”

Jill detected a trace of worry in his voice. Casually,

she glanced past the old wooden sign and listened for the sound of an engine. There was none. Either the rider had gone over the edge, or he’d had enough fun for one day and gone home. With her sled.

“I’m pretty sure he is, Frankie.” As she spoke, she looked upward again, worried about Ashley. She could be inside mindlessly watching TV or… Not wanting to think of the alternative, she turned back to Frankie and tried to keep her voice cheerful. “We’ll have to get moving, squirt. Think you can put any weight at all on that foot?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try.”

She helped him to an upright position, but the moment his foot touched the ground, he grimaced. “I don’t think so, Jill.”

“Okay.” She gave his small body a quick hug. “No big deal. I’ll just have to carry you, that’s all.” Attempting to make light of the situation, she added, “And then when I get tired, you can carry me. You’ll have to do it on one foot, though.”

He smiled bravely. “How far are we from the house?”

“About a mile. Are you warm enough?”

“I’m kinda cold.”

“Hold on to that tree. I’ll be right back.” She walked over to the useless snowmobile and opened the small back compartment, hoping to find a blanket or an extra sweater, anything that would keep Frankie warm. But because the Bennetts never took the sleds on long trips, her father had never bothered with such precautions. There weren’t even any matches to make a fire.

Without a second’s hesitation, she peeled off her jacket and slipped it on the boy.

“What about you?” Frankie protested.

“I’ll be moving all the time, I don’t need it.”

When he was all bundled up, he climbed on her back. Jill’s legs wobbled a little under the weight, then steadied. “Okay, squirt. Here we go.”

They moved at a snail’s pace, following the trail they’d made on the way down. Because the boy was heavier than she had realized, Jill had to stop every fifty feet or so to rest and allow Frankie to hop around a little so his blood would keep on circulating.

The snow was coming down harder now, making the climb and visibility more difficult. After another grueling ten minutes, there was still no sign of the house.

As she looked around her, wondering if she had been heading in the wrong direction, someone suddenly called out her name.

Jill looked up. “Ashley!”

Clutching two blankets in her arms, her friend was hurrying down the hill, falling every couple of steps and picking herself up again. There was a gash on her forehead and a red streak along her temple where blood had trickled down and dried out.

“Thank God!” Ashley cried as she fell into Jill’s arms. “I thought he’d killed you.”

Frankie’s eyes were wide as he gaped at Ashley’s wound. “Did that man do that to you?”

Jill gripped her friend’s arm. “Did he?”

“Yes, but I’m okay now.” She opened the blankets and handed one to Frankie and one to Jill. “Put these on. I called Wally as soon as I came to. He’s sending a rescue team. But in the meantime, he said you have to keep warm.”

Frankie was in awe. “How did you find us?”

“I just followed the trail and prayed you were at the end of it.”

Suddenly uneasy, Jill hugged the blanket around her. “Who was he, Ash?”

“I don’t know. I never saw him. One minute I was watching you guys climb the hill, and the next, something, or rather someone, hit me from behind. I must have fallen forward and struck my head on the tractor because when I woke up I had this gash on my forehead.” She rubbed the back of her head. “And a bump on my skull the size of a baseball.”

With a feeling of foreboding, Jill looked around again. What if the man in black wasn’t just an irresponsible rider, after all? What if someone had known she was coming here, and had been waiting for her?

Waiting to kill her.

The sudden roar of an engine made all three of them turn around. Two snowmobiles, operated by members of the Sullivan County Search and Rescue Squad, were heading their way.

Twenty-Four

Wally had personally driven all three of them to the nearby town of Rockland, where Dr. Keaton, a longtime friend of Wally’s, had sewn up Ashley’s gash and examined Jill to make sure there were no underlying injuries. While recounting his own experiences with a snowmobile, he had checked Frankie for a possible concussion, and x-rayed his ankle, which, as predicted, was only sprained.

“You’ll have to keep it elevated for a few days, young man,” he had told the boy. “Other than that, you’re fine.”

While Frankie was having his ankle bandaged, Wally drew Jill aside. “The rescue team found the other snowmobile. Not at the bottom of the cliff as we had expected, but halfway down. The heavy brush and a couple of trees stopped its fall and saved it from being totally wrecked.”

“What about the rider?”

All they found were footprints leading to a narrow side road, just off Johnston, and tire tracks from there to the main highway. He must have parked his car and made the uphill climb on foot until he reached your house.” Wally’s easygoing country ways had disappeared. His whole demeanor seemed to harden. “Determined bastard.”

Jill glanced at Ashley, who had stayed with Frankie, then back at the constable. “This wasn’t a joyride turned nasty, Wally. It was a deliberate attempt to push me over the cliff. That man wanted me dead, and he didn’t care who else died with me.”

Wally watched her for a few seconds, his expression somber. “What have you been up to, Jill? I thought you were letting Dan take care of the investigation.”

“I was. Maybe the killer figured that with me out of the way, the investigation would end.”

“Well, he figured wrong,” Wally snapped. “And he made a bad move today, coming after you, because not only will I be conducting a full-scale investigation of this incident, but I’m reopening the case of your father’s death.” He gave her a long searching look. “Is there anything I should know, Jill? Anything that will help me catch this guy?”

She wasn’t sure what he could do that Dan hadn’t already done, but she told him everything, anyway, from the attack on her life two weeks ago to her father’s affair with Vivian Mulligan and Dan’s trip to Fairfax, the outcome of which she didn’t yet know. The only detail she left out was her aunt’s relationship with Yussef Abrahim and her father’s blackmailing scheme. She and Dan had agreed that Lilly had nothing to do with the case, so why expose a scandal that could destroy her?