One Mile Under (40 page)

All she heard was his continued barking.

“Damn you, Blu,” Dani muttered and, grabbing his harness, stepped out after him.

It was no big deal, she told herself. Clearly no one was out there. Probably just a creature. She went around the side of the house and found him looking out at the dark valley, barking. “C’mon, guy, let’s go back inside.” She pulled him by the collar. The big dog didn’t move. She petted him to calm him down and took hold of him. “Not tonight, boy. Just not tonight …” she said, and clipped the harness around him and dragged him back toward the house.

He wouldn’t budge. Just pulled against her, barking.

“
Blu!
” Dani yelled, trying to yank him away. “Come on. It’s—”

Suddenly she did hear something. Footsteps. Coming from the front of the house. Like a boot crunching on the ground. Her heart came to a stop and her eyes darted. A couple of footsteps. Then nothing. The hairs on her arms stood up. She pulled the dog.

“Please, Blu, please … Let’s just go,” she said in almost a whimper. The dog started barking even louder.

She heard the noise again. As if it was coming toward her.

Shit.

This time it came with a beam of light, shining toward them from out of the darkness. Dani’s blood froze. It canted off the house, the trees, all the time coming closer. Now Dani pulled at Blu with all her might, but the dog weighed about eighty pounds, and when he made his mind up, he was difficult to control, and he wasn’t budging. She knew she probably ought to just leave him out there—he’d be all right. But she couldn’t. And whoever was out there had heard her; Blu was her protection. She stood there holding on to him as she heard the crunch of footsteps come closer and the light get brighter.

Suddenly someone stepped out from around the house, encased in darkness. Just enough that Dani saw the familiar boots, the uniform, and then the face, partially lit up by the light he was flashing around, which now shined directly on them, the dog on his hinds now, going crazy, growling, barking with everything he had.

“Wade.”

She didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified. At first her anxiety eased, but when she saw what he had in his other hand, it rose up all over again. “What are you doing with that gun, Wade?”

For two days, Wade told himself he would only check to see if Dani had come back to the valley; which he prayed she hadn’t and was somewhere else—somewhere far away—and he wouldn’t have to go through with what they were pressuring him to do. That was tearing him up inside like razor blades right now.

His choice was, tell them to go to hell and risk what they would do to Kyle. Or follow through on it, a thing so bad he couldn’t even hold the thought in his own stomach, and then be free of them but have to face what Hauck had promised he would do.

Either way he knew he could no longer go along with things as they were.

You let us worry about Mr. Hauck,
the man on the phone had said.
You just handle your side of the business …

His business. After going through it a hundred times, that seemed his only way out now.

Numbly, as if there were some kind of host inside him, something controlling his actions apart from his own conscience that he had no power over, he went by her apartment unit on Colorado Street earlier that day, and was relieved to see it all locked up. A few dog’s toys were strewn on the back deck. He peered inside the sliding glass doors in back and didn’t see any sign of life. No mess about. Nothing in the open kitchen. Clearly, she hadn’t come back there yet, and that gave him a reprieve. Then he went by to see Trey’s widow, Allie, and she said she hadn’t heard from Dani since she left Templeton two days before. Wade figured that if Dani was back, Allie was the first person she would see. He drove out on Roaring Fork Drive to the rafting company Dani worked at. The gal there said she hadn’t been in for three or four days.

So where had she gone now?

Back at the station, he sat at his desk, going through the motions. He took out the business card Hauck had given him that first time he came by. Talon Global Security. Partner. A phone number back in Connecticut.

And underneath it, his mobile.

You are a cop, aren’t you?
the bastard had taunted him.
That’s your problem. You figure out what to do …

He had a way of finding numbers. Most detectives could. There was the formal way, which required a warrant, and that’s the way you absolutely went when you knew it was going to be run through the system. But there were less forthright ways, too. People who worked for the phone companies, who could assess anyone’s account. Save a whole lot of time and trouble. And the chain of evidence didn’t have to be particularly clean on this job. This situation wasn’t going anywhere near the system. This time, he wasn’t about to be arresting anybody here.

A couple of hours later Wade had a conversation over his cell and had gotten what he was looking for. In the last twenty-four hours, there were three calls to Hauck’s cell phone from the same number in the local area code, 970.

The rest was easy. All you had to do was plug the phone number into Google and it came up right in front of your eyes.

Tom Whyte. Snowmass. And an address out on Elk Creek Road near Snowmass.

Wade didn’t know who he was, but who else would possibly be calling Hauck from here?

So if the rest was easy, how come it sure didn’t feel that way? He took off for the rest of the day, citing personal matters, convincing himself over and over exactly what it was he had to do. He came up with a plan, a sketchy one, he knew, but the best one that presented itself. What he didn’t know was whether he could actually go through with it when the chips were on the line. It was either Kyle or Dani, and like the man had said, one of them needed him more than anything in the world and was his own flesh and blood. That was the way he had to look at it. He looked at his hands, hands that had shaken the hands of lots of famous people who had passed through Aspen over the years. Hands that had done a lot of things he was ashamed of, too.

Now they had to do one more.

He went to his garage and opened a Styrofoam box, then dug around amid the old clothes and personal effects, and pulled out that old bottle of Dewar’s he’d kept there for years. More as kind of a test, knowing it was always there, and he’d passed it for these few years. He’d passed the test well. He undid the foil and opened the cork. He didn’t even look for a glass. He just looked at it like the devil next to him in the room and took in two long gulps. The first liquor that had touched his lips in years.

He wanted to feel ashamed, but he couldn’t. The whiskey was harsh and fiery, but it still felt like an old friend, someone almost forgotten through the years, but who had now walked through his door and all past affronts were forgiven. He took another large gulp and then one more, until he’d made his way through a quarter of the bottle. He felt it burn, like a truth that was long delayed, but clear.

Then he just sat down in his garage and stared. He could see it now. What he had to do. It wasn’t much of a way out. Only the easier of two bad outcomes.

These hands had done a lot of things in his life he was ashamed of.

What was one more?

“Tell that dog to shut up!” Wade said, flashing the beam of light at Blu, which only agitated the dog further.

The Lab was on his hinds, pulling against Dani, going crazy now. He didn’t really know Wade; he’d met him only one or two times. Maybe it was the uniform or the light flashing in his eyes. Or maybe only that Wade was even out here in the dark. Poking around with a gun.

“What the hell are you doing here, Wade?” Dani asked him again, her eyes going to his weapon.

“Who else is here?” Wade ignored her question, shining the light up at the house.

“No one. My friend will be back any minute, so unless you’ve got some reason to be here, Wade, it would be a good idea to—”

“Put the dog away, Dani. You’re coming with me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere with you, Wade. You’re acting kind of weird. You seem like you’re drunk. And you still haven’t told me—”

“Not drunk enough that I don’t know what to do,” he said, cutting her off. The dog continued to try to get to him. Wade took a step back. “Shut him up, I said.” He pointed the gun at Blu. “Or I’ll take care of him myself!”

“Wade! Don’t!” Dani yanked on the harness, pulling Blu as close to her as she could. “He’s just scared, that’s all. Can you blame him?”

“He damn well ought to be scared. I’m afraid you have to come with me, Dani. That’s why I’m here. Don’t make a fuss. It’s all official business.
Here …”
He put the flashlight in a holster on his belt and took out a set of handcuffs. “Put these on.”

“You’re arresting me …?” She looked at the cuffs and knew that wasn’t what he came here for. “How did you even find this place, Wade?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m just taking you down to the station, that’s all. Some people in Templeton made a complaint. I have to do this, Dani. Just put these on or I will. We can discuss it there.” Blu tried to lunge, continuing to growl. “And get your goddamn dog out of my face, or I’ll take him down!”

“No.” Dani pulled him back. “Who made a complaint, Wade? What people?” Blu almost lunged out of her grip, as if trying to protect her.

Wade’s eyes flashed wildly. “You keep that animal leashed or I’ll shoot him, you understand? Right in front of you.” He pointed the gun as if he was about to fire. “I swear.”

“Wade, don’t! Please. Put the gun away. He’s only trying to protect me.” She thought she could wait this out until Geoff came back. Which had to be in minutes. But then what would happen? Things could get a whole lot worse. The way Wade looked, the erratic gleam in his eye, if someone else suddenly drove up, Dani didn’t know what would happen then. “Wade, tell me what’s going on.”

“Just do what I say, goddammit! For once, just do it. Get the dog inside, or you won’t like what happens. Just get him inside.” He kept jabbing the gun at Blu. “Or I’ll shoot him right where he’s standing, you hear …? I can do that. No one’s gonna ever think twice on it. I swear.”

“Okay. Okay,” Dani pleaded. “Wade, please …” He looked like he might do anything with that wild look in his eye. Her heart was pounding out of control. “I’ll bring him in. I’ll come. I’ll come. Just back off now.”

She dragged Blu around the back. The door to the yard was still ajar. She didn’t know what to do. She could run inside the house with Blu and lock the door. Then what? Wade might do anything. He seemed crazed.

“Put these on,” he said, dangling the cuffs in front of her.

“Wade, please …”

“Put ’em on! Or, so help me God, I’ll shoot him between the eyes. Is that what you want, Dani? You want to see your dog die?” His eyes were wild and fiery. She’d seen him mad many times, but never, ever like this.

“Okay, okay!” she screamed back. “Okay! Blu, go back inside now, baby … please.” She pushed open the door and tried to drag him inside. If she was going to lock herself in, this was the time. But Wade came around and put his hand on the door as the dog went back in, Dani letting him go ahead.

Then he shut it on him. Blu came back up with his paws against the glass, barking again.

Dani looked at Wade. “Wade, you’re scaring me, please …”

“I think I told you to put these on.”

“Wade, I’m not going anywhere with you. You know I can’t.”

“Oh, you’re going … You’re damn well going with me, or else I’ll—” He took her arms and wrenched them around her back and slapped on the plastic cuffs, screwing them tight on her wrists, digging into her.

“
Why are you doing this?
”

“Because there’s no damn other choice, Dani. There just isn’t. That’s why. Now c’mon.” He took her by the arm and pushed her forward around the front of the house. She left Blu standing up in the window, barking. He pushed her down the driveway, Dani stumbling in the sandals she had on. About halfway down the drive she saw Wade’s white police SUV, parked out of sight on the side. It had what looked like a parasail strapped on the top. She had a feeling of dread about what was going to happen. If she could stall him, Geoff might come back. He’d know this was something bad. Whatever he was, Wade wasn’t a killer. He wouldn’t just shoot them. Though he seemed crazy tonight and maybe he had been drinking, and she didn’t know what he would do.

He said, “Get in,” opening the passenger door.

“Wade, where are you taking me?” Dani demanded, fears springing up. “I know we’re not going back to the station.”

“I said, just get in, girl.” He pushed her inside and slammed the door shut behind her. “You’ll see.”

“You have to tell me, Wade!”

He went around and climbed into the driver’s seat beside her and locked the doors. She was trapped. Then he started the car up and slowly backed down the remaining part of the driveway, then went into a turn and headed back on Snowmass Creek Road toward the main highway. About a half mile down the road, a set of lights came up on them. Dani saw that it was Geoff, coming back, and when they passed she screamed out his name, futilely, pounding the window with her two fists in desperation, yelling “Geoff, Geoff!” as he drove by.

On Route 82, the main road in the valley, Wade turned west toward Carbondale. They stayed silent for the next few minutes, Dani desperately trying to figure out what she could do. Bound. Helpless. Trapped.

When they finally came to the turnoff for Carbondale, Wade passed right by.

“I thought we were going back to town?” Dani said, for the first time a real feeling of fear rising up inside her.

“You didn’t give anyone any choice, dammit,” Wade said.

“What do you mean, Wade?” He had the police radio on. There was a crackle from all the local departments coming in. A bar fight in Snowmass Village. An ailing car off the road near Basalt. “What do you mean I didn’t give you any choice?”

He looked at her. “I told you not to stick your nose in it, didn’t I? How many warnings did I give you? To just butt out.”