Tailspin (5 page)

“Well, you know the option is available. Why don't you tell her and let her make the decision? She isn't afraid of diving.”

Had Will been that readable?

Snake disappeared through a door, reappearing a minute later to set his scuba equipment out in full view. Was that because he didn't trust Will to bring it up?

Will frowned.

“Make your call. Pick a meeting time and place. Early morning's best. Give us time to rest up and gather the gear we'll need.”

“I can't ask for more than that.”

Will hated to put it off that long, considering Sylvie needed assistance sooner rather than later, but Snake was right. If they were forced to travel to make contact, they couldn't do it in inclement weather in the middle of the night. He had to persuade Snake to shorten the distance they needed to travel.

“Just how far do you want us to go?”

“I don't want anyone coming within five miles of my cabin. That might sound harsh, Will, but let me remind you that if it was someone else I'd seen tromping through the woods, I wouldn't have shown my face. I wouldn't have offered an invitation into my home. I wouldn't even have opened my door.”

“I know.” Will was grateful to Snake. The man had chosen this lifestyle for reasons unknown to Will. He wouldn't pry.

“About those men who tried to kill you? You sure they didn't follow you here?”

“I don't see how they could have, but neither can I be sure. I don't know who they are or why they tried to kill her.” He had his suspicions. Some things were trying to fall into place, but mostly it was still a mystery.

“What do you know about her?”

“Nothing. I just happened to be flying overhead in time to see her running for her life.” Will struggled with whether or not to share the full of it with Snake, considering he didn't particularly seem the kind of person who would want to know the details about others' lives, nor would he reciprocate. Best to keep things simple and not share that Will and Sylvie had both lost their mothers on the same MIA airplane. For now.

From Snake's expression, Will knew that Sylvie was behind him.

He turned. She leaned against the doorjamb, clinging to it, more like. Will had meant to be there before she put any pressure on that ankle.

He rushed to her side. “I didn't mean for you to have to walk on your ankle. I should have waited by the door.”

She shrugged away from him. “You don't need to take care of me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. My ankle will be fine.”

Will sensed she needed to convince herself more than him.

“Sure it will.” He backed off. “But I still insist on doctoring your back. Why don't you sit down at the table.” Will assisted her there, ignoring her attempt to limp on her own.

“Thanks.” She turned her back to him and adjusted her shirt over her shoulder to expose the gash that ran from her shoulder to mid-back.

He winced. This was going to hurt.

Add to that, she was shaking all over. She'd had time to warm up, so it couldn't be from the cold. It must be a symptom of decompression sickness. She needed that hyperbaric chamber. And he was about to inflict more pain on her when he doctored this gash. He sent up a prayer, feeling helpless in all this.

Lord, when we are weak, You are strong. I need You to be strong for the both of us.

His prayer gave him a measure of peace. Sylvie could use some comfort and reassurance about now, too. But how did he give it?

Will grabbed the first-aid kit. He didn't like the look of the cut. It needed stitches. But he would do what he could and keep her talking so she wouldn't focus on the pain.

“I'm sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “You don't deserve that. I'm just tired.”

And injured. “No need to apologize. This has been a hard day for you.”

“For you, too. You helped me, someone you didn't even know. Not too many would have done the same. Snake included.”

Ah, so she'd been listening in longer than he thought. He was glad Snake had ventured outside for the moment.

“I'm nothing special so don't make me out to be.”

“I can't say that I agree. Nor can I thank you enough for what you did today. What you're still doing.”

“You're welcome.”

“I heard you talking to Snake. He sounded upset with you for bringing me here. And what was he saying about five miles?”

She'd definitely heard more than he thought. No matter. He hadn't said anything he was ashamed of saying. “Don't worry about that for now.” Will was glad he'd finished with her wound. “There, that should do it.”

He made to stand, hoping to escape from her rush of questions. He didn't blame her, but he wasn't prepared to answer them fully until he figured things out. He needed to talk Snake out of the five-mile hike. And he needed to use the radio.

Will scooted the bowl of stew toward her. Sylvie grabbed him before he could get away. Heat danced up his arm from where she touched him. “I don't know how I'll ever repay you, but I'll find a way.”

He already knew her well enough to expect that from her. She couldn't receive a kindness without needing to repay it. She thought she owed him. He eased his arm from her grip. “Don't worry about that. It's more important that you focus on staying alive.”

More important that they find out who wanted to kill her. The same person who had already killed their mothers?

SIX

W
ith warm stew in her stomach and a mesmerizing fire, Sylvie had never been more exhausted. The sofa was comfortable and broken in, and cocooned her, inviting her to sleep. She didn't want to close her eyes. After all, she was in an out-of-the-way cabin with two strangers. Two men she'd only known a few hours, never mind they had both been an intricate part of her survival so far.

When they figured out she was too exhausted to offer coherent conversation, they left her alone to rest—though she could still hear their hushed tones from the far side of the cabin where they practiced knife-throwing against a chunk of wood. Besides the shelf of old books against the wall, that could be Snake's only entertainment out here, and a necessary skill. Will's apparent expertise surprised her. She wouldn't want to face off with him. She remembered she'd lost his knife when she'd had to cut him out of the harness and swim him to shore.

Her gaze drifted to the diving equipment sitting out. It must belong to Snake.
Her
equipment was still in Will's plane. Had the doomed craft already sunk, never to be seen again—a reminder of the plane she'd come to find? At what point could they come back to retrieve her diving equipment? What did it matter? She couldn't get it in time to do her any good and might use Snake's gear to recompress herself. That was a seriously risky scenario that could kill her. She was counting on getting out of here at first light. Better to wait for the hyperbaric chamber in Juneau.

Will called her name out, jarring Sylvie awake. Somewhere behind his words, she heard a vibrating noise over the crackle of the fire in the otherwise quiet morning. That noise penetrated her catatonic state—and she forced herself to sit up, listen. Will stood at the open door, looking out, the gray of morning illuminating that portion of the cabin.

Whomp-whomp-whomp.

Realization dawned. A helicopter. Someone to rescue them.

Newfound energy surged through Sylvie. She eased from the sofa and limped over to where Will stood, hanging through the opening and letting the warm air out while the cold Alaska morning whipped inside and swirled around her feet.

Intent on listening, he didn't acknowledge her. She lifted her hand to touch his arm then dropped it when he tensed, as if he'd expected the touch. As if he hadn't wanted it.

“Why aren't you running out there to signal them?” Panic engulfed her. Sylvie pushed by, prepared to limp outside to wave at the helicopter. Will and Snake couldn't keep her here. “If you won't, then I will!”

“Sylvie, no.” Will snatched her back.

Pain shot through her ankle. She screamed, hoping someone would hear her.

Will gripped her shoulders, his brown eyes imploring her to listen. “Last night I radioed Chief Winters with the Mountain Cove Police. He's someone I know and trust. Chief Winters is sending a SAR team to meet us at ten. That's not for another three hours. I figured it would take us that long to hike the terrain to the meet-up point, especially with your injured ankle. That helicopter isn't our help.”

“How can you know that?”

“This isn't where I told them we'd be. And it doesn't sound like the type of chopper medevac uses. This is a single-engine. Small, maybe a two-seater.”

She froze. “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that I don't know who is flying the helicopter. Chief Winters didn't send this one.”

“It could be someone who could help us. Someone willing to fly us to Juneau.”

He pursed his lips. “Or it could be the men after you.”

Sylvie backed away from him. “No, that can't be. How could they find us?”

“They could have spotted the plane sitting halfway out of the water if it hasn't already sunk. Then on foot they could have tracked us. Or the helicopter might be simply looking for smoke from the nearest cabin, knowing that would be our only shelter for miles.”

“But how could they have found your plane? Covered that much ground without knowing where you were going?”

Will's eyes penetrated, stabbing at her core. “Easy enough. They could guess we were headed to Juneau and follow our general flight path. And if it's the men after you, you have to consider they're tracking you somehow. Maybe they put a tracker on your boat, or they're tracking your phone.”

“I'm no longer on my boat and don't have my phone with me.”

“Your diving gear, then. They found you in the channel and then could have followed you here. Your diving gear is on my plane. Maybe they figured I had landed, even if they didn't realize I crashed. But they've had enough time to get a helicopter and track you. So I don't want to risk it if it's them. Not when I know help that I trust is coming.”

A tracking device on her diving gear? That was a frightening thought. And worse, it would mean that it was her fault if their attackers tracked her here, since she was the one who'd insisted on going back for her diving gear and loading it onto Will's plane. She didn't have time to think through the implications, not with Will's suspicious gaze on her. She'd told him she didn't know who was after her or why. And she didn't. Not really. But if they were together much longer, she'd need to share everything with him—what had driven her to search for the plane to begin with.

Will waited and listened, staring out the door, the porch both covering and hiding him from the searchers.

“Where's Snake?”

“He went out.”

“You need to warn him.”

“Don't worry. He won't be waving at the helicopter. If anything, he's angry that someone is looking for us and will inadvertently discover him.”

A spray of bullets ricocheted through the woods. Will slammed the door and pressed his back against it. Determination carved his features. “We have to get out of here.”

Scrambling around the cabin, he grabbed coats and packs that must have been prepared while Sylvie had slept. He tossed Sylvie a pair of Snake's boots. “Try those. They might be too big, but you need something to protect your feet besides the diving boots.”

Sylvie understood the urgency and worked to put the boots on. There wasn't time to look for socks. It didn't matter if the boots didn't fit. But how could she run with her injured ankle?

The sound of the rotor blades drifted away.

“Do you think they'll come back?”

“They're not really gone. They're just looking for a place to land. They're onto us, Sylvie. They know we've taken refuge in this cabin.”

“I'm surprised they didn't use a more stealth approach. They would have caught us off guard.”

“It also would have taken longer, and they wouldn't want to give us a chance to get away.” He pulled on his coat. “They're determined to find you. What haven't you told me, Sylvie?”

In the distance more automatic gunfire resounded outside, saving her from a reply. A big chunk of fear lodged in Sylvie's stomach. When would this end? She couldn't imagine it would end well.

Will went to the door and opened it.

“Wait! What are you doing? You can't go out there. You're going to get yourself killed.”

“I have to find Snake. Make sure he's okay.” Will grabbed a weapon off the table and chambered a round. He handed it to Sylvie. “You know how to use this?”

“Well enough.” She didn't want it, but these were dire circumstances.

Once it was in her grip, she stared at it, a vise of fear squeezing her chest. Finally, she looked up at Will. All this she'd brought on him. On Snake. “Be careful.”

Understanding passed between them. They were in this together. “Stay here and be ready to run when I get back.”

Sylvie set the weapon on the table and sat in a chair to slip on Snake's boots. They rose above her midcalf and, if she tightened them enough, they just might be adequate support for her ankle so she could run.

She heard him outside on the porch. He hadn't left yet. Good. The too-big boots secured as much as possible. Sylvie shoved from the chair, pulled on the coat and opened the door to say words she'd never thought she'd say to anyone.

“Don't leave me!”

But Will had already disappeared through the woods to find Snake. She feared he would come face-to-face with the gunmen.

* * *

There was nothing he hated more than leaving Sylvie, but it couldn't be helped. He'd keep one eye on the cabin as he searched the nearby woods for Snake, who'd gone to one of the outbuildings. He should have returned by now.

When Will had first heard the helicopter, he'd tucked his borrowed weapon in his shoulder holster and prepared for what the next few moments would hold. And now he was in the thick of this fight for survival.

Hiding behind trees as he searched, he moved with stealth through the woods, watching the cabin as he went. “Snake,” he whispered loudly. “Where are you?”

The man could have taken off and left Will and Sylvie there to fend for themselves for all Will knew. But Will didn't want to believe it. The helicopter still hovered in the distance, confirming Will's belief the pilot was searching for a place to land or release someone who would soon come for them on foot. He couldn't be sure that someone wasn't already on the ground.

A glance back at the cabin told him no one had approached, but that could change at any moment. He had to get Sylvie out of there. Using the trees for cover, he searched for the missing man.

“Snake.”

An ominous dark color surrounded a mound by the woodpile. Will's gut tightened. After another glance at the cabin and through the woods, he ran forward, dropped to his knees and searched for a pulse. But the wound in Snake's head and the blood-stained ground told him enough.

“No...” Will cried. Acid burned his throat. “No, God, why?”

Snake's death was his fault. He shouldn't have brought Sylvie here, but he hadn't known it would end like this.

He said a quick prayer over Snake then, “I'm sorry, Snake. Real sorry.”

Will pushed to his feet and scraped the raw emotion from his face, letting anger and determination push up and drive him forward. He hefted Snake in a fireman's carry and trudged to the cabin. He'd have to get to Juneau before he could organize a funeral for the man, but until then, he wouldn't leave his body to the wolves.

Wolves came in many different forms.

When he made it to the cabin, the door opened and Sylvie stood there wide-eyed and waiting.

“What happened?”

“They got Snake. We have to leave now. I heard them landing.”

“I'm so sorry.” Sylvie looked as if she would cry, but ran her hand across her eyes and swiped the emotions away.

“No time for regrets. If we want to live we have to go.” Will looked her over. “Looks like you're ready. The temperature is dropping. We have at least three hours to hike and evade capture while we wait for a rescue. Grab the packs. I'm going to use the radio one last time.” He went to the small room where Snake kept his Ham radio. Again, old school, but Chief Winters kept one, as well.

Will made the call and warned Chief Winters what had happened so he could bring backup and understand the urgency and danger they would face. Will wasn't sure how long he and Sylvie could last, but knowing that others were on their way to help bolstered his confidence. He had a smidgen of hope they would survive.

It didn't last long. Not when he heard what the chief had to say next.

He finished on the radio and hung his head.

“What's wrong?” Sylvie asked from behind.

“Their helicopter was diverted to another emergency and delayed. Chief Winters promises to find other resources for us and send them as soon as possible. For obvious reasons, I can't hang out at the radio and call someone else for help.”

He left the room and grabbed one of the packs that Sylvie had set next to the sofa. Snake had prepared food and supplies for them. Will scrambled to put it on as Sylvie did hers. Wait. Will had to carry Sylvie instead of the pack. Snake was supposed to carry one of them and now he was gone.

Sylvie leaned against the sofa and watched him. “What are we going to do?”

“We're going to survive.” He refused to let her see the fear that gripped him. Only his determination to stay alive.

“You ready?”

She nodded.

“Let's go.”

He tried to assist her, let her lean against him to walk across the cabin, but she shrugged out of his reach. “I can do this.”

He'd let her think that until they had to run. For now it was awfully quiet out there. Will peeked through the door, weapon at the ready. They would be most vulnerable leaving the cabin, but he'd stay close to the trees. Snake had done well in using the canopy to hide this place, though the smoke from the chimney had most decidedly given them away to anyone bent on finding them. But all they had to do was stay alive just long enough to make their rendezvous—and hope that help would actually arrive, as planned.

Before he opened the door wide, he looked at Sylvie. “We're going to make a run for it. And you might not like this.”

Her eyes grew wary. “What?”

“I'm going to carry you piggyback style. It's the best way for me to run and make good time and get us out of danger.”

Sylvie opened her mouth to argue then shut it. She blew out a breath. “Okay.”

“All we have to do is stay alive long enough. Help is on the way. They're coming for us.” Just not as fast as Will had hoped.

He'd never had to run for his life. Never had to protect someone or help them this way. He never wanted anyone to depend on him like Sylvie depended on him, though she'd never admit to that. But he could see the uncertainty and apprehension in her eyes—beautiful hazel eyes that he wanted to look at again under much different circumstances.

Knock it off.

Will opened the door and positioned her on his back. “Are you okay? Am I hurting you?”