Death Cache (14 page)

Rain started to slash sideways, and the wind gusted in bursts and eddies, tossing his hair and stinging his cheeks. Still there was no sign of them. He glanced at his watch. They should have been back by now. What if the killer had laid in wait? He never should have let Tern out of his sight.

He caught a sound on the wind. It was like nature laughed at him, taunted him. Then he caught sight of Tern. Her hair reflected the light, like raven wings on fire. The relief of seeing her safe and whole almost had him rushing toward her, wanting to haul her into his arms and bury his face in her hair.

“Tell me you found him?” Mac asked.

Gage broadened his focus from Tern to see a very cold Nadia and a frustrated Mac. “No.” Gage looked at the women and tried to send a message to Mac that he’d like to talk to him alone.

“Out with it, Gage,” Tern said, tightening her lips as though preparing herself.

“We didn’t find Lucky, but we did find where he was killed.”

“Animals?” Mac asked.

He nodded. “Looks like.”

“Pictures?”

“Got ‘em.”

“Let me see.” Mac held his hand out for the camera.

“Why don’t we get out of the weather first?” Gage indicated Nadia, who shivered with enough force to rattle her teeth.

“Where’s Robert?”

“Your cabin.”

“I’m sure he’s lonely. Why don’t we join him?” There certainly was no love lost between Mac and Robert.

“Let me get Nadia something dry and warmer to wear,” Tern said.

Mac ushered Nadia in out of the cold, and Gage followed Tern into her cabin. She didn’t hear him and jumped when he laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to know if you were okay.”

Her eyes flickered up and met his, the dark depths reflecting grief so deep he felt it inside himself. “Lucky is dead because of me.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

“Who else is there?”

“The man who killed him.”

“But who is that and why? Who hates me so much that they killed a man who wouldn’t have hurt anyone?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.”

“And what about the rest of you? You’re all at risk, and I don’t understand any of it.”

He reached out and pulled her into his arms. Her head nuzzled into his shoulder. She fit so perfectly in his arms. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms since they’d discovered Lucky this morning. Keep her there where no one could get close enough to hurt her. “We’ll figure this out and punish whoever did this.”

She nodded, took a stuttering breath, and shifted away from him. He let her go, part relieved that she was no longer so close to him and part mourning her loss. Tern gathered Nadia’s sleeping bag into a huge ball in front of her, like she was clutching a pillow. He opened the door to the cabin, and both of them braved the freak storm. It felt more like October than June.

They ran to Robert and Mac’s cabin, the wind blowing them into the small space when they opened the door. Gage had to struggle to latch the door behind them. Nadia sat on the end of Robert’s bunk, her body quaking. Tern quickly unzipped the sleeping bag and added it to the covers already around her shoulders.

“T-thanks,” she mumbled through chattering teeth.

Tern crawled under the sleeping bag too, hoping her body heat would warm Nadia faster. Robert was like stone, sitting unresponsive while Mac held his hand out for Gage’s camera. Gage took a seat and waited while Mac viewed the gruesome images.

After a period of time, Mac looked up. “Not a lot to go on. I’d like to see the actual spot when the weather improves. Though with it screaming out there like this I don’t think there will be a lot of evidence left.”

“We need to leave this place,” Robert said.

“We can’t leave,” Gage said. “Not today. It would be suicide to try and hike down to the river in this weather.” He gestured to Nadia. “She’s already too cold, and with her head injury, she wouldn’t make it.”

“W-we need to play the g-game,” Nadia said, stuttering as her body shook in an effort to warm itself. “If we d-don’t, he’ll kill us t-too.”

Tern wrapped Nadia in her arms. Nadia laid her head on Tern’s shoulder.

“We gotta eat,” Robert said. “None of us ate breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry,” Tern said.

“We’ve got to keep up our strength,” Mac said. “Is there any food easy to get to?”

“The candy bars that Robert found,” Tern said. “Other than that, we need to hunt. I’d saved some rice and biscuits for Lucky since he—”

“But they would need to be cooked?” Gage interrupted.

“We need to do something,” Robert said, standing. “We can’t sit here waiting for a killer to come and get us.”

“Chances are whoever killed Lucky is somewhere dry and warm and will stay that way,” Gage said.

“Then shouldn’t we take advantage of the bad weather and hike out of here?” Tern asked.

“Not if the risk of doing so is too great, and I think it is,” Mac said.

“The cold doesn’t bother me,” Tern said, disengaging herself from Nadia. “I don’t mind going out there and cooking some rice and see what I can do with the flour that’s left.”

“I’ll go with you,” Gage said.

“So will I,” Mac said.

“I guess, I’ll stay here with Nadia and make sure she gets warmed up,” Robert said.

“You okay with that?” Tern asked Nadia.

Nadia nodded her head. “I’m really t-tired.”

“I’ll boil some water and make some coffee. It’ll warm you up.”

“S-sounds great.”

“Sure does,” Robert agreed.

Gage stood and went to the door. He opened it and swore. “Guys. We’ve got more problems.”

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

Tern peeked over Gage’s shoulder. The campsite was blanketed in snow. The rain had turned into a blizzard.

“Well, this complicates things,” Mac said from behind her.

“S-snow?” Nadia whined. “Are you f-freaking kidding me?” She huddled deeper into the sleeping bag. “Let me k-know when summer r-returns.”

“The day isn’t getting any younger,” Mac said venturing into the cold.

“Wished I had packed my snow gear,” Gage said. “Tern, you stay. I don’t want you getting cold.”

“I was bred for weather like this.” She nudged him with her shoulder and pushed past him out into the blizzard. The wind cut like knives, making a liar out of her as she wrapped the edges of her jacket tightly around her. While winter didn’t normally bother her much—she always loved that first snowfall of the season—having a blizzard in the middle of June threw even her off balance. People died in conditions like this. Alaska’s wild whims had killed many in the past and would claim many more in the future.

Would they be among this year’s statistics?

She hurried to the cache they had strung up a tree to keep animals from helping themselves, while Gage and Mac worked on getting a fire started. Luckily, one of them had the foresight to stack wood under cover, so that some of what Gage gathered the day before was dry enough to burn.

A blaze cracked and danced erratically in the gusting, snow-swirling wind. Gage kept pilling on more wood. Tern did her best to shield herself by turning her back to the wind and mixing biscuits that she doubted would taste very good, but then she had the idea to break up pieces of the Almond Joys into the dough. Necessity was the mother of invention. It didn’t really matter what they ate or how it tasted, as long as they had something to fill their bellies.

Gage had rice simmering over the flames he continued to feed. Mac had been fairly quiet as he made coffee, pouring her a mug as she dropped globs of biscuits onto the cast-iron pan. She took a fortifying sip, for once grateful for the strength of his coffee. They were all quiet, seeming to just get through the effort of making food while being bullied by the elements. No one spoke of Lucky or the missing log his head had been displayed on. She was glad for whomever had removed it, probably Gage. Robert wouldn’t have given a thought to how she’d feel seeing the horrific reminder of Lucky’s tragic end.

She handed Gage a hot biscuit, added a helping of rice, and then piled a plate high for Mac. Before serving herself, she made plates for Nadia and Robert. It was the least she could do for Robert since the man had taken over for her with Nadia. While she loved Nadia, it irritated her sometimes when Nadia turned drama queen. Yes, she understood that Nadia was upset over Lucky, they all were, but just because she’d currently been sleeping with him, didn’t make her grief more important than the rest of theirs.

Or hers.

Tern had been the closest to Lucky. She’d had a relationship with the man that had lasted years. While their romantic relationship had only spanned six or seven months, they’d frequently gotten together when he was in town and she wasn’t involved with someone else. Except for that time when he had found her in the
Howling Dog Saloon,
and she’d been so upset with Robert and his poutiness that she had looked at Lucky as ‘manna from heaven’ and escaped with him. She hadn’t seen Lucky in almost a year, and there he was, blond hair flowing around his collar, sunburned cheeks from whatever mountain range he’d just conquered, with a smile that promised to make all her wishes come true. And that night he’d done a damn good job of trying to fulfill her every wish.

The morning after had come with all sorts of regrets. She’d never cheated on anyone before, and didn’t like that she had felt so trapped with Robert that she’d done something so drastic. It was obviously the universe waking her up and telling her she didn’t belong with Robert. By that afternoon she was a free spirit, but hated that she’d broken Robert’s heart. The hardest part was telling Chloe why she would no longer be dating her dad. She’d given the little girl her cell phone number and told her to call any time she needed anything.

Lucky had flown off again to parts unconquered by man, and she hadn’t seen him until she’d walked into the hangar a few days ago.

Wiping away a tear she hadn’t realized she’d shed, she picked up the two plates she’d prepared for Robert and Nadia and headed toward the cabin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gage stand and follow her. She hadn’t asked him to, but he was there to help open the door for her anyway. He was also there to steady her when she caught sight of Nadia, naked and straddling Robert, riding him to climax.

“Holy shit!” Tern almost dropped the plates she carried. If it wasn’t for Gage who caught them, she would have. “What the hell are you doing?”

Nadia screeched, and scrambled off Robert, grabbing her sleeping bag that had fallen on the floor, using it to cover herself.

“Fuck,” Robert muttered grabbing for the closest cover, which turned out to be Nadia’s shirt, to cover his large erection. “You could have knocked.” He arrowed a frustrated glare in Tern’s direction.

“Why would we?” Gage said. “You were supposed to make sure Nadia warmed up. That didn’t mean take advantage of her.”

Tern set the dishes down on the dresser and rushed to sit next to Nadia. She was going to kill Robert. She cautiously put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Nadia jerked her head but couldn’t meet Tern’s eyes.

“You’re a bastard,” Gage said to Robert.

“Me? I didn’t take advantage of her.
She
took advantage of me.”

“Oh, come on,” Tern said. “Why would she do that?”

“Hey, just because you threw me away doesn’t mean that I don’t have a lot to offer a woman,” Robert grumbled, adjusting himself.

Nadia buried her head in the folds of the sleeping bag. “I’m so ashamed. I don’t know what happened.”

Tern swallowed the accusing words that Lucky hadn’t been dead that long.

Nadia continued with her whining, “I don’t know why I let this happen. It didn’t mean anything, Tern. I hope you aren’t mad at me.” She blinked her eyes up at Tern, her expression full of guilt and shame.

“No, Nadia, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at Robert.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Hey,” Robert objected.

“Whether she took ‘advantage’ of you or not, you knew what you were doing. What about all that crap about still being in love with me? Huh? Guess that was a bunch of bullshit.”