Death Cache (36 page)

Everything bothered Nadia.

She even complained about the sun. It had to be by far the most beautiful day since they’d left Fairbanks. Tern tried to shut her out, as the men were doing. Men could ignore women as though it was an art form. Nadia was only doing this because Tern hadn’t forgiven her yet. Like this behavior would endear her into forgetting that she’d lied to Tern all this time. Gage had been smart enough to leave Tern alone, other than checking out the bump on her head. She sported a nice pair of shiners today, and the never-ending headache continued to beat on, but she was fine.

The terrain was steep as they hiked down to the river. The trail narrowed on the rocky cliff with the rushing river below. The cold humidity of the water was a welcome relief as they struggled over the rough landscape. Rapids rushed by some fifty to sixty feet below them as they carefully navigated the loose shale. It was a deadly drop to the gunmetal, silt-filled waters below. It was a relief to know they’d soon be at the riverbank. They just needed to find a safe way down the razor-sharp edge without falling to their deaths.

“Watch your footing,” Gage hollered. “Hold onto something. Trail looks easier up ahead.”

Good. She was getting vertigo from climbing so high over the rushing water. They made the bit Gage called ‘easier’, but they still needed to stay alert and watch every step. At least here there were struggling birch trees to hold onto.

A gunshot rang out, followed by Nadia’s horrifying scream, and then a splash echoed from far below. Tern swiveled as Gage knocked her to the uneven ground.

“Nadia!” Tern screamed.

Robert had hit the dirt, too, but there was no sign of Nadia. Another shot rang out close to them. Shattered shale flew into the air like shards of glass. Robert swore, rivaling the cursing coming from Gage as he attempted to flatten her into the ground with the heavy blanket of his body.

“
Nadia
!” Tern screamed again. A sob lodged in her throat. “Where the hell is she?” No one answered her and Tern was afraid she knew why.

“Move back, take cover!” Gage yelled, the words ringing in her ears as he dragged her into the safety of the trees away from the cliff face and raining bullets.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Robert muttered a litany of swear words like a prayer as he belly-crawled after them.

Gage picked Tern up, half-carrying her to a thick stand of birch where he deposited her behind the trunk of the largest tree. He knelt in front of her, his eyes wild and filled with fury and dread.

“You all right?” His hands roved over her body checking to see if she was hit.

“Nadia,” she pleaded, grabbing his shoulders. “You’ve got to help Nadia.”

“She’s beyond help now.”

“No, we have to go after her.”

“You heard the splash. If she wasn’t shot, the fall killed her.”

“She’s a good swimmer,” Tern argued. “What if she’s hanging onto the side of the cliff right now?”

“I saw her go over,” Robert said, joining them. “I’m sorry, Tern.”

“No!” Tern scrambled to stand and rush passed the men. Gage caught her around the waist and swung her off her feet. “There’s got to be a way to save her.”

“Even if she survived the fall, the water’s too cold, moving too fast, and has already drowned her with silt.”

“We have to do something,” she begged on a sob, struggling in his rigid hold.

Gage twisted Tern in his arms and shook her. “There’s nothing to do. She’s gone. And unless you want to die, too, you’ll have to grieve later. Robert?”

“Ready.”

“Ready for what?” Tern asked. The men ignored her as they went into some type of combat mode.

Robert was on his knees, the muzzle of his rifle cocked between branches, the butt of the gun snug against his shoulder, one eye closed and the other looking through the scope.

“We’ll head southeast, away from the river into deeper brush,” Gage said, his hold on her tightening in readiness. “You got enough bullets?”

“Yes. Now go!” Robert started shooting, the repeat of the rifle deafening.

They ran as Robert laid down cover for them. Tern did her best to keep up with Gage. She knew he’d staggered his stride to make it easier for her, but he still had to drag her along behind him, helping her when she stumbled. They ran until she gasped for air and her legs turned to jelly. Yet they still ran, dogging branches and tearing through brush.

Would they ever stop? Would this nightmare ever end?

Were they all going to die?

She could no longer hear the gunfire. Did that mean Robert had taken care of the killer, or was he now dead himself?

Just like Nadia.

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IGHT

“We’ll stop here,” Gage said, his breathing heavy, his chest heaving. He struggled out of the backpacks he’d been shouldering and bent at the waist trying to catch his breath.

Everything that she’d been running from crashed into her. “This can’t be happening. Why?” She gasped as the pain of Nadia’s loss cut through her. “Why her? She never hurt anybody.”

Gage pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, Tern.” He kissed her forehead. Then he was helping her to sit on the ground as her body crumbled in on itself with grief.

Just last night she’d lain next to Nadia while Nadia begged for forgiveness.

She’d gone to her death thinking Tern hated her. Another series of sobs racked her body. What were the last words she’d spoke to her? They came crashing back with sharp clarity.

Right now you need to stay the hell away from me.

If they’d stayed at the cabin, like Nadia had wanted to, she’d still be with them.

Robert crashed through the bushes. “I scared off the motherfucker. Guy tucked tail and scurried back into the trees like the coward he was. I gave chase for a few but couldn’t catch up to the murdering asshole.”

Tern lurched to her feet and threw herself into Robert’s arms. She’d been so terrified he’d been killed too. Robert staggered back under her weight but wrapped his arms tightly around her. “Now this I like.” He nuzzled his lips into the crook of her neck, and his hand cupped her butt. She pushed out of his grasp.

“What? No kiss?”

A tear escaped her and she angrily whipped it away. She knew he was attempting humor to dispel the tragedy they’d just experienced, but it didn’t do any good. Tears streamed down her cheeks again, and the sobs came harder.

“Hey, you don’t have to kiss me. Just stop that. Please.” His voice cracked.

Gage wrapped an arm around her and brought her carefully, like she was glass, into the safety of his broad shoulders. “We have to keep moving, Tern.”

She nodded, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

“Oh, shit. Shut her up, man.” Robert turned and suspiciously wiped at his own eyes.

“Are you sure?” Tern choked out. “Absolutely positive?”

Robert didn’t pretend he didn’t know what she was asking. “Yeah. Everything happened so fast, but I saw that bright pink backpack of hers hit the river. I’m so sorry, Tern.”

Tern nodded, but her lips wouldn’t stop trembling.

“Come on,” Gage said.

“No. We need to recover Nadia’s body. Make sure she’s…”

“There’s nothing we can do for Nadia,” Gage said, his tone hardening.

“I don’t have a body to bury for Lucky—”

“Don’t forget his head’s bagged and on ice with Mac.” Robert backed up a few steps from the look she shot his way. “Sorry. But I’m not going after Nadia’s body. Not when someone’s been shooting at us.”

“He’s right,” Gage said. “He’s a jerk, but he’s right.”

“Hey!”

“Shut up, Robert.”

“We need to go after the son of a bitch.” Tern fists tightened, wanting them around the throat of the murderer who’d brought her so much heartache.

“Think it through, Tern,” Gage said. “You’re riding on emotions. We don’t know where he is, why he’s doing this. We’re running out of ammo. We don’t have any food, and no way to contact help. Our best chance to stay alive is to make it to the river.”

“I’m not running any more. If I sit here long enough, the murdering coward will find me, and I’ll get him.”

“The hell you will. I’m not going to let you get yourself killed.”

“What? Like Lucky and Mac and Nadia got themselves killed?”

“You’re smarter than this. You know we need to get to safety.” Gage stared at her, willing her to understand.

She swallowed the biting remark dying to fly from her mouth and wrangled in her emotions. He was right. She was reacting. Not thinking.

She nodded.

“Good,” Robert said. “Glad that’s settled. I need a minute to give nature my best, and then we’ll get out of this fucking forest.” He headed into the trees, one hand unbuckling his belt, the other still tightened around his rifle.

“I gotta hand it to Robert,” Gage said with a small smile. “While he’s useless most of the time, he’s good in a gunfight. I’m grateful he had our backs today.”

“I should have told him that.”

Gage cracked a smile. “You did when you plaster yourself to him.”

“Yeah, well. Jerk copped a feel while I was showing him my ‘gratitude’.”

“Can’t say I blame him.” Gage swallowed. “Listen, Tern, about what happened yesterday with Nadia—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Tern grabbed her pack and struggled into the straps, hitching it onto her shoulders.

“We need to before—”

“Before what? Another one of us dies, and it’s too late?”

The look in his eyes answered for him.

“You’ll just have to keep us alive then, won’t you?”

“Loving you isn’t going to be easy, is it?”

“Nothing worth having ever is.”

Robert’s terrified scream echoed through the forest.

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They found Robert on his back, pants around his knees, blood covering his head and torso. “Damn bitch caught me with my pants down, taking a shit!” At least he was conscious and still breathing.

Tern rushed over to him. Gage was a little slower as he surveyed the area, his gun ready.

“What happened?” Tern dropped to her knees, reaching out to touch him but not knowing where to help first. There was so much blood, and had he finished his nature call? “How bad are you hurt? Where are you hurt?”

“She hit me on the head. About cracked open my skull. Dazed me something awful. She probably thought it was enough to make it easy to knife me. Bitch. Shit, this hurts.” He moaned.

“Who are you talking about? Who did this to you?”

“Nadia! She’s the one behind all this.”

“She’s alive?” Tern quickly glanced around, hope blooming in her heart.

“And deadly as a snake. Knew there was something off about her. Son of a bitch!”

“Nadia did this?”

“Yes, that bitch did this to me! Haven’t you been listening? Your best friend is our fucking psycho killer!”

“Robert,” Gage said, bending on one knee, keeping an eye on the surrounding forest. “Tell us what happened. Where are you hurt?”

“Shit. I hurt everywhere. First the blow to the head, when I came to enough, bitch was straddling me, knife ready to plunge into my heart. Do you think that’s the way she killed Lucky? She seems to prefer being on top.” His uninjured hand shook as it covered his throat. “She was going to knife me in the heart, and then cut off my head, wasn’t she?” He grabbed Gage, his hand twisting in his shirt. “You gotta kill her for me, man. I gotta be avenged. Oh, shit, shit, shit.” A sob escaped him, tears filled his eyes, and his lips trembled. “Chloe. My poor little girl.” He looked at Tern, his eyes wild and swimming with pain. “Promise me you’ll take care of her. Love her like she’s your own.”

“Stop talking like that,” Tern said. “You’re going to be fine.” Tern clamped her hands over the wound in his arm that was bubbling blood the worst. The others on his chest seemed superficial, but the one in his arm might have cut an artery. “You’ll be there for Chloe.”

Robert let go of Gage and grabbed Tern’s wrist with surprising force. “Promise me, goddamn it! I need to know my baby’s going to be cared for.”

Tern met his scared, fierce stare and nodded. “I promise, Robert. I’ve always loved Chloe. Anything happens to you, she’ll be mine as though I gave birth to her myself.”

His head fell back and he shut his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Come on, let’s patch you up and get out of here,” Gage said. “Any chance you might have hurt Nadia?”

“A black eye, some bruised ribs as I was trying to shake her off me. She’s taunting us, man. She’s going to kill us all.”

“Enough,” Gage said. “You’re not that hurt. It’s just a lot of blood.”

Tern stared at Gage. Was he serious? Gage looked at her, his mouth tight, eyes bleak, and the truth of Robert’s condition sank in. He needed medical help and he needed it now, or the only doctor that would do him any good was a coroner.