Death Cache (8 page)

Tern returned to camp, clean, but still in a foul mood. She hadn’t been able to relax in the hot spring during her scrub fest. Not with Gage standing guard a few feet away in the bushes. The man needed to take lessons from Mac. Covert he was not. She hoped he’d enjoyed the view.

Gage entered camp a few minutes after her, making it look as though they’d planned a clandestine affair. Robert glared at her. She ignored him, too, and escaped inside her cabin.

Nadia was still sleeping. Tern nudged her until she responded and then let her fall back to sleep. She took more time than needed to put away her bathing supplies, braid her wet hair, disposing of her dirty clothes and torn underwear in the laundry bag. She even took time to straighten the cabin. She’d thought about grabbing one of Nadia’s books, but her empty stomach sent her back out with the men. Plus, she wasn’t in the mood for a romance novel.

Not when she wanted to maim someone.

Gage was the first one she saw. Why couldn’t the man take himself off somewhere? She needed a break from his wary eyes.

“Let’s make lunch.” The men would think better on a full stomach too. Food might do all their tempers some good and besides, Mac and Lucky would be ravenous when they returned.

“What’s left to eat?” Robert’s tone had a whine in it that made her want to slap him.

“There’s rice, remember,” Tern said. “We still have the smoked salmon. I suggest we get the rice going, and I’ll take a stroll around to see what else I can add.” That would keep him busy and not brooding like he was doing now. Brooding wasn’t going to help any of them.

He scoffed. “I don’t know how to cook rice.”

“Well, here’s your chance to learn. Two parts water to one part rice. Simmer. Don’t boil.” Just because she knew her way around a campfire didn’t mean all the cooking chores were going to fall to her.

Tern headed toward the forest.

“Where do you think you’re going now?” Gage called.

“Let’s not do this again.” Did he have a death wish? “I’m going to gather more food for dinner.”

“Stay in view of camp and make it quick.”

She bit back a retort. This overprotective crap was getting old, fast. Taking orders was an exercise she didn’t subscribe to.

Tern concentrated on picking greens for a salad, staying in view of camp. Finding a thicket of willows, she freed her pocketknife from the scabbard on her belt and cut strips of bark. With her supplies bundled in the pouch she’d made from hiking up her shirt, she headed back to camp. She felt the searing flick of Gage’s glance over her exposed midriff.

She hitched her shirt higher and hoped the sight of her abs tormented the hell out him. She wanted him tied in knots, plagued with thoughts of her as she’d been these last months about him. It was childish and didn’t help the situation, but there it was.

The rice was in the pan, boiling over hot flames when she returned. Again using her shirt, she grabbed the handle and pulled the pot back over coals and not flames. Robert gave her a guilty look.

Did men mess up instructions on purpose so women wouldn’t ask for their help?

She added more water to the rice since too much of it had boiled off rather than soaked in. Once the rice was cooked, she added bits of smoked salmon and then stirred in the remainder of the cheese, making a casserole of sorts. Her stomach rumbled. It wasn’t a meal you’d find in a restaurant or even in her kitchen, but it smelled good, and she was happy with the results. She served it up to the quiet group, along with the wild green salad. Before eating herself, she checked on Nadia, who was still sleeping, her breathing even and pulse steady.

Mac and Lucky returned with Nadia’s backpack.

Both Robert and Gage stood as though at attention for their next orders. Lucky seemed more upset than when he’d left.

“How’s Nadia?” he asked, voice full of remorse and worry.

“Still sleeping,” Tern replied. “I’ve made something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” Lucky turned toward Nadia’s cabin, while Mac dropped the backpack and took a seat on one of the stumps.

“What’ve you got?” Mac asked.

Tern dished him up the salmon and rice, and he dug in.

Robert and Gage gathered around Mac, waiting. Once Mac shoveled in a few heaping bites, he started to talk. “Found her pack down an embankment, choked with trees. If it wasn’t for the neon strip of orange, I wouldn’t have seen it. Leroy made the right choice in returning to camp for help. With her knocked out, and no sounds to help him locate her, he wouldn’t have seen her.”

He shoveled in a few more bites and then resumed. “I didn’t see any sign of someone else, but then Lucky had trampled the area, contaminating any tracks left by anyone besides the two of them. The section was so wooded there’s no way to tell if she was pushed or her pack was snagged.”

Tern didn’t like the suspicions radiating off him. “What are you thinking?”

He glanced at everyone. “There’s either someone among us setting us up, or out there waiting and watching for an opportunity.”

“Opportunity for what?” Tern asked, even though she was afraid she knew.

“That’s what we’d better figure out.”

Mac finished eating and then he and Gage took off for the geocache Tern and Gage hadn’t found earlier. Hopefully, there would be more clues in it to point to what was going on.

Nadia stumbled out of their cabin with Lucky’s help. Tern rushed over while Robert kept watch, propped against his cabin with his rifle lying crosswise on his lap.

“How are you feeling?” Tern asked, her gaze roving over Nadia. Her face was pale, the swelling around the cut already turning black and blue.

“Remember that car wreck I was in two years ago?” Nadia grumbled. Tern nodded. “A lot like that.”

Tern supported one arm, and with Lucky on Nadia’s other side, they helped her over to the snapping campfire.

“Do we have any drugs?”

“I made you some tea,” Tern said. “It should help with the aches and pains.” Tern poured the willow tea in a cup and cautiously handed it to Nadia. “It’s hot, so be careful.”

Nadia sipped and grimaced. “Ugh. This is gross.”

“Yes, but it will help your headache.”

“I think I’d rather deal with the headache.”

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Lucky asked, hovering at her side.

“Unless you have chocolate, I don’t want to see you right now,” Nadia said.

Lucky dropped his head. “I’m really sorry, Nadia.” He shuffled off toward his cabin.

“You were a little hard on him,” Tern said, watching Lucky scuff his way across the camp. “This wasn’t his fault.”

“He should never have left me out there. I don’t want to talk about him. I heard fighting earlier. What happened between you and Gage?”

“Heard that, did you?”

“I don’t know what was real and what I dreamt.” She took another sip, her face contorting from the bitterness, but she swallowed. “Clear it up for me.”

Tern brought her up to speed with the blame game earlier, then leaned in after searching the camp for anyone listening, and told Nadia what had happened between her and Gage on their geocaching trek.

“Holy shit.” Nadia sat stunned. “I bet you wished you could trade me places.”

Tern regarded Nadia’s bump on the head. “Doubt you’d want to be in my shoes though.”

“I don’t know. The sex sounded really hot.”

Tern didn’t want to remember, but was afraid she’d never forget.

Mac and Gage entered camp. Anger and apprehension drifted off them in waves. Mac called the group together.

“Give me a minute to talk to Tern first,” Gage began.

Mac shook his head. “Need to see everyone’s reaction to the news.” He stared at Tern. “Especially hers.”

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

“Tern.” Gage grabbed her hand. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

“No one is going anywhere,” Mac said. “Robert, get Leroy out here. Gage, take a seat. Nadia, glad to see you up and about.”

“What’s going on?” Nadia looked at Tern.

Tern shook her head, but she had a bad feeling. She should have listened to that feeling when it had slithered over her skin at the hangar in Fairbanks. Her grandmother, Coho, had always advised to heed the warnings of her ancestral spirits. She pulled on Gage’s grip. He tightened his hold as though trying to telegraph something before releasing her.

Robert and Lucky joined the group. Everyone had taken a stump except Mac. He leaned his .30-06 butt down on the ground against a log, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out newspaper articles.

“We found news clippings on everyone except Tern.” He observed Tern. “I think it’s safe to say we are all here because of you.”

A chill snaked up her spine. “News clippings? Why?”

“We’d better hurry and figure out why.” Mac clenched his jaw and glanced down at the newspapers. “Before we start, just know that we all have secrets. None of us are saints.”

“What the fuck is in those?” Robert rose to his feet.

“Our deepest and darkest.”

“I’m not staying here for this.” Robert backed up a few steps.

“Really, Robert, where are you going to go?” Lucky asked.

Robert looked frantically around and cursed again. “Burn ‘em.” He pointed to what Mac held in his hand. “Right now, toss them in the fire.”

“Gage and I already know what’s in these,” Mac said. “The rest of you need to be aware of what we’re up against.”

“Bullshit,” Robert huffed. “This is a sick game.”

“One that almost got me killed this afternoon,” Nadia said. “I don’t want to hear what’s in those any more than you do. But whoever’s pulling the strings does.”

“So, we’re going to blindly obey the son of a bitch?” Lucky asked, joining with Robert.

“You have a better idea?” Nadia asked.

“Yeah,” Lucky said. “We can pack up and walk out of here.” He glanced around the group.

“I’m in agreement,” Robert said. “Burn the newspapers and let’s leave. None of us signed up for this.”

“I’m not in any condition to hike out of here,” Nadia said, raising her hand to her head. “I vote for the big reveal and playing out the game until the plane shows back up.”

“That’s five days away,” Gage quietly reminded everyone.

“How long will it take to hike out?” Nadia asked. “Get real. We might as well put a bullet in our heads right now.”

“Okay, none of that kind of talk,” Tern said.

“Nadia’s right,” Mac said. “We’re a good fifty to a hundred miles from any village. If there’s someone out there lying in wait, we’re better equipped to stay here and defend ourselves. If one of us is the culprit, best to stay and keep an eye on everyone.”

“What about that trash?” Robert gestured to the news clippings. “I still vote we destroy them and refuse to play.”

“What are you afraid of, Robert?” Nadia asked.

“None of your goddamn business.” He tightened his lips.

“Actually, it is her business.” Mac regarded the group. “For whatever reason, we’re all here, which means we need to know what’s in these news articles. Whoever set this ‘competition’ up went through a lot of time investigating us. We need to know what he knows. It’s the only way to get to the bottom of this.” Mac drew in a deep breath. “I’ll go first.” He held Tern’s gaze for a moment before glancing at the others. “Remember, every story has two sides.”

When he began it was like he was lost in some dark place, reliving a nightmarish past. He passed the copy of the article around. “My wife was killed because of me. After I left the Rangers, I worked intelligence for the government. Shannon was kidnapped and used as leverage to try and get me to turn traitor against my country.” His voice failed him, and he took a minute. “You’ll notice the newspapers painted a different picture of her death. Make your own judgments.”

Gage passed Tern the article.

The headline read:
Decorated US Army Ranger’s Wife Tortured and Killed.

The article went into depth on how Mac refused to give into the kidnappers’ demands, and his wife was murdered. Rather than concentrate on the supreme sacrifice that Mac had made for his country, the journalist had focused on the inhumanity of the man who would forfeit the life of his wife. It painted Mac and the military in a harsh, callous light.