Page 87 of Fire Peak

Her urgent tone had him striding back to her side. Together, they stared at the blurry photo an unknown number had sent to her phone. It showed Hailey and Elias sitting under a tarp tied between two spruce trees, back to back, tied together with rope. Elias’ head was bowed, as if he was unconscious. But Hailey glared straight at the camera. Fierce as ever.

Even though the man claimed he wasn’t going to hurt her, Hailey didn’t believe him, especially when they left the town and headed down a logging road into the forest. From the passenger seat, she watched the forest pass by, mile after mile.

“Where are we going? Where’s Elias?”

The man chuckled. “Don’t worry about your boyfriend.”

She let that pass, because the nature of their relationship was not the point and also none of his business. “My dad will be looking for me.”

“I hope he does.”

She noticed his accent again. “Who are you?”

“I’m an old friend.”

Old, yes. Friend? No way. “Where are you from?”

“That’s a complicated question.” They passed an old train trestle, its long timbers leaning against each other like tall pickup sticks, ready to collapse at any moment. “That train used to bring life to this town. Took copper out, brought people in. Don’t you think it should be that way again?”

“What? I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Copper? Who cares? Where’s Elias? Is he okay?”

“He would be better if he hadn’t fought back.”

Hailey was so worried about Elias that she could barely stay in her seat belt. “You were watching us in the woods, weren’t you? You cut the tires of our four-wheelers.”

“You shouldn’t have been out there. But it worked out fine, because now I know how to get what I want.”

“Okay. So what do you want?”

“What’s mine. That’s all. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

The truck came to a stop under some trees next to a creek. The water flowed over the rocks with a cheerful tinkling sound. Clearly it didn’t know a kidnapping was underway. She saw a boat, a little one with a motor, tied up to a log.

The man came around the passenger side and yanked her out of the truck. He was wearing that fur coat again. It looked old, really old. She wondered if it had some kind of sentimental value, or if he was too poor to buy a new one. What kind of animal had it come from? She felt sorry for it, stuck forever on this horrible man’s body.

He prodded her toward the boat. She bit her lip, tears springing to her eyes. She should have listened to her father and stayed inside the cabin.

The thought of Nick eased her mind. He was with Charlie, and as soon as they knew she was missing, they’d figure out where she was and come after her. Nick was an investigator. He’d be able to find her even here in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. And Charlie was a badass. Between the two of them, they’d make sure she and Elias didn’t die here in the forest.

When she was settled into the boat, the man pushed off from the edge of the creek and jumped in after her. He used a paddle to steer them toward the middle of the creek, where the water was deeper. As he paddled upstream, he sang a song she didn’t recognize.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Old Russian song for the boatman. Heave ho, heave ho. Volga, mother river.” He gave a booming, almost maniacal laugh, startling a cluster of birds from their perch on a log. And it struck her that this man wasn’t entirely sane. Maybe not even a little bit sane.

36

In all the dangerous situations he’d found himself in, Nick had never panicked the way he was doing now. His breath was wheezing in his chest, and he couldn’t form words, or at least not the ones he wanted to. The only words that came out of his mouth were curse words, the kind he hadn’t heard since his old firehouse days.

Charlie kept saying something, trying to break into his ranting, into his trance of absolute freakout. But he couldn’t focus on her, couldn’t get his ears to understand what she was saying. She held onto him, her hands on his shoulders, her gaze capturing his, offering strength and focus. Hailey. Hailey’s been kidnapped. On my watch.

Finally his head cleared enough to hear what she was saying.

“Breathe,” she commanded. “Take a breath.”

He dragged in air.

“Now another one.”

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