Page 23 of Their Frozen Bones

Rio’s attention hadn’t drifted from the soles of Rowley’s boots. When one foot moved a little, he heaved a sigh of relief. “Copy that. I can see Jake moving. I’ll need to get to him to see how bad he’s been hurt.” He lifted a broken tree branch and hurled it away from his position.

Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat.

As snow flew up all around him, he lunged in the opposite direction and dived behind a tree beside Rowley. His heart sank at the sight of three bullet holes in the front of Rowley’s liquid Kevlar vest. Grabbing one of his partner’s arms he dragged him behind the trees. “I have him, Jenna. I’m checking for injuries. He’s taken three in the vest.”

There was no excuse for anyone to shoot at a deputy wearing a vest clearly marked with the bright yellow sheriff’s department logo on the front. They hadn’t ventured onto a signposted property. In fact, all the cabins in this area belonged to the Forest Service. He removed a glove and dragged Rowley’s clothes from his pants and slid his hand over his warm flesh searching for wounds. Under his palm, he could feel the rise and fall of Rowley’s chest. “I’m checking him for injuries. He’s breathing.”

“The force of impact could have knocked him out. It hurts. I’ve been there.”Jenna’s footsteps echoed on tile.“Check for broken ribs sticking out. Blood in his mouth.”

When Rio’s hand came back clean from under Rowley’s shirt, he sighed with relief. He couldn’t find any injuries. Bullets hitting a vest could knock a person flat on his back. They stopped penetration but not the force. People had died from the force of the impact. Sometimes the victim suffered a break to the ribs orsternum. He covered Rowley and then examined his face. “No blood. I’m checking his head. Yeah, he has an egg. I figure he’s out cold.”

He pulled on his glove and grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it over Rowley’s face. “Hey, wake up. Open your eyes, Jake. You’re okay. The vest caught the bullets.”

After a few moments Rowley groaned and his eyes flickered open. Rio leaned close. “Don’t move, we have an active shooter.”

“I’m not sure I can move.” Rowley took shallow breaths. “I feel like I’ve been stepped on by a horse.”

Rio nodded. “Yeah, after taking three bullets in the vest, I’m not surprised. Take some deep breaths. Jenna is on speaker. Kane and Wolfe are on their way.”

“Did you call out and identify yourself?” Rowley wheezed and coughed. “Oh, jeez that hurts.”

“Who does the cabin belong to?”Jenna closed the door to her office and her chair squeaked as she sat down.

Rio helped Rowley to sit up and leaned him against a tree. His friend was as white as the landscape. He bent to get a Thermos from his backpack.

Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat.

Bullets pinged all around them and great lumps of frozen snow fell like missiles bombarding them. Rio groaned as one as heavy as a brick hit his shoulder. He slid down behind a tree clutching his backpack to his chest. “We’re okay. This guy just won’t give up. The cabin belongs to Luke Sierra.”

“I need to get to my backpack.” Rowley’s lips had turned blue. “We can’t just sit here in the snow. We’ll freeze to death.”

“You’ll need to distract the shooter away from you.”Jenna was tapping away at her computer.“Use the foil blankets to sit on and wrap yourselves in one as well. Drink the hot coffee. Backup is on its way. I can’t find anything good about Luke Sierra. He’s violent. I’ve found info from a few differentcounties. Seems he likes causing trouble in small towns. He’s been lucky and gotten himself a good lawyer. He’s been fined most times or been given community service. He’s been behaving himself since he arrived here, until now.”

Nodding, Rio held up a hand to Rowley. “Copy that. I’ll relay that to Rowley.”

After explaining, Rio gathered some clumps of snow and hurled them into the trees to his left. The laden tree branches swayed and snow cascaded down to the forest floor. He threw more and then ducked back behind the tree.

Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat.

Running on pure adrenaline, Rio ran back to Rowley, dragged him to his feet, and with one arm supporting his weight, they ran stumbling toward a huge boulder. As bullets rang out, peppering the forest from right to left, they fell behind the wall of granite. Visibility dropped as the blizzard hitched up a notch but the barrel flash from the weapon was visible. The shooter was on the move and hunting them down.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Even in the Beast, driving through a blizzard was a nightmare. Snow piled up on the wipers and ice was forming patterns around the edges of the windshield, visibility was limited but confident that his truck could handle the conditions Kane kept moving. They turned into the fire road. The snowplows had been by recently and cleared the thick crust, but with the relentless snowfall it still had a good coating of snow. Once the snow began to fall it became prolonged and paralyzing to the entire state. The skiers would be overjoyed to have a new powder coating every few hours, but it didn’t make traveling any easier, especially through the forest over a snow-laden gravel road. Kane didn’t care about the noise of the engine advertising their arrival. He figured it just might give the shooter something else to worry about apart from Rio and Rowley.

Unlike the deputies, Kane and Wolfe had opted to wear tactical gear. With liquid Kevlar vests underneath camouflage jackets, they both wore helmets and would be carrying rifles. Kane’s sniper rifle gave him an advantage in the field. He could immobilize anyone from a great distance. Jenna’s instructions to take the shooter alive were imperative. She wanted to question him as a suspect in the current murder case. With the lastmessage from Rio saying they were under attack, and knowing he and Rowley were crack shots and would return fire, he wondered just how he’d be able to comply with her orders. Right this second, the future of everyone in the game was in the lap of the gods.

“Rowley says the shooter is heading their way. We’ll leave the snowmobiles on the trailer and drive to his front door and then circle around behind him on foot.” Wolfe’s voice sounded muffled from behind his scarf.

Kane pushed the Beast through the snow, glad of the snowplow attachment and snow tires. “That sounds like a plan. He’ll have trouble shooting up the Beast.”

“Will you miss the old girl?” Wolfe patted the dashboard. “I was hoping they’d give her to me.”

Kane raised one eyebrow. “Yes and no. I do have a sentimental attachment to my truck. It holds a ton of memories, but my family’s safety is my priority and the new Beast is incredible. I heard on the grapevine that this one is going to provide safety for diplomats or something, so it will be well cared for.” He slowed. “I hear gunshots. I guess we walk from here.”

He parked against a clump of trees, gathered his rifle, and slid with Wolfe into the forest. It wasn’t often he worked alongside Wolfe on missions like this, but they fit together as if they’d been partners during their tours of duty. They had in one respect, of course, but Wolfe had been in Kane’s ear, not beside him in the field. The last five years or so working in Black Rock Falls, Wolfe had proved his worth as a very experienced soldier. It was no wonder he’d been chosen as Kane’s handler. Then and now, Wolfe needed to know exactly what danger Kane would be facing and together they made an indestructible team.

Ratta-tat-tat. Ratta-tat-tat.

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