Page 82 of Cold Light of Day

“She’s outside.” Grier stepped out onto the platform, protected by rails to prevent riders from falling, and held the door for Autumn to join him.

“What are you doing out here?” Grier asked Sarah.

Wind whipped her brown hair across her face as she turned to him, shivering. “He’s here.”

The words stabbed through Autumn. She tensed. “Who?”

“The man you called Mateo. I came out of the restroom, and I saw him standing at the window in the door on the front of the car, and then he was gone. I should have said something, but I didn’t want to make a scene or scare the other passengers. I knew you’d follow me. What are we going to do?”

“Get back into the car.” Grier ushered her back inside. “Get down and stay hidden. The chief and I will handle this. We’ll protect you.”

Sarah opened her bag and revealed a gun. “I’m not defenseless.”

Maybe not, but she was letting the fear get to her.

Once they were inside the car again, Autumn held her gun ready, unsure what Mateo had in mind. Meeting on this train with tourists aboard had been a flawed plan. And this time, the two couples sharing the car with them noticed.

A silver-haired man wearing a blue baseball cap slowly stood. “Excuse me, what’s going on?”

“Sir, please remain seated.” They needed off this train. Engaging Mateo in this setting was a disaster waiting to happen.

She marched to the front of the train car where Grier stood, holding his gun next to his leg. Sarah followed and sat nearby. Would Mateo face off with the three of them? Autumn thought through their options, then whispered, “Everyone on this train is in danger. He could use anyone as a hostage.”

“Women. Children.” Sarah’s voice shook. She’d apparently been a desk jockey and was not accustomed to fieldwork.

Autumn peered through the window in the door, trying to see into the next car. “What’s he planning?”

“He’s here to keep tabs on us,” Sarah said.

“But he could make his move at the right moment,” Autumn said.

“What move?” Grier huffed a growl. “Maybe he has no real plan.”

“But he has a goal.” Autumn was tempted to cross over into the other car. At the moment, she saw no one on the platforms between these two cars.

She peered at the distance between them, then looked down. “The railway coupling!” Mateo could try to detach the last car.

Autumn shared a look with Grier. Images flashed in her mind of their car slipping backward and rolling downhill, picking up speed, then plunging off into Dead Horse Gulch.

“No,” Grier said. “He’s not going to separate our car. I don’tthink he could so easily do that if he wanted to. Besides, he wants us alive. He wants you for whatever purpose Rafael might use you for.”

“But if he knows about the cold wallet, Grier, then he could want you and Sarah for that reason.” She pulled out her cell and found the images of the men associated with the cabin the day Ross was shot and showed them to Sarah.

“Recognize these guys?”

She slowly nodded and held Autumn’s gaze. “They were on the boat. That one”—she pointed at Alberto Acosta—“killed Martin Krueger.”

Grier growled and huffed. He rubbed his eyes, then finally looked up, locking his gaze on Autumn. “By placing me in Shadow Gap to wait and hide, Krueger put your whole town in danger.”

Autumn heard the concern in his tone. He sounded almost defeated, but she knew he wouldn’t quit. And neither would she. “It doesn’t matter how Brown found you or how Mateo found me. What matters is that we’re the good guys, and we’re going to win the day. Remember, Grier, Alaska is my home turf, not Mateo’s or Rafael’s or the rogue CIA operative’s. We have the advantage.”

Though, now that the words were out,wewasn’t exactly appropriate since Grier hadn’t lived in Alaska long. But he had the advantage because she was on his team.

His expression hardened, resolve stoking his gaze. “Okay. Let’s use that advantage then. Try to get a signal and call for backup to meet us at White Pass Summit. We can try to force Mateo off the train and get him away from the passengers. Trap him.”

Autumn nodded and held her cell to start the call, but she watched Grier and recognized that look on his face—he was concocting a plan. That was fine by her, as long as he shared it with her. But she wasn’t so sure he planned to.

Sarah stood. “We’re approaching the last tunnel before the summit.”

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