Page 47 of Ultimate Freedom

“Then you shouldn’t drive alone. Can Whit come with you?”

Demi looked his way, knowing he’d heard their conversation. When he nodded, she replied, “Yep. No problem. Just get a room and relax. Get them to send up some food. I’ll keep you posted.” Demi hung up and stood with her head hanging as if she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“You’re upset.” He rose and held her arms so he could look into her pale features. “I thought you’d be happy to know where she is. That she’s okay.”

Demi looked at him, her worry obvious. “This isn’t a spat, Whit. Bella would never have traveled this far and worry me and Tanner to death unless she’s convinced they’re in trouble.”

“Right. Got it. We can talk in the truck. Grab some food, extra warm clothes, and provisions for the drive. I need to get the plow hooked up and make sure I have chains. On our way, you’ll have to drop Blue off in town for Glen. I’ll call him to pick up Charlie and stay with him here until we know how long we’ll be away.”

Demi scurried around, gathering everything they might need for the trip, made some sandwiches and a big flask of coffee, and then changed into her warm clothes for traveling. In a short time, both her and Whit were finally together in his truck and on their way.

Once they’d traveled some distance on the main highway, Demi understood about the drastic conditions being talked about around town. “It’s really windy, especially when we’re in the open.”

“I know. There’ve been numerous accidents because folks think they can drive like in normal weather. Slowing down can get you there in one piece but try talking to some of the idiots on the road. Duffy is overloaded with repairs from people hitting the ditch.”

Demi grinned. “Doubt if that makes him too unhappy. I heard him complaining in the summer about it being deadly quiet.”

Whit laughed fondly. “He’s a character all right. Honey, check the travel alerts on your phone before we lose the signal. I heard they were concerned about a slide that took out a bridge. Thankfully, it landed on the other side of Terrace. I’m hoping this part of the highway is safe. With these conditions, one never knows.”

Demi swung to face him. “Not safe?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but we’ve had huge snowfalls. Don’t worry, that’s normal. It’s the fierce almost gale-force winds that we’re not used to. They’re so strong, they’ve been taking down trees on the upper slopes which are causing avalanches. In many cases, those slides are hitting the highway. We’ll just be careful.”

Demi shuddered. “Thank goodness, it doesn’t get dark so early now. We can depend on the sun shining until close to five.That gives us a few hours. Maybe we can make town while it’s still light.”

Whit reached across for her hand. “I’ll drive carefully, and you can be my navigator. If you see anything that looks like trouble, point it out.”

Demi looked at her man sitting so comfortably behind the wheel, his muscular body always a draw, especially when the rolled up sleeves of his blue flannel shirt tucked into his tight jeans matched the color of his eyes.

Eyes that looked her way, winked, and made her feel like valued treasure. “Don’t worry, baby. Even though it sounds like your friends are in trouble, love has a way of unwinding the worst knots.”

“I’m beginning to believe that in our case, you’re right. But, Whit. Those two agents have seen things we could never even guess at… the worst of humanity. It gets into a person’s head, churns their guts. That’s what Bella once told me after a really bad case. It took her weeks to get herself back together. We have to understand that when misery like that stares you in the face every day, trust comes at a price.”

Before he could answer, he heard the rumbling. A horrifying sound one gets to know when living and working in the mountains of Alaska. He slowed to a crawl, pulled to the shoulder and when a speeding truck passed him, he honked. “Jesus H. Christ. What the hell is wrong with people? He’s driving like a fool.”

They watched as the vehicle in front began to swerve. Then they saw what Whit had heard. Swiftly, he threw the truck into reverse, prayed for the chains to catch, and when they did, he backed away from the mass of sliding snow.

Once he felt they were safe, they stopped and watched as the trees appearing like matchsticks drove down the slopesbringing the massive white clouds with it. The bulk flooded over the road to continue on its way to the ravine on the other side.

As if watching a 3D film on a big screen with the sound effects booming through the air, both sat mesmerized. Demi finally let go of the breath she’d held, choking from the stress of the air being forced through lungs filled with horror. “Oh, my God. Whit. Oh, no. It’s terrible. Those people. In the truck. They drove right into the avalanche.” She swung around and saw his face. She thought she’d seen him in every mood, but this was different. His furious, cold expression brooked no argument.

Focused, he began to put on his parka. “Stay here.”

“No. I want to help you.”

He turned her way, his eyes like ice chips from a glacier… blue, hard, and immovable. “You. Stay. Here. Try and get Dawson on the phone and tell him we’re about fifteen miles from Stewart.”

Without another word, he left the truck and went to the back where he came out with a pole in his hands and a plastic shovel roped across his back. Rushing over the just settled drifts, he worked the pole in front of every step he took.

Demi suddenly understood what he’d already noticed. Young broken cedars intermingled with mounds of fresh snow piled over what looked like a small hill. It was where he was heading.

***

Once Whit felt it was safe to get closer, he slowly started to clear away the rubble until he saw that it was indeed the vehicle that had whipped past them a few seconds before the slide hit. He’d made it a point to watch the brake lights for as long as he could while the vehicle slithered around in the avalanche, being flipped over like a toy truck.

Spitting mad, he tried to calm himself. Unable to stop feeling that these people put themselves at risk for no goodreason, he still didn’t hesitate to put his own life in danger to see if they were alive.

Why the hell were the idiots even on the road without proper gear?They didn’t have chains, and watching them skid as they pulled ahead, he’d wondered how old their snow tires were.

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