Alaskan Courage: Silenced Part 36

"Absolutely. As soon as we can see." She had no desire to linger.

Reef reluctantly agreed. She understood his concern-she had a few of her own-but they had to be wise, professional, and that meant waiting until daybreak to continue the search. All that aside, Rex needed to rest. He'd never let on, but she knew the husky had to be tiring.

Within a half hour they located the spot she'd been thinking of-the spot where she and her dad had camped numerous times before he and her mom moved to Juneau.

"Nice pick," Reef said, dropping his pack. "I'll get a fire going."

Even in the summer months, the temperatures in the mountains dropped into the low forties. They'd need a fire for cooking and warmth until they settled into their sleeping bags.

Kirra set to work on the tents while he got the fire started.

"You got those up quick," he remarked as she finished.

"Been camping as far back as I can remember."

"Huh."

She narrowed her eyes. "What was that huh for?"

"Nothing." He tossed the last of the kindling into the fire pit and lit it. "I know you do SAR and all that, because of the dogs, but I didn't picture you as the outdoorsy type."

She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but her curiosity won out. "What did you picture me as?"

"I don't know . . ." He shrugged. "A reader?"

She couldn't wait to hear where he was going with this one. "And readers aren't outdoor people?"

"No. You can be both. Piper and Kayden are both serious readers."

"But?"

"I just always thought you spent all your time studying."

"Because I got good grades?"

"Yeah." He stoked the emerging fire. "And you always had your homework done, showed up to cla.s.s on time, got the highest score on tests-which totally obliterated the curve, by the way."

"And yet I still managed to have a life." Or, at least, she had until . . . Now it had been permanently altered, fractured.

"Of course, I didn't mean . . ."

So she'd been right all along. Reef had her pegged as a goody-two-shoes, stay-at-home-studying-Sat.u.r.day-night bookworm. He'd had no idea she loved camping, glacier surfing, working with sled dogs, volunteering with SAR, watching action flicks, and gardening.

He glanced up at her from the fire. "Look, you have to admit you pegged me a certain way too."

She had, and if she was being totally honest, she still did.

Something cracked in the woods behind them and Rex shot up. She quickly signaled for him to heel.

Reef put a finger to his mouth to silence her and lifted his shotgun from the ground. He stood with his back to the fire, facing the woods, where the sound emanated from.

Rex growled, and Kirra pulled him close, holding his collar tight.

She watched the woods and spotted movement in the trees. "Is that a bear?"

Reef looked back at the hot dogs cooking in foil in the embers.

A huge black bear paced back and forth along the tree line. Piper would describe it as adorable if in pictures, but out here in the wilderness it was nothing but dangerous.

Reef grabbed a nearby stick and stuck the end in the flames, and once it caught fire, he stepped toward the bear, waving the torch. "Go on. Get out of here."

The bear reared up and released a growl that tremored through Kirra. Even though she'd lived in Alaska her whole life, she was still afraid of bears.

"Go on." Reef waved the flaming stick again. "Don't make me shoot you."

A lot of guys she knew would have been raring to bag a bear, but Reef was trying to scare it off, and it worked. After a few minutes of a standoff, the bear dropped back down on all fours and lumbered off.

Kirra stood and moved to Reef's side as he threw the stick back in the fire.

"What if he comes back tonight?"

"I doubt he will. The rest of the food is tied up between the trees. There'll be nothing left for him to eat."

"Unless he decides we look good."

"We'll move our tents side by side. Rex will let us know if anything approaches. I'll keep my gun with me, and I'll use it if need be."

She nodded, praying it wouldn't be needed and praying for Kayden. As scared as Kirra had been as they faced the bear, she couldn't imagine how frightened Kayden must be or what terror she might be enduring.

Please, Lord, protect her in the midst of danger.

It was something only He could do. It defied logic, but she knew it was possible. She'd been there.

Kayden came to, a burnt taste in her mouth. She'd been electrocuted again. If that woman tried to poke her with that pole one more time, she'd break it over her head-even if she had to break her hands to get free of the cuffs.

Angela rolled out a sleeping bag on top of an air mattress on the table, with the lantern at her head.

Kayden followed the lantern light up to the ceiling, where water was dripping in. Great. That explained the constant damp feeling.

"I'm going to sleep," Angela said. "If you wake me up with any of your shenanigans, I'll jolt you yet again."

"You do and you'll regret it."

Angela arched a brow. "Ah, so you've got some of your fight back. That's good to see. Makes it all the more enjoyable knocking it back out of you."

41.

Jake drove along what may at one time have qualified as a road but certainly didn't now.

From what he could tell from his regular study of the map and his GPS coordinates, the bunker lay five miles due east, on the edge of a bluff. According to Marshall, it also had a tower, and over the year some kids had made an extreme-sports s...o...b..arding course out of the debris, even filmed a video-jumping down five stories from the tower and across the concrete ramps. It probably didn't see much activity in the summer, so it could still be a potential option for Angela, though he doubted she'd choose something that had been visited so recently-the snow sometimes not melting this high up until mid-May.

He finally cleared the last rise, his headlights illuminating the tower, stopped his truck, and walked the last couple hundred yards. Gun in hand, he let the moon light his way. Using a flashlight across the clearing would make him a sitting duck.

He skirted the edge of the perimeter, eyeing each open "window" up along the tower. No signs of anyone present, at least not from this vantage point, but he needed to get closer.

He approached the building, keeping his back flush with the concrete. Except for the low hum of insects, silence surrounded him.

Debris littered the grounds-no doubt part of the s...o...b..arding course when snow-packed.

Clicking on his flashlight, he entered the tower and cleared the first floor before moving on to the second, third, fourth, and finally the fifth and final level.

"What's your problem, dude?" A teen shielded his eyes from Jake's flashlight. A girl, no more than sixteen, sat beside him on a cruddy blanket.

"Are you the only ones here?"

"Yeah, that I know of. What's your problem?"

"My problem"-Jake flashed his badge-"is that you're trespa.s.sing. Now, I'm going to count to ten, and I want you out of here before I finish. One, two, three . . ."

The kid scrambled, grabbing the blanket and darting down the steps, leaving the girl to follow.

"And take her straight home-you hear?"

The boy was too busy running to respond.

Jake shook his head. Three bunkers, and still no Kayden.

He swung his flashlight across the windowsill and paused at the military action figurine glued to it, a wilted cypress flower tucked under its bent arm.

He leaned out the window, shining his flashlight at the kid darting across the grounds, the girl a dozen feet behind.

"Hey, kid. Freeze!"

Both kids stopped in their tracks. Illuminated by a dim circle of light, the boy turned, hands lifted.

"Is this action figure on the sill yours?"

"What am I, four?"

"So that's a no?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"Was it there when you arrived?"

"Yeah."

"Have you seen it before?"

"It showed up a couple days ago."

"Did you see who brought it?"

"Nah. Just saw it last time Jasmine and I were up there."

"Thanks."

"Can I go now?"

"Yeah. Go on. And I'm serious-take her home."

The kid nodded and the two disappeared into the woods. Their vehicle was no doubt parked farther on down the pa.s.s.

Jake inspected the toy. It was army.

He pulled out the sat phone and dialed Marshall.

Reef settled into his sleeping bag, feeling awful for letting go of the search while his sister was out there, but Kirra was right. It was the smart thing to do, the best way to make sure they properly covered their grid, but he didn't have to like it.

He shifted, his shotgun within hand's reach.

Kirra had been adorable when the bear showed up-always putting on the brave, self-reliant front, it was nice to see a gentler side of her. He hoped she felt safe and protected knowing he was right next door.

He shook his head. Who would have thought he and Kirra Jacobs would be camping together under any circ.u.mstances and, even more surprisingly, that he'd have such a strong desire to protect her.

He could hear Rex's rhythmic breathing through the tent walls. With the light on in the other tent, he could see the husky's shadow against the yellow fabric-and Kirra's too.

She lay in her bag but wasn't sleeping. It looked like she was reading.

He rolled over, resting his head on his hand, studying her silhouette, watching her flip pages.

Maybe all these years he had pegged her wrong.

Images of her ratting him out over and over again during his school years flashed through his mind. Okay, so maybe he'd pegged her a little wrong, about some things.

Kayden worked to slip her wrists from the handcuffs. They were tight, but her left wrist felt looser. Maybe if she crumpled her hand enough . . .

Angela shifted, and Kayden stilled. She waited until Angela settled down and tried again. If she could just get one hand free, maybe she could reach one of the metal sc.r.a.ps on the floor and work the other cuff open. She was suddenly very thankful that, much to Gage and Landon's chagrin, Darcy had taught her how to pick locks.

She pressed her hand as small as she could make it and, positioning her back to the wall for leverage, pulled.

Pain burned through her as the metal grated along her chafed skin.