Hunted in Alaska, page 3
Sean rose slowly and turned to face her. Her rifle was now pointed toward the ground, no threat to him, but her finger remained hooked around the trigger. She was shaking so badly it wouldn’t take much to accidentally discharge the firearm. Two strides brought him to her. He took the weapon from her slack hands and flipped the safety on.
As he set the rifle to the side, the woman’s knees buckled. Sean caught her in his arms and stopped her from hitting the ground. Her skin smelled of fresh air with a hint of something sharp and chemical like paint or stain. She wasn’t petite in height, but she was slender and fine-boned. He’d call her fragile if he hadn’t seen her in action and knew better. This woman had grit and smarts.
Her big brown eyes searched his face. “I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” she murmured as he eased her gently to a sitting position against the sidewall of the cave entrance.
“A combination of mild shock and the ebb of adrenaline, I’d say.” He offered a smile as encouragement. “Now you know my name. What’s yours?”
“Hayley Brent.”
“Pleased to meet you, Hayley Brent, but I’m sorry to make your acquaintance under these circumstances.”
The woman nodded as she shivered and tried to hug herself but winced at the movement of her hands.
“Here, let me zip up your jacket.” Sean suited his actions to his words. “Any blankets in your pack?”
“There’s a couple of M-Mylar emergency b-blankets.”
Still using his cell phone flashlight app for illumination, he retrieved a blanket and draped it around her quaking shoulders.
“Okay. Let’s get deeper into the shelter of this cave, and then I’ll see to your wounds.” He reached for her to help her up, but she shook him off.
“I can stand.” She rose slowly and trod into the cave.
Sean followed her. The weak light from his phone revealed a rounded hollow in the rock roughly eight feet high and wide. How deep the cave went he had no idea. The illumination from his cell didn’t extend that far.
Hayley settled herself on a low, flat rock near the center of the space, and her dog sat next to her, gaze alert. “You should save your phone battery,” she said. “There’s an LED camping lantern in my pack.”
“Not much you don’t have in there.” Sean chuckled, and she responded with a weak smile. He rummaged around in the pack. “Too bad I don’t see a ham radio.” He found the lantern, clicked the button to activate the battery and the space brightened.
Hayley fixed him with a sober stare. “No ham radio, but will a satellite phone do?”
Sean’s heart leaped in his chest. She had the device with her? Maybe he could still salvage this mess by calling in a team to stop the catastrophic arms deal that was about to go down and get Hayley and himself out of here in one piece.
“Where?” His voice emerged hoarse from tension in his throat.
“The largest side pocket.”
With eager fingers, Sean turned the pack this way and that. There it was. The largest side pocket...with a bullet hole in the canvas. The breath vacated his lungs. Jaw tight, he undid the zipper, reached in and drew out the device.
“This satellite phone?” He turned and dangled the bullet-mangled mess toward Hayley.
She let out a deep groan. “That or the radio in my airplane is my only means of communicating with the outside world. The weird thing is, I tried to put out a distress call when you guys showed up, but the sat phone didn’t have service.”
Sean let out a grunt. “Patterson!”
“Who? What?”
“The leader of the merry band of thugs and thieves I infiltrated. Patterson’s a gadget guy. As soon as he saw someone inhabited the cabin that we were told had been vacated for the winter, he flipped the switch on his military-grade signal blocker.”
“Who told this crime boss that my brother and I were gone?” Her tone could have sliced rock.
Sean shook his head. “I don’t know specifically. The grunts in his team aren’t privy to the details of his intelligence gathering. I only know some contact of Patterson’s in Fairbanks was watching the airport. The watcher must have been mistaken about seeing your plane come in. Whoever it was assured Patterson you were back in the city for the winter.”
“That’s disturbing.” Hayley gulped audibly as Sean knelt in front of her with the first aid kit. “Your criminal boss’s spy must be someone who knows Craig and me—or at least is familiar with our routine. I did bring my brother to Fairbanks so he could catch a flight for his writing assignment in Seattle, but a few hours later, I flew back to the cabin. I had a project to finish.”
Sean studied the wounds on her attractive face and graceful neck. Thankfully, her eyes had been spared an encounter with shrapnel, and no embedded glass glistened in the minor facial cuts. Nothing seemed to call for stitches, and he didn’t see more than a few dots of blood marring the shoulders and arms of her shirt. The padded vest showed torn spots, but it had offered some protection to her torso. Her hands and face had taken the brunt of the flying glass.
“Project?” he asked.
“I’m a chain saw carver.” Hayley hissed in a breath as he dabbed disinfectant on small injuries.
“Really?” Sean paused in his ministrations.
“Hand me a chain saw, stand me in front of a giant chunk of wood and I’m a happy woman.” Her heart-shaped face glowed and her eyes sparkled. Clearly, she took pride and pleasure in her craft.
Sean smiled. He couldn’t help himself. Not only was her enthusiasm infectious, but she was easy to look at. With her delicate, clear-cut features and pristine complexion, she embodied a wholesome, girl-next-door beauty.
“Is everything okay?”
Her question brought Sean back to himself. What was the matter with him, staring as if he’d never seen a woman before?
“Not much is okay right now.” He shook his head and dropped his gaze to examine her hands. Blood oozed from multiple cuts. He clucked his tongue. “We need to make sure these tools of your trade don’t take permanent injury.” Several glass shards stuck out from the tender flesh—a painful circumstance that made her scaling of the small cliff an impressive feat. “Tell me about your work.”
She spoke enthusiastically with only a few groans and hisses interspersed with her words while Sean carefully removed the glass and disinfected the wounds, including the mild rope burns on her palms.
“There’s one cut that should have stitches,” he told her. “But we’ll have to make do with a butterfly dressing.”
“I’m a quick healer,” she said as he began wrapping her hands in self-adhesive gauze. “Now, you tell me about the arms deal that got an ATF agent out in the middle of nowhere with no sign of backup. Or tell me I’m wrong, and you do have a team on the way.”
Sean pressed his lips together. Sharp didn’t half describe this woman.
“I wish I could say I have good news for you. As soon as I heard this deal was in the works, my handler had a team on standby. There was no reason to believe the meeting with the buyer would go down anywhere but in Anchorage, where Patterson’s crew headquarters. I was wrong. This deal is so sensitive, the buyer insisted on a remote location and that abandoned way station next to your homestead fit the bill.” Sean let out a long breath. “But I didn’t know about the special arrangements until Patterson suddenly rousted his crew, including me, and stuffed us into an airplane. I had no time or opportunity to communicate with my handler.” He met Hayley’s bleak stare. “It looks like we’re on our own.”
Her gaze fell away from his. “We could run, but we’re over a hundred miles southwest of Nenana. That’s the nearest town. And the terrain between here and there is punishing, to say the least. There are no roads.”
“What about other remote cabins out this way? Surely, someone between here and there will have a way to communicate with civilization.”
Hayley shook her head. “I’m sure there are people living between here and Nenana, but there’s no guarantee we’ll happen upon them. That’s all right. We probably won’t have to try.”
“What do you mean?”
“My brother was nervous about leaving me at the cabin alone. I practically had to force him out, but I finally persuaded him to go do his job as a journalist. I was only staying behind for a week or so. Still, he wasn’t a happy camper, and that’s why he calls every night to check on me. When I don’t answer tonight, he’ll alert his friend at the Fairbanks Alaska State Troopers’ post. Someone will come out to check on me tomorrow morning.”
Sean’s stomach roiled. “The buyers are arriving in the morning, too. I have to get to the rendezvous site and stop the sale of the weapon.”
“All this is over a single weapon?” Her tone conveyed skepticism.
Sean pressed his lips together. How much could he tell this woman? A few specifics within generalities would have to do.
“Patterson is selling the prototype and plans for a new kind of stealth drone designed for the armed forces. The design and the prototype were stolen from the Anchorage-based company developing the technology. Bad people could do very bad things with the drone at the cost of a lot of innocent lives.”
Hayley went sheet white. “Something like that should never get into the wrong hands.”
Sean nodded but let out a long sigh. “If the operation had gone to plan, my ATF team was going to take down both the buyers and the sellers, put them out of business and retrieve the drone. As things have turned out, the best I can do is sabotage the sale. If someone flies in here to check on you tomorrow, Patterson’s crew and the buyer’s crew will hear them coming. But they’re not likely to abort the high-value deal. Instead, they’ll—”
“Ambush whoever shows up. I get it. We have to stop that from happening.”
“Not ‘we,’ me.”
“We.” Glaring at him with narrowed eyes, she hefted her rifle. “I’m not hiding out in a cave while fellow Alaskans get murdered by lowlifes. And I’m certainly not standing idly by while greedy crooks sell a military-grade weapon to dangerous people.” Sitting tall beside her slender figure, the dog let out a growling woof.
Sean’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Just when he knew this assignment couldn’t get any more messed up, the civilian he’d snatched from danger decided to go into battle beside him and he didn’t know how to stop her. Especially since he badly needed her gun and her grit. But he’d never forgive himself if she got hurt on his watch.
THREE
Sharp sparks of pain needled Hayley to groggy awareness. Her hands, her face and her right hip seemed to form the sources of the discomfort. What was going on? Memory flooded in along with consciousness. During an attack on her at the cabin, her hands and face had been struck by flying glass. But what was going on with her right hip? Where was she? A deep doggy snore beside her brought her fully awake.
Hayley stretched, the movement helping to identify the item digging into her hip. A small rock. She had been sleeping on her side beneath a Mylar blanket in a cave with her dog beside her. Last she remembered the stranger had gone to the cave’s mouth to stand watch.
Where was the undercover ATF agent now?
She lifted her head. Only the faint glow of the moon and stars illuminated the cave opening. No aurora borealis at the moment. Though the season to enjoy the light show had begun this past month, the appearances were sporadic. The way sunrise worked this time of year in central Alaska, it would be nearly 8:00 a.m. before dawn’s earliest light. There was no way for her to tell if it were the middle of the night or time to get up and get going for the day. A very precarious day if the risks discussed last night with the federal agent held true. As if she could doubt the danger after yesterday’s aggressive attack.
Heart rate ratcheting up, Hayley struggled to a sitting position. Various injured and strained portions of her anatomy protested, and she let out a small groan. Mack stirred, blinking almond-shaped eyes at her. She ruffled the dog’s thick scruff as her gaze scanned the area. She discerned a man-shaped shadow at the cave opening.
“Agent O’Keefe,” she called softly.
The shadow figure turned. “I’m here.” His tone was somber, but she could make out no expression on his face. “It’s Sean, remember?”
“Sean. Got it. What’s the time?”
“Going on seven-thirty. If you’re up to it, or even if you’re not, I think we should vacate this cave before it gets light enough for Patterson’s crew to come looking for us. None of those guys are trackers. They’re city boys, but they do know how to follow a blood trail, and you were leaving one.”
“I won’t be leaving one today.” She rose to her feet, ignoring the minor aches of a night spent on the unforgiving ground. “And I’m ready to go.”
“Good.” A smile was in his tone. “Let’s grab another one of those energy bars and a bottled water from your pack and then get out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan.” One of her body aches had indeed been in her stomach. They’d each eaten a bar, while Mack enjoyed a dog treat, last night before turning in—or at least before she turned in. “Have you been awake all night?”
“Not my first night with no sleep.”
“Really? Too bad we don’t have time to boil up some water and make coffee. I’m sure you could use the caffeine.”
Sean shook his head. “I don’t drink coffee.” There was a degree of venom in the statement.
Either he truly hated the beverage or there was a deeper meaning to his words. Hayley gave a mental shrug. Now was not the time to pursue a trivial subject.
Ten minutes later, they were rigging the rope to let Mack down from the cliff. The malamute let out a high whine as they tied him into his makeshift transportation to the ground.
Hayley grasped his head between her hands and looked into his eyes. “It’s all right, boy. We won’t drop you. Be brave.”
As if the dog understood her, he reached out his tongue and slurped her cheek. The attention tickled and a muted laugh left her mouth.
Lowering the dog down from the cave went more smoothly than lifting him up. A few minutes later, Hayley and Sean stood beside the animal on the forest floor. Their breaths left puffy clouds in the crisp, predawn air enriched by the distinctive pine odor of the boreal forest.
Now it was decision time. They’d argued to a draw last night about what was going to happen today. The ATF agent nearly matched her in stubbornness. But nearly didn’t get the job done, as he was about to discover.
“I can’t run away to save my skin.” Hayley planted one fist on her hip. “I have to do something to warn whoever is coming to check on me today. That means I need to lurk close to my homestead and perhaps let out a warning shot as they come in. But you need to stop the weapon sale, which means a hike over to the abandoned way station where the buyer will land. Go! Don’t worry about me. I have my rifle and Mack.”
The tall, dark-haired man shook his head. “Not happening. I won’t abandon you. Maybe we can figure out a way to accomplish both our goals without splitting up.” Sean’s white teeth showed in a grin. “I didn’t sit up all night twiddling my thumbs.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Let’s move away from this location as quickly and quietly as possible, and I’ll fill you in. You lead since you know the area, but bring us back to your homestead in a roundabout way. I didn’t hear an airplane take off last night, so I have to assume Patterson’s crew is still at your cabin.”
“Makes sense,” Hayley said, “if they intend to locate and eliminate us before they fly over to the way station to meet the buyers.” She scowled and then her lips curved in a grim smile. “Toward the cabin is the last direction the crooks will expect us to travel.”
“Great minds.” The ATF agent winked.
A strange buoyancy filled Hayley’s chest. The guy might not technically be a crook, but she had no trouble imagining him as a heart-stealer. He was lethally attractive. Good thing she’d already learned her lesson the hard way when it came to handsome and dedicated law enforcement types. Too bad tragedy had come with the lesson. Her gut clenched.
Hayley brushed away the wrenching memories of her years-ago shattered engagement brought about by the needless death of her only sister. The eight-year-old grief could not be allowed to distract her right now.
“This way.” She motioned toward Sean and led off the path they’d followed last night and into unmarked territory between the trees.
For long minutes, they made their way slowly and silently. At least, she and her dog made acceptably silent progress. Sean’s was more moose on the loose. Branches snapped. Footfalls thumped. Not a good way to avoid detection by the men who hunted them or to approach the homestead by stealth.
Frowning, Hayley turned toward her companion. Dawn’s advent had lightened the atmosphere enough for her to make out a blush on the ATF agent’s face.
He spread his hands. “I’m a city boy, too. Put me in a dark back alley, and you won’t hear or see me coming.”
“No camping or hunting in your background? That’s almost un-Alaskan.”
Hayley had intended the comment as light teasing, but Sean’s face lost expression and his gaze hardened.
“Fishing is more my speed. My dad is a commercial fisherman in Portland, where I spent most of my childhood. I was born right here in the Alaskan bush but got yanked away from the wilderness when I was seven years old.”
Curious choice of words to describe the situation of his early life. Yanked away? Hayley opened her mouth to ask the obvious question: What happened when you were seven? But then she snapped her jaw shut. Judging by the drawn look on his face, the subject seemed sensitive for the ATF agent and was none of her business. The two of them were essentially strangers. Comrades by necessity, but far from familiar friends.
