Chapter 9

Monday 4.34pm

Hunter

I’m up on the roof of Jack’s hut, fixing a slate tile that has come loose when I smell smoke. I adjust my footing and look down to see if Jack is clearing off some overgrowth, but I can’t see anything.

I shove the hammer back in Jack’s worn tool belt and climb back down the ladder, ready to ask Jack if anyone else is still around for the coming winter.

I find him on the edge of his property, shading his eyes as he looks at the horizon. He turns as I approach. I start to tell him the roof is fixed when he gestures to the sky. “My eyes playing tricks on me, or you see that smoke too?”

I squint against the sun and follow his arm to where smoke is spiraling into the sky. “Yeah. I see it. Hikers?”

“Hmm. That’s a lot of smoke for a campfire. Could be them stupid city hikers have set the trees on fire.”

I frown at the smoke. “I haven’t seen any out this close to winter?”

He shrugs his bony shoulders. “People are dumb. City folks dumber. Wouldn’t be the first time some idiot went hiking and did something stupid.”

I nod vaguely as I remove my tool belt. He turns to go back to his cabin when his mouth twists into a thoughtful scowl. “Looks pretty near the Jensen cabin though.”

All the blood in my body runs cold. “You think?”

He shrugs again. “It’s near enough. If the wind shifts, the cabin could—”

I turn around and hurry back to where I dropped my pack earlier on in the day. I snatch it up and unzip the bag as quickly as I can.

I’m muttering to myself and yanking out my binoculars when Jack comes hobbling towards me. “What’s got you all hot and bothered?”

Bothered. That’s exactly what I am right now. Very.

I yank my gun out from where I placed it between a pair of socks and shove it down the back of my jeans. Jack gives me a gummy smile as he starts to laugh. “Whoa boy. Slow down. Hikers ain't that bad.”

I try to smile, but my insides are twisting into knots. “I’ll go take a closer look.”

I jog back and raise the glasses to my eyes. It takes me a couple seconds to zoom in to the cabin. Flames are licking the windows, smoke pouring out where the heat has cracked the glass. “Shit. Shit.”

There is no feasible reason for the cabin to suddenly catch fire now.

There’s only one logical explanation. One that I’ve dreaded for two years.

Someone from the Falcone family has finally found me. And if they’re burning Natalie’s cabin…they probably found her too.

***

Natalie

I drive into the valley under a strange muted sense of calm. It doesn’t feel real. None of this does.

My body is covered in cold sweats, and my mouth is so dry it hurts to swallow. All my bravado, all my courage is disappearing as I drive past the hotel I stayed at.

I pull into the lot, just like Agent Waters said to and leave the engine running. I use my rear view to check behind me and try not to look conspicuous when I glance out both front doors. I sit, engine idling, my purse within reach when I see a man approaching from out of one of the hotel rooms.

I glance around, hoping there are witnesses. I see a few locals out, but none seem to pay the man approaching any mind. He gets to the passenger door and smiles at me.

A scar stretches across his cheek as he climbs in. He’s fair-haired, blue-eyed, around forty, dressed in jeans, boots and a thick jacket that all the hunters around here wear.

His voice is pleasantly calm. “Perhaps we could talk while we drive?”

He asks so politely I find myself nodding. “Have you spoken to Hunter?”

I put the truck in drive as he shakes his head. “Unfortunately, I’m limited to how many times I can contact him.”

I pull out from the lot and drive down the main street towards the mountain track. “Then how did you know he was in trouble? Um, I’m sorry I forget your name, Agent…”

“Waters. Agent Waters. And I know he’s in trouble because we received a tip Eddie Falcone has been looking in the area. Our only chance is to reach Hunter before he does.”

He shakes his head. “I warned him not to leave the safety of the mountains.”

I gulp. “That was my fault. I was injured and upset.”

“Hmm. Well, his cover has been compromised. If we can get him out, there’s a chance we can relocate him in time.”

I glance at my purse as we reach the mountain track entrance. “But why do you need my help to do this?

He doesn’t answer right away, which makes my anxiety creep even higher. “Falcone’s men watch for unusual activity. You going back to your cabin it to show a prospective buyer isn’t unusual.”

I slow as we start the winding drive up to the cabin. “Maybe not. But isn’t it unusual to send a man into such a dangerous place on his own?”

He looks at me. “Hunter was surviving in dangerous places long before he moved to the mountains.”

It’s such an odd answer that I can’t help asking him another one. “How are you going to find Hunter? He won’t be at the cabin.”

He keeps staring out the windshield with such a bland expression it somehow seems out of place given the stakes.

The track is slippery, so I grip the wheel and keep my eyes in front. I’m concentrating so hard I should probably be glad he isn’t speaking.

I pull out into the clearing half expecting to see an army of mobsters waiting. But what I see is somehow worse. Smoke is pouring out of the front door of the cabin. Flames are bursting out the windows.

Fear curls around my body as I move to get out of the truck. Waters grabs my arm, and I gape at him, realization shocking me like a lightning bolt. “Did you do this?”

He doesn’t deny it. Just sits calmly staring at the flames as though he’s watching TV. “It was a necessary evil, I’m afraid.”

Fear trickles like ice down my back as I sit mute, staring at the agent I was right not to trust wholly.

His eyes narrow as he pulls out a gun and rams it into my middle. “We’re getting out of the truck now. Nice and slow.”

He smiles then. And somehow watching the scar twist his face is more terrifying than anything he could say right now. He tugs me towards him; gun still pressed into my belly button. My purse slides to the floor, and with it, my hope of getting my gun out.

He opens the door, and I stumble out in his footsteps to smoke and the sound of wood splintering.

His voice is still eerily calm as he releases me and steps away. “Hunter has three locations he sleeps at this time of year. And he doesn’t deviate from those which means wherever he is; he’s seen the smoke by now.”

He smiles pleasantly. “I should be thanking you. I’ve been waiting two years for this opportunity.”

I take a step back, and he shakes his head. “I need you to stay where he can see you.”

My hip hits the hood of my truck. My eyes start to water from fear, from the smoke from frustration at not knowing what to do. “What if he doesn’t come?”

The smile disappears. “Oh, he’ll come. He’s infatuated by you.”

I shake my head though a part of me is terrified to consider I’m right. “It was just a casual thing.”

His chin dips as he narrows his eyes. “No. It wasn’t. He was back here moping around hoping you’d come back. Your cabin was the closest thing to a home he had.”

I swallow hard, my mouth running dry. “What are you going to do to Hunter?”

His eyes shift to the trees surrounding us. “That depends on whether he’s smart.”

His posture switches and he turns the gun on me again. My heart is flip-flopping in my chest. Palms slick with sweat.

He moves so quickly I have no time to react when he grabs me and jams the gun against my temple. Cold steel pressed against my skin, he wraps his arm around my chest and starts walking me towards the edge of the trees.

My heart is slamming painfully against my ribs as the smoke thickens. “Sloan, if you’re out there, I have your woman,” he yells loud enough for me to flinch.

Tears start to brew in my eyes. I can’t let Hunter walk into a trap. Sobs are caught in my throat, choking me as much as the smoke billowing around us. “Scream,” he hisses in my ear.

I jam my lips together as he presses the gun harder, pinching my skin. “Scream you little bitch.”

My fists curl at my sides as his arm tightens around my chest, crushing my breast painfully. He removes the barrel of the gun from my temple and smacks me hard enough for spots to dance in my vision and my glasses to fly off my head.

I let out a yelp that only seems to make him angrier. The gun shifts from my head as he drags me backward. He spins me around and shoves me against my truck then aims the gun at me. “You’re being foolish. Eddie Falcone was tipped off by you and your little online search. Even if I hadn’t called, he’d have been here before long.”

I’m trembling so much I don’t think I can speak. “I don’t believe you.”

He looks at me in an eerily similar way to Jed when he’s patronizing me. “Did you really think no one would notice you poking your nose in? Eddie Falcone is missing millions of dollars. He wants it and Hunter back.”

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.

His lip curls, dragging the scar upwards with it as smoke blows around us. “If I’d known Hunter was this easy to manipulate, I’d have sent up a hooker a year ago.”

I open my mouth when a gunshot rings out and Waters bucks away from me.

Something crashes through the trees and the smoke. I edge back, heat pumping through my body as Hunter tackles the startled agent.

He smashes his fists into the agent repeatedly until the gun flies out of Waters’ hand.

Hunter uses his own gun and rams it under the agent’s chin. He’s breathing heavily, hair damp and face slick with sweat. “Two fucking years we've been up here.”

The agent spits a mouthful of blood. “You owe me a cut. I only took this backwater babysitting job because this is the only place you could have hidden it.”

I slink back against my truck as Hunter hauls his handler up by the shirt front. “I told you all I don’t have the money you stupid sack of shit.”

Waters shakes his head, sending blood flying. He swipes his nose. “The money went somewhere Sloan. You were the only person who could have stashed it.”

Hunter growls. “I should have known you’d turn. What’s he offering now? 100K? 200?”

“300. Alive but bleeding,” the agent spits.

Hunter scowls and doesn’t hesitate as he shifts his aim and squeezes the trigger again. I jump, my hand going to my mouth as I shrink further back.

The agent drops to his knees gasping as he clutches his shoulder, blood spurting through his fingers as gapes up at Hunter. “Are you going to kill me?”

Hunter steps back, so he’s standing beside me. “No, you stupid fucker, Falcone will do that.”

He grabs my hand and drags me away from the truck. I start to yank back, and he spins around to face me. “We need to leave.”

I shake my head, heels dragging as he keeps tugging me away from my truck. “I need my purse.”

His forehead knots. “Forget your damn purse. I have no idea how close he is.”

Waters spits out a bitter laugh as he struggled to his feet, eyes searching for his weapon. “You should be honored. Falcone Senior is coming himself. Wants to be the one to put a bullet in your brain.”

Hunter’s face twists in anger as he stalks towards the agent and smashes the gun against his temple.

The agent’s knees give out, and he lands in a heap on the grass. With no time to dwell on the violence, I spin on my heel and start running back to the truck to the sound of Hunter roaring in exasperation.

I sidestep the injured agent, and yank open the door to my truck and grab my purse.

Hunter looks wild as he keeps his gun and his eyes on the agent. “We’re going to die, and you’re getting your fucking purse?”

I don’t have time to argue with him or explain when the wind shifts and smoke blasts into my lungs. We start to run towards the track leading up the mountain. He’s fitter and faster than I am, and my ankle is aching, but I push through, running blindly through the trees pumping my arms and legs as we try to get to higher ground.

By the time we make it to an old hut, my breath is ragged, and sweat is coating my body as I collapse gasping on the porch of the hut.

Hunter takes a few breaths then seems to collect himself. “Keep moving.”

I manage to nod and stand on shaking legs. My head is light from the smoke, from the way the agent hit me. Hunter growls. “You’re limping again.”

Without warning, he grabs me and flips me over his shoulder and starts to climb upwards. “Hunter, I can climb. Put me down.”

He ignores me, breathing hard as he carries on with seemingly limitless resources. All the blood is rushing to my already pounding head; my arms are flopping uselessly as I grip my purse and try to process what on earth is happening.

When I’m dizzy, and I’m sure he’s going to pass out given the way his muscles are trembling and how his shirt is sticking to him, I tap him on the shoulder. “Put me down before I throw up on you.”

He puts me on my feet, and I take a moment to right myself when I look down and see how much elevation we have. “How the hell did you carry me all this way?”

He exhales slowly and uses his t-shirt to wipe his soaking face. “Adrenaline. And shitloads of practice with deer.”

I frown at him, incredulous, but he’s already moving upwards where the forest is even thicker. “We’re nearly there.”

I glance down the mountain and spy the fire slowly burning out. My eyes fill but I don’t have time to lament the loss as I turn my back and follow Hunter up the mountain to wherever ‘there’ is.