Mountain, page 14
“I was right here, so they didn’t have more than a few minutes.”
Mountain didn’t waste any time. He took one side of the hallway, and Samson took the other. Mountain bolted into the first bathroom, checked it, and found nothing. By the time he headed to the last room on his side of the hallway, his heart was slamming against his chest, a full-blown panic setting in. He opened the door, and there she was, crumpled on the floor, unconscious. He let out a roar that had the rest of the nearby search group racing toward him.
Sydney pushed past him and bent to check Amelia and nodded. “She’s alive. Let’s get her back onto the hospital bed, so I can take a look at any injuries.”
Mountain brushed aside everybody, then bent down and scooped up Amelia, with the ease of somebody well used to lifting much heavier loads, and carried her back to the medical clinic. As he walked in, Magnus and Berry were bringing Chef over. With both of the patients now ensconced in the clinic, Mountain swore, as he stared down at Amelia. “What if it was all a ruse?”
“It wasn’t a ruse, but it was good timing,” Samson suggested, beside him. “I get that you think you were called away in order to get at Amelia, and maybe that was part of it,” he conceded. “However, you also have to understand that the attack on Elijah was real.”
“But was it an attack or did he do it himself? In which case, it wouldn’t have involved Amelia.” Mountain shook his head.
“I hear what you’re saying, and I know that’s still potentially an option, but I’m going with the fact that somebody killed our guard, took out Elijah, and had enough time to come snag Amelia. All he had to do was get her out that same damn exit, and we wouldn’t have found her in time,” Samson noted.
He looked over at Sydney. “Is she hurt?”
“Not sure, and I wonder if she’s been drugged again,” she muttered, swearing, “not pills though.”
“So why didn’t they do that to Elijah? Why didn’t they do that to Kaylan?”
“Maybe, for the guard, they did,” she noted, looking back at him. “Maybe he didn’t succumb as easily to the head trauma. Maybe he fought for his life,” she suggested. “No way to know yet. I’ll need some time to check out his body. However, at the moment, I have to deal with the warm bodies and ensure they stay that way.” Sydney shook her head, when Samson tried to say something. “I’ve got to keep them alive,” she stated, “and right about now you guys are not helping.”
Teegan stared from the back of the room. “He didn’t have five minutes,” he snapped. “You contacted me, and I was already on my feet, racing this way.” He shook his head. “Honestly there was maybe seven minutes at the most that Amelia was alone,” he cried out. “There’s no way.”
“And yet”—Mountain stopped and looked back, as if at the bedroom he’d found her in—“that was an empty room, and she was in there. So our suspect knew it was an empty room. Who would know what rooms are empty?”
Magnus looked at him intently. “Almost everybody on this base,” he said. “No way to keep something like that quiet, really. Even if somebody had gone looking for an empty room, they would have found one quite easily.”
“But who would have known ahead of time?” Mountain asked.
Magnus sighed. “Chances are the killer would have known ahead of time, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t figure it out on the fly or didn’t have it tucked away in the back of his mind. All he needed to do was physically check the rooms quickly, or, if he knew ahead of time, maybe that was an opportunity not to be missed.”
“What about the cameras?”
At that, Barret showed up, holding cameras in his hand. “Ripped out,” he noted.
“So, somebody who knew about the cameras, though that’s really not a surprise,” Mountain stated, turning to face Samson.
Samson nodded. “Unfortunately too many people know too much around here.”
“At this point, yes,” Mountain agreed.
At that moment, Elijah groaned and shifted.
Mountain immediately walked over, trying to stop the big man from rolling off the bed. Quickly gathering up the straps, Mountain secured him. When Chef opened his gaze and started to resist, Mountain calmed him down immediately, hands on his shoulders, pressing firmly down, explaining what had happened.
Finally, Elijah settled back and stared up at him. “I didn’t take those pills,” he said, his voice harsh.
Mountain shrugged. “They were in your stomach, so I’m not sure how else they would have gotten there.”
Chef frowned. “They were supposed to be painkillers. My head was killing me,” he shared, as he looked over at Sydney. “Didn’t you give them to him?”
“Give them to whom? Who is him?” Sydney asked Elijah.
At that, his gaze narrowed, and he clammed up.
Mountain gave him a hard shake. “That’s enough of this bullshit. You need to say his name. You need to speak up and tell me who gave you those pills.”
He looked over at him, dazed. “Kaylan.”
“Yeah, well, as much as I would like to believe you, Kaylan lost his life. Whether he was drugged first or not, he was hit hard over the head with some blunt force instrument that likely would have killed him immediately. Then he was dragged outside, where he froze to death for good measure,” Mountain bellowed, almost roaring in the chef’s face. “Another innocent man has died, this time trying to keep you alive.”
At that, Elijah glared at him. “Then don’t keep me alive,” he roared right back, and his voice broke. “I don’t fucking deserve it.”
At that, Mountain sat back and looked at him intently. “I won’t argue that point right now, but you and I aren’t done.” Mountain was so angry that he knew he needed to take a step back. He looked down at Chef Elijah, who had rolled over onto his side, his eyes closed.
Sydney stood protectively over him.
“Yeah, I’m walking away for the moment. I get it.” He held up his hands, as Sydney dragged him away from Chef. “You call me. … As soon as Amelia wakes up, you call me.” He headed out the door but turned and glared at her. “Do you hear me?”
“She’ll be fine,” Sydney replied gently. “I know it’s another big scare, but we saved her this time.”
“We saved her,” Mountain repeated, “but Kaylan? … He was a young man, … about twenty-seven years old. He didn’t make it,” Mountain declared, his voice haunted. “Enough is enough.”
And, with that, he bolted from the room.
Day 6 Late Afternoon
Amelia woke up, feeling a dryness in her mouth and a headache that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She tried to work up some moisture in order to swallow, but it seemed almost impossible. A moment later, a straw was placed between her lips, and she sucked eagerly, raising her eyelids to see Sydney. She croaked out, “That … doesn’t feel very good.”
“You were attacked again,” Sydney explained, sitting down on the chair beside her patient.
Amelia’s eyes widened at that announcement. “I was what?” she asked, blinking at her. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, we’re sure. We found you were taken a few rooms away, … unless you got up and bolted on your own. Did you leave the clinic?”
“Bolted?” she repeated, and then her gaze cleared. “Actually the door opened,” she said, trying to get her thoughts together. “Mountain had been here and got a text. Before he left, he told me not to leave the room, saying that the door was locked, and he would be back. He didn’t give me any other explanation, and he ran off,” she shared, taking a short breath, “but then, almost immediately, the door opened.”
She frowned, confused. “It was supposed to be locked. It opened, and then it stopped, and I heard some voices up and down the hallway. I slipped out of the bed and hid behind the door,” she said, holding her side.
“I was surprised that I could walk as well as I could, and yet … I was so scared, and my heart was hammering against my chest—to the point that I was sure anybody coming in could hear that. And then … someone whispered from the other side of the door.”
“What did they say?” Sydney asked.
“It was hard to hear, but he basically said, I’m coming for you, maybe not now, maybe not tonight, but I’m coming for you. And then I heard running footsteps. I stepped out into the hallway to try and find him, but several people were in the hallway, and they looked at me oddly, and then they all scattered, as if some warning went out.” She took a deep breath.
Sydney took Amelia’s hand in hers. “Go on.”
“I wanted to follow, to see who was running away,” she explained, “and I started down the hallway, but I wasn’t feeling very well. By the time I got down to the far side of the hallway, I thought I was going inside the bathroom, but I was in an empty bedroom. Just as I opened the door, stepped in, and shut the door behind me, the floor rushed up to hit me in the face.”
“It rushed up and hit you all right,” Sydney confirmed, “but I’m relieved to think that nobody carried you down there.”
“I don’t think so,” Amelia muttered. “I was heading to see what was going on, and I was determined to let Mountain know that someone had been right there talking to me. Whoever he was, he knew I was behind the door, Sydney. It was as if he was laughing at me.” Amelia’s whole body shook. “It was scary. Honest to God, he was pretty damn scary.”
“Anybody who’s stalking us, threatening us, they have the upper hand because they’re not afraid, and they know what they can do to terrorize us. Meanwhile, we are afraid, especially not knowing who our true enemy is. Sometimes our imagination is worse than the reality. Still, once we’re afraid, we become a victim,” Sydney pointed out, “and they immediately gain the upper hand.”
Amelia stared at her and slowly nodded. “It was just like that, as if he wanted me to be afraid, to know that he was coming for me, and to be terrorized by it,” she said. “Who the hell does that?”
“All kinds of people do it, and none of them are nice,” Sydney pointed out. “The bottom line is, we have you back, safe and sound.”
“What was the emergency about that had Mountain running from here?” Amelia asked.
Sydney pointed to the second hospital bed, behind Amelia’s. “Either Elijah was attacked, or he chose to take pills on his own,” she shared. “We got to him fast enough to save him. We’re not exactly sure of the details yet, but, in the process, his guard was murdered.”
“Murdered?” Amelia repeated, staring nervously at the doc.
“Yes, probably by the same person talking to you. Is there anything you can tell me about his voice?”
“No,” she replied, “nothing concrete anyway. Plus, other people were in the hallway, making it hard to hear the voice. But it was scary, this raw, hoarse whisper that I’ll never forget.”
“No, and maybe not forgetting is a good thing,” Sydney said, “because you’re alive right now. I don’t know whether they came to this room after you, and your hiding in that bedroom helped you, or if they drugged you and put you there. However, you’re alive, and we want to keep it that way.”
“And yet it feels very much as if, the longer I stay here, the less chance I have of staying alive,” she admitted, staring at her. “Dear God, surely the investigators know now who’s behind this?”
Mountain strolled back in again, accompanied by Samson, and Mountain looked at her sternly. “Report.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can answer questions, but I don’t take orders very well.” He glared at her, and she smiled. “Somehow I feel you’re upset at yourself because you left me. I don’t know if he intended this misdirection, but—” Then she quickly told him what happened.
Mountain frowned. “So, you weren’t drugged? You took yourself down to that bedroom on your own, presumably because you thought that he was out there?”
“I don’t know. … I thought that maybe I could find out who he was and put this all to an end or figure out what all the commotion was about at least. I went out and headed down the hallway—not my smartest move, I’m sure.”
“So, did you see him at all?” Mountain asked, Samson silently listening.
Amelia shook her head. “I heard him run away, so I was looking for a man running. Many other people were out there in the hallway, but none were running. Among the chaos, I didn’t see just one person but many. If he did come back to the clinic, I wasn’t there for him to torment anymore. Whether he was planning on doing that or not, I don’t know.” She raised her hands in frustration. “That’s all I remember.”
Mountain nodded thoughtfully and didn’t say anything for a long moment, as he stared at her. “How are you feeling?” he asked gently.
“Rough, about what you would expect, I guess. If I hadn’t fallen or collapsed or whatever it was that I did,” she added, with a note of humor, “I would probably feel a whole lot better, but I did fall, so yay me. … I’ve got a bit of a headache now.”
“Yeah, that would happen when you collapse,” Sydney replied, with a note of relief in her voice.
“The good news is, I’m alive.” Amelia gave a nod and a smile in the doc’s direction. “Are we any closer to figuring out what the hell is going on?” she asked Mountain.
“Oh, yeah. We’re closer, but, so far, nobody is willing to say anything that will bust this thing wide open. I need Elijah awake now,” Mountain muttered, as he turned toward the man on the other hospital bed, seemingly asleep.
*
Mountain walked over and stared down at Chef. “Old man, are you finally ready to tell us something, or will you let more young men die because of your actions and inactions?”
Elijah didn’t say anything, but his body stiffened visibly, confirming to Mountain that Chef had heard.
“You heard what Amelia told us, right? About somebody tormenting her, wanting to kill her, wanting to hurt her, after she had done nothing but save Teegan,” Mountain stated. “When is enough really enough for you? How much bloodshed must be spread before you finally admit this needs to stop? When do you stop protecting this killer?” Mountain roared, his temper getting the best of him.
Elijah looked up at him in resignation and nodded. “Now. I guess now.”
“Damn right, so tell me who the hell is doing this.”
Mountain and Samson, with permission from Sydney, moved Chef to Sydney’s private quarters next door, so they would have some privacy.
“You already know,” Chef stated, as they settled in Sydney’s bedroom. “That’s why you’re so angry because you don’t know how to stop it. I didn’t know how to stop it either, so I did the next best thing and made sure he didn’t ever do it while I was around.”
“Sure, but that didn’t stop the killing though, did it?”
“No, it’s not something I could stop,” he repeated.
“What started it up again?” he asked.
Elijah looked at him. “A whole lot of things, but, in reality, it was pretty simple.”
“Then we’re heading to a more private place.” Together Mountain and Samson moved Elijah to their office. As soon as he was seated, Elijah started to talk, unwinding the tale of blood and gore.
Day 6 Evening
Exhausted from her venture down the hallway and her collapse on the floor, Amelia sat up in her hospital bed, willing her headache to go away, not willing to take anything for it. She still thought about that voice, that harsh whisper, that person on the other side of the door, knowing that she was there, knowing that she was terrified. It sent chills down her spine every time she thought of it, and yet she couldn’t help herself.
How did one stop thinking about something like that? Just so much was wrong with the whole idea of somebody actively taking pleasure in her terror, and yet that’s what it was. He had been thrilled, absolutely thrilled with the knowledge that she had been hiding from him, without even knowing who he was. She didn’t even think she’d ever heard that voice before. Yet, as a whisper, it was impossible to really know.
Sydney was still at her desk, and Magnus had already come and gone several times. Amelia knew she wouldn’t be alone ever again, at least not while this was going on. However, she knew in her gut that her stalker would make an attempt and that he was somebody with enough skill and experience to pull it off. And that was what he was after. She didn’t have a clue when or how that attack would come, but it would.
That was the part that terrified her the most.
She kept looking around, and every movement, every sound, made her jump, as she sat up in bed. Even now she couldn’t lie down and relax because it would take an extra few seconds to get up out of the bed and get moving, should her attacker come again.
Finally having enough of it, Sydney walked over and put a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Hey, look. Do you need something to help you to relax?”
She looked at her, firmed her bottom lip, and shook her head. “Honest to God, I would much rather go out where the dogs are now.”
Sydney’s eyebrows shot up. “To see your dogs?” she asked, then smiled, and clearly it came from the heart.
“I would absolutely love to see them,” Amelia murmured. “Surely I’m strong enough to see them now.”
“I don’t know.”
“And, if I can’t go over to the dogs, maybe the dogs could come here?” she asked hopefully. At that, Sydney nodded and pulled out her phone. “I’ll see what I can do about it. We’ve had an awful lot of dogs throughout the place at various times, but we haven’t had yours over because I didn’t want you moving about that much.”
“I have four,” Amelia clarified.
Sydney turned to her, startled, then nodded. “Of course. That’s what you need to pull a sled, I suppose.”
“Joe knows which ones are mine,” she said, with a smile. “It’s not as if he’ll mistake them.”
“Good enough,” Sydney replied, then took several steps away and spoke into her phone but in a low voice, so nothing could be overheard. It was disconcerting for Amelia to think that everybody was watching her, walking around her, always trying to keep her safe, controlling everything that went on in her world. It was not how she wanted to live at all.
