Mountain, page 18
Using hand signals as they walked because noise traveled terribly far in this weather, they moved swiftly, until they saw Barret coming toward them, moving at a steady pace. He was struggling a little bit with the sled, and the four dogs, but then that would also look a whole lot better and more accurate to anyone assuming he was Amelia. He was also geared up with a bulletproof vest, just in case, and he had a special helmet on underneath Amelia’s heavy parka. Anything for added protection, considering he was bait.
As Magnus and Mountain stayed up in the hills, they eventually crouched down and checked to see if there was any sign of anyone else. This was the dicey part because they must see their adversary, before they were seen themselves.
Barret had Amelia’s dogs, the four of them, and they had decent-enough training and experience that the dogs were willing to go with him. Barret headed up to the scientists’ camp, where they decided Amelia would most likely go in order to keep herself safe, particularly after saying that she’d been there time and time again, staying until she felt it was too dangerous and leaving again.
Barret moved steadily, using shoulder strokes to match Amelia’s height, crouched over slightly to one side, as Amelia would be favoring her injured side, from where she’d been shot. They watched decoy Barret going slow and steady, noting his faltering progress.
Beside Mountain, Magnus whispered, “Damn, I hope he’s faking it, and, if he is, he’s doing a hell of a job. If he’s not faking it, I would say he’s in trouble.”
“I know. I was thinking the same thing,” Mountain murmured, as they remained here on this western edge, crouched down. Off in the distance, coming around on the eastern side, would be Nikolai. No way he would stay on the sidelines and out of this scenario. Egan and Rogan were at opposite ends of the tundra, and all the good guys out here had long guns on them.
Elijah was on lockdown at the base, with Samson keeping a close eye on him, along with Whalen and Teegan as backup, just to ensure Chef wouldn’t go anywhere.
Mountain had filled in Magnus on everything they had heard from Elijah yesterday, and, not surprisingly, both of them were still processing the newest information.
Magnus muttered, “I can’t believe that the three of them are so intertwined.”
“Nobody really knew,” Mountain murmured. “But that’s the thing, right? Nobody knew, and, because nobody knew, they could get away with all kinds of stuff, and yet who’s getting away with what?”
“That’s the problem,” Magnus noted, as he looked over—checking to the north, where Egan should be—deliberately making his movements slow and steady, so nobody else would pick up on him being there. He then checked to the south for Rogan. “I don’t see anything out there,” Magnus noted, his voice soft.
Mountain replied, “No, not yet, but that doesn’t mean jack shit though, and you know that.” They stayed hunkered down for another fifteen minutes, and just as he was about to believe that this was a no-go, a shot rang out. He watched in horror as Barret stumbled and slowly slid to the ground.
“Shit.” Magnus immediately tried to bolt to his feet, but Mountain held him down.
“Hold up,” he said, warning him in a low hiss. “If he’s down, we’ll get him, but, if he’s faking it, we can’t give him up. We have to catch whoever’s doing this, or it’s all for nothing.”
Magnus struggled against the restraint, but, when Mountain was sure Magnus wouldn’t break their cover, the big man shifted ever-so-slightly. Mountain whispered, “Remember. Every movement and every sound up here is amplified.”
“Sure, but so is the wind, the air, everything,” Magnus muttered in frustration. “This place is deadly, without anybody trying to take us out. With people trying to take us out, it’s beyond deadly.”
“Exactly, and that’s part of the problem,” Mountain said. “We can’t allow anybody else to play this game.”
“And yet how the hell did our lives become a game? They shouldn’t be. They should never have become a part of it,” Magnus muttered.
“But you and I both know that they did, so something is completely messed up here.” Mountain watched and waited, relieved when he saw Barret give a small hand signal, which they had decided upon beforehand. “He’s fine,” he said, then sighed. “Not fine necessarily, but he’s given us a signal that he’s okay.”
“Good enough,” Magnus replied at his side, his breathing calming down. “Damn it.”
“I know. Believe me. I know,” he said, at his side, “I don’t want anything to happen to him either—or to anybody else.”
“Who’s on Amelia?”
“All the women are taking shifts, plus Joe.”
“Who’s on Elijah?” Magnus asked.
“Samson and Whalen and Teegan. Hopefully we won’t be too long out here that we need a second shift for Elijah.” Mountain looked at Magnus from the corner of his eye. “Do you think we need another shift?”
“I just … don’t know. We don’t know how many people are involved in this shit.” Magnus groaned. “I can’t imagine that all this time Elijah managed to keep anybody in control.”
“The trouble is, this is the first base assignment where both Joe and Elijah were with him,” Mountain pointed out, “and that’s part of the problem.”
“It’s not only part of the problem, as it’s apparently blown the lid off everything.”
“Exactly, and that’s why it’s such a problem. Seems somebody started to lose control over our killer, and what wasn’t an issue before is a huge issue now.”
“Christ,” Magnus muttered, as they sat here and watched. “How long will we wait?”
“I’m not sure,” Mountain answered in a monotone. “As long as we have to. We’re looking for any sign of anybody out there. Remember. When he shot Amelia, he checked on her and told her Good riddance. Plus he tormented her in the clinic, with more threatening words. He likes to confront his victims.” All of a sudden, Mountain saw it. “Wait. Nine o’clock. Moving slowly,”
Magnus shifted enough that he could see. “Oh, that little bastard,” he muttered.
“Yeah, and the question is, is Nikolai the closest?”
“That is one issue, but our second one is, are we sure our nine o’clock target is not Nikolai?” Magnus asked, with a note of humor.
“Yeah, we’re absolutely sure our nine o’clock is not Nikolai,” Mountain noted, with a frustrated tone. “But, if anybody had reasons to ensure this went down the way we all want it to, believe me, it’s Nikolai. He’s avenging his father’s killer.”
“How the fuck are you so calm right now?” Magnus muttered. “Do you think … Will Barret lose it?”
“No, he won’t,” Mountain stated, his voice firm. “He’s a good man, and he knows what’s at stake.”
“I know he knows what’s at stake, but that doesn’t mean that, when it comes down to it, anybody’ll have any control. This could potentially go south and very, very quickly.”
As they watched, Barret shifted ever-so-slightly, enough that they knew he was alive and okay, but not necessarily enough that he knew he was about to be attacked. The wait had to be deadly for Barret, expecting to be ambushed and unable to see it coming.
As Mountain sat here, lining up a shot himself, as the others did so too, the target figure, moving ever-so-slowly on skis, neared Barret. Amid the complete whiteout, the wind picked up, and the storm around them started to scream its own hell and fury. Mountain groaned softly.
“What is it about Mother Nature,” Magnus murmured at his side, “that makes her such a bitch.”
“I think she’s pissed that we’re disturbing her peace and quiet,” Mountain suggested. “You’ve got to think that she didn’t bring this on. This is all man-made, this problem, and she doesn’t take kindly to this evil interference in her world.”
“And yet she doesn’t really care,” Magnus noted, smiling. “If you think about it, she’s waiting for the dust to settle, so that her clean-up crew can come in and pick the flesh off our bones.”
“Nice way to put it,” Mountain muttered, yet with a smile. “Still, I would rather have a polar bear take me down, than some two-legged asshole.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” Magnus replied, as they watched the figure slowly line up closer and closer to Barret. “I sure hope Barret’s ready for this.”
“You and me both,” Mountain murmured. “Not only that, I think the other three guys are moving around. Nikolai’s out there, but he’s not alone now. I can see him, but somebody’s with him.”
“So either Egan or Rogan,” Magnus muttered.
“Yep. Either way, Nikolai’s in good hands.”
“Are you sure about Samson? He’s an unknown entity in all this. I haven’t quite figured out that guy. Something is off about him.”
Mountain chuckled. “In some ways there is. As soon as you figure it out, you’ll be kicking yourself.”
Magnus stared at him keenly, trying to make sense of what he said, when a shot rang out, followed by dead silence.
Day 7 Afternoon
As far as Amelia was concerned, this waiting was unbearable. The women had been playing cards, switching up people, having tea or coffee, and still there was no news. Nobody revealed their nervousness, but Amelia couldn’t get over the feeling that something was seriously wrong.
When the switch of her guard came again, she groaned and turned to look at the present company. “Somebody needs to go out there and confirm those guys are okay.”
Sydney eyed her carefully. “Nobody is more capable of being out there than those guys.”
Amelia swallowed and nodded. “I could go.”
“You could go, but do what?” Sydney asked curiously. “It’s not as if we can communicate with them. It’s not as if we can tell them that you’re out there or to watch out because you decided to go play hero,” the doc pointed out. “It’s not as if we can warn them, so they don’t accidentally shoot you,” she added, with a raised eyebrow.
Just enough logic had been presented by Sydney to totally piss off Amelia, yet she understood. “I still think something’s wrong,” she muttered, “and surely there’s got to be some way to make it right.” Then the door opened yet again, and she looked up to see Joe, a big grin on his face.
He looked over at Sydney. “Hey, I begged for this chance. I can stay with her, so you can go off and grab yourself a cup of coffee.”
Sydney laughed. “Okay, I’m good with that.” She looked back at Amelia. “Do you want something to eat?”
She winced at that. “As much as I don’t really want to, I probably should.”
“Yes, you probably should.” And, with that, Sydney got up. “Let me go see if there are any groceries to be had.” And. with that, she headed out.
As soon as she was gone, Amelia looked over at Joe. “Have you heard anything?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t, but I’m not sure what’s going on either,” he admitted, “so you probably shouldn’t ask me questions about it because I don’t know anything. I’ve purposely kept to myself in the dog barn. I didn’t want anything to do with the mess at this base.”
“Right.” She nodded. “It’s all so frustrating.”
“Of course it is, but you also have to trust in these men.”
“I trust them. I’m just not sure I trust the asshole out there trying to ruin them.”
He looked at her in surprise. “It seems I’m not privy to any current information.”
She backed off at that and nodded lightly. “I am a little confused, though, about something else. Sandrine mentioned that you want to spend some time with your wife, but I thought your wife had passed away.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “When did you hear that?”
She frowned and then thought about it. “I’m not exactly sure to be honest, but it was mentioned casually that you were looking forward to going back to spending time with her, and that surprised me because I’d understood that your wife was already gone. Of course that’s a terrible thing to ask you about, and I’m sorry for that.”
He shrugged. “Lots of people in my world are gone,” he replied, with an odd smile, “and sometimes I think I’m better off if I go with them.”
“Oh, that’s not a good topic either.”
He burst out laughing and nodded. “No, it probably isn’t, but I don’t have any secrets.”
She looked at him carefully from the corner of her eye. “Don’t you?”
Surprised, he stared at her for a long moment. “Aren’t you a clever one.”
“Not sure that clever is quite the right word,” she replied, hating the direction her thoughts were going. “But what are the chances that they left me here, while they’re out there trying to find the asshole who’s killing people, and you’re here right in front of me?”
He stared at her for a long moment, but she could glean absolutely nothing from the look in his eyes. He gave her a bright smile and chuckled lightly. “You’re partially right. … I’m not killing anybody here, but neither have I done anything to stop it.”
“The problem is, I don’t understand any of this, so why don’t we sit here, and you tell me what the hell’s going on? At least the part that you do know.”
He stared off in the distance and shrugged. “Not sure that’s a good idea,” he murmured.
“And yet, why not?” she asked. “You know it needs to end.” His laugh, when it came, was half broken, and so much pain was attached to it that she didn’t know how to help him.
He sat back, looked at her, and then slowly nodded. “It is probably time, and, of everybody, you deserve to know.”
She let out a slow, deep breath, still not exactly sure what she’d triggered here. “So, tell me.”
In a quiet voice, he sat back in his chair and stared off in the distance. “We’d been married many years,” he began, “at least thirty-two. My wife was forever berating me because I could never quite remember the exact number,” he said, with a soft smile.
“I think men all over the world have that problem,” Amelia stated, with a gentle laugh.
“Yeah, and I was no different. We had a baby boy, the absolute love of our lives, the best thing to ever happen to us. He was …” He stopped for a moment and smiled. “He was perfect.”
She smiled up at him. “That’s how every parent should consider their child,” she noted.
“We had such fun with him. We spent so much time up here in the north, my wife too, because she loved it as well. We spent all of our holidays with the dogs out in the snow, camping in ice caves, and generally loving everything about it. And, when he grew up, … he wanted to go into the military. I wasn’t so sure. I’d done my stint, and I’d done a ton of contracts for them. Some of them were fine, but it was an admirable thing for him, and his heart was set on it, so there wasn’t a whole lot that would dissuade him,” Joe shared, with half a smile. “Of course you never know the next moment from this one.” He fell silent for a long time.
“You’ve never mentioned him before,” she stated. “What became of him?”
He looked at her with an odd smile. “He disappeared, went MIA, and we didn’t have any answers forever. As a matter of fact, … we have no idea what happened to this day. I don’t think there’s any news that’s worse than having no news,” he shared. “You’re forever waiting for that letter that tells you that he’s on his way home or that phone call that says, Surprise, he’s at the airport, but we never got any word. Not even the proverbial military-uniformed man confirming the death of our son. It broke my wife. She lasted a few more years, and then she finally gave up the hope of his return, … devastated and heartbroken. We only ever had the one child, you see? So, when you only have one, that child becomes everything. When he passed or disappeared,” he said, “we had nothing left to go on, except hope.”
“So, you kept going then, even after her passing?”
“I did. I kept hoping. I kept doing military contracts. I kept looking for him, hoping I would see his face, hoping I would see him out in the middle of somewhere, that he would be here, that he would be smiling and happy. Maybe he had a concussion. Maybe he had amnesia. Maybe he had all kinds of things,” Joe suggested, “but there was always that hope that he was alive somewhere. After my wife died, I knew that the chance of getting answers was getting slimmer and slimmer. I had desperately wanted to get the one answer that would help me out, but it wasn’t to be. She died without ever knowing what happened to him.”
“So, both you and Elijah lost your sons,” she said, with a nod.
He gave her a strange look. “Elijah was married to my wife’s sister, and she died many years earlier. Breast cancer. I don’t even remember when,” he said, with an awkward laugh. “Honestly, we were dealing with our own heartaches and problems of another sort at that point in time.” He gave a wave of his hand. “I don’t even remember what it was. I think it was my in-laws passing.”
Joe shook his head. “Anyway, yes, Elijah lost his son,” Joe confirmed, with quiet emphasis, “and he stayed in and became a lifer. I think maybe partly because of that I did too. Obviously I’m not full military, but I do constant contracts with them,” he noted. “And still, in the back of my mind, was this opportunity to see my son somewhere. Even if only to find his body lost somewhere, but it wasn’t to be.”
She watched him, as he tried to swallow the tears and not let them roll.
“It wasn’t to be,” he repeated. “And then I was here on this base, during this particular training session, and I was doing my usual thing with the dogs. One of the men, the day sergeant, came over,” Joe said, with a smile. “We talked for a few minutes, and I found out his name was Chester. That was my son’s name too. I was friendly. … When here for a survival training session, I try to be friendly to these guys, yet I like my solitude. Still, some of these guys don’t have much for families, and some of these guys leave families behind. Sometimes you can have a distant relationship with some of them. As I got to talking with him, … he mentioned something that surprised me, and I didn’t say more about it for a while, but then I asked him about it later. And he looked at me and lied point-blank to my face. I don’t know what you’re talking about, he said to me. I’m not sure what drink you’ve been drinking, but I didn’t mention anything like that. He seemed so honest and sincere that I thought, well, maybe I didn’t quite understand what he had said. However, his words wouldn’t leave me alone.”
