Threat Detection, page 17
Freddy moved along the ledge with a deft agility. Once he reached the end, he turned around and stopped at a spot he had previously hesitated at but not alerted on.
The dog put his front paws on the wall of the volcano and sniffed. He sat down.
“What’s going on?” Aubrey called from above.
“Freddy alerted on something.”
Isaac pulled his flashlight out. He saw several small crevices. He felt inside the holes, thinking there might be another thumb drive in them, but he found nothing. There had to be something here. It would be rare for Freddy to have a false alert in an environment where electronics were not abundant.
His hand felt along the wall of the mountain until he found a loose rock. He could move the rock when he pushed on it, but it was wedged so tightly, he couldn’t get a fingerhold to pull it out.
Freddy sat at attention while Isaac pulled his pocketknife out, aimed his flashlight and stuck the knife in the crevice. He was able to pull the rock forward far enough to get a fingerhold and yank it out. The rock clattered onto the ledge.
Isaac put his hand in the hole and felt around. At first his hands grazed over the rough texture of the rock, but then his fingertips felt something colder and smoother. Metal perhaps.
He pressed his arm as deeply into the hole as he could so that the rock dug into his armpit. Whoever had hidden the item here may have brought a tool to push it deep into the mountain and another to pull it out. He felt a corner. There was a metal box hidden in the tunnellike crevice.
Isaac glanced down at Freddy’s expectant face. “Good job, boy.” He retrieved one of the treats he always carried with him and placed his open palm under Freddy’s nose so he could have it. Tossing the treat meant that Freddy might end up falling.
Isaac tilted his head. He could barely make out Aubrey’s face as she stared down at him. “I need something to function as a hook. Like a tree branch.”
“I’ll see what I can find,” she said.
She disappeared from view. He could hear her shouting at Tanner. Aubrey was smart not to abandon the ropes that kept him from free-falling. A moment later, her head reappeared. “Tanner is looking for something that might work. There is not a lot of vegetation this high up.”
Isaac pulled his arm out of the hole knowing it was pointless to try to get it out with just his hand. The hole was not big enough to put both arms in to try to work the box loose.
Aubrey reappeared a moment later. “This is the best we can do on such short notice. I am weaving it through one of the carabiners Duncan left behind and sending it down.”
He could hear her moving around, her feet scraping the ground, and then he saw the glint of metal with something long and narrow sticking out of both sides.
As the rope came closer to him, he realized it was the flag on a metal rod that he had used to mark where the thumb drive had been found. Perfect.
He lifted his arm to grab it, praying that it wouldn’t fall out of the carabiner before he had it in his hands. Once he held the metal rod, he pulled it out of the carabiner and bent the end that didn’t have the flag on it to create a hook. He moved quickly to stick the rod into the hole and place it in the handle on the box. The metal box scraped against rock as he slid it closer to the opening. Finally, he was able to pull it out. It was a simple metal box with no lock, just a fastener that held it shut.
“What did you find?” Aubrey called to him from above.
He flipped it open. The box contained CDs and floppy disks as well as some paper materials underneath the electronics. It was too dark to read the labels on the disks and CDs. This was worth killing for? He shone the flashlight on it. The label on the top had a date and reference numbers to a simulation. He could look at it more closely later.
Isaac tilted his head. “I’m sending it up to you on the carabiner, and then you need to get Freddy and I back up this rock wall.” After clicking the box shut, Isaac hooked the handle through the carabiner.
Aubrey drew it up while he got Freddy back in his carrier. He winced every time the box banged against the wall of the mountain. What if the latch fell open and the contents tumbled hundreds of feet into the abyss of the volcano?
Isaac commanded Freddy to step into his carrier, and then he closed the zipper that ran up the back of it.
He waited for Aubrey to secure the ropes before he attempted to lift the carrier and put his arms through the straps. If he lost his balance, he could fall to his death taking his partner with him.
“The box is safe and sound, and I’m ready to belay you up.” The ropes went taut.
He bent and picked up the carrier. Freddy licked Isaac’s fingers. Getting back up would be way more strenuous than coming down.
When he found his first foothold in the wall just above the ledge, Aubrey responded by tightening the rope. The leverage of the ropes would give her the strength to hold him in place or to break a fall if he slipped from the wall, but most of the climb depended on Isaac finding secure hand-and footholds on the steep wall.
Freddy remained still. The dog seemed to pick up on the need not to wiggle too much and throw off his partner’s balance.
Isaac scaled the wall for several feet with Aubrey responding by slacking when he needed to move sideways or drawing it tighter as he climbed up. When he tilted his head, he could see the night sky. Only a few more feet to go.
He heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot. Britta barked somewhere in the distance.
The line zinged through the carabiner. Isaac fell through the air several feet, stopping with a jolt. His heart pounded as he was left swinging back and forth, unable to get close enough to the wall to regain a foothold. He could not see Aubrey when he looked up.
“Aubrey, what’s happening?”
* * *
Aubrey grabbed the rope from the position where she’d fallen on her behind at the sound of a gunshot. Adrenaline surged through her body as she held the rope. The fall had caused her to give the line too much slack. Even if she turned to look, she doubted she could see what was going on behind her in the dark. She only hoped whoever had fired the shot was not coming for her next and that Tanner was okay. She could not leave Isaac and Freddy stranded.
Quelling the rising panic, she held the line tight and scooted to where she could see Isaac. “Gunshots. Not sure what’s happening. We have to hurry.” She adjusted the ropes so Isaac could move closer to the wall.
He found a foothold and climbed quickly. She was grateful when his head rose above the rim of the mountain. She reached out to help him climb over.
He hadn’t even gotten to his feet when he pulled his gun from his waistband. “Stay behind me.”
She picked up the metal box that might have cost lives. Freddy was still in his carrier as Isaac made his way down the mountain. Without any light, she could barely see where she put her feet, let alone what the result of the gunshot had been. Isaac had maybe opted not to use his flashlight fearing if someone was still out there with a gun, it would make them easy targets.
Isaac came to a sudden stop. She halted behind him, peering over his shoulder. A man was lying on the ground. They both ran toward him.
Aubrey dropped to her knees so she could see the man’s face. “Duncan?”
Duncan held his hand over his stomach and groaned in pain.
“I tried to help Emily get out of trouble. She didn’t want you to know.” Duncan laid his head back down. “I’m so sorry.”
“Duncan, where is Emily? What has happened to her?”
“Kidnapped.” Duncan opened his mouth as if to say more, but then turned his head and closed his eyes. The news of what had happened to Emily was like a knife to her heart.
Isaac checked Duncan’s pulse. “He’s still alive. He’s out cold, he’s not going anywhere. We have to get down to where there is cell service. A chopper can get here a lot faster than if we try to carry him out and risk hurting him more. Plus carrying him will slow us down.”
“The trail is so precarious in spots, I’m not sure we could even get him to the bottom,” said Aubrey.
Why had Duncan come up here for the box and tried to get down to it without help? He must have seen them coming and hid, knowing that they would find the box. From what he said, it sounded like Duncan wasn’t part of the crime but had gotten involved to help Emily. He wasn’t the man behind all this. The man who had shot at them was.
Aubrey lifted her head when she heard a distant, faint bark. That had to be Britta.
“We need to get down this mountain. If Tanner has gone in pursuit of the shooter, he’ll need my help.”
Isaac rose to his feet and slipped out of the carrier. Aubrey helped him put it on the ground. “Hauling Freddy through the ash beach will throw my balance off. Besides, he’s more sure-footed than I am.”
They both retrieved the collapsed poles from beside the backpacks where they’d left them when they climbed the remainder of the way to the summit of the mountain.
They traversed the beach as quickly as they dared, sliding and recovering until the beach gave way to the boulders. They had not heard Britta or seen Tanner yet.
As they wove through and over the boulders, Isaac stopped twice to see if he had cell reception, and then he kept going.
They hurried through the darkness taking turns carrying the metal box. When she saw the outline of trees up ahead, she willed herself to move faster. The trees grew more abundant. She searched for where the trail might be.
Several times Isaac tried his radio, but Tanner didn’t respond.
Isaac checked his cell phone again. He dialed the emergency number, explaining about Duncan and the need for a chopper and giving the location. He also called Ruby and Brandie for backup.
They continued running down the trail. They both heard the distant sound of a dog barking and rushed through the trees toward the noise.
In the dark and without the security of the flat trail, it felt like they were running blindly guided only by the sound of Britta’s barking. They jumped over logs and pushed through thick brush, adjusting their direction every time they heard a bark.
Britta burst through the trees, clearly agitated. Yipping and pacing side to side.
“Where’s Tanner, girl?”
The dog led them to a small clearing. Tanner lay on his stomach not moving.
Isaac dove to the ground and turned Tanner over. “He’s breathing.” He slapped the man’s cheeks lightly. “Come on back to me, friend.” Britta licked Tanner’s forehead.
Aubrey peered over Isaac’s shoulder.
Tanner shook his head. He attempted to sit up but laid his head back down and placed a hand on the back of it. “Guy hit me in the head when I jumped him and tried to get his gun from him.”
“Where did he go?” Aubrey studied the area around her while she gripped the metal box. The attacker had to have come for what they had found in the volcano. Seeing that they were about to retrieve the box, he must have been waiting for the chance to shoot them and take it. Duncan might even have tried to stop him and that was when he was shot.
“We’re walking into an ambush,” said Aubrey. “He must be waiting for us somewhere along the trail.” Unless the attacker thought he had taken Tanner out for good, he had to know he was outnumbered and outgunned. Would he be bold enough to attack them or did he have something else in mind? Aubrey held up the box. “And he probably wants this.”
“We have no choice. We have to get down this mountain. Backup is on their way. Maybe we can catch this guy before he jumps us.”
“Let’s not take the trail then.” Tanner sat up, rubbing his head.
That would slow them down substantially, but maybe it was the best option. “I think I can lead us down a more concealed way without getting too far from the trail.”
Isaac held out a hand for Tanner, who still seemed a little wobbly.
“We don’t need to play defense. We’ve got two trained officers with guns. As far as we know, we’re dealing with one guy who has one gun,” said Isaac. “I say we stay hidden and keep an eye out for him.”
Aubrey made a mental note of where the trail was before they’d veered off and jogged downhill. Her muscles tensed in a defensive posture like someone expecting to be punched in the stomach. She was aware that any noise they made might give them away. For most of the way, they had a partial view of the trail. She heard no noise and saw nothing that indicated someone was on the trail or close to it.
Isaac and Freddy fell in beside her, but Tanner lagged behind.
When they came to a part of the forest where the brush and foliage was so overgrown it was impossible to get through, she stepped around it toward where she believed the trail to be, though it did not come into sight. The trail wound around the mountain in a serpentine pattern, so it would be easy to lose a sense of where they really were as they moved through the dark.
If they kept working downhill, they should come to the trailhead.
Isaac grabbed Aubrey’s hand. “Hey, stop.”
“Did you hear something?”
“No.” He looked over his shoulder. “No, I’m waiting for Tanner. He’s really going slow. I think he’s hurt worse than he’s letting on.”
They waited until Tanner, led by Britta, came back in sight.
“Don’t wait on my account,” said Tanner. “We’re on a mission here.”
They had to be getting closer to the trailhead and still there was no sign of the man who had shot Duncan. Above them, she heard the sound of the helicopter that was going to rescue Duncan. She prayed that he would make it out alive.
When she heard the sound of a car, she knew that they were close to the trailhead parking lot and that someone had just pulled in.
Both Aubrey and Isaac slowed down as the trees thinned out. She lifted her head, trying to get a view of the parking lot. It would be foolhardy to just step out into the open. The culprit had hired help before. Maybe that car indicated they were dealing with more than one armed man.
And then she heard a voice, the same voice that had spoken to her days ago as she ran for life down this mountain. “I know you’re there, and I know you have what I want.”
Aubrey looked at Isaac, not sure what to do.
He shook his head.
“I think I have something that you want,” said the voice.
She could only see part of the parking lot and not where the man who was speaking was.
A female voice filled with anguish reached her ears. “Aubrey, it’s me. I messed up. I tried to make things right, and I made everything worse.”
Aubrey felt like she’d been punched in the gut. The voice was Emily’s.
“I need you to come out where I can see you, Aubrey,” the male voice said. “That policeman friend of yours needs to toss his gun where I can see it, since your other police friend is out of commission.”
Aubrey looked over her shoulder, not seeing Tanner. Maybe he had lost consciousness.
An intense, heavy silence invaded the air.
“I will give you until the count of five,” said the male voice.
“Aubrey, he has a gun to my head.” Emily sputtered out the words.
“One. I need to see that gun, Officer.”
Aubrey glanced at Isaac as her heart raced. The man had already killed four people. “If you kill my sister, you have nothing to bargain with.”
“Ah, there you are. At last, the lady volcanologist responds. I remember seeing an article about you in the newspaper when you were hired. Your work is nothing compared to mine.”
Isaac had begun to move sideways through the trees; he made a motion with his hand that she needed to keep the gunman talking. He must be trying to figure out where the man was so he could line up a shot on him. Freddy padded silently beside Isaac.
“So you used to work for the foundation?”
“Quit trying to distract me. Two. Officer, you need to toss that gun out now or she gets it.”
Emily let out a fear-filled scream. Isaac had probably been trained to never give up his weapon, but it looked as if Emily’s life depended on it.
Isaac threw his gun toward the parking lot. He had to have a backup plan.
“Very nice,” said the voice. “Three.”
Aubrey felt as though a weight had been placed on her chest. It was a struggle to get a deep breath. She could no longer see Isaac.
“Four.”
A gunshot rent the air. Freddy barked. It sounded like it had come from the parking lot aimed into the trees.
“Isaac?”
She didn’t hear a reply.
“Five.”
Aubrey rushed toward the edge of the trees. “I’m here. I have your stupid box.”
A man about Duncan’s age and build held a gun to Emily’s head.
“There you are.”
She glanced toward the trees wondering if Isaac had been shot.
“Please, let my sister go.”
“It’s not that easy. I need you to put the box about five feet from me and then back away hands in the air.”
It seemed that if Isaac had been shot, Freddy would have made more of a ruckus or at least come out to her to let her know.
“Okay, I’ll do what you say.”
The kidnapper must have parked his car not far away but hidden with Emily locked in it while he went up the mountain to find Duncan. When Aubrey stepped toward the man who held her sister’s life in the balance, her whole body trembled. Emily made soft whimpering sounds. It sounded like she was crying.
Aubrey sat the metal box on the ground.
