It wasn't until he'd backed onto the street that I thought to open the paper. If I'd ever wondered what his handwriting looked like, now I knew.
Call me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A loud bang at the patrol cabin door jolted me fully alert.
Mason was kneeling beside me in an instant, muffing my cry of surprise with his hand. He raised his finger to his lips, signaling me not to make another sound.
Shaun moved swiftly into the room, gun drawn, aiming it at the shadowy silhouette showing through the cafe curtain over the window in the front door.
Another, harder rap sounded. "Anybody home?" a man's voice called out.
I wanted to scream, Help! I'm here! oh, God, please help! The words were right there, exploding inside me.
"Answer it,” Shaun ordered in a gruff whisper. "Tell him you're fine. Tell him you're waiting out the storm. Get him out of here. One false move, Britt, and you're dead, both of you are."He clicked off the gun's safety for emphasis, the sound echoing in my ears as loud as the toll of a bell.
I walked to the door, each step stiff and weighted. I wiped my hands on my thighs. My face was bathed in sweat. Shaun crept along the outer kitchen wall, keeping the gun trained on me. At my sideways glance, he nodded, but it wasn't a sign of encouragement. He was reminding me that he meant every word.
I unlocked the door and cracked it enough to see out. "Hello?" The man wore a brown parka and cowboy hat, and seemed startled at the sight of me. He collected himself and said, "I'm Deputy Game Warden Jay Philliber. What are you doing here, miss?"
"Waiting out the storm."
"This is a park ranger patrol cabin. You don't have permission to be here. How did you get in?"
"I-the door was unlocked."
"Unlocked?" He sounded doubtful and tried to peer behind me. "Everything okay in there?"
"Yes,” I said in a dry, papery voice.
He shifted to see around me. "I need you to fully open the door." In my head, I could hear myself saying, They have a gun, they're going to kill me.
"Miss?"
A strange buzzing filled my ears. I was light-headed; his voice rolled through me like a slurred rumble, but I couldn't make out the words. I squinted at his mouth, trying to read them.
". . . get here?"
I licked my lips. "I'm waiting out the storm." Had I said that already? Out the corner of my eye, I saw Shaun wave the gun impatiently. It rattled my nerves further. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to say next.
". . . transportation?" the game warden asked.
I felt an overpowering urge to run. I pictured myself through the door, in the woods. I was so disoriented that for one moment, I thought I'd really done it.
"How did you get here?" he asked again, his eyes watching me carefully.
"I hiked."
"By yourself?"
Absurdly, I wondered if Calvin was thinking about me right now. Had he slept last night? Had he found the Wrangler and set off into the forest, searching for Korbie and me? Was he worried about me? Of course he was. "Yes, by myself."
The game warden held up a grainy, enlarged black-and-white photograph. It was taken from a security video, and showed the inside of a Subway sandwich shop. There were two men in the photo. The cashier stood behind the counter, his palms raised to shoulder level. The man facing him, the man aiming the gun, was Shaun.
"Have you seen this man?"the game warden asked, tapping his finger against Shaun's blurry, two-dimensional profile.
"I-" Red lights popped behind my eyes. "No. He doesn't look familiar."
"Miss, you're not all right. I can see that plainly."He was taking off his hat. He was going to step inside. The hum in my ears rose to a deafening whine.
"I'm fine,” I blurted. I looked around desperately. Shaun's eyes blazed into mine, hot with rage.
"Please stay outside,” I said, panicking. I kneaded the heel of my hand into my forehead. I'd said the wrong thing.
The game warden brushed past me. At the same time, there was movement in the corner and Shaun was out in the open, gun drawn.
The game warden's face went white with fear.
"Kneel down." Shaun barked the order. "Hands on your head." The game warden obeyed, murmuring that Shaun should rethink, he was an officer of the law, they could talk this out, Shaun should hand over his weapon.
"Shut up,” Shaun spat. "If you want to live, you'll do exactly as I say. How did you find us?"
The game warden tilted his head, giving Shaun a long, challenging look. At last he said, "I'm not out here alone, son. We've got the whole damn US Forest Service looking for you boys. Sure, we're slowed down by the storm, but so are you. And there's more of us. You aren't getting off this mountain. If you want to come out of this alive, you need to lower your weapon right now."
"Give me the gun, Shaun. Take Britt and start packing our things."
Mason's icily calm voice cut through the tension like a whip. He stepped up to Shaun's shoulder and extended his hand expectantly.
"Stay out of this,” Shaun growled, visibly tightening his grip on the gun. "If you want to make yourself useful, go to the window and figure out what he drove here in. I didn't hear a truck approach."
"Give me the gun,” Mason repeated, so softly his voice barely carried. Despite his quiet tone, it was laced with authority.
Clearly not wanting to give them the chance to plot secretly, the game warden spoke up. "You boys robbed a Subway sandwich shop and shot a police officer while trying to get away. You put a teenage girl in the hospital after you hit her and ran. You're lucky she's alive. You're lucky the officer you shot is also alive, but nobody in the criminal justice system is going to look kindly on it. Things aren't looking good for you, but they're gonna be a helluva lot worse if you don't lower your weapon immediately."
"I said shut up,” Shaun barked.
"Who are you?" the game warden asked me. "How do you know these boys?"
"I'm Britt Pheiffer,” I said in a rush before Shaun could prevent me. "They're holding me hostage and forcing me to guide them to the highway." Finally! Law enforcement would know I was in trouble. They'd send a search party. Someone would tell my dad what had happened to me. I was so overcome with relief I nearly cried. And then my heart sank. This was possible only if the game warden got away. If Shaun didn't shoot him.
Shaun gave me a rake of his cold blue eyes. "You shouldn't have done that."
"If we tie him up, he won't be found for a day or two,” Mason reasoned with Shaun. "He'll live, but it will buy us time to get off the mountain."