CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Friday, June 23
5:34 a.m.
Maggie’s back burned, and it wasn’t just from the glare of the woman behind her. Lauren Rosario. The woman she’d thought was dead and mauled by a bear. The unsub, responsible for killing at least seven people. There’d been no opportunity to fight, despite Lauren’s smaller size. She’d never once lowered her gun, even when she’d hauled Madison out onto the ground and roused the girl with a kick to the ribs.
The opportunity to gang up on her never arose. Madison could barely walk, and Lauren had zip-tied their hands in front of them. Instead of trying to figure out how to attack, Maggie was forced to be a moving leaning post for the girl. Madison had taken one look at her friend, and her face had frozen over. She hadn’t spoken since, and her expression hadn’t thawed.
Shock. It had to be.
As understandable as that reaction was, Maggie couldn’t count on help from that quarter. So she’d allowed Lauren to prod them down the trail from the Loop, turning south and then north toward Fifty Mountain.
Always Fifty Mountain.
What the hell happened there that brought on the fixation with it?
She had so many questions, but after that initial dramatic reveal, Lauren hadn’t said more than one-word commands. Was the woman working alone? Or was she a pawn in someone else’s plan? It was possible. Stranger things had happened.
Or maybe Maggie was suffering from her own version of shock. The short interaction she’d had with Lauren previously—the exception being when the woman shot her—had given her the impression of a sweet and shy girl. There was none of that now. Just a cold mask and a look in her dark eyes that didn’t bode well for their chances of getting out of this alive.
So she stopped thinking about the why and started thinking about a way to survive long enough either to turn the tables on the hunter or for rescue to arrive. Knowing what Maggie did about search and rescue in the park, she wasn’t optimistic they’d be found in time. There was just too much ground to cover, even if someone found the van quickly.
Next to her, Madison climbed mechanically, never looking to either side. Their chances would rise considerably if they could work together against Lauren, but it didn’t appear as if that was going to be an option.
With nothing left to do, Maggie started planning. They wouldn’t make it to Fifty Mountain. There was no way that was Lauren’s plan. Even with the trail closed, people still ignored the warning. They always did. The chance of running into someone was lower than it would be normally this year, but it was still there. If Lauren was as good as her crimes made it appear, she’d know that.
Besides, it’s no fun to hunt on the trail.
Lauren had no bow, no other weapons beyond the gun she had casually pointed in their direction every time Maggie looked back. No one had the strength to keep the gun up at all times, but she wouldn’t have to because she was behind them.
The lack of a bow bothered her. They’d known the unsub had a place somewhere in the park, but if Lauren didn’t have anything on her, it meant it was close. If we knew where it was, we might get back some of the advantage in this game. It would take time for Lauren to get there, time for her to gear up. Not enough—never enough—but it might give them an edge.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t work.”
Maggie startled but recovered quickly. If the woman wanted to talk, she would happily oblige her. “Nice morning for a hike.” Dawn had already started to eat away at the sky surrounding the mountains, but it would take longer to get to their point.
“It is.” There was quiet reverence in Lauren’s voice, but Maggie couldn’t say what put it there—the park or the anticipation of their deaths. “Have you ever climbed Grinnel Point and just looked out? Even the stars can’t stand against the mountains here.”
Maggie dodged a branch before her foot caught on it. “I have. It’s very beautiful.”
Something snapped in the girl next to her. Madison spun, her expression terrible in its fear and grief. “That’s what you have to say? Talking about how amazing this park is? You killed Ashleigh.”
“I also killed Josh, the Haglunds, two other idiots, and a girl who looks a whole lot like me.” She laughed, light and free. “Oops. Did I say that out loud? Guess the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Lot of people.” Maggie kept her tone indifferent.
“Can’t say they didn’t deserve it.” Lauren shrugged, her but attention was on Madison. “Can’t say you don’t deserve it.”
“What the hell are you talking about? None of them ever did anything to you. You are the one who broke Ethan’s heart and screwed over Josh and—”
“Shut up.” Lauren lifted the handgun again. “Get back to hiking.”
“The hell I will.” Madison took a step forward, her hands fisted at her sides. “Shoot me if you want to, but I’m not doing this. What’s your plan, Lauren? Are you going to hunt me? You spent days shadowing us? Why not just do it, then?”
Maggie had been wondering the same thing. From all accounts, Lauren had been close enough to finish the kill before the girls had been found. She took a slow, cautious step to the side, putting her closer to Lauren. If they kept up arguing, she might be able to get the drop on the woman.
Lauren glared, her entire body so tense she was almost shaking. “I was looking for Ethan.”
“Ethan.” Madison’s hands came up and then dropped. “You killed him, too.”
“No, she didn’t.” Maggie hating speaking up, but the sheer lack of tone in the girl’s voice scared the hell out of her. “Ethan is fine. He went to get help for you, Madison.” Even if he did it in the most roundabout way possible and wasted everyone’s time in the process.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Lauren’s words were so quiet, if they hadn’t been standing in near silence, Maggie wouldn’t have been able to hear them. She slid another step closer. Lauren didn’t seem to notice. “Ethan and I were supposed to be together.”
Madison glared at Lauren with such hatred, even Maggie had to fight not to flinch back. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have fucked his brother.”
“You don’t know anything about it. If it wasn’t for you, he would have taken me back!” Lauren screeched. She swung the gun around and pointed it at Maggie’s face. “Take one more step.”
Maggie shrugged, even as her stomach dropped. “Can’t blame me for trying.” She strained her ears, but there was nothing to hear. The world seemed to have ceased to exist outside their little triangle. If rescue was coming, it was too far away to do any good.
She’d only get one chance.
Lauren twisted to keep Madison in her sight, and Maggie moved. She threw herself at the other woman, going for the gun.
Friday, June 23
5:46 a.m.
A gunshot echoed through the forest.
Vic started forward, but Wyatt stopped him with a hand on his chest. “You can’t go rushing in there.” Dawn had sneaked up on them while they were hiking, and he could actually see the man’s face without the aid of the flashlights they’d turned off nearly a mile ago.
He knocked the hand away. “Let me go.”
“No.” To his credit, Wyatt didn’t flinch when he cursed up a storm.
It took precious seconds to get ahold of his temper. Vic took a careful step back. He couldn’t afford the wasted time dicking around over whether they should run in there or approach cautiously. Getting himself shot—or worse—would detract from his ability to help Maggie. He was better than this. He had to be better than this. “I’m fine.”
“If you can’t handle this, you can wait here.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked if he could handle things. His commanding officer would kick his ass to Iraq and back for fucking up an already fucked-up situation with his issues. Vic nodded. “I’m fine.” He would be. He didn’t have a choice. “I’m good.”
With one last look at him, Wyatt turned away. “We approach as quietly as we can. There’s a switchback up ahead, so we have a chance to get there without anyone seeing us as long as we’re careful.”
Vic nodded, his body so tense he was damn near vibrating. He held himself still through sheer force of will, nearly exhaling in relief when David and Wyatt started up the path. They kept a decent distance from him, as if they knew exactly how tightly strung he was. For their part, they were tense and silent. Maggie was one of theirs, after all. They’d worked with her longer than he had, and if anything happened to her, it was possible they’d blame themselves as heartily as Vic currently was blaming himself.
He shouldn’t have left the hospital. He’d known there was a risk, but he’d comforted himself with the presence of a cop who’d probably never dealt with a threat larger than a domestic dispute. He should have known that if something happened to those girls, Maggie—who was just down the hallway—would hear it and go to investigate.
No one could have anticipated her climbing into the back of the unsub’s goddamn van. When he caught up to her, he was going to rip her a new one over such a stupid choice. They could have found the van without her in the back of it.
But there was Madison to consider . . .
Fuck. He was going to drive himself crazy pursuing this line of thought.
Focus on the here and now. The rest of it can wait.
They rounded a corner, and Wyatt held up his hand. Vic stopped, slowing his breathing even as his heart picked up, trying to listen for any indication that the unsub and the women were close.
Nothing.
Less than nothing—even the whisper-soft nature noises that had accompanied them to this point had gone silent.
Wyatt gave a soft curse, and then they were all moving, striding up the last switchback and to a small flat spot situated on the incline. It didn’t look like much in the growing light, but David immediately crouched and pointed. “Blood.”
Not a lot—just a couple of drops that could indicate anything from a broken nose to a stab wound. It might not be serious . . . or it might be serious enough that the wounded person hadn’t started to bleed in earnest until they were away from this spot. No way to tell whose blood, either, but it was shiny and fresh. Fresh.
Vic scanned the trees, but there wasn’t much to see. There was no convenient blood trail to follow, aside from these few drops. Had the unsub started his hunt from here? He stood and turned a slow circle. “Doesn’t make sense. Why not wait until they got to the high point?”
“Flattop Mountain is ringed by Livingston Range and Lewis Range. Plenty of places to run in between those taller mountains, but it’s contained, to a certain extent.”
That didn’t help them any. They hadn’t seen or heard anything except that single gunshot on their way up, so it made sense that the women and the unsub had cut away from the trail, either to the east or west. Were they together? Or did he already start his hunt? It didn’t make sense. From what he understood, Flattop would be a better place to start.
But there was that gunshot to consider—and the blood.
Damn it, Maggie, you jumped him, didn’t you?
She wouldn’t go quietly, not when she had a chance to fight. Having Madison there would only heighten her protective instincts.
They had to find them. Now.
Friday, June 23
5:59 a.m.
Madison ran. She shouldn’t have. She should have stayed and fought like the park-ranger lady, but the gun had gone off, and all she could see was Ashleigh’s blue eyes going wide as Lauren held her by her hair and slit her throat. It hadn’t been like the movies. It had been so, so, so much worse.
She sobbed and ran faster. Instinct demanded she run downhill, but Lauren would be expecting that. Her bare feet were cut to shreds, and her arm burned from where Lauren’s bullet had nicked her, but she didn’t feel the pain anymore. Adrenaline. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting as far away from Lauren as she could.
A rock shifted when she put her weight on it, sending her flying. She hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, knocking the breath from her lungs. Momentum and gravity took over, sending her rolling down the incline until a tree stopped her.
Madison lay there, staring at the tree canopy, trying to relearn how to inhale. Her lungs weren’t working, were frozen in her chest, and she couldn’t force them to do their job.
All at once, the imaginary band around her chest released, and she gasped in a breath. She closed her eyes and tried to calm the terrified beating of her heart. If she kept running like this, she’d wear herself out and then she’d be easy pickings. She wouldn’t go out like that. She refused to.
Biting back a cry, she sat up and took a look at her surroundings. She might not know the exact spot, but she knew where she was—just west of Mountain Trail. It wasn’t as widely traveled as Highline Trail, but she’d hiked it more times than she could count.
Granted, every other time she’d done it, she’d had the appropriate gear and shoes.
Didn’t matter. She was getting the hell out of here.
Madison climbed to her feet and winced. No matter how good her pep talk, she wasn’t getting far like this. What would Ethan do if he were here?
A small sound brought her head up, and she dropped into a crouch, scanning the slope she’d just fallen down. Her descent would have made a ton of noise, so if Lauren was close, she’d be on her way here.
Madison could almost hear Ethan’s voice in her head. Move. Just keep moving, no matter how much you want to curl into a ball and cry.
But the person who emerged from between two trees wasn’t Lauren. It was the park ranger. Madison had one horribly selfish moment where she seriously considered hiding and hoping the woman drew Lauren away from her. Instead, she raised a hand, the small move catching the park ranger’s eye.
She rushed down the slope, taking more care than Madison did, and helped her stand. “We have to move.”
“I can’t run.”
The park ranger looked at her feet and nodded. “Then we hide.”
It sounded like the stupidest thing in the world, but Madison couldn’t come up with a better idea. She limped after the park ranger until they finally found a spot where a tree had fallen against another one. The brush had started to overtake it, and if she curled up, she’d fit.
They both wouldn’t, though.
Madison turned, but the park ranger shook her head. God, why can’t I remember her name?
She motioned, her voice so soft, Madison could barely hear it.
“You can’t run. I can. I’ll draw her away from you.”
“But—” Madison froze.
Lauren’s voice drifted to them. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Madison shuddered. She’d known Lauren was messed up—she had to be to stay with Josh all this time—but being okay with a guy who was borderline abusive didn’t mean she was justified in murder. “Be careful.”
“I will.” The park ranger helped her get into the spot and pulled some more brush over her. “Don’t move, okay? For as long as you can hold out.”
“Okay.” Madison spoke through dry lips, fear making her voice thick. She watched the park ranger move away until the woman was lost from sight, and Madison couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just made her a human sacrifice so she could live.