Essential Beginnings (28 page)

“Do you really think that Ratliff has someone spying on the camp?” Kellen asked as they both stood and started to make their way over to the lodge. The horses’ hooves could be heard prancing in the barn as they passed below the wooden structure. “What would there be to gain unless they were going to try to take it for themselves? Ratliff doesn’t have that kind of manpower from what I saw at the community center. His two sidekicks have to be in their mid-eighties and the others that are staying with him at the camp don’t appear to have what it takes to scale the valley’s slope without having a heart attack.”

Technically, Truman was spot on in his assumption. Mav wasn’t so sure this had anything to do with Ratliff when it made more sense that it was someone in relation with Truman. It definitely required follow up questions.

“There’s not a chance that this person you have personal business with happens to know you’re here, would they?”

The clouds had hidden any moonlight that might have helped lead the way or shed light on Truman’s reaction, but it was still easy to distinguish the shake of the man’s head. Mav didn’t like not knowing all the facts and whether or not he could trust Kellen Truman. It would make Mav’s job a hell of a lot easier if he could.

“Mav, report.”

Tank’s voice came over Mav’s two-way radio, so he unhooked the device and pressed the button in order to speak into the mic. There didn’t seem to be an emergency, but Ernie happened to be in the bunker with access to the alarm panel.

“What do you have for me?”

“One of those communications we were waiting for came through from the East Coast. All is fine and ETA is expected to be another week.”

So Van was still safe and working his way across the northern part of the States. The news came as a relief and yet it smacked of the hazards his friend must be dealing with. Ash had to have completely covered the Midwest, making it almost impossible to travel by car. Walking would require masks that could clog with ash and need to have the filter changed on it quite often. The hardships that Van would have to overcome would be difficult, but not insurmountable.

“Good to hear,” Mav replied into the radio with satisfaction. “I’ll get more details from you later after I’ve greeted our guest.”

“It sounds as if part of my team will arrive before yours,” Kellen said as they watched the sheriff climbing out of his car in front of the lodge. He surprised Mav by making an unusual proposal. “We can always divert my two members to help your buddies if they need a hand.”

“I appreciate that.” Mav wasn’t sure if there were strings attached to that offer and he wouldn’t take the chance. Trust was earned and not enough time had passed for that to happen. As for now they had problems of their own to deal with. They’d finally reached their destination. “Sheriff, were you able to speak with Ratliff?”

“Yes, but I kept the conversation rather vague.” Felix adjusted his hat just so, regardless that it was nighttime. “I told them I was checking in on things before the ash cloud arrived to see if they needed anything or if they’d changed their minds and would rather come up here.”

“What was his response to that?” Mav asked, already knowing the answer. Rat wasn’t the type of man to admit defeat. He had to see by now that the abandoned mine he was dealing with was nothing like the one Ernie had outfitted by working on it for the last ten years. Hell, the people with him were intelligent men and women who had to see for themselves that they couldn’t make it there on their own. The lack of a reliable power source meant the heat and electricity would be spotty. They would eventually be overcome by exposure. The fact that their immediate supply of rations wouldn’t last more than a month limited their ability to stay where they were beyond that time. All of them would eventually end up on Ernie’s doorstep. “And how is Trevor’s concussion? It’s really too bad that Mary hasn’t been able to make it back up here from Metaline Falls. She would have been a tremendous asset.”

“Rat basically told me what I could do with myself,” Ramsey said with a touch of humor. It immediately faded when he shook his head at the futility of it all. “I tried talking sense into him, but it’s useless. Jarrett seemed to be seeing reason and it wouldn’t surprise me if he made his way here in a day or two, but I hope like hell it’s before we’re holed up inside. Speaking of Mary and her particular set of skills, it occurred to me that Milton Owain was an EMT back in the day. Since he’s with Rat’s group, that must be why Stanley felt that Trevor was fine other than a few residual headaches.”

Mav glanced at the lodge behind Felix, seeing Elijah’s empty chair. He’d turned in an hour ago, but would no doubt be up when the sun rose. They had another two days before the ash cloud arrived according to the shortwave radio. It was creating chaos around the world and no one appeared unaffected by its relentless onslaught.

“I’ve got to tell you, Mav,” Sheriff Ramsey said, leaning back against his cruiser. “I don’t think Rat has anything to do with this person who’s breached our perimeter. Sure, he might complain a lot and run his mouth off to anyone who will listen, but we still have to take into consideration what Trevor said about that man he saw dressed in black near the access road into town.”

“I’ve been thinking about that and I can’t understand how Jeremy wouldn’t have seen someone in that area.” Mav leaned back slightly to look past Truman to where Jeremy was positioned by the road. Dylan was deeper into the woods with cover and Jason was located at a higher vantage point. All three were brought up hunting and fishing, so it wasn’t as if they were novices out on that type of terrain. Had someone they knew come to town that no one knew about? “Did anyone report seeing—”

“Incoming!”

Mav’s two-way radio crackled, but there was no need because he could hear Jeremy from where he was standing. All three men started jogging that way. The sheriff just got done saying that Rat was perfectly comfortable where he was, so it was highly doubtful he’d changed his mind in the span of thirty minutes. It could have been Jarrett, but that was unlikely from the looks of the vehicle. Was that an Expedition?

“I’ll take lead,” Mav instructed, noticing that the vehicle was slowing down upon seeing the men lined up and waiting. Kellen maneuvered to the side and down the edge to where he’d have visual of the back. Mav held up a hand and then made sure his voice carried. “Put the vehicle in park, roll down the windows, and show your hands.”

Within seconds the driver of the vehicle had done what Mav had directed. Everyone stood at the ready and it wasn’t until the man’s voice drifted through the night air that Mav relaxed his stance.

“Derek?” Mav moved forward, indicating that it was all right for him and his family to exit the vehicle. “Jeremy, run and get Mabel.”

“Let me do the honors,” Ernie said with a smile, walking up from the access road where he must have exited through the front of the bunker right after his alert. He held out an arm and shook the man’s hand. “Derek, it’s good to see you.”

“Same here, Tank.” Derek looked over at Mav and nodded. “You too, Mav. I probably would have stayed if it weren’t for you. We barely made it out in time as it was.”

Ernie was smiling for the first time since Mav and the guys had arrived for their annual vacation. There hadn’t been much to be happy about lately, but the fact that one of their own had made it through the turmoil that must be going on out there was nothing short of a miracle.

“Amy, it’s good to see you.” Derek’s wife and two young children got out of the SUV and Mav realized the responsibility that these young boys would be. They had to be somewhere around the ages of five and eight if Mav remembered correctly. Amy had waved and then walked around to the opened back door, retrieving the youngest—Mabel’s granddaughter, whom she kept showing pictures to her patrons at the diner. Lost Summit wasn’t known as a family community anymore since there were no means of support, other than the tourist attractions of fishing, hunting, and camping. They would have to devise something for the children to keep them safe. “We’ve set it up for you to able to stay with Mabel in a cabin so that you can have some privacy.”

“Derek?” Mabel’s excited voice cut through the air as she came running down the lane, way ahead of Ernie who was following at a distance. “You made it! I knew you would. I just knew it.”

Tears of joy were streaming down Mabel’s face by the time she was in her son’s arms. Derek held her, patting her on the back while telling her they were fine. Ernie came to stand by Mav, slapping him on the back as everyone stood there and watched the touching reunion. It was about time that something turned out right for a change. Mav turned back to look at the lodge, wishing that Henley would have come out to see this poignant exchange. Maybe, just maybe, this event was the start of things to come.

H
enley was tired
and the only thing she wanted was to go back to her cabin, take a shower, make love with Mav, and then get some sleep. They got up way too early to be up this late at night and how Mav could even function on a security rotation was beyond her. She’d almost fallen asleep in the sitting area of the lodge on one of those overstuffed couches positioned in front of the fireplace, but Mrs. Welsh wouldn’t stop talking about her knitting needles being back at her house in town. The mayor and the sheriff still had small groups retrieving supplies from town and Henley made a promise to herself that she would go on a run to get those damned needles.

Needing a break and wondering when Mav would return, Henley used the bathroom and then made her way into the kitchen for a glass of water. She reached down to adjust the volume on her two-way radio when she realized that she’d left it on the couch where she’d been sitting. She’d have to clip it back on her belt so that she didn’t miss anything, like the sheriff returning to the lodge. Nothing had been said after that, so she assumed nothing had come of Felix’s visit to Stanley’s group.

Henley opened the cupboard for a glass when she spotted a garbage bag in the corner that Mabel must have put there for one of the men to take out. She was old-fashioned that way, but Henley wasn’t one to let things set when she could do them herself. She placed her glass by the sink as she grabbed the top of the bag and started for the back door.

“Mabel?”

Henley heard Ernie call out only to hear Mabel answer. She smiled at the exchange, happy that Ernie and Mabel were getting closer now that they were in such an intimate proximity of each other. The front door of the lodge closed and Henley wondered at the safety of those two going outside so late at night when someone was on the property looking to cause trouble.

She lifted the garbage bag and opened the back door that led to the wraparound porch with stairs off the back leaving toward an enclosure that contained the trashcans. The garbage couldn’t be left outside because the smell of food would attract the scavengers. The lodge was too far away for a trash service, so Ernie would load up the dozen fifty-five Rubbermaid garbage cans once a week into the back of his truck and take them over to the landfill over at the back of Wick’s farm. The cans were getting full and Henley made a mental note to have them taken down to town before they couldn’t travel anymore. Recycling would take on a whole new urgency before too long.

She lifted the cover and barely managed to fit the bag inside, pressing the top down on it to compact its contents. One couldn’t leave the lids unsecured. Had she not been so determined to get it closed, she might have noticed that the outer door had been opened. Unfortunately, someone was already coming toward her by the time she turned to look. A hand slammed into her face and her body stumbled backward into the wall. Instinctively her hand went to her weapon but she immediately stilled when the blade of a knife dug into her throat.

“You so much as scream and I’ll slice you without a second thought.”

Trevor Ratliff’s breath was rancid as he threatened her, but it was the wild look in his eyes that made Henley aware that he was unpredictable. He wouldn’t think twice about killing her if he thought she would give him away. She frantically tried to think of a way to stall him so that someone would find them, but he was already removing her weapon and pushing her toward the enclosure’s exit and away from the lodge.

“You’re going to be our key to getting inside that bunker,” Trevor muttered, steering her toward the woods in back toward her rock. Henley knew the location of the alarm on this side of the property and they couldn’t avoid it, giving her hope that someone would reach them in time before Trevor got them off of the mountain. “Once I hand you over to my father, he’ll be able to barter mine for mine.”

Henley remained silent, not wanting to make Trevor more unstable than he already was. How was it that no one could see or hear them? The branches and leaves underneath them sounded like gunshots to her every time they took a step. He was still holding the blade to her throat, making it difficult to walk. She winced when it finally managed to cut her.

They had made it deep into the woods before Trevor steered them toward the main road. Henley knew that Jason was up here somewhere, but he might have been on the other side. Mav and Kellen had searched for hours near the hot springs for any sign of the intruder, but it was a large mountain and he or she could have gone anywhere. Now that she was aware it was Trevor…there had to be a way she could talk him out of this.