Chapter 7 - The Empty RoomGavin did not leave Lily's side for the next hour.
He barricaded the back entrance with a metal cabinet, moved the emergency supplies away from the windows, and used old blankets to cover the gaps between the boards.
Belle helped without complaint.
Her ankle was swollen, and she had begun shivering despite the stove's warmth, but she insisted on checking the locks and counting the supplies.
Gavin appreciated the effort.
He appreciated it even more because he could see the fear behind it.
Fear was useful when it made people careful.
It was dangerous when it made them reckless.
At ten o'clock, Sam Ortega arrived in a battered snowplow with a cracked windshield and a coffee cup balanced on the dashboard.
He entered the station carrying a duffel bag, a shortwave radio, and a face that looked as though he had driven through every bad decision in Colorado.
"Gavin Mercer," he said, looking around the room. "Still choosing the most miserable places to spend your weekends."
Gavin clasped his shoulder.
"Good to see you, too."
Sam's humor faded when he saw Belle.
"Ms. Whitmore."
"Mr. Ortega."
"I've read your company's emergency reports. I have some rather unkind opinions about them."
"You and me both."
Sam placed his bag on the table.
"I brought medical supplies, food, and two phones that don't use the usual networks. One is mine. The other belongs to a man who owes me a favor."
He glanced at Lily.
"And I brought something for the young lady."
Lily accepted a small packet of chocolate biscuits.
"Thank you."
Sam smiled.
"You're welcome. Now, promise me you won't try to save anyone else today."
Lily considered the request.
"I'll try."
"That's the best answer I've heard all morning."
While Sam checked Belle's ankle, Gavin examined the radio data. A series of unusual transmissions had appeared on the rescue frequency over the past three hours.
They were short, encrypted bursts coming from a repeater on the opposite ridge.
Sam identified the location as an abandoned mining facility.
"They're using an old emergency tower," he said. "Someone has activated equipment that hasn't been touched in years."
"Can you trace the signal?"
"Not precisely. But I can tell you it's coming from the east ridge."
Belle looked toward the mountain map.
The old mining site belonged to a company acquired by Whitmore Dynamics years earlier.
"Marcus has access to those properties," she said. "He used them for private meetings before my father died."
Gavin traced the road with one finger.
"If they're using the mine, it's either a staging area or a place to hold someone."
Sam looked up.
"Someone like you?"
"Possibly."
"Then we call the state police."
"And risk giving Harlan another route to warn them?"
Sam reluctantly nodded.
Gavin began preparing to leave.
Belle stood.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"Gavin—"
"You're injured. You can barely stand."
"Those files are mine. My company is involved, and I know the site."
"Which is exactly why you're staying here."
She stepped closer.
"You don't get to make every decision for me because you've decided you're responsible for keeping everyone alive."
He looked at her coldly.
"And you don't get to turn my daughter into collateral damage because you've decided you need to prove something."
The words struck harder than either intended.
Belle's face tightened.
She turned away.
For several seconds, the room remained silent.
Then Lily rose from the bench.
"Daddy?"
Gavin closed his eyes.
He knew that voice.
It was the quiet tone she used when she wanted him to reconsider something without making him feel as though he had lost an argument.
He knelt in front of her.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"Belle is scared."
"I know."
"And you're scared, too."
He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.
"Yes."
Lily looked toward Belle.
"Can you both try to be scared together instead of fighting?"
Sam suddenly became fascinated by the radio.
Belle turned back.
Her eyes were shining.
Gavin let out a long breath.
"You stay close to Sam," he told Belle. "You follow every instruction he gives you, and you don't move unless it's necessary."
She nodded.
"Agreed."
They departed at eleven forty.
The route toward the abandoned mine crossed a narrow ridge and descended through a stand of black spruce. Gavin drove the snowplow, while Belle sat beside him studying an old property map.
Sam remained at the station with Lily.
Halfway down the ridge, Gavin spotted a vehicle parked near a bend in the road.
A dark security SUV.
Its doors were open.
He stopped.
Belle studied the vehicle.
"That's one of ours."
"Your company security?"
"Yes."
Gavin drew his revolver and stepped outside.
Snow had drifted across the road, partially covering a set of footprints. He followed them around the vehicle to a narrow trail descending toward the trees.
A man's body lay beneath a fallen branch.
Daniel Cross.
Belle ran toward him before Gavin could stop her.
"Daniel!"
The security chief was alive, but barely. Blood darkened the collar of his coat. One hand was pressed against his ribs.
When he opened his eyes and saw Belle, he tried to sit up.
"You shouldn't have come."
Gavin knelt beside him.
"Who did this?"
Cross coughed.
"Vale's people."
"Where is Harlan?"
"With them."
"Why did they attack you?"
Cross looked at Belle.
"Because I refused to finish the job."
She stared at him.
"You were at the crash."
His eyes filled with shame.
"Yes."
"You were supposed to protect me."
"I know."
"You watched my car go over the edge."
He could not meet her gaze.
For several seconds, Belle said nothing.
Then she stepped backward as though the man had become something repulsive.
"You left me to die."
Cross closed his eyes.
"I was ordered to make sure the road was clear. I was told you would be brought back alive."
"But someone sabotaged my car."
"I didn't know until afterward."
"That's convenient."
He looked at her desperately.
"I have evidence. Vale ordered the operation through a private contractor. Harlan arranged the cover story. They have recordings, payment authorizations, everything. The files are in the mine."
Gavin studied him.
"Why tell us now?"
Cross turned his head toward the forest.
"Because Vale knows I kept a copy."
A branch snapped somewhere uphill.
Gavin stood immediately.
"Move!"
A rifle cracked.
The windshield of the snowplow shattered.
Belle dropped beside Cross.
Gavin dragged them both behind the vehicle and fired toward the trees. Two men emerged from the slope, advancing through the snow with rifles raised.
Cross attempted to crawl toward the open door.
A third man appeared behind him.
He seized Cross by the collar and pressed a pistol against his head.
"Put the gun down!"
Gavin stopped firing.
The attacker dragged Cross upright.
"Drop it, Mercer!"
Gavin slowly lowered his revolver.
Belle's breath came in short, broken gasps.
The man smiled.
"Good. Now step away from Ms. Whitmore."
Gavin obeyed.
Another vehicle appeared at the end of the road.
A black van.
Its rear doors swung open.
Harlan stepped out.
He looked at Gavin with the same thin smile he had worn beside the farmhouse.
"You should have stayed out of this."
Gavin's gaze remained fixed on him.
"Where's my daughter?"
Harlan's smile widened.
"Safe. For now."
The van's headlights flared.
Its engine roared.
Harlan signaled to his men, and two of them seized Belle. She fought, kicking at the snow, but her injured ankle betrayed her.
Gavin surged forward.
A rifle butt struck the back of his head.
The world tilted.
He dropped to one knee.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Belle scream his name.
Then someone struck him again.
The road disappeared beneath him.
When Gavin regained consciousness, the snowplow was gone.
Belle was gone.
Daniel Cross lay motionless beside the vehicle.
And the only thing left on the road was a small pink backpack.
Lily's backpack.
Gavin crawled toward it, his hands shaking.
The zipper was open.
The stuffed rabbit was gone.
In its place lay a folded sheet of paper.
He opened it.
There were only two lines.
May you like
MIDNIGHT. THE OLD MINE.
COME ALONE, OR YOUR DAUGHTER DIES FIRST.
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