Rocky Mountain Showdown

TWO

Trapped. They were trapped. Inside a cabin, surrounded by men with guns. Men who had been very clear about wanting to kill both Laura and sweet Abigail.

And Laura didn’t even know what this was all about. Why?

Laura hugged Abby more closely to her body, breathing in the smell of children’s shampoo, grilled cheese and that musky scent that came from playing in the forest. Abby’s body was warm and slightly damp from when Laura had piled blankets on top of her and put her down for her nap. The fever she’d been fighting all week was gone for now.

One little foot was bare. Laura found her other shoe and put it on, feeling better that Abby was fully dressed. She ran her hands over the small feet, then went back to rubbing a circle on Abby’s back, though that was more for her own benefit than the little girl’s. Abby was asleep, but the repetition and physical contact soothed Laura. Grounded her. Reminded her that she and Abby were here together. Abby was the only thing Laura needed in this world.

Laura wanted to go look out the window for herself, but she made her legs stay where they were. She wasn’t sure she would be able to peer through the curtains without being detected. And those men had already shown they were willing to shoot in.

She didn’t want to put Abby down, and she sure didn’t want to carry Abby closer to the window—to the men with guns. Laura wished again that her dad were still here. He would know what to do. How to make it right.

Laura smiled as she thought of what he’d say. His voice would be exasperated. Never out of patience with her, but his tone would have suggested that the answer was right there in front of her. Obvious and logical. “Use the tunnel, girl. It’s an escape tunnel. Escape in it.”

The tunnel. Laura sucked in a deep breath, her hand faltering in its circle pattern. How could she have forgotten? When she had first come to live with her dad, she’d been convinced he was some sort of alien. He lived on a mountain. A whole mountain to himself. He talked about not going into their world. And he had a tunnel. It made sense to a seven-year-old.

Laura had found it by accident about a month after coming to the mountain. She had refused to go hunting with Malcolm Grant, still stuck in the grief of losing her parents and the surreal timidity that came with finding herself living on a strange mountain with a new dad.

Mad at herself for crying, yet again, she had thrown her stuffed teddy bear as hard as she could. He’d landed in the closet. After a few minutes of telling herself she wasn’t a baby and didn’t need the silly bear, Laura had climbed off the bed and retrieved her only friend. And she had discovered the latch to the tunnel.

Laura smiled, remembering that moment so clearly. She had lifted the trapdoor, found a flashlight and jumped into the tunnel without thinking. Laura didn’t know enough to be afraid. All Laura knew was that aliens were real, and she was going to take that tunnel to a different planet. She’d talked out loud as she explored, encouraging the aliens to come out and play. They never did, of course.

Her dad had been livid when he found her several hours later. It was the closest he’d ever come to yelling at her. “It’s an escape tunnel, girl. Not a playground. It’s secret. And we both need to pray to God that we’ll never, ever need to use it.”

And they hadn’t. Until now.

Laura tried to take a deep breath, hoping it would calm her. Please, God, let this be the right decision. “I know how we can get out. There’s a tunnel.”

“A tunnel.” Seth sounded like he had just been told that there was a teleportation device hidden in the cabin. Laura couldn’t blame him.

“Yes, a tunnel. An escape tunnel. My dad made it, when he built the cabin. For situations like this.” Laura’s voice didn’t betray the absurdity of those words. Incredulity might be an expected response to a secret escape tunnel, but Laura was loyal to her dad. Even though he’d been dead for a few months now, she was never going to betray him by mocking him. Especially not in front of park rangers.

“Your dad often find himself being shot at by random people?”

Laura tried to hide her wince. She had spent most of her life hearing people criticize her dad, and she had learned to ignore them. Kind of.

“I’m sorry, Laura. I shouldn’t—”

“Stop.” Her voice was loud. Loud and tired and just a touch desperate.

Her little girl moved at the sound of Laura’s voice, lifting her head and opening her eyes. Laura straightened her back, holding Abby more firmly to her chest. She placed her hand on the back of the child’s head, pushed it back into the indent of her neck and breathed in deeply, her nose still in the child’s hair.

She didn’t have time for this, and she had more important things to do right now than defend her dad to this park ranger. Her eyes never broke contact with Seth. Her voice was softer. She didn’t feel like forgiving him or being kind to him. She just felt...weary. Laura suddenly felt very, very weary.

“Just stop. You said we have to get out of here quickly. I’m telling you there’s a way out. I’m going to take it. Are you coming with me?”

Before Seth could open his mouth to answer, Laura was moving again. She meant it about taking the tunnel out of here. Laura wasn’t crazy about going alone, but she would if he didn’t follow. She headed back to the small bedroom and opened the closet door. She got down on her knees, setting Abby on the floor.

“Here, honey, sit here for Mommy for just a second. Okay?” Laura took a moment to rub her hand over the sleepy girl’s cheek. She nodded and leaned against the wall. Satisfied, Laura turned once again to the open closet.

Laura somehow found a latch in the floor—the trapdoor into a tunnel. Standing, she then reached up to the top shelf of her closet and pulled out a couple flashlights. She handed one to Seth, who was standing close to her, just watching.

Then she opened the trapdoor and saw the ladder leading down into the dark. Cool air drifted up, along with the scent of damp earth. Laura didn’t remember the tunnel feeling like a grave when she’d been a child. It did now, though.

The goose bumps that broke out on Laura’s arm had nothing to do with the temperature.

* * *

Seth really did not want to climb down into that pit. That dark hole in the ground. But it was the only way out. And they needed it now.

“Here, let me go first,” he said to Laura, stepping around her so he could be the initial one to descend into the hopefully stable unknown. He stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. At least it felt secure, not shaking or creaking as he put his full weight on it. That was a good sign.

Once Seth reached the bottom, Laura handed Abby to him. Then she climbed down the ladder after him. Seth handed Abby back to Laura and climbed halfway up the ladder so he could close the closet door and then the trapdoor. He wished he had a way to cover up the entrance. Hopefully the assault team wouldn’t find the hidden passage right away. He and Laura needed all the time they could get.

“Here, let me help.” Seth was surprised to see that Laura had set Abby down. She climbed up the ladder with him and focused her light on where the door had closed. There was a latch. And a lock. Seth was suddenly grateful for paranoid men who built escape tunnels and thought to equip them with locks. They secured the door and climbed down.

Laura picked Abby back up and they turned to face the tunneled path in front of them. Their flashlights only illuminated the space about ten feet ahead. It was dark and cold. Damp. Seth couldn’t see the walls surrounding them, but he felt them. “Okay. Guess this is the only way to go now.”

They headed into the black. Laura scanned the interior of the tunnel with her flashlight as they walked. “I haven’t been in this thing for years. I played in it once or twice when I was a child, but Dad was always worried it wouldn’t remain a secret tunnel if I kept using it. He was pretty big on separating toys from survival tools.”

Seth really couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that. He supposed that if he had been a recluse with a secret escape tunnel, he probably wouldn’t have wanted a child playing in it, either. It made sense in a hermit sort of way.

“All right. This should take us out of here.” Laura sounded more hopeful than confident. She turned and looked at Seth, bringing her flashlight with her so that they could see one another. The expression on her face was a mixture of triumph and fear.

Seth knew the feeling. It was currently residing in his own chest. They had made it out of the cabin. The men with guns did not know where they were right now. But Seth also didn’t know where they would be in a few feet. “Where does the tunnel end? I mean, will we be far enough away?”

Laura shifted her hold on Abby. The little girl looked more alert. Her big dark eyes, so much like Laura’s, were watching him. Laura kissed Abby on the cheek and looked at him to answer his question.

“It’s really long. I don’t know exactly how long. I just remember it seemingly going on for forever when I was a child. It comes out farther up the mountain. Closer to the top. I’m pretty sure we’ll be safe. I mean, I hope we will be.”

Pressure expanded in Seth’s chest as he thought about the chance that she was wrong. That they would walk out of this tunnel into something worse than the men at the cabin. Or that they would end up trapped here by the fire. Seth took a deep breath, set his shoulders and started walking. There really wasn’t anything else to do, and they were wasting time.

The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for two adults to walk next to one another. Thankfully, though, it was tall enough that Seth could stand fully upright. It made him feel less like some kind of underground mole. Or troll. “I’ll go first and try to shine my light so you can use it, too. That way you can hold Abby with both arms. The ground looks clear at least.”

Laura was keeping up with Seth’s pace as he spoke. He hoped she understood that the tunnel was safe only for as long as it took those men outside the cabin to come inside and find it. Once that happened, it would become a prison. Or a tomb.

Laura shuddered, as though reading his thoughts, and looked at Abby. She was clearly terrified for her daughter, focused solely on keeping Abby safe. No, Seth vowed to himself, this tunnel would not become a tomb. Seth increased his speed, grateful that Laura followed fast enough that he was still right in front of her.

“That door was metal, and the lock seemed sturdy.” Seth knew he was trying to reassure himself just as much as he was Laura. He felt a bit like Pollyanna, trying to play the glad game. But his words were the truth and being optimistic always felt better than sitting in despair. “I’m not sure how prepared that team is, but I don’t think they will have an easy time breaking through.” He looked behind him and Laura jerked her head up and down once in a nod. “Your dad’s paranoia is turning out to be a good thing.”

Seth heard Laura’s steps falter, but when he looked back her legs had resumed their prior movements. He’d regretted his words the moment he said them, but he regretted them even more when he saw that look in her eyes. It wasn’t anger so much as sadness. Resignation. Seth didn’t like the way that look made him feel. He breathed out through his nose, wondering why he couldn’t have kept his judgment to himself. Criticizing her dad, a man she clearly loved, wasn’t going to do a thing to help their situation. Moreover, he was the reason they still had a fighting chance against that army surrounding the cabin. Lord, when will I ever learn?

“He wasn’t paranoid. Or crazy. Or a criminal.” There wasn’t any heat in her tone. Seth almost wished there had been. Surely hard anger would have been easier to digest than the resignation in her voice. Seth wasn’t making her mad. He was hurting her.

He sighed. The man had been her father, so of course she would defend him. He didn’t know what to say. He should apologize, but he still believed the words he was saying. He just wished they didn’t upset Laura.

“My dad never hurt a soul in his entire life. All he wanted was to live on the mountain by himself. To be left alone. He never did anything bad to anyone, but people couldn’t just let him be. They had to judge him. Question him. And make sure he knew that they considered him some kind of scary deviant.”

She wasn’t wrong. The stories of Old Man Grant were legendary in the park ranger office. They included tales of criminal behavior. But that behavior had been minor. Grant had not appreciated the restrictions governing use of public lands. Especially those pertaining to hunting or cutting down timber. He’d trapped animals and taken trees, but only what he needed to survive. At most, Grant was hostile. Rude. Protective of his land and more than a little frightening. Seth knew the conflict between Grant and the rangers in the office at the time had escalated to an unhealthy level on both sides.

A man who wanted to be alone. Much like Laura, it seemed. A man with a daughter. Also like Laura. “But he wasn’t alone, was he? He had you for company. And your mother?” Seth was clearly prying for information. He couldn’t help himself. He was speed walking through a tunnel, fleeing from an unknown threat, with a woman who had probably caused this mess to begin with. He was surprised by his curiosity, but it was a welcome distraction from what was behind them in the tunnel and what might be ahead.

Seth didn’t want to get away from Laura. He wanted to know who she was and why she was on this mountain. She was also known for being hostile to the outside world. Why was that?

Seth wanted to know...her. Period. Laura didn’t really fit with the vision of Old Man Grant’s daughter.

“I think we better stop talking and save our energy. We’re probably going to need it.” Laura’s voice sounded brittle. It seemed she was done talking.

Seth didn’t say anything, but he did turn his attention fully on the stretch of tunnel in front of them. It had not changed in width or height but he thought he could feel it curving. Taking them somewhere.

He was walking in the dark. Again.

Seth had thought his days of battle were behind him. He had worked hard to put them there. Leaving the war had cost him everyone he had ever loved. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. It was the way Seth refused to let his family help him after the war that had ruined everything.

Seth had so many regrets surrounding how he let war dominate his life. Now, it seemed, he had walked right back into it.

It was as awful as he remembered.

THREE

They walked and walked and walked. Hustling, Laura kept trying to listen over the sounds of their feet and breaths. She didn’t know what she was listening for, exactly.

She thought she heard footsteps. Or voices. Or both. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. “Do you hear something?”

Seth immediately stopped. He held up his hand, and Laura wanted to say that she didn’t need him to tell her to be quiet. She didn’t, though. As much as she did not want to be with Seth right now, she didn’t want to be alone in the tunnel more. Well, not alone. Alone would be okay. It was meeting with a team of armed men dressed in black that she was looking to avoid.

Laura was glad she could hear Seth’s ragged breathing as well as her own. It was nice to not be the only one feeling the pressure of this situation. Seth’s whisper was soft, but not hesitant. “I don’t hear anyone. I think we’re still okay.”

Laura looked at him and nodded. She readjusted Abby in her arms and jerked her head forward. Taking the hint, Seth started to move again. He might not have heard anything, but Laura noticed that his pace was slightly faster than it had been before she had asked her question. She was okay with walking faster.

This tunnel was not nearly as exciting and fun as Laura remembered. Instead of an adventure, the journey felt like a horror movie. She looked at Abby, who was dealing with this as though she went on trips through dark tunnels with her mommy every day. Laura made sure her grip on her daughter was firm and increased her pace, silently urging Seth along.

She had been frozen in the cabin. Unable to fully comprehend the danger, she had felt almost like she was sleepwalking. Now, however, her body thawed. She no longer felt like a statue. But it wasn’t a relief. Instead of being frozen, her stomach was suddenly boiling with fear. Acid was bubbling, trying to burn its way up her throat. Her goose bumps were replaced with sweat. Her heart was beating again, but far too quickly. She tried to use Abby as an anchor, muffling a gasp into her sweet girl’s hair.

She was probably scaring her daughter. Laura tried to stop. She couldn’t.

When Seth suddenly turned and looked at her, Laura flinched. Her gasp must have given her away. He frowned and stopped midstride when she instinctively took the small step away from him. She didn’t want to be weak. But, if she was, she definitely didn’t want to be weak in front of him.

“Hey. Laura. It’s going to be okay.”

She looked at him like he had lost his mind, and he actually chuckled softly. “Okay, okay. It’s not good. But we’re not down yet, and I have faith.” He smiled at her, his face warm and almost comforting. Then he continued walking down the tunnel.

Faith. Laura had faith. But faith wasn’t always enough. Laura looked at her daughter and, as always, saw pieces of Josh. Abby’s eyes were all Laura but Abby’s dimples were all Josh. Tears welled up, and Laura closed her eyes as she kissed her daughter’s head. Josh was dead from a mugging. Sometimes the evil in the world won. Laura swallowed, trying to clear her throat of the panic and excess saliva her now-burning body was creating.

Abby must have picked up on her mom’s distress, because she reached those chubby hands up to frame Laura’s face. Then she placed a smacking kiss on her mom’s cheek, causing Laura to laugh out loud. Laura looked at Seth when she heard him chuckling, too. They shared a smile before Laura remembered that he wasn’t her friend. No. He was one of those people who delighted in their supposed superiority over others.

Seth certainly wasn’t the first person to say something disparaging about her dad. In fact, people had only bad things to say about the man who had shown her more love and acceptance in her life than she had ever found anywhere else. The man who had literally saved her life.

Josh had loved Laura. And Laura had loved him, and the family they created, in return. But the Laura who Josh met was relatively whole. She liked to think that it hadn’t been too hard for her husband to fall for her. The daughter that Laura had been... Well that person was someone who was scared and hurt and bratty most of the time. And her dad had loved her in spite of it and during all of it. He had brought her through it.

Laura usually recognized that trying to defend her dad was a wasted effort. People saw Malcolm Grant—saw how he lived—and made their judgments. They weren’t interested in the truth. They just wanted the most sensational story. They didn’t care about the man who had survived in this world the best he knew how.

Her dad might have chosen to live apart from everyone, but he had been the best man Laura had ever met. He had sacrificed his solitude to raise her because he knew that she did not have any other family. Just him, an uncle who wanted to be alone. And her Uncle Malcom had put aside his wants for her needs and had become her dad. He deserved better. Laura couldn’t keep quiet when people started telling the tale of Old Man Grant. If nothing else, the anger helped push away the loneliness. And Laura would much rather be angry than alone.

Her steps faltered and she squeezed Abby a bit too tight as she regained her footing. Seth turned to look.

“I’m fine. Keep going.” He pressed his lips together, then turned and started on again without saying a word. Apparently, he didn’t care for her demeanor just now. Too bad. Laura didn’t care what he thought. So there. She viciously shoved down the guilt. This man was not her friend. He could not be her friend.

Even if she really needed one.

Nope. She wasn’t going there. Not with this man. No matter how attractive he was. No matter how many times he was kind to her. She wasn’t going there. She’d tried the real world once, and it had shattered every bit of her life.