Her Shallow Grave (Detectives Kane and Alton)

There’s a fool in every group. Kane pushed his hands inside his pockets. “Do you really want to find out?”

Every group had a leader— he’d need to take him out first because the others would do one of two things. They would attack at once, or wait until their leader tried to knock him off his feet and then use their boots to cave in his skull. Kane took in the body language of each man. Only the first two had bundled up for the cold; the other four, although wearing thick sweaters, wouldn’t last too long in the subzero temperature. Their muscles would become cold and slow down their reaction time. He on the other hand was warm from running, all warmed up and ready to fight.

His gaze flicked to the other men. They had fanned out and were making moves like brawlers; slapping fists into the palms of their hands, swiping at the ends of their noses, and looking at each other with over-confident expressions. The one thing that distinguished a person trained in hand-to-hand combat is they rarely moved during the showdown. Taking a step back to position his feet Kane dropped his hands to his sides and relaxed. In this position he had two choices: to strike with feet or fists. Brawlers would expect him to defend himself using his fists. He waited, relaxed and nonchalant, for them to make the first move. If they moved into his space and attacked, he would hurt them. He’d already planned his moves. Trained for one hit, one kill, he’d aim for disabling them unless they pulled a weapon on him and then all bets were off.

Five

Jenna stared at the ceiling unable to sleep after hearing Duke barking in the hallway. She’d gone to her door just in time to see Kane slip into the elevator. She glanced at the clock—in these temperatures, Kane wouldn’t remain outside long and he’d been gone for some time. Concerned for him, she got up, dressed, and hurried to the elevator. In the foyer she spoke to the man at the desk. “Did you see a tall man with a bloodhound go out earlier?”

“Yes, ma’am. He headed out toward the new block of cabins. I’d say he took the dog into the forest to do his business.”

Jenna waved at him, pulled her scarf up over her nose, and headed out the entrance. Using the light on her phone she could clearly make out Duke’s pawprints in the fresh snow. As she walked toward the trail to the cabins, the trees cracked and groaned as they froze. Scattered pine needles made the snow look like a massive pincushion. In fact, under a full moon the snow-covered vista looked like another world. She hustled along, moving as fast as possible. If she met Kane on the way back, he’d probably laugh and tell her she worried too much but if something had happened, for instance, a branch had broken off and struck him, he’d be glad she’d come along. When Duke’s tracks went off the trail and Kane’s continued in the same direction, she followed but then stopped dead as his tracks disappeared into the trees. “Kane, are you there?” She turned the beam of her phone into the forest. Nothing moved. “Duke, Duke come here boy.”

She heaved a sigh of relief when she heard a bark in the distance and moments later, her light picked up the red of Duke’s eyes bounding toward her. She bent to rub his ears. “Good boy. Where’s Kane? Seek Kane.”

When Duke sniffed around the snow at her feet and then sat down looking up at her, she repeated the command with the same result. Then a memory filtered into her mind of something Wolfe had told her. It was very difficult for dogs to track in the snow. Her only choice was to continue along the pathway and hope she’d pick up Kane’s footprints again. As they rounded the corner, she made out lights streaming from the windows of a cabin and a group of men outside. From the way they’d surrounded Kane, they didn’t look friendly. “Oh, no.”

She unzipped her jacket to access her weapon but things were escalating fast outside the cabin. She’d never seen Kane in full combat mode, or how good he was at defending himself. Their morning workouts aside, since receiving the plate in his head, she worried a head blow could cause significant damage. Panic caught in her throat and she hastened her step, aware of the slippery ice-covered trail underfoot. She could see them all now, two in snow gear, red and blue, three others in sweaters of various colors. Jenna took in the situation. From this distance, with everyone milling around, she could hit Kane if she used her weapon. The next moment, a man in a red ski jacket aimed a punch at Kane’s head and all hell broke loose. She hadn’t taken a breath before Kane lashed out with his foot and destroyed Red Jacket’s knee. He turned and elbowed Blue Jacket in the face, shattering his nose. The man fell in a spray of crimson and lay motionless on the snow. Without breaking the flow, Kane pivoted and aimed a kick at one of the other men’s heads, sending him crashing face first to the ground. Ignoring Red Jacket’s screams of pain, Kane dropped into a fighting stance. His expression was deadly calm as he lifted one palm up and beckoned the other men with his fingers. Both roared and charged him, swinging wildly. Without seemingly exerting any energy, Kane ducked punches and struck like a snake. She heard the blows, the gasps of pain, and in seconds both men dropped into the icy drift waving their arms as if making snow angels. It was over so fast, if she’d blinked, she’d have missed it.

Jenna opened her mouth to call out but Kane had charged to the cabin, kicked in the door, and dashed inside. With Duke at her heels, she ran through the snow and skidded to a halt as Kane tossed a man out the door with such force, he slid past her face down in the snow and collided with Red Jacket who was howling like a banshee. She stuck her head inside the door, weapon raised. The cabin was empty but she heard voices. Moving with caution, she headed to an open door and found Kane inside a bedroom. “Dave, what’s happening here?”

“Overdose.” Kane appeared remarkably calm as he hauled up a woman and tried to make her walk up and down the room. “Those idiots kidnapped Kim here, to help.” He indicated to a red-haired woman with a stunned expression.

“Kim?” Jenna stared at the pale young woman and holstered her weapon. “There’s a Naloxone spray in our kit in the truck. Give me your keys, I’ll go.” She held out her hand for the keys but Kane laid the woman down on the floor and after ordering Duke to stay, sprinted out the door. She turned her attention to Kim. “Naloxone will reverse the effects of opioids.”

“That’s what I kept on telling them.” Kim rolled her eyes. “I met them yesterday on the slopes and told them I was a nurse. The idiots must think I carry the spray on me.” She kneeled beside the woman on the floor and slapped at her face. “Stay awake now, come on look at me. Sit up, yes that’s right.”

Jenna pulled out her phone, called the paramedics, and then contacted Rowley and Webber for backup. “If you can manage here, I’ll go and see what I can do for the men outside.”

“You should leave them to freeze.” Kim had the woman sitting up. “The guy they left with me was rushing around like a lunatic flushing drugs down the toilet. These guys are doing more than partying.” She pointed to a packet on the floor under the bed. “I kicked it out of sight when the deputy gave his name. I wanted to make sure the cops know who is responsible for this woman’s overdose.”

Jenna nodded. “Thanks, don’t touch anything. I’ll take some photos. Kane will be back with the kit soon and we’ll get it into an evidence bag.” She snapped a few shots and hustled outside pulling her weapon.

The men outside looked at her, dazed and confused, as they tried to get to their feet. Around them, blood stained the pristine snow and Red Jacket’s continual screams of pain were upsetting. What had he done to make Kane inflict so much damage? From the angle of the man’s leg Kane had shattered his kneecap. She had a duty of care to these men and cleared her throat. “I’m Sheriff Jenna Alton. Those of you who can walk, help the others inside the cabin before you all die of exposure.” She waved her Glock at them. “Then maybe you’ll be able to explain what is going on here and why you attacked my unarmed deputy.”

“Trust me.” One of the men staggered to his feet. “That guy don’t need no weapon. He is a weapon.”

Six

By the time Kane waded through the snowdrifts to his truck and then turned back running with his medical kit in hand, sweat trickled down his back. In stark contrast, each breath of the subzero air sawed at his throat and the howling gale sent daggers of ice from the forest into his wind-burned cheeks. In the distance he could hear sirens—help was on the way. He reached the cabin, noting the injured men had vanished, and placed the medical kit on the floor before lifting the broken door away from the entrance. In the small room, Jenna held her weapon on the six men. They all seemed to shrink away from him as he gave her a nod and hurried into the bedroom. He dropped down beside the waxen-faced woman, located the Naloxone nasal spray from his kit, and administered the drug to the woman. He looked at Kim. “I hope we’re not too late.”

“She was awake before.” Kim was staring at the woman. “There, look she’s coming out of it now.”

The woman’s eyes fluttered and she dragged in a deep breath. Blinking, she stared at Kane. “Oh, I’m in trouble. You’re Deputy Kane, huh? I recognize you from town.”

Kane stood. “And you are?”

“Amy Fleming.” Her mouth turned down. “I met Dean at the lodge, we came back here, had a few drinks and then his friends arrived. That’s all I know.”

Kane shook his head. “You’ll be going to the ER. I won’t be charging you with anything.” He stood. “I have bigger fish to fry.” He headed back to the other room.

“These men said you attacked them without provocation.” Jenna had an exp

ressionless face but her eyes danced. “Kim states one of these men flushed a large number of drugs but they’ve left enough behind to charge them with drug offenses.”

Kane glanced around the room meeting each man’s eye. “Well, the guy in the red jacket and the one in the blue kidnapped Kim and I caught them dragging her from their truck.”

“He wouldn’t let me go.” Kim appeared at the door. “Deputy Kane identified himself and they threatened to hurt him so bad, he’d be found dead in the morning. They attacked him and he defended himself. If he hadn’t intervened, Amy back there would be dead by now.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll wait with her until the paramedics arrive.” She turned back to the bedroom.