Afraid to Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

In a dark moment, she imagined she saw Alvarez’s name on the wall, a picture of her posted as one of the Ice Mummy Killer’s victims, and in that briefest of seconds, Regan Pescoli’s blood ran cold as ice.

This was nuts!

Gabe couldn’t believe what was going on.

Freezing in the back of the dark pickup, handcuffed to the sides, he and the cop lady were captive of some sick prick. He knew who the freak was. The jerk who had tricked them was the frickin’ Ice Mummy Killer and he was going to kill them both. And the dog, too. It was alive, drugged maybe, and the deputy, she was alive, too, but bound and gagged, and when she’d tried to go for her gun, he’d stabbed her; the freakin’ madman had plunged the knife deep into her side and then taunted both of them with it. She was losing a lot of blood, moaning and out of it. The dog, too, just lay in the cold back of the pickup’s bed, a canopy over them.

The bastard had made Gabe record the video sent to Alvarez and he’d wangled the knife he’d used to slice the deputy at him to keep him in line.

Scared to death, huddled in the back of the damned pickup, Gabe wished he’d never left home, never gotten involved with Lizard and his stupid friends. Jesus, God, this was a mess. All those times he’d been mad at his mom, or his little sister had bugged him, or he’d been pissed at Leo for being so damned perfect taunted him now, rolled around in his head, and he wished he could take every one of them back. Even finding his “real” mom because he was mad at Aggie and Dave. How dumb was that?

His wrists were chafed raw from him pulling and straining against the handcuffs and his fingers and toes felt numb from the cold. While the prick had kept the truck idling here in the woods, keeping himself warm in the cab, the rest of them were freezing. Gabe’s nose was numb, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, though he thought that might be more from fear than the elements.

This freak was going to kill them. All of them. Gabe had seen it in his dead eyes how he wanted to dispose of them all. The deputy and dog, half dead already, and Gabe, yeah, the guy would love to slice his throat. As for Selena Alvarez, the cop, Gabe wanted to believe in her, to trust that she was smarter and stronger and would be able to kick the bastard’s ass, but the truth of it was that she, too, was going to die.

And the prick who held them, he was going to love killing her.

With Alvarez at the wheel, her little car sped up the road that cut through this section of forest where huge spruce and pine trees towered over the mountainsides, reaching upward to the darkened evening sky. Far below, hidden by the night, Cougar Creek, a jagged rush of spring-fed water, had, no doubt, frozen over and was silenced for the winter. Aside from the grind of the Outback’s engine, the forest was silent, deafeningly so. Here the snow was thick, recent tracks from one other vehicle cutting through the powder.

She wasn’t alone.

He was here.

The maniac who had kidnapped Gabe, no doubt the psycho the press had dubbed the Ice Mummy Killer, he was hiding in these thick woods. Did he have Gabe with him? And what about Trilby Van Droz, the deputy who had been charged with driving Gabe to Helena? The killer wouldn’t have let her go ... No, there had to have been some kind of confrontation.

Trilby’s dead. He wouldn’t have let her survive. He couldn’t. No, he would dispose of her.

A bit of bile rose up her throat, but she kept driving and held on to the fact that someone in the department would be missing Trilby. When she didn’t show up with Gabe, someone would start looking for her ... a lot of someones in the department and with the FBI and—

Too late. Yes, they will realize that something’s gone terribly wrong, but it will be too late.

The same with O’Keefe. He would be wondering what had happened to her when she didn’t show up for dinner. Had been calling her. But he wouldn’t know how to find her.

No, she was on her own.

Alvarez felt the weight of the pistol in her shoulder holster. Her sidearm had always given her comfort, even strength, but tonight it seemed a dead weight. She didn’t doubt that she’d be stripped of it immediately.

She had a backup weapon though and she felt the pressure of a knife she’d slipped into the side of her boot. It was awkward, and probably anticipated, but it was more than nothing; she might be able to use it to gain time or some kind of an edge.

Other than those two weapons, she had nothing but her brains and instinct to save herself and her son.

God help me, she thought, though long ago she’d lost her faith in a higher being. Today, though, she second-guessed herself as she hit the gas, speeding through the forest, her tires spinning at times, not gaining traction, the engine of her Outback straining.

This old mining road hadn’t been plowed, but because of the canopy of trees overhead, cutting the density of the snowfall, and her car’s ability to drive in all conditions, she was able to reach the summit.

Jaw tight, she stared through the windshield, her heart pounding, the wipers slapping at the snow as she finally crested the hill at Cougar Pass.

You should call. Now, for backup. Let the department know your latest position. You can’t take him on alone.

She reached for the phone, then let it drop. She couldn’t take a chance on Gabe’s life.

And what chance does he have with just you?

“Van Droz didn’t make it to Helena.” Dan Grayson walked into Pescoli’s office with the bad news.

“What?”

“She’s missing. Along with the kid. Her vehicle was discovered on the highway about halfway there, lights flashing, still idling, but she’s MIA.”