Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

D uke drew his gun and ducked behind the window. “You heard that too?”

Ranger already had his gun drawn also. “Sure did.”

“It sounds like we have a visitor.”

The question was, was this visitor the friendly or unfriendly type? Was it the person who’d been staying here? Or someone more sinister? Or maybe the people staying here were the sinister ones.

There were still entirely too many unknowns right now.

“I’m going to open the door on three,” Duke told Ranger quietly.

Ranger nodded in acknowledgement.

Duke counted down and threw the door open, stepping outside as he did.

The dark, cold Alaskan landscape glared back at him. But no one was there to bum rush him. No obvious signs of danger stared them down.

Just a still, snowy subarctic forest.

But Duke wasn’t ready to let down his guard yet.

He’d definitely heard something out here.

“Hello?” he called.

There was no response.

Ranger handed him a flashlight. Then they both slipped out and split in opposite directions.

Duke’s flashlight stopped at a new set of footprints in the snow. Footprints that led to one of the windows in the cabin.

Someone had been here recently. The snow hadn’t covered the prints yet. This person had most likely seen them inside.

Based on the tracks in the snow, as soon as this person had heard footsteps coming toward the door, he’d run.

Based on the size of the print, the visitor had been a man. Possibly a woman with large feet, but Duke didn’t think so.

After circling the cabin, Ranger met him. “We should follow the tracks.”

Duke’s thoughts exactly. “Let’s go.”

They followed the trail through the darkness, only to discover the footsteps ended at the path where Ranger and Duke had first started. A fresh set of UTV tire tracks stretched there. It was far enough away they wouldn’t have heard a motor or the vehicle leaving.

“Whoever was out here is long gone.” Duke shook his head as he stared at the tracks.

“Why would someone be following us?” Ranger asked. “If it was someone on the up and up, then he would have let us know about his presence. He wouldn’t have run.”

“That’s true. And he wouldn’t have been watching us through the window.”

They started back to the cabin. When they reached it, Duke paused beside the UTV. The vehicle looked lopsided for some reason.

He took a step closer.

“Everything good?” Ranger asked.

“I’m not sure.” He kneeled for a better look.

That was when he realized two of the tires had been slashed.

Andi paced the living room of her cabin, trying to keep her worries under control.

Why hadn’t they heard from Duke and Ranger yet? It had been two hours.

Her mind had gone to worst-case scenarios—mostly a killer finding them and building a snowman in memory of their murders.

She didn’t want to be that person.

But she was. Too many bad things had happened for her to be an optimist in times like this. The familiar ache began in her head.

“Y’all . . .” She grabbed her coat and turned to the rest of the team. “I’m going to take a quick walk to the lodge. But I’ll be back soon.”

Maybe Gibson would be there and have an update. Or maybe Duke and Ranger had shown up and just not contacted the team yet.

“Do you want me to walk with you?” Matthew asked.

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine, but thank you. I just need to clear my head a bit.”

She shivered as soon as she stepped outside. It was dark and brutally cold. She hoped Duke and Ranger weren’t stuck out in this. A person could die out in these conditions if they weren’t properly prepared. Thankfully, she knew both Duke and Ranger could most likely handle themselves. Still . . .

As soon as she stepped into the lobby of the lodge, her gaze went to Gibson. He stood near the check-in desk, his phone to his ear. He lowered it when he saw her.

She paused in front of him. “No word from Duke?”

He shook his head. “I was just about to find you and ask you the same. We haven’t heard from him or Ranger. The rest of the team is back.”

“Did you try him on the radio?” Andi had specifically seen Gibson give Duke a radio before he’d left.

“They’re not responding.”

Her thoughts continued to race. “What’s the range on those things?”

“Usually about six miles.”

She nodded slowly as she let that fact settle. “So if they got out of that range, there’s a good chance they have no cell phone service or radio contact, am I right?”

Gibson frowned. “Unfortunately, yes. Knowing Duke and Ranger, there’s a very good possibility they did just that.”

Andi rubbed her arms as goosebumps covered her flesh. “What if they ran into trouble?”

His cheek twitched. “Let’s hope that’s not the case. They’re both good at what they do. You know that.”

She did know that. But it was good to hear the reminder also.

“What do we do now?” She tried to focus her thoughts instead of letting her fears run wild. That was never productive—though it was always tempting.

“I sent a couple of my guys out on the path where Duke and Ranger were assigned. I hope to hear something soon.”

“Let me go,” she insisted. “I want to help.”

“That’s a bad idea.” He shook his head grimly. “I know you want to find him. But the best thing you can do right now is to stay here and hold tight. We don’t want to lose track of anyone else.”

Andi frowned, understanding his words—even if she didn’t like them.

Instead, she stared out the window.

She prayed Duke and Ranger were okay.