Jack Frost: Detective Jack Stratton Mystery Thriller Series Read online

  “Well, we can’t stay here.” Jack looked down at his GPS and pressed a couple of buttons. “But…” He smiled. “I think I just found us a hotel for the evening.”

  29

  A Big Deal

  He was regretting loaning Leah his parka, but it probably saved her life. The harsh wind gusting was brutally cold, chilling him to the bone. His hands shook uncontrollably as he tried to open the flap of the tent. Leah reached past him, shook the snow off the top, and pulled the flap aside.

  “Get into the sleeping bag,” she said.

  Jack didn’t argue. His upper body felt like it was on fire, and his teeth clacked like a wind-up toy. He took off his boots, handed Leah the GPS, and climbed into the bag.

  She zipped up the flap behind them and shined the GPS’s faint light around the tent. She found a small LED lamp and clicked it on. Its glow was dim, but it was better than using up the GPS’s juice.

  “I’m glad you programmed every tent’s coordinates into the GPS.” Jack’s teeth chattered.

  “I debated against re-setting up the tents of contestants who’d already been kicked off. This is the first time I’ve ever been glad I listened to the lawyers.”

  Jack nodded at the camera perched off to one side. “Do you think the others will see us with that thing?”

  Leah shook her head. “Harvey has no reason to even be checking this view. And for all we know, the camera signals have gotten as bad as the radios.”

  “What will they do when they figure out we haven’t made it back?”

  “I left Ryan in charge, so probably nothing.” She leaned back on her elbows and grimaced.

  “You’re hurt,” Jack said. “Take off your coat.”

  “Your coat,” Leah corrected him. “I don’t think anything’s broken.” But she lifted up the back of her shirt, revealing a nasty scrape.

  Jack reached out and gently felt the area around the wound. Her skin was burning against his trembling hands. He pressed, and Leah pulled away.

  “Did it hurt that bad?” Jack asked. “I hardly put any pressure—”

  “Your hands are freezing.” Leah pulled her shirt back down. “You’re like Jack Frost.”

  “Sorry. You’re sure you’re okay?”

  Leah drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin there, looking a bit pale. “Am I okay? Let’s just say I’ve never had someone try to kill me before.”

  Jack felt his eyebrow arch and smiled as if to say, Are you sure about that?

  “Ha ha. Some people might think I run things like a dictator, but no one’s actually tried to murder me.”

  “I wasn’t making a face because of that.” Jack rubbed his hands along his forearms, trying to get feeling back into his fingers. “I was actually thinking of how many people have tried to kill me.”

  “In the Army?”

  “That’s some of it, but it’s a given in war—the other side wants to kill you. Since then… the list has gotten kind of long.”

  “It doesn’t seem to bother you that much.”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t take it personally.”

  Leah looked at him like he had four heads. “Seriously, what could be more personal than someone trying to kill you?” She burst out laughing.

  “I don’t think any of them were doing it because they hated me.” Jack’s face was pinched. “Well, maybe one or two. But for most of them, killing me was a means to an end. And that includes right now. Wally wants to protect and preserve his mountain, and he’s willing to kill to make that happen.”

  “Do you think he killed Charlie, too?”

  “It’s possible. The investigation into the avalanche was focused on the crew. I don’t even know if they considered ecoterrorism.”

  “Ecoterrorism?”

  “Like when you scare people so they stay off a mountain.”

  Leah looked shocked. “I knew Wally was out there, but I never thought he’d take it this far.” She rubbed her arms and shivered.

  “Let’s trade places,” Jack said, flexing his fingers and toes. “I’m starting to warm up. You take the sleeping bag and give me my jacket back.”

  Leah started to unzip the coat, then stopped. “Wait a second. You’re not thinking about trying to go back to the lodge and leave me here?”

  “If I use the GPS and go real slow…”

  “That’s insane,” Leah snapped. “We have to wait till first light. It’s too dangerous trying to—”

  The red light on the camera blinked on, and Leah gasped.

  “Harvey!” they shouted and waved at the camera.

  “Listen, Harvey,” Jack said. “The weatherman, Wally, tried to blow us up.”

  “He tried to kill us!” Leah said. “He destroyed the entire weather station. We barely got out alive!”

  “Can you hear us, Harvey?” Jack asked. “Wiggle the camera if you can.”

  The camera moved back and forth, and Leah clapped.

  Jack explained everything that had happened, then said, “Is Ollie there with you? Wiggle the camera for yes.”

  The camera wiggled.

  “Ollie, you’re in charge of security. I want you to get everyone together in one room. The contestants, too. Everyone inside and lock the doors. The competition doesn’t matter at this point. You’ll be safer if you’re all together.”

  “What about Abe?” Leah asked. “They can’t move him, and everyone can’t fit in his room.”

  “I’d prefer everyone squeeze in, but if you can’t do that, have Harvey stay with Bree and Abe, and get everyone else together in the great room. Do you understand?”

  The camera wiggled.

  “Leah and I will come back at first light.”

  “Tell Ryan that I’m holding him responsible,” Leah said.

  The camera wiggled.

  Leah exhaled. “Thank God. Do you think Wally will try anything?”

  “He seems like the type who would avoid direct confrontation, but you can’t ever be sure. At least now they know to be on the lookout for him.”

  The wind howled outside, shaking the tent.

  “We should get some sleep.” Jack unzipped the sleeping bag and pointed to one side. “It’ll be snug, but we’re gonna have to share the sleeping bag.”

  “I suppose that idea is mildly more appealing than freezing to death,” Leah said with a smirk.

  “Be grateful we both can fit. This thing is huge.”

  “This tent was for Bob Turner, an eliminated contestant. He wasn’t just a mountain man; he was a mountain of a man. I complained about having to get him a custom extra-extra-large cold-weather sleeping bag, too. Now it’s saving my life.” She climbed in and—squished like a couple of sardines—they managed to zip the bag closed.

  Jack lay his head down, and his eyes immediately started drooping.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” Leah whispered.

  “Okay. It’s not a big deal.”

  Leah stiffened against him. “Saving my life isn’t a big deal?”

  Jack exhaled. “I didn’t mean that. I meant, I didn’t know if we’d make it; I just took a risk. What was I going to do? Leave you behind?”

  “Some people might have.”

  Jack thought of the times his life had been in danger. He thought of the policemen and soldiers who hadn’t hesitated to risk sacrificing their own lives for his. “Maybe you hang around with the wrong people.”

  Leah was silent for a while before replying. “Where did you serve?”

  “Iraq.”

  “So you’re used to explosions?”

  Jack chuckled. “You don’t really get used to stuff blowing up. Especially if you’re not the one who set it off.”

  “You looked so calm. On the balcony. You screamed ‘bomb,’ but when I looked at your eyes… you weren’t scared.”

  “I should have been.”

  Leah shook her head. “No. Don’t say that. I’ve worked my whole life to drive fear out of me.”

  “No offense, but that’s a
dumb thing to do. Fear keeps you alive. A little fear is a good thing. Staying alive is a good thing.”

  Leah wiggled lower in the sleeping bag. “This morning, I would have done anything to stop you from shutting us down. Now that I know someone is trying to kill my crew, I can’t wait to get everyone off this mountain.”

  “Once we catch Wally, you should still have time to finish shooting.”

  Leah shook her head. “No. After this, the network will pull the plug. If not for the show, definitely for me. They don’t like failures. Though you’d better believe they’ll profit from this. I can see the special now: Murder on Mount Minuit.” She sighed.

  “I’m sure you’ll get another show.”

  “Don’t count on that. In this business you’re only as good as your last gig. Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster.”

  They fell quiet for a while, and Jack was almost asleep when Leah spoke next. Though she was right next to him, her voice was barely audible. “I should have been here that day. When Charlie…”

  “I read your deposition. You had a doctor’s appointment.” Jack rubbed his eyes.

  Leah shrugged. “I should have waited until filming wrapped. But I panicked. I got scared. Did the report say why I went to the doctor?”

  “No, it didn’t.”

  “I had my physical right before the show started taping. And out of the blue I got a call that they’d found an abnormality in my mammogram. My mother died of breast cancer when I was twelve. She was a doctor. I thought she was Wonder Woman, but I stood by and watched that disease eat her alive. Here was a woman who had put herself through college and made this amazing life out of nothing. She was so strong. But when it came to cancer…”

  “What happened?” Jack asked. “With the mammogram? Was everything okay?”

  “Benign calcifications; I’m fine. But I remember how mad I was that day. Cancer had already gotten me once by killing my mother. I wasn’t going to let cancer get me again. I was only thirty-nine. Do you know how few women producers are in TV? And black women? I’m no Rosa Parks, but I’m not gonna roll over. I fought too damn hard to get where I am.”

  She laid her head down and took a jagged breath. “You know that saying ‘blind ambition’? It’s true, you know. I eat, sleep, breathe Planet Survival. But do you know what I didn’t do? I never called my dad. Not once. I don’t even know the last time I thought about him or my little sister—until tonight, when that propane tank blew up. At that moment, all I could think was, I’m going to die and my family thinks I don’t care about them.”

  “You care.”

  Leah shook her head. “Not enough. Not enough to call. Not enough to visit. I say I care. I even convinced myself that I do. But the truth is, I’ve always cared more about adding another line on my résumé.”

  “Then be grateful.” Jack closed his eyes. “You got a second chance. Don’t blow it.”

  “Well, that’s sympathetic.” Leah’s shoulders slumped.

  “I didn’t think you’re the type who needs to be coddled. I just meant that not everyone gets a second chance. When we get down off this mountain, call them.”

  Jack listened to Leah’s breathing. It was getting shallow, and his own started to synch with hers.

  “Is Alice more than your business partner?” Leah asked.

  “She’s my fiancée.”

  “I knew it.” Leah sighed.

  “How?”

  “She was so insistent on coming up here with you. Protective. You can see she loves you. I didn’t know if it was reciprocal.”

  “It is.”

  Jack closed his eyes.

  Alice loves me. Now that’s a big deal.

  30

  Wind Walker

  Jack used duct tape and Leah’s knife to fashion a jacket and hood of sorts out of the sleeping bag. “Not bad, Michelin Man,” Leah teased. He felt ridiculous, but it would keep him warm enough on the walk back to the lodge.

  “Are you ready for this?”

  Leah nodded.

  Jack glanced back at the camera. The remote light had gone out sometime during the night, and now there was no response when they called to Harvey. Jack pulled the flap back, and freezing wind blasted swirling snow into the tent. Somewhere out there the sun had risen, but with all the clouds and snow, the sky had lightened only to a depressing gray.

  “Stay close to me,” Jack said. “It’s clear as mud out there.”

  He set a fast pace, but the going was rough. The wind had created waist-high snowdrifts in some places, and in others exposed slick, icy rocks. He kept his head down; without goggles, icy snow blinded him every time he looked up. Even so, his eyelashes were crusty with icy bits, and the exposed flesh on his face burned. Jack’s hands balled into fists and retreated as far up his makeshift jacket as they could. Grateful he’d worn two pair of socks, he’d wrapped one pair on his hands, but this was the type of cold that sucked all the warmth right out of you.

  After a while, they paused to take a break in the shelter of some rocks, and Jack asked Leah how she was holding up.

  “Me? How about you? I bet you’re wishing you took your jacket and made me wear the sleeping bag.”

  “Are you kidding?” Jack yelled over the wind. “When we get out of here, I’m patenting this jacket. I’ll be a billionaire. It’s got warmth and style.” Jack tapped the duct tape with his sock-covered hand and tried to smile, but his chattering teeth made it impossible.

  Leah grabbed his arm. “Let me take point. It’ll block some of the wind.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “That’s one hundred percent macho talking. It’s my turn.” Leah held up the GPS. “And I’ve got this.”

  Jack held out a hand. “Lead the way, wind walker.”

  For another half hour or so, with Leah in the lead, the snow shrieked in a steady, blinding onslaught. Visibility dropped to less than ten feet. They had to fight against the wind every step of the way. Finally, the lodge appeared, like a ghost taking form. Jack knew the contestants’ tents were only a few feet away, but he still couldn’t see them. Leah grabbed his arm and pulled him into the lodge.

  The two of them surveyed the main room, snow dripping off them and pooling on the floor. The place looked like a fraternity house after a party. Empty food wrappers, cups, and bottles of whiskey and vodka lay on the table in front of the couch, where Ollie was currently passed out. Harvey was snoring loudly in a chair, his feet propped up on the table.

  Leah stomped over and kicked the table aside. Harvey awoke with a start, and Ollie sat up and rubbed his eyes.

  “There’s a psycho on the loose, two of your fellow crew members are out in a blizzard, Abe is injured, and you two bozos throw a party?” Leah shouted.

  Ollie stood up, swaying a bit. “It’s not like that—”

  “Don’t,” Leah snapped.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Jack said. “I told you both to get everyone together and post a guard.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Ollie asked.

  “When we talked to you last night, you agreed to get everyone inside.”

  Harvey and Ollie shared a confused look.

  “You weren’t even here last night.” Harvey wiped the back of his mouth with his hand. “Didn’t you sleep at the weather station? We figured you took shelter there.”

  “I was all for going after you,” Ollie said, “but Ryan said no.”

  Harvey nodded rapidly. “He did. Ollie wanted to go, but Ryan said no.”

  “Both of you shut up,” Jack snapped. “We talked to you last night.”

  “We were in Bob Turner’s old tent,” Leah said.

  Now Ollie and Harvey looked even more confused. “The radio’s not working,” Ollie said. “How could you talk to us?”

  “On the camera.” Leah grabbed Harvey’s shoulder and gave him a shake. “The camera came on, we told you what happened at the weather station, and you wiggled the camera back and forth.”

  “I di
dn’t even check the camera in Bob’s tent,” Harvey said. “Why would you go there?”

  “Was it you?” Jack asked Ollie.

  Ollie shook his head. “First I’m hearing about it.”

  Leah’s mouth was tight and thin. “Where is Ryan?”

  “Sleeping it off,” Ollie said. He motioned upstairs.

  Jack struggled out of his makeshift jacket and tossed it aside. “Ollie, just go get the contestants and bring them into the lodge. Then lock the doors.”

  “Now,” Leah added, jogging up the stairs.

  Jack followed her. He expected her to head to Ryan’s room to blast him, but she went to Abe’s instead and knocked softly on the door.

  Bree slipped out and into the hallway. “Did you get a mayday call through?” Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her face was pinched with worry.

  “No. How’s Abe?”

  “Bad. Harvey thinks he may have internal bleeding. His leg is burning up. I keep icing it, but… we have to get him to a doctor.” She twisted a washcloth in her hands.

  “We will. Once the storm clears, we’ll set off so many flares, people will think we’re having a fireworks show.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Jack said. “For right now, do me a favor and go inside, lock the door, and don’t answer it unless it’s me or Leah.”

  Bree’s face paled. She looked to Leah, who nodded and marched down the hallway to Ryan’s room. Bree slipped back into Abe’s room and closed the door behind her.

  Leah didn’t bother to knock on Ryan’s door; she shoved it open so hard it slammed against the wall. The room was empty.

  However, just down the hall, a door opened a crack and shut quickly.

  Leah stormed down the hall and flung that door wide open. It was Gavin’s room, and Gavin was in bed. This room was much larger than Ryan’s, and had a second door on the back wall—which slammed shut as Leah and Jack entered.

  “Don’t you knock?” Gavin said, irritated, pulling the sheet up over himself.

  Leah raced over to the other door and threw it open. It led directly to a side staircase. Running footsteps bounced off the cement as someone raced down. A moment later, a door on the first floor shut.