Page 65 of Mountain Refuge

I could feel Elijah start to shake under me. His worst fears were unfolding right before his eyes—or, rather, ears.

“I wasn’t able to get ahold of them. One of my newer recruits was in the area, thank God. I sent him to find them. He was able to get them out, but Gunther escaped with at least two of his men. Gunther was injured and has effectively disappeared. He used an old prohibition tunnel to escape and could have popped up anywhere in the city. Many of those link to subway and maintenance tunnels.

“As for Josie and Trenton… Well, it’s not good. My guy was able to get them out but they’re both hurt. Josie was beaten and…” He paused again.“Trenton is missing several fingers and teeth. His hands had been secured to a table using a nail gun. It could have been far worse for both of them. Owen’s getting them to a doctor I know.”

Elijah and I sat there in stunned silence for several long minutes. We both knew how cruel Gunther could be. Elijah’s scars were evidence of that even without my years on the force and the rumors surrounding Gunther.

But to… His own son…?

Granted, this was the same man who had tried to sell his seven-year-old daughter as a child bride to make a business deal. But still… Seeing and believing were two very different things. Trenton was just a kid himself. Would his hands heal? Would he lose use of them? What about his missing fingers and teeth? If handled correctly, they might be able to be reattached.

Jack’s telling of what Josie had been through had been vague enough that I had to wonder. I keyed the microphone. “Was she raped? Over.”

“No,”Jack assured us.“But it was a close call. Over.”

I didn’t know who Owen was, but I was grateful to him. He wasn’t one of the few people who lived off of the mountain but worked for Jack that I had met. Corbin and Dalton were the twoon the mountain besides me who helped secure and hide Jack’s special visitors. Jack talked about Huck and Walter like they helped, but I didn’t know how. Tommy was just an old man who lived a secluded life and had no part of Jack’s side business.

I knew Dante, Luca, and Avery, having met them either in town or when they were handing off a visitor to be taken up the mountain. None of them had ever been on the mountain and worked with Jack around the country to help in whatever capacity Jack asked of them. I knew there were others. Jack had an extensive network of people at his disposal, but they were the three I had met.

I leaned forward. I wasn’t religious but I felt the statement was valid for the situation. “Thank God. Where are they now? Over.”

“There were…a lot of bodies. Owen had to get them away and wasn’t able to call for medical help. Josie and Trenton both insisted they get as far away from the city as possible before seeing a doctor. I contacted a doctor I know in New Hampshire and gave her a heads up that they were headed her way. Hopefully, Dr. Souleiman will be able to help Trenton. They found all but one of his fingers.”Jack cleared his throat.“I’ll keep you guys posted. I know none of you have any plans to come down the mountain for a few months still, but we might want to consider keeping Belle up there if Gunther isn’t found by spring. Over.”

I knew Elijah well enough to know he was already contemplating never allowing her off the mountain again, even if Gunther was found or put back in jail.

Elijah keyed the microphone. “Thanks for letting us know, Jack. Please pass on my regrets to Trenton and Josie. I never meant for any of this to happen to them.”—I was not surprised in the least that Elijah was taking the blame for what had happened, regardless of none of it being his fault. I would need to nip that line of thinking in the bud as soon as we gotoff the radio call with Jack.—“I appreciate your efforts as always. Over and out.”

Elijah powered off the connection before Jack could reply.

I turned on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. Elijah buried his face into my chest.

“It’s never going to end.” His voice was muffled by the blanket I was wearing in place of clothing. “He’s going to keep coming for us.”

I pressed my lips to his hair. “This mountain is the safest place for you and your kids,” I reminded him. “We can’t get down and they can’t get up.”

“And what happens when the snow melts and the road becomes passable?”

I had no answer for him, but we had approximately two more months to figure that out.

Chapter Thirty

Elijah

The news about Trenton had been hard to hear. I’d known him since he was fifteen years old. For all of his faults when I’d first met him, he was a good kid and had grown into an even better man. He had risked his life to save his sister’sandhad worked tirelessly to right his father’s wrongs. Some men twice his age weren’t half as strong as he was.

It sickened me that Trenton had been born into that life. More so than Belle or Lucas, because they were still young enough to grow and forget. To let memories heal and fade away. It had been a long time since Belle had mentioned ‘the bad man’ haunting her dreams. Lucas, thankfully, would never know about any of it. He would grow up in a life that Trenton had never been offered.

What sort of person would Trenton be if he hadn’t grown up his father’s son? To be raised tobecomea criminal? There couldn’t be many fates worse than that. Trenton had known from a very young age what his path in life was—and yet he had fought it at every turn. From failing in school to stepping up tobe a part of his half-sister’s life. Trenton had shown more gumption than I had given him enough credit for.

Like his little sister, he had a heart of gold and nerves of steel.

Several days after Jack’s initial call, I returned to Corbin’s cabin. I hated leaving Brooke alone and had convinced her to come up with me. Dalton had generously agreed to check on her cabin and stores during her absence. Logically, I knew that Gunther still had no idea where we were, nor could he get to us even if he did, but that old fear had taken root in my system and it was difficult to shake.

We were safer at Corbin’s further up the mountain. I knew how capable Brooke was, but I still needed her with me.

When Corbin had moved the kids and me into his cabin last year, he had shown me an elevation map of the mountain. It had taken me by surprise how close to town we were. As the crow flies, it was only about two miles. However, with the terrain, the elevation, and the weather, the paths to each of our homes become a lot longer and more treacherous. After reaching Tommy’s land, there was no way to get a full sized vehicle up the mountain. It was frightening to learn just how close the kids and I had come to death the night I drove up the mountain due to a miscommunication and my ignorance.

I knew better now. We had been up on this mountain for fourteen months.I knewhow to navigate and use the mountain to my advantage. Even if Gunther located us, he did not know this mountain. As Corbin and Brooke continually tried to tell me, we had the home advantage.

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