Into the Lair

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Getting out of here should be a snap for a man of your means,” Tits said darkly.

“I never said it wouldn’t be,” Eli returned.

The two men sat in the dark with only a penlight to illuminate the interior of the cabin. The door had miraculously held. The windows had not. Broken glass littered the living room along with piles of snow and ice.

It was cold but not unbearably so.

“I need to check on Ian and Braden. Are you going to be okay?”

Tits waved the penlight in a dismissive gesture.

“I’ll make sure they’re all right, and then I’ll see if I can use the satellite uplink to reach Jonah. I’d prefer they got here before any local rescue effort. If I can’t raise him that way, I’ll shift and go out the chimney. I’ll go to the village and get word to them that way.”

Again Tits waved the light, and Eli got to his feet and made his way to the bedroom.

There was only one window, and it too was busted out. Snow was steadily dribbling and shifting onto the floor from the strain. Ian and Braden were sprawled on the bed, out like a light. Damn, but he needed them awake and aware.

“Hey Tits, can you come back here, man, or are you too weak?”

Eli almost laughed at the snarl that followed. A few seconds later, Tits thumped into the bedroom holding his shoulder with one hand.

“Thought that would get your ass in here,” Eli said.

“Hey, fuck you. What the hell do you want, anyway? I was comfortable.”

“I need you to see if you can wake up the sleeping beauties while I raise Jonah.”

“I could always stick their faces in the wall of snow at the window,” Tits said with a shrug.

“Do what you have to do. I’ll get Jonah on the way.”

“They ain’t going to be happy about what happened to Katie,” Tits said quietly.

Eli grimaced, knowing full well that surviving the avalanche on a snowmobile was next to impossible. “I’ll let you tell them,” he muttered.

“Gee thanks. You’re all heart, man.”

Eli turned away and then dug into his pack for the satellite transmitter and tiny keyboard. No, he didn’t want to be the one to tell Ian and Braden about Katie. She was a lot more to them than just an assignment. He didn’t want to break the news that she was dead.

Ian pulled his way sluggishly from the heavy blanket of sleep. Someone was yelling his name and shaking him. His limbs were lead-filled, and none of them were cooperating with his command to move.

“That’s it, man, open your eyes. Look at me, damn it.”

“What the hell?” he slurred out then licked his dry, cracked lips.

A palm slapped sharply at his face, and Ian snarled in irritation.

“Get mad all you want. I’m not going away.”

“Tits?”

Ian opened his eyes to see Tits staring down at him, pain etched in his face and blood smeared over his shoulder and chest.

Remembrance slammed into him. He bolted upright, Katie’s name on his lips. He stared over to see Braden still unconscious on the bed.

“Where is she?” he growled.

Tits glanced warily at him. “Don’t try any of that shifting shit on me, man. I’ll knock your ass out again, and I’ll make sure you sleep for three days straight.”

“Where. Is. She.”

“She’s gone,” Tits said softly. “Now help me get your brother awake. We’re up shit creek without a paddle here. I’ll explain the best I can as soon as we figure out how the hell to get out of here.”

Ian looked around the darkened cabin in confusion. There was light from a flashlight standing upright on the nightstand, and another smaller light sat on the dresser. It was just enough that he could make out Tits and the area immediately surrounding him, but beyond that, there was nothing.

He saw the glass lying in a puddle of water on the floor, and then he saw the bulge of snow against the shattered window.

“What the ever-loving fuck?”

“Avalanche,” Tits said grimly. “We’re snowed in until Falcon gets here to pull our asses out. Eli’s on the horn with them now.”

Tits turned his attention to Braden, shaking him like a rag doll as he shouted at him to wake up. Ian shook the cobwebs from his own head and put the pieces back together in his mind. Katie had drugged them. She thought… She’d obviously overheard some of their conversation with Tits and Eli. It was the only explanation for why she thought they were using her to get to Esteban, or at least why she’d assumed the worst.

Hell.

“Does Esteban have Katie?” Ian asked hoarsely.

Tits shot him a grim look. Braden stirred and muttered as Tits continued to harass him.

Frustrated, Ian reached over and hauled Braden up by his shirt collar. He shook him then slapped him repeatedly on the cheek with his open palm. Braden’s eyes shot open belligerently, and he shoved at Ian.

“What the fuck is your problem, man?”

“Wake up. We’ve got problems,” Ian said brusquely.

Braden rubbed his eyes wearily and shook his head a few times. Then he bolted to awareness, grabbing Ian by the collar.

“Katie. Where is she?”

“Tits is just about to tell us.” He glanced over at Tits, not liking the uneasy look on the other man’s face.

“What the hell happened to you, Tits?” Braden demanded as he took in the blood all over his shirt.

“Took a bullet from Esteban’s men,” Tits said shortly.

“Katie?” Braden asked hesitantly.

Tits looked up in relief when Eli strode into the room. “You get Jonah?”

“Yeah, they’re on the move. ETA six hours. An extrication team will reach us first. No idea on the Falcon secondary who were with us on the mountain. Jonah’s afraid they were all buried by the avalanche.”

“Katie?” Ian asked again. He was beginning to sound like a damn parrot.

Eli shot Tits a scowl. “You haven’t told them yet?”

“I was getting to it,” Tits mumbled.

“Why don’t you tell us since Tits is having a hard time with the English language all of a sudden,” Braden said, his voice hard.

Eli ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and shot the brothers a look of sympathy. “We don’t think she made it.”

A fist slammed into Ian’s gut, knocking the breath right out of him. Braden didn’t look any better. He paled, and his fingers curled into tight balls.

“What do you mean she didn’t make it?” Braden asked in a deadly quiet voice.

“When we rode up, she was on the porch with an assault rifle and her bag. She was about to bolt,” Eli began. “I shifted so I could gain position on her. Then Tits took a bullet. They obviously had staked out the cabin. Katie told me to let her go so she could lead Esteban away from you and Braden. She said you were unconscious and helpless. She asked for a chance to live. For all of you to live.”

“And you let her go?” Ian shouted.

“I had three men down,” Eli said calmly. “She was right.”

“What happened?” Braden snarled.

“She took off on the snowmobile, and Esteban’s men took off after her. Several minutes later as I was getting Tits into the cabin, we got hit by the avalanche. She couldn’t have been far enough away to have avoided it,” he finished quietly.

“Mother of God,” Ian said hoarsely.

No. She couldn’t be dead.

“What are you so worked up about, man? She screwed you over. Drugged your asses and was all set to ditch you.”

“Because she thought we’d fucked her over first,” Ian bit out. “She had to have overheard our conversation outside the other day and misunderstood.”

“What was to misunderstand?” Eli asked. “You were using her. Or did I miss something here?”

“We were protecting her.” Grief was thick in Braden’s voice. “We would have never let Esteban get to her. That wasn’t the plan. That was never the plan.”

“How long?” Ian demanded. “How long since the avalanche? How long has she been out there in the cold?”

Eli flashed him a look of sympathy. “Three hours. She couldn’t survive that long.”

Braden shot up from the bed. “Where’s the locator?”

Ian looked up, his brow creased.

“The tracking device,” Braden said impatiently. “I had Marcus put one back in when he stitched her up. It should show up on the locator.”

“Braden, man, it’s been three hours,” Tits said.

“I don’t care,” he roared. “Even if she’s dead, I’m not leaving her out there to rot. She deserves better than that. She’s always been left behind. This time she won’t be.”

Ian stood, his mind numb. He moved jerkily, like an automaton with no clear direction. His gaze scoured the room in search of the locator. He staggered to the two bags by the window and ripped into them. Everything was soggy from the melted snow. God, let the locator still work.

He yanked it out and hit the power button. Nothing happened.

“Goddamn it!” He hit the button again.

“Let me have it,” Braden demanded as he strode over. “I can take it apart and dry it out. It might work again.”

“Jonah will have another,” Eli said.

“We don’t have six hours to wait for them to come rescue us,” Ian seethed. “If we can get a bead on her location, you can shift and get out of here.”

Eli and Tits exchanged uneasy glances which only enraged Ian further. They’d already given her up for dead.

He tossed the unit up to Braden. Braden snatched one of the lights from the dresser and went back over to the bed.

While he worked feverishly, Ian paced, his gaze going to the blocked window.

“Have you tried digging out? Have you shifted and gone above to see what we’re facing here? Have you tried digging down from the outside?”

Eli put a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “The cabin is covered, Ian. We need more than one man with a shovel. Jonah’s on his way with back-up. We’ll get out, I swear.”

“Yeah, but will we be in time?”

Eli shook his head. “You have to know, Ian. The chances of her surviving…they aren’t good.”

Ian closed his eyes. “Why did you give her up for me?”

“You know the answer to that,” Eli said patiently. “If you think about it, you’ll know I didn’t have any other choice. I had a wounded man and two more out of commission. There was no way I could stave off all of Esteban’s men alone. Katie led them away. Don’t take away from her sacrifice.”

“I just don’t understand why she did it.” Ian dropped his head as grief and anger surged over him. “She told me…one of the last things she said was that she wasn’t expendable. That her life mattered. So why then did she suddenly decide she gave a damn about the fact that Braden and I were sitting ducks here?”

“I can’t answer that,” Eli said quietly. “But I bet you can if you look deep enough. It was probably for the same reason you’re considering digging out of here with your bare hands. She’s more to you than a job, Ian. And I’d say you were more to her than just someone her brother sent to save her ass.”

Anguish, harsh, so heavy that his knees buckled, hit him. He turned, his hands flying to his face in an attempt to make the reality go away.

He sagged, and Eli caught him. They both fell and their knees hit the floor with a jolt. Eli caught the back of Ian’s neck as Ian’s forehead hit Eli’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, man,” Eli said. “I know how I’d feel if someone told me Tyana was out there. I wouldn’t accept it either. But it wouldn’t change a damn thing.”

Ian’s breaths roared from his lungs like fire. Each inhalation hurt, hit him with such savagery. He hadn’t kept her safe. He’d failed her just like everyone else in her life. And too late, he realized he wanted to be different. He wanted to be the one she could trust. Love. Rely on.

“Don’t you fucking give up,” Braden snarled.

Ian’s head came up, and he saw Braden staring at him, answering grief simmering in his eyes. They glittered with moisture, and his entire mouth twitched. His jaw jumped and spasmed, and Ian realized how hard he was hanging on to his control.

Slowly, he stood, using Eli for leverage. He walked over to the bed where his brother was piecing together the locator.

“I won’t give up,” he vowed as he locked gazes with Braden. “I won’t give up until we find her. Even if it’s just to recover her body and bring her home. She deserves that much.”

Braden nodded and held out his hand. Ian grasped it. A current of power passed between the two men. In that moment, Ian knew that Braden had fallen as hard and fast for Katie as he had. And now neither of them would have a chance to take care of her—to love her—the way they both wanted.