What Doesn't Kill Her (Cape Charade #2)(42)

“Then he’ll do that.” Kellen felt comfortable making that promise.

“You’re assuming Zone will let you call out,” Wade said.

“I’m assuming if he’s a craftsman and recluse, he’ll do anything to get rid of Rae.” Kellen chose her words delicately. “She, um, talks a lot.”

Wade darted a look at the chattering Rae. “We do this trip to get away from our kids.”

“I understand. You don’t want us with you for the duration.” With every moment that passed, Kellen felt as if she’d made the right decision. “But if you could get us to Horizon Lookout, or at least close, we’d be grateful.”

“We’ll do it,” Liz said. “It’s three hours to the end of the trail. That’s where we turn around and come back. The path up to Horizon Ridge goes up from there. You’ll have to walk.”

Kellen glanced around. “How do we do this?”

“Wade?” Liz handed it over to him. “You’re in charge of emergencies.” She walked back toward her bike.

Wade got to his feet and began to stretch, and he said to Kellen, “Ellen and I will double up. You can take her bike and your kid can ride on the seat. It’s hard riding, but you’re in good shape.”

She was. In good shape, with a recent injury. She was sleep deprived, undernourished and had no tolerance for these high elevations. Didn’t matter. That would work. “Sounds great.”

He observed the low-level tremble of her fingers. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you that much.”

“No, it’s good you did. I know there’s always a chance of trouble, but a throat slashed—that’s terrifying.” She felt compelled to check on Rae again, make sure she was close and healthy.

The kid was eating a cheese stick.

Kellen’s stomach growled.

Wade handed her one of the what appeared to be endless bags of granola the group shared. “Here. Carbs will take care of that shake.”

The granola contained oatmeal, dried cranberries, walnuts and—oh, ick—coconut, but Kellen finished the bag at record speed. “Thanks. That was fabulous.”

“I make it myself.” He smirked. “In fact, I made all the granola for this trip. For everyone.”

“Well done,” Kellen said weakly.

“It’s fixed!” Roberts called.

Wade announced, “Adams and her daughter are going with us to the Horizon trail cutoff. They have an appointment—” he used air quotes “—with Zone. Let’s hope he’s not the homicidal maniac running loose in the woods.”

The group exchanged glances, variously amused and exasperated, and Kellen figured she was right—no one believed Zone was the villain Wade painted him to be.

Ellen moved to Wade’s bike. Kellen settled Rae on Ellen’s bike. Liz gave her some instructions about mountain-biking rules, primarily don’t ride too close. The group gathered, they put Kellen and Rae in the middle, and they were off.

Immediately, the trail dropped off into a gulley, and Kellen found herself roaring downhill at a thousand miles an hour, across a trickling creek and heading back up the other side. By the grace of God she managed not to fall, not to hit any rocks and not to scream with terror. She imagined poor Rae, clinging to the seat in wide-eyed fear, and slowed down.

Immediately, behind her, Roberts called, “You’re going to have to speed it up or we won’t make it to the trailhead before dark.”

“Go, Mommy! Ride!” Kellen’s daughter didn’t sound scared. The little traitor sounded thrilled and excited.

Kellen rode.



21


Max was a Di Luca. His family roots were in Italy. He had relatives on the US East and West Coasts. While Max was in his teens, his father died and he’d been the head of his family ever since. He’d played football for Alabama and got a business degree, too. For a brief amazing few months, he’d climbed peaks in the Himalayas, lived in a monastery, traveled out of range of modern technology, concentrated on learning inner peace and began the long slow process to become a man of wisdom.

Immediately upon his return, his niece, Annabella, had been kidnapped by her father, a worthless scoundrel intent on siphoning off the family’s money. When he’d found her, he’d also found a young vagrant woman protecting his niece with fierce reckless courage. When Max remembered that day, the way she attacked Ettore Fontina, faced pain and death to save a child she didn’t even know... He had seen a goddess, and he had fallen in love.

In love. With a homeless woman with no name, too many scars and fears he could only imagine.

She called herself Ceecee, and he had taken her into his home and been all kinds of a fool over her. He had courted her, romanced her and in a rush of tragic events, he’d seen his lover shot. He’d been with her as, still in a coma, she bore his child. He became a single father, and when Ceecee woke unattended and walked out of the hospital, he found himself a forsaken lover.

The wisdom of the Far East meant nothing when compared with everyday events.

Except, he had to admit, climbing the Olympic Mountains was easier when one had trained one’s mind to concentrate on inner peace. Or maybe concentrate putting one foot in front of the other and not thinking about that body tied to a tree and bathed in blood. His mother had faith in Kellen’s survival skills for both Rae and herself. He did, too. If he continued at this pace, they could all make it to Horizon Ridge at about the same time...