Silenced (Alaskan Courage Book #4)

  She removed the bungee cords, letting Jake fall to the floor.

  Kayden once again bit back a cry.

  Angela pulled him by the legs to the shackles beside her.

  Fear reverberated through Kayden. What did the evil woman have planned?

  Reef woke to the ringing of his cell phone. “Yeah?”

  Please let it be good news, Lord.

  “Jake’s found Angela’s hideout,” Sheriff Marshall said. “The old army bunker up on the north bluff. It’s marked on your topo map. If you and Kirra cut across the ridge rather than going around, you should be able to reach them in under a couple hours.”

  “Okay, I’ll wake Kirra now and we’ll head straight out. Have you alerted the rest of the teams?”

  “I have my deputies on it as we speak.”

  Good. The more, the better.

  “Be careful.”

  “Will do.”

  Unzipping his tent, he moved to Kirra’s. “Kirra?”

  Rex moved, his collar jingling.

  Reef unzipped her tent. She was sound asleep, Rex sitting at the ready beside her.

  He growled.

  “It’s okay, Rex. It’s just me. We need to wake Kirra up.”

  Man, she was a sound sleeper.

  “Kirra,” he said louder, and she stirred, shifting her arms over her head. Her blond hair was disheveled about her.

  “Kirra!”

  Her eyes shot open—beautiful crystal blue staring back at him, full of . . . fear? “What?”

  “Jake found them. We need to move.”

  “Oh.” She shook off the lingering sleep and whatever had her fearful. “Give me five.”

  He nodded and set to dismantling his tent.

  A few minutes later Kirra emerged from hers—dressed for the day, Rex bounding out beside her. “Just give me a minute to get my pack set and we can go.”

  Reef nodded, amazed by how vibrant and beautiful she looked just minutes after waking. Whoa! He had to stop thinking of Kirra that way. The elevation must be going to his head.

  He exhaled. Who was he kidding? He lived at this elevation all snowboarding season.

  He rolled his tent and sleeping bag, putting both in his pack while Kirra did the same.

  “Where are they?”

  “The old army bunker out at the north bluff. Marshall said if we cut across the ridge we can make it in under two hours.”

  Kirra studied the topographical map they’d brought. “He’s right. It’s a strenuous hike, no truck access through a good portion of it, but it’s a lot faster than hiking back to the truck and taking the road all the way around.”

  Reef cinched his pack on his back. “Let’s do it.”

  “Did Jake say how Kayden was?”

  “Marshall just said he’d located Angela’s truck, not that he had eyes on Kayden yet.”

  “I just pray she’s okay, that they both are.”

  Reef appreciated her sincerity. “I do too.”

  “Would you like me to say a quick prayer?”

  “That’d be nice.” God would no doubt be more likely to listen to her prayers. She was the ultimate good girl.

  She bowed her head and Reef did the same.

  “Father, only you know what’s happening with Jake, Kayden, and Angela now. We pray for protection for Jake and Kayden and that justice would be done. Please lead us to them quickly, and may we all be home secure in our own beds tonight. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

  “Amen,” he said. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Not just for the prayer, but for caring about my family.” Being away so long, it was good to know his siblings had such good friends standing by them and looking out for them. He wanted his siblings to know he’d stand by them too. Maybe Anna was right. Maybe this was where God wanted him.

  “They’re good people,” she said, shifting her pack and the topic, a hint of longing in her voice. “Have Cole and Bailey landed?”

  “Marshall said they have, and they’re en route now.”

  “Jake.”

  It was Kayden’s voice.

  “Jake.” Chains rattled nearby. “Can you hear me?”

  He forced his eyes open. Lights glowed in the dimness around him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice weaker than he’d ever heard it.

  He turned to see her shackled beside him, dried blood in her hair, bruises on her face . . .

  His heart lurched.

  “Kayden.” He reached for her, his shackles pinning him tight to the wall overhead.

  “I’m okay.”

  She clearly wasn’t.

  “Angela’s crazy.”

  “I figured that one out.”

  “She killed her husband.”

  “What?”

  “She made it look like a suicide. And Becca . . .”

  “What about Becca?”

  “Oh, now you’ve gone and ruined the surprise,” Angela said as she reentered the room.

  “You!” He struggled against his shackles. “You killed Becca and our daughter?”

  “I didn’t know she was pregnant.” A cool smile spread on Angela’s lips. “Not that it would have made any difference. In fact, it made it all the better revenge-wise.”

  Jake wrestled against his bonds, determined to get out of them, even if it meant breaking his own hands.

  “This time you get to watch the woman you love die.”

  Jake looked at Kayden. He prayed she knew he truly loved her, even if Angela was the first to actually say the words.

  She looked over at him, such sweetness and sincerity brimming in her eyes despite the dark circumstances. “I love you too.”

  “What?” The breath left his lungs. She loved him? He’d been praying he’d been right about her starting to care for him, but she loved him?

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” She wept. “Sorry I kept you at arm’s length.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You’ve just made me the happiest man alive.”

  Angela lifted her gun. “Not for long.”

  An explosion rocked the south wall. Angela glanced over. “Looks like we’ve got company.” She moved to the camera feed.

  Jake took the opportunity to dislocate his thumbs and slide his hands free of the cuffs. He signaled Kayden to be quiet while he grabbed the Taser.

  He moved behind Angela. She must have caught his reflection in the monitor because she turned and shot.

  He stumbled back with the force of the bullet, with the heat searing down his arm.

  “No!” Kayden screamed.

  Rex burst into the room, followed by Reef and Kirra.

  Angela took off with Rex at her heels.

  “Jake.” Kayden wrestled to break free.

  “Kayden.” Reef’s gaze landed on her with alarm.

  “Jake’s been shot.”

  Reef and Kirra’s attention shifted to Jake. Kirra moved to assess.

  “It’s just a shoulder wound. He’ll be fine.” She grabbed the blanket off the air mattress and began tearing it into strips long enough to bind his wound.

  Reef moved to help Kayden.

  “Angela has the keys, but there are some nails on the floor.”

  “How are nails going to help?”

  “Here.” Jake moved before Kirra could finish bandaging his shoulder, popping his thumbs back in place with an agonizing grunt. He pulled a pick from his pocket, surprised Angela hadn’t patted him down while he was out. She’d taken his gun and knife but hadn’t bothered checking his pockets. Sloppy.

  He bent and picked Kayden’s handcuffs until they both opened. She lunged forward and hugged him.

  He winced as she collided with his gunshot wound.

  She pulled back. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not.” He cupped her face gingerly and brought her lips to his, kissing her with all the loving fervor he’d been storing up for years.

  She kissed him back, just as passionately, and he ne
ver wanted to let her go.

  But Gage and Darcy barged in.

  “Well, it’s about time,” Gage said before Darcy elbowed him.

  “What?” he said. “Everyone else is thinking it.”

  At the distant sound of Rex’s bay, Jake pulled back. “Which way did she go?” He needed to keep Kayden safe, and that meant finding Angela and getting her back behind bars, where she belonged.

  Kayden pointed. “She took off down that corridor. Rex should distract her for a bit.”

  Jake focused on Rex’s barking. “It sounds as if he’s chased her into the underground maze at the rear of the bunker. I’ve explored three of these already, and from my experience, it might be a while before she makes her way out.

  “Gage and I will go out the front and wait at her truck. Reef, you and Kirra go after Rex and flush her out.”

  “She’s got booby traps set up,” Reef said. “Luckily Kirra spotted the trip wire or we would have been toast, or at the very least, seriously maimed.”

  Jake smiled at Kirra. “Nice work.”

  “Thanks. As a vet I deal with the effects of far too many poacher traps. I’ve learned to watch for them whenever I’m in the wilderness.”

  Jake turned to Kayden. “Please stay here. There’s no way Angela will work her way back. Please. I need to know you are safe.”

  Clearly too exhausted to argue, she nodded and sat down at the rusty table as he and the others raced out of the room.

  Relief filled Jake when he and Gage reached the brush and found Angela’s truck still there. After disconnecting her spark plugs, they hid behind the nearby copse of trees.

  It didn’t take long for Angela to burst out a hidden door to the east, Rex’s howls not far behind her.

  She climbed into her truck and tried starting it. Jake watched realization dawn on her face as Gage came up on her passenger’s side with a gun leveled at her head, and he did the same on the driver’s side.

  She looked at him with a smug smile, lifted a grenade, and pulled the pin.

  “Down,” Jake roared, lunging away from the vehicle. Birds flew from the trees as the cab of the truck exploded.

  Jake covered his head until it settled. “Gage?”

  He coughed. “Yeah?”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Reef, Kirra, and Rex burst out the same door Angela had moments before.

  Kirra took a look at what remained of Angela and turned green.

  Reef pulled her into his arms and turned her away from the sight.

  Within the hour Piper and Landon reached the site. Cole and Bailey were still several hours away. Now that they were safe, Jake had told them they’d meet up at the local hospital instead.

  A pair of EMTs loaded Jake and Kayden into the rescue helicopter resting at the edge of the bluff.

  “We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Gage said, shutting the door, but by the time they actually made it down the mountain, he and Kayden would hopefully have already been released.

  He glanced over at her—his brave, wounded warrior, so fierce and lovely—and linked his fingers with hers.

  44

  Kayden tapped on Jake’s sliding door.

  He smiled through the glass and moved to open it.

  “Hey there.” He stepped back, welcoming her inside.

  “Hey.” She moved past him.

  “How you feeling?”

  She gingerly brushed her hair back from her bruised face. “Better.”

  Jake moved some papers off the couch. “Take a seat.”

  “Probably better if I stand for this.”

  Uh-oh. Now that they were out of danger, would she retract her declaration of love? Would she put her guard back in place?

  “There’s something I need to say.”

  He braced himself. “Okay.”

  She swallowed. “I meant what I said, back at the bunker.”

  He blinked. Had he just heard her correctly?

  She leaned against the half wall separating the galley from the living space. “I didn’t want you to think I only said it because of the situation we were in.”

  “That’s amazing to hear.”

  “But . . .”

  Somehow he’d known there was going to be a but.

  “But just because I told you the truth and we kissed . . .” She shifted, looking down.

  Was Kayden McKenna actually embarrassed?

  She cleared her throat. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy with me. I’m far from perfect, hard to get along with, and . . .” She looked up at him. “Well, I’m giving you the chance to walk away.”

  He smiled. Like that was even possible. He was hers come what may.

  He reached for her hand and led her to the couch. “You are perfect for me.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled. “There’s one more thing.” She sat beside him. “I know this is way jumping the gun, but I feel I need to be totally up front before . . . before we go any further.”

  “Okay.” He clasped her hand.

  “I can’t have kids.”

  He hadn’t seen that coming. As healthy as she was . . . “The doctors found something wrong?”

  “No, but they might.”

  “What? I’m confused.”

  “I could end up with rheumatoid arthritis like my mom. I saw what it did to her. It doesn’t affect everyone with the same intensity it did my mom, but it destroyed her health and her body. If that happens, I don’t want you taking care of me, watching me fade away physically.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t want you to see me that way, and I don’t want to be dependent on anyone.”

  “Did you mind taking care of your mom?”

  “Of course not. I loved her.”

  “Then why wouldn’t you want me taking care of you, and what does any of that have to do with your having children?”

  She looked down. “You don’t understand. My mom was a strong, beautiful, athletic, vibrant woman until the disease ravaged her. I want people to remember me as being strong.”

  “Honey, you don’t even know if you’re going to get RA.”

  “There’s a high risk when you have a family member with it. And I look just like my mom. Everyone said how alike we were. If anyone’s going to get it, it’ll be me.”

  “You can’t live your life differently because of something that may or may not happen.”

  “But how can I have kids knowing I might pass it on to them?”

  He cupped her chin in his hand. “Sweetheart, is that what you’re worried about?”

  She nodded.

  “Are you angry at your mom for having you?”

  “Of course not. But she had me before she knew she’d get RA.”

  “And would you not want to have been born if she had?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then how’s this any different?”

  She shrugged.

  “I know this is hard for you to hear, but you’re not in control. God is. Living your life in fear isn’t the answer.”

  “No, I’m being strong. I’m making a hard decision.”

  “No. Choosing to live your life to its fullest every day is the hard decision. I bet your mom displayed amazing grace through it all.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “How did you know?”

  “Because God doesn’t promise the way will be easy—far from it—but He promises to carry us through, to give us the courage and grace we need when we need it. He most often doesn’t change the circumstances; He changes us.”

  He exhaled and tipped her chin up gently. “I love you, and I want to be with you through the good and the bad, in sickness and in health. Through it all.”

  “Whoa!” She scooted back. “What are you saying?”

  “That you are stuck with me, Kayden McKenna. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “You promise?”

  He lowered his mouth to hers. “With all my heart.”

>   Epilogue

  Kayden stood beneath the evergreen tress surrounding Landon’s cabin, watching her sister pledge her life to the man she loved. Six months ago Kayden would have never imagined herself in such a place someday, but as she watched Jake standing between her brothers at Landon’s side, she envisioned a future with him.

  Pastor Braden asked Piper and Landon to exchange rings following their declaration of the vows they’d written. Kayden couldn’t get over how amazing everything looked—the pine archway Landon had handcrafted for him and Piper to stand under, the full moon and blanket of stars overhead, lanterns lighting the rest of the forest around them.

  A nighttime wedding in the woods they loved. It was so Piper and Landon.

  “You may now kiss the bride.” Landon took Pastor Braden’s instruction to heart, grasping his wife in his arms and dipping her down as he pressed his lips fully to hers.

  “Hey, she’s still our baby sister, dude,” Gage grumbled.

  “Yes.” Landon wrapped a hand snugly about Piper’s waist. “But she’s my wife.”

  “Good thing, after that kiss.” Gage smirked and lightly punched his fist into his cupped hand.

  The photographs took under an hour, and soon everyone was seated on their picnic blankets beneath the stars with their baskets of homemade food. Piper had outdone herself—gourmet sandwiches and fried chicken, homemade potato salad (their grandmother’s recipe), fresh fruits and veggies, cheese and crackers, and Black Forest wedding cake complemented with dark chocolate.

  As people started their dessert, Jesse, the leader of their church worship band, called the happy couple onto the dance floor.

  Kayden’s heart drummed in her chest, anticipation dancing through her at what was coming next.

  Piper and Landon finished their first dance as man and wife, and invited the rest of the bridal party onto the dance floor—a circular clearing they’d made in the forest.

  She didn’t even have time to look for Jake before he was at her side, his hands extended to help her to her feet. Her cast had been removed just days before, and she was still a bit unsteady.

  Her skin humming from her fingertips to the tips of her toes, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

  The music started slowly and pleasure curled on her lips as “Collide” by Howie Day played.