Sabotaged

“The last train to nowhere.” Jake clapped Ethan’s shoulder. “Thanks, Ethan. Let’s go, guys.”

  “Wait!” Panic permeated his voice as they all moved toward the stairs. “Hello? Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Jake paused at the base of the steps. “I don’t think so.” He looked at the rest of them. “Any of you?”

  They all answered in the negative.

  “This isn’t funny.” Ethan’s cheeks flared red. “Seriously! Aren’t you going to uncuff me?”

  “Not until the police arrive,” Jake said.

  “Don’t worry,” Kirra added. “I’m sure they’ll arrive before Frank reaches Nome, or at least you can hope so.”

  34

  After leaving Ethan handcuffed at the Shaktoolik pump station, knowing the authorities were already waiting outside to take him into custody, Kayden flew them through the night to Nome, hoping to intercept Frank and locate Meg.

  Everything pointed to her being in or near Nome—their best guess being Solomon. So that’s where they’d spend the rest of the race—what little was left of it—searching and praying.

  Reef stepped off Kayden’s plane to find Cole, Piper, and Landon waiting. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “We heard you and Kirra needed all the help you could get,” Cole said.

  Kirra’s eyes welled with tears. “That’s so sweet of you, but Cole, you have a three-month-old at home. I don’t want to put you in any danger. If anything happened to you . . . to any of you . . .”

  He smiled. “Then it’d be our time to go.”

  Reef was still amazed by his big brother’s depth of trust and dependence on God. Cole, and all of his family, had shown him it wasn’t about church attendance and checklists; it was about a personal relationship with Christ. He understood that now. Well, he understood it better. It was about a daily walk with Jesus. A walk he hoped to share with Kirra. Side by side. For years to come. The thought of not being with her, of not helping her through hard times like this, of not being there for her, choked him.

  “How’s she doing?” Piper nudged his shoulder as they all moved for the rental van Cole had procured.

  “She’s tough like Kayden, but tenderhearted like you.”

  “Sounds like a good mix.”

  A smile curled on his lips. “The perfect one.”

  Piper pursed hers in a ridiculous attempt to hide the gargantuan smile spreading across her face. As resident Yancey matchmaker, he knew she’d be all over his and Kirra’s new relationship. But strangely enough, it didn’t seem new.

  They’d known each other for most of their lives—but their relationship had changed in what seemed like the blink of an eye . . . for the better. He loved the woman, plain and simple. Timelines didn’t matter—only his love for her did.

  “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Landon said as they all piled in the van. “The Kellers owned thousands of acres of land, so we have a lot of ground to cover.”

  “And they’re probably very familiar with every inch of it,” Cole added.

  “We have a second vehicle where we’re bunking,” Landon said. “I suggest we split up into teams so we can scour a wider area. Local police are currently moving through town, but there’s no sense starting a full-scale SAR rescue outside of the town’s limits in the dark. It’s too barren, the weather too brutal, and it’d be too easy to miss something.

  “Come dawn we’ll start by trying to intercept Frank between the last pump station outside Elim and Nome. And, of course, looking for the Kellers’ backup location for holding Meg.”

  “How do you suggest we split up?” Reef asked.

  Landon shifted in his seat to survey everyone. “Jake’s the best tracker. He and Kayden should search for Frank. Piper, Cole, and I will accompany you and Kirra out to Solomon.”

  “You think that’s where they’re holding Meg?”

  He nodded. “If I were a betting man.”

  Reef scooted closer to Kirra as they made the short drive through town to their lodgings—not that he imagined they’d get much sleep. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “How you holding up?”

  She shook her head. “I just can’t believe your family would come out here and risk so much to help me.”

  “That’s what they do.”

  “That must be nice, having such a supportive family.”

  “It is, and now you’re a part of it.”

  “What?” Her forehead creased.

  “I love you, and I know Kayden and Piper think the world of you. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen with Bailey, Landon, Jake, and Darcy. You’re part of our family now.”

  “But . . . we haven’t even gone on an official date.”

  He grinned. “Since when is tracking down leads and being threatened by thugs not considered a date?”

  She laughed for the first time in days. “Oh dear. Should I be frightened by what our futures dates might hold?”

  “Frightened. Never.” He grazed her chin with his finger. “Not with me at your side, and that’s exactly where I plan to stay. Curious, perhaps, but definitely not frightened.”

  How Reef managed to lighten her mood during such a difficult time still surprised and amazed her. Who would have thought she’d have found love during hardship?

  Wasn’t love supposed to be about happiness and warm fuzzy feelings? At least at the start?

  Instead she’d gotten straight-to-the-deepest-well-of-her-heart intensity and an inside look at the beautiful man standing strong beside her through it all. He truly was beautiful—not just his swoon-worthy physical appearance, but his hunger to know God better, to love his family deeply, and to live fully. He’d captured her heart amidst the most difficult of circumstances, and she had to admit God couldn’t have planned it better.

  Love in the difficult parts of life. God in them—in the sorrow and pain. He was right there, carrying her through.

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  Father, I don’t . . . I haven’t wanted to think about where you were when I was raped, because no answer to that question is easy. I’ve been holding you at arm’s length since that day, because I believed you turned your back on me, looked the other way when I needed you most. But your Word says you’ve never left my side, that nothing—not even hell itself—can separate me from your love. But what does that mean, then? That you loved me but allowed it to happen? Why? Why didn’t you stop him, stop them?

  The rape hadn’t ended with William—she had been destroyed over and over again as family members let her down, abandoned her in her darkest hour. How did she reconcile a loving God with an act of such hatred on William’s part?

  On William’s part.

  William was the one full of hate and harm. He was the one who’d sinned, who’d harmed her with his choices. She lived in a fallen world, with fallen people.

  Maybe Reef was right. Maybe God had wept that day.

  She swallowed, emotion roiling through her.

  Maybe God was finally bringing the healing she so desperately needed in the worst of times, and in a way she could never have anticipated.

  “I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to give you hope and a future.”

  Was this it? She looked over at Reef with love. Was he the hope and future God had for her?

  Thank you, Father.

  Deep and abiding peace, beyond description, beyond explanation, flooded her. God met her in that moment. Her Savior met her at her well, overflowing her cup with living water that quenched the deep ache inside of her, finally bringing the healing she so desperately desired.

  FIFTEEN MILES OUTSIDE OF ELIM, ALASKA

  MARCH 17, 8:00 A.M.

  Kayden circled around in her Cessna, the weather clearing long enough for them to actually see the ground below in the early morning light. They’d decided the best way to continue searching for Frank was by air. It allowed them to cover the most ground.

  While the race route took a straight western course past Koyuk, they
were following the pipeline, which ran at a southwest angle to the circuit.

  “I think he really cares about her,” Kayden said.

  Jake kept his eyes on the ground, searching for any sign of Frank. “Who cares about who?”

  “Reef cares about Kirra.”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled. “I’d say so.”

  “It’s sweet.”

  He couldn’t help himself. He took his eyes off the ground and looked at the woman he loved. “Did my no-nonsense girlfriend, Kayden McKenna, just use the word sweet?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled.

  “Keep your eyes on the ground, mister.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He turned his gaze back to the vast tundra stretched out below the Cessna.

  “I’m just saying all my other siblings have found their mates. It’d be nice to see Reef settle down too.”

  “And you? Are you ready to settle down?” He rubbed the ring still in his pocket.

  She glanced over at him with a heartfelt smile. “You know I’m here to stay.”

  He slipped his hand in his pocket, his finger hooking the ring. “Care to make that offi—?”

  “There!” Kayden hollered, pointing out her side window.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. He leaned over her shoulder, peering down at the musher team below.

  He exhaled, releasing his hold on the ring. “Set her down when you can.”

  “We need to get past this small inlet or we could end up landing on an ice floe.” It took a few minutes of circling and searching, but she landed on a solid piece of ground about a mile ahead of the musher. Now the trick would be intercepting him.

  They slipped on the cross-country skis they’d borrowed from local law enforcement and headed toward the musher. Kayden, the more-experienced skier, quickly moved ahead. Jake prayed it was Frank, but who else could it be?

  About a half mile in, Jake heard the howl of dogs. He took a moment to appraise the sparse, hilly terrain. In the distance he saw what appeared to be the pump station behind a small copse of trees. A wooden bridge spanned the narrow inlet of the Bering Sea before the landscape transitioned to full tundra on the other side—white and vast, stretching on for miles. He heard the dogs again, much closer this time. He whistled.

  Kayden stopped, turning back to look at him.

  “Get off the trail! He’s going to cut through those trees any moment.”

  She looked to the copse of trees, then back at him. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to make him stop.” Or at least try his best.

  “What? Are you crazy?”

  “Trust me.”

  “You’re lucky I do.” She hurried off the path.

  He planted his poles firmly in the snow at his sides, bracing for impact.

  Within seconds, just as anticipated, the sled-dog team burst out of the woods and barreled straight for him.

  “Anything?” Landon asked Reef over the radio.

  “Not yet.” He and Kirra had covered the first two search grids they’d broken the Solomon area into, and so far nothing.

  Kirra wrapped her scarf tighter about her neck and face as the wind whipped across the barren plain.

  The abandoned mining town rather resembled those in New Mexico and Arizona. But there was one vast difference—Solomon was on the Bering Coast of Alaska, where temperatures could hit lows of thirty degrees below zero.

  The air bit crisp through Reef’s layers. If Jason Keller had Meg somewhere out here, it was somewhere without electricity. Unless a generator was being used, their only heat source would be fire—which meant smoke for them to follow. Reef scanned the area. Were they searching in the wrong spot? He heard no generator, saw no smoke.

  At the next abandoned building, Reef and Kirra worked their way in through a loose board across what at one time had been a window.

  The interior was cold and dim, and the frozen floor planks creaked beneath them.

  Reef swung his flashlight around the empty space, moving for the stairs.

  They swept the top floor and found nothing.

  Kirra rubbed her arms, shifting her weight from foot to foot, her breath white in the beam of his flashlight. “Do you think they’d really be holed up out here?”

  “Seems like an awfully barren place. Not a bad place to hide out, but we may be thinking about this all wrong.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Systematic doesn’t work for me.” He grinned. “I like to go by instinct. If it were me, and I was familiar with this area, I’d pick a place of high ground—a place with open sight lines and a back way out.”

  They walked down the rickety stairs and stepped outside, and Reef took a moment to really survey the landscape.

  “Where would you pick?” she asked, standing beside him.

  Reef once again scanned the area, his gaze finally settling on the gold-dredge building—windows blacked out and boarded up.

  “The dredge?”

  “It’s the largest building, and it has the best view.”

  “Minus the boarded-up windows.”

  “Which would prevent people from looking in.”

  He radioed the others and explained his idea. “We’re going to check it out.”

  “Be careful,” Landon radioed back.

  He and Kirra moved across the barren plain toward the hill where the dredge building sat. As they mounted the rise, an explosion shook the ground, vibrating the earth beneath them. Reef pulled Kirra into his arms and covered her with his body as they dropped down.

  Terror recoiled through him as he glanced up to find metal parts spewing through the smoke-filled air. The train. Keller had rigged the train that sat in the center of the ghost town to explode, knowing its placement would cause the most widespread damage.

  As soon as parts stopped flying, he lifted his head and surveyed the ground below, searching through the smoke for his siblings.

  His ears ringing, he released his protective hold on Kirra and helped her to her feet.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded. “Your family?”

  “Cole?” he called, his voice hoarse, his throat burning. “Cole?” he tried over the radio.

  Nothing.

  Panic clawed through his chest. “Piper?”

  “Down here,” she hollered. “Landon’s hurt.”

  They rushed down the hill, stumbling, climbing over scorched train parts to find Landon crumpled in a heap.

  Piper rolled him over, and he coughed.

  “I’m fine.” He coughed some more. “Just landed awkward. But I saw them.”

  “Them?” Kirra asked, looking back at the dredging building.

  “When the explosion went off, through the smoke, we caught a glimpse of a man yanking a woman out back behind the dredge building.”

  “Meg?” Kirra asked, hope infusing her words.

  “I couldn’t say for certain, but I think so.”

  “Where’s Cole?”

  “He went after them, over that ridge,” Landon said, struggling to get to his feet. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re not going,” Piper fussed. “You’ve got a broken arm.”

  “Fine, then you all go. I’m good, really.”

  Reef and Kirra ran back across the plain and up the hill around the back of the building. They crested the first ridge as a gunshot fired.

  Reef’s heart dropped. Cole.

  “Stay back,” he urged Kirra, but she didn’t listen, just kept barreling on beside him.

  They rounded a hill and found Cole ducking behind an old mining cart as a second shot flew overhead. Relief swarmed inside.

  “Get down,” Cole hollered, waving them to the ground.

  He yanked Kirra down beside him, and they crawled to Cole’s side.

  His brother peered around the cart’s edge. “Looks like he’s got help.”

  Another bullet whizzed overhead, and Reef cradled Kirra close. “What do you mean?”

  “They’re climbing
into a black Tahoe. I’d fire at them, but I don’t want to risk hurting Meg.”

  Car doors slammed shut, and they looked around to see the vehicle pulling away—Meg gagged and staring out the rear window, terror rampant in her wide eyes.

  They gave chase—Reef racing beside Cole and Kirra, his lungs and thighs burning.

  Meg’s name tore from Kirra’s lips as the vehicle pulled out of sight.

  There were no license plates, but at least they’d gotten a good look at the vehicle and could provide a decent description.

  “We were so close,” Kirra said, stooping to catch her breath.

  “We’ll get them. It’s only a matter of time.”

  Reef couldn’t help wondering if it would take more time than they had.

  Landon and Piper crested the ridge, Landon’s arm braced across his chest with Piper’s scarf.

  “They got away.”

  “How?”

  “In a waiting vehicle,” Cole said. “But we’ve got a description.”

  “Great. I’ll alert SAR along with police in Nome and the state troopers.” Landon fished his phone from his pocket awkwardly with his left hand.

  Tears welled in Kirra’s eyes. “We were so close.”

  35

  “Frank, you’ve got to listen to us,” Jake pleaded with the man, thankful he’d stopped short of running him over, which exhibited great command over his dogs.

  Frank shook his head. “Not until you have Meg safe and sound.”

  “Reef and Kirra are closing in on her now. We know the men behind this and the area they’re hiding in.”

  “That’s all well and good, but until Meg’s safe and sound, I’m doing as I’m told. You’ve got to understand. She’s my baby girl.”

  “I understand,” Jake said, looking at Kayden. “Believe me, I do. I’ve had the woman I love held hostage.”

  “And I bet you’d have done whatever it took to get her back.”

  “Yes, but think of the lives you’re endangering.”

  “Until Meg is safe, I’m finishing the job.” Frank’s right leg jiggled, his gaze fastening on the path beyond.

  Jake knew he had better find a way to break through, and fast. “Why Nome? What happens there?”