Chapter 71
Erik led the way; Helena followed. They walked in silence. Her energy levels were sapped, but adrenaline kept her moving. The fog was thick and cold on the mountaintop, and she zipped her coat to her chin.
She watched Erik, the placing of his boots, the tanned skin at the back of his calves, the dark tattoo at his neck. With every step she was hiking further from the safety of the cabin, from Maggie. But fear for Liz and Joni’s whereabouts kept her moving.
She glanced over her shoulder, eager to keep the DNT cabin in sight, but it had already been lost to the fog. She returned her gaze to the trail, searching for landmarks to help her remember the route back, but all she could see was earth and rock and huge gray boulders.
They’d not gone far when Erik put up a hand, stopping her.
She froze, listening.
For a moment, she could only hear the quiet breath of the breeze. Then came the scuff of a boot over earth, the lightest movement of rock.
They held still, listening.
There it was again. Another footstep.
Joni’s? Liz’s?
She opened her mouth to call for her friends, but Erik waved his hand, silencing her.
He was right: they didn’t know who was out there.
They inched forward, peering ahead into the fog, waiting for their eyes to land on something familiar.
Gradually, a figure emerged on the mountain edge. Male. Wearing shorts and hiking boots. A backpack slouched on the floor beside him. He was holding a rope, drawing it slowly through his hands.
“Leif?” Erik said.
Leif’s head snapped around.
Helena’s first thought was Thank God! It’s Leif! But immediately her senses grew alert. There was something startled and tense about his expression—the rapid blink, the way he looked down over the mountain and then away.
Helena knew nothing about climbing—but she could guess that these weren’t the conditions someone would favor. So what was Leif doing out here?
She glanced to Erik, assessing what he made of the situation.
His brow was furrowed as he stared right at Leif.
Then Helena stepped forward, peering into the misted abyss, asking, “Who is down there?”
Leif didn’t answer. He was wearing a harness, a rope in each hand, knees bent, braced, holding the rope steady in his hands.
“Leif?” Erik prompted.
His jaw was working hard, gaze flicking agitatedly between them and the mountain.
Helena leaned further over the edge, but still, the fog revealed nothing. “Hello?” she shouted.
There was silence.
“Who is down there?” she called louder.
Then her name was returned to her: “Helena? Is that you?”
Her stomach lurched. “Liz! Oh my God! Are you hurt? What’s happened?” She swung around to face Leif. “Pull her up!”
Leif didn’t move.
Erik’s eyes were wide, pinned to his brother.
Helena could hear a high, panicked sob coming from the end of the rope. Through the billowing fog, she briefly saw the top of Liz’s head.
“I’m here!” Helena reassured her. “We’ll get you up!” She turned to Leif. “Pull Liz up—NOW!”
“I cannot!” Leif shouted, showing that he held the rope firm but that it was not possible for him to heave her up with muscle power alone. “She must climb!”
“Liz!” she called. “You need to keep climbing, okay? I’m right here! Waiting for you! Just keep going!”
Slowly, Liz’s form began to emerge. Her face was corpse-white, eyes wide with fear. A river of blood ran down one of her legs, soaking into her hiking sock.
“Not far now,” Helena said, encouraging her onward. “Take it steady.”
Liz reached for another section. Helena could see the tremble in her arms as she pulled herself upward, the rope only there as a safety line.
Liz was almost in reaching distance now.
Helena stretched an arm toward her. “Here! Grab on!”
Liz adjusted her feet, pushing herself higher, her fingers letting go of the rock and reaching for Helena.
Their hands met. Liz gripped on tight as Helena helped guide her back onto the mountaintop, while Leif held the rope steady.
“Thank God!” Helena said the moment Liz was on firm ground.
Liz clung to her, her whole body shaking.
“You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
Liz’s body shuddered in her grasp.
“It’s okay, it’s okay . . . ,” she repeated. She helped Liz untie the knotted rope at her waist, telling her, “It’s over now.”
Behind them, Erik was talking to his brother in rapid Norwegian, hands gesticulating wildly.
Leif didn’t answer him—just stepped toward Liz and demanded, “Where’s the cocaine?”
She hunched into herself.
“Where is it, Liz?” Louder.
She shook her head. “I don’t have it.”
“You must!”
“I dropped it! I’m sorry—”
Erik was staring at his brother. His face had lost all its color. “Du?” he said, voice quiet, laced with disbelief.
Leif looked back at him, blinking rapidly.
“No . . . ,” Erik said, hands rising, clasping the back of his orange wool hat, elbows tight to his temples.
“Austin’s been dropping drugs in the lobster pots,” Helena said, mind racing, “and you have been picking them up, haven’t you?”
“I didn’t know about the cocaine. Not to start with,” Leif said. “I was just helping Austin . . . with something.”
Erik’s face was white. “With what?”
“Austin wanted me to clean some money through the lodge. He needed a cash business. The lodge made sense—hikers and tourists passing through, wanting rooms, food, drink. We needed the money. You know what the trade is like—slow as hell. Mum and Dad had run it into the ground. We needed the extra money to pay for the renovations. How else do you think I’ve afforded to keep it going?
I couldn’t let it go to ruin! It’s our home! ”
Helena remembered the way Leif had talked about the lodge in the bar on that first night. There’d been an intensity about him as he’d explained that it was everything to him.
Leif continued, “The laundering was meant to be a one-off—but they wouldn’t let me out, Erik. They keep wanting more and more from me. Not just the laundering—but getting involved in the cocaine.” His voice sounded desperate, weak enough to crack. “They threatened me. Said they’d come after Mum.”
Erik’s eyes widened. “Austin threatened her?”
Leif shook his head. “He’s not the one running things.” He looked at Erik. “It’s his father.”
Erik blinked, a hand running over his face. “Vilhelm?”