Chapter 19 #3
Chen had climbed onto Table Rock and was staring out into the blackness. Except, with those night-vision goggles, he could no doubt still see the same gorgeous view guests enjoyed in the daytime.
With the man’s back to him, Brick moved.
He burst out from behind the trees and ran toward Chen.
The other man spun as soon as he heard the commotion behind him, but Brick was ready. Even as Chen raised the hand holding the pistol, Brick held up his phone, the light from the flashlight app hitting Chen square in the face.
With the night-vision goggles, it would be four hundred times brighter than normal.
Even as he turned his head away from the glaring light, Chen pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. He shot blindly in quick succession.
Pain bloomed on Brick’s arm, but he didn’t slow down. Didn’t stop his advance. He was a split second from dropping his phone and tackling Chen when the man made a fatal mistake.
He took two giant steps backward.
Maybe to get away from the light shining in his eyes. Maybe to try to hide.
Probably because he knew he was fucked.
Whatever the reason, it would be the last thing the man ever did.
Brick watched as his arms pinwheeled frantically in the air as the rock disappeared from under him.
Table Rock was such a great place to sit and enjoy the peacefulness of the area because of where it was situated. On the edge of a drop-off. It wasn’t as dramatic a cliff as where the sitting rock was located…but it was still a good ways up.
As Chen hurtled off the edge of the rock, Brick heard the loud grunts as the man bounced against jagged rocks on his way down.
The sound his body made as he hit the first narrow ledge, then the second, then landed on the sharp field of boulders at the bottom, probably around twenty feet below, was unmistakable.
Brick’s adrenaline was pumping through his bloodstream as he ran to the edge of the rock and carefully looked down. He could see nothing but darkness.
“Fuck,” he muttered. He was pretty sure no one could survive a fall like Chen just had and walk away, but he’d witnessed more than one situation where a person should’ve been killed instantly and wasn’t—including his own.
The darkness prevented him from seeing anything. Realizing he still had his phone in his hand, Brick pointed it over the edge of the rock through the shadows below. The light wasn’t powerful enough to illuminate any farther than the first ledge.
A chilling satisfaction spread through Brick at seeing the dark stain on the rock, but an injured man could still be a danger. Brick knew that better than most people.
As he debated what to do next—make his way to the bottom to ensure Chen wouldn’t be a threat to Alaska or anyone else, ever again, or head back to the bunker—he heard a sound behind him.
Without thought, Brick moved. He dove to the left, away from the ledge, and into the bushes. His first thought was that Chen had somehow made it back up and was about to ambush him.
Then he recognized the whispered command to “hold.”
Reinforcements had arrived.
“Tiny?” he asked quietly, still not convinced Chen was really dead.
“It’s us,” his friend said. “Where are you?”
Brick emerged from the bushes.
“Are you all right?” Pipe asked. “We heard shots.”
“I’m good,” he said.
“Did he run off? Which way?” Spike asked urgently.
In response, Brick turned and pointed over the edge of Table Rock.
“Damn,” Tiny breathed.
Brick quickly explained what happened. “Do you have a light? My flashlight app isn’t strong enough to see all the way to the bottom.”
Tiny stepped up to the edge of the rock and got down on his knees to be safe, clicking on his high-powered flashlight. The four men peered over the edge at the same time.
Brick sighed in relief at the sight that greeted him.
Yong Chen lay at the bottom of the drop-off. His body contorted in an unnatural position, his back obviously broken beyond repair. He still had the night-vision goggles over his eyes, and the pistol he’d been holding was lying about a dozen feet from his body, amongst the boulders.
They waited a heartbeat, trying to see if the man moved or made any kind of sound. After a minute or so, Pipe said, “He’s dead.”
“We need to go down there, make sure,” Spike added.
“I’ll contact the sheriff,” Tiny offered as he got off his knees and turned to Brick. “Fuck, man, you’re bleeding,” he said with a frown.
Brick looked down at his arm, and in the light from the flashlight Tiny was holding, saw the sleeve of his shirt was soaked. Now that he’d noticed it, the pain began to register.
He ignored it. “I have to get back to Alaska.”
“You need to get that arm looked at,” Pipe disagreed.
“My woman’s sitting in a metal box, exactly like the one she was forced into when she was kidnapped and endured for days. I need to get to Alaska,” Brick bit out.
“Right, at least let me wrap it real quick,” Spike said calmly.
He was already reaching for the hem of the T-shirt he was wearing. He cut off a wide strip with the KBAR knife he always carried and had it wrapped tightly around Brick’s upper arm inside of two minutes.
“There. At least now you won’t bleed to death on your way back to her,” he said grimly.
“I’m coming with you,” Pipe said.
“No,” Brick said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know what condition she’s going to be in when I get there.”
“All the more reason for me to go,” Pipe argued.
“She’s not going to want you to see her if she’s freaked. She’s got a lot of pride, and while I think she’s the bravest person I know, I still don’t want to do anything that might make her ashamed of her reaction.”
Pipe sighed. “Fine. But you need to keep us updated. Call us the second you get there, and when you’re on your way back to the lodge.”
Brick didn’t miss how Pipe hadn’t insisted they return to Table Rock.
It would be impossible to keep Alaska’s name or Brick’s role out of what happened here tonight.
They’d have to explain why Chen was there, what his plans were.
But thanks to Elizabeth and her very thorough research into the dark web—and the file of everything she’d found, which Brick had no doubt was already sitting in their email—they had more than enough evidence to prove that Chen wasn’t the innocent potential investor he’d portrayed himself to be.
Not only that, all the men who’d paid Chen to spend time with Alaska needed to be tracked down and punished. It was likely the fallout from tonight would continue on for quite a while, and unfortunately, Alaska would most likely have to tell her story many times in the coming days and weeks.
But Tiny and the others would make sure the sheriff saw the situation for what it was. The night-vision goggles, the gun, the way Chen’s body had landed, Brick’s injury…it all pointed to self-defense on Brick’s part.
He nodded at his friends, grateful they were there to have his back, and turned to make his way through the woods toward Alaska.
He used the flashlight app and stayed on the trails, which allowed him to move much faster than before.
When he got to the area of the bunker, Brick took the time to turn off the light and study the area with all his senses.
Everything was as he’d left it. The ground around the bunker hadn’t been disturbed.
No sounds came from either the bunker or the forest around him.
But the pit in Brick’s stomach didn’t dissipate.
He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had Alaska in his arms and he knew she was all right, mentally and physically.
He hurried over to the lid and pried it open. He stared down into the hole—and the first thing he saw was Alaska’s upturned face looking back at him.
The relief that coursed through his veins made him momentarily unable to move or speak.
Luckily, Alaska didn’t have the same problem. She scrambled to her feet and flew up the ladder so fast, it was all Brick could do to catch her when she threw herself at him. He went back on a foot, then his legs crumpled under him.
He vaguely heard Mutt’s nails on the rungs, heard him running around them excitedly a moment later, but Brick’s attention was on Alaska.
“Are you all right?” he asked, attempting to get her to look at him. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck and she was holding him with a death grip.
“Al? Talk to me. Was it awful? Shit, of course it was. I’m so sorry.
I didn’t want to leave you, but you were right.
I needed to. Tell me you aren’t scarred for life.
I think Henley’s still at The Refuge, we’ll go get her and you can talk to her.
This isn’t going to break you, you’re too strong for that. ”
He felt more than heard her take a long, deep inhalation, then she picked up her head and looked into his eyes. “You love me, and you came back for me as soon as you could.”
“Damn straight, I do, and I did,” he breathed. The relief he felt was almost overwhelming. He could see the panic in her eyes, but even as he watched, it began to fade.
“I kept saying that over and over. I’m not saying I want to spend time in one of your secret bunkers again anytime soon, but the longer I was in there, and the more I reminded myself that you were coming back, the better it got.
I wasn’t in a train car headed to who knows where.
I was in a safe place. Your safe place. The situation was completely different. ”
It was and it wasn’t, but Brick didn’t contradict her. “You’re amazing,” he said. “I’m in awe of you.”
She gave him a small smile and shook her head. “Don’t be. More than once I contemplated leaving and trying to find you. Once, I even climbed up the ladder and cracked open the lid.”
“But you didn’t leave.”
She shook her head. “No. One, because Mutt wasn’t happy with me at all. He kept tugging at my pants and growling, trying to get me to sit back down.”
“He takes his guarding seriously,” Brick said, reaching out and petting the dog for the first time since returning. Mutt leaned forward and licked Brick’s face, making Alaska giggle. Brick turned back to her. “What’s the other reason you didn’t leave?”
“Because I could open the lid to the bunker,” she said simply.
“When I was on that train, behind that false wall, there was no way out. I was trapped, no matter how much I kicked and pounded. As soon as that lid lifted…I realized that I wasn’t stuck.
Just having the option to leave if I wanted calmed me enough to sit back down.
Again, I’m not saying I want to come out here and camp in that thing on a regular basis, but knowing I was able to get out was a huge game changer. ”
Brick closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. She was in his arms. Safe. And it didn’t seem as if she’d had a huge mental setback because he’d left her alone. He couldn’t put into words how much that meant to him.
“What happened?” she asked softly. “Did you find him?”
Brick took in a huge breath and lifted his head. “Yeah. He won’t be a threat to you, or anyone else, ever again.”
She closed her eyes and her breath hitched, but she quickly got control over her emotions. Her eyes popped open and she frowned. “Are you going to be in trouble?”
“In trouble?” he asked in confusion.
“Yeah, for killing him?”
“No. First of all, the asshole was armed and I wasn’t. Second, he was trespassing with the intent of kidnapping you. Third…I didn’t kill him.”
Alaska frowned. “You didn’t?”
“No. He fell off the edge of Table Rock. Backward. I didn’t even touch him.”
“Wow…um…are you sure he’s dead?”
Brick wasn’t surprised she asked. Hell, he’d wondered the same thing. “I’m sure,” he replied. “But to be one hundred percent sure, Tiny and the others will hike down there and check things out.”
“Okay.”
The relief in that one word was easy to hear.
She started to wrap her arms around him once more, but froze when her hand brushed against his upper arm. “What’s that…?” she asked, as she felt the wetness of his makeshift bandage.
“A graze. I’m fine,” Brick reassured her.
“What? You were shot?” she asked.
“Yeah. Used my phone flashlight to blind him, since he was wearing night-vision goggles, and he got a few shots off as he was trying to get away from me. That’s how he fell over the edge. But only one shot grazed me.”
To his surprise, Alaska scrambled off his lap and stood. “Get up! We need to go! Get back to the cabin. Call an ambulance. Get you looked at!”
His heart melted. “I’m okay,” he tried to reassure her.
“No. You were shot. Shot! You are not okay. You’re bleeding, Drake. I felt it. We’re going. Right now! Back home. Come on, get up!”
Brick slowly stood, but instead of moving, he put his hands on her face and tilted it up to his own. “I promise I’m okay, love. I barely even feel it. I was too worried about getting back here to you.”
“Which is another reason we need to go. You could have a delayed reaction or something. Pass out on the trail. I can’t exactly give you a blood transfusion in the middle of the forest, Drake. I’m fine. Can we please just go?”
“Yeah, Al, we can go.”
Apparently worrying about him seemed to snap her out of whatever residual fear she might’ve had about being left behind in a big metal box like the one in her nightmares.
Brick leaned down and kissed her softly.
He knew when they got back to the lodge, they were in for a long night.
The sheriff would want to talk to them both, he needed to make sure their guests were all okay, and Brick had no doubt Alaska would want to fuss over them as well.
He needed to check out the damage to the POW cabin and check in with the rest of his friends. And to make Alaska feel better, he’d even let the paramedics check out his arm…after they made sure she was all right.
So he took a minute to just be with Alaska. He hugged her to his chest and stood there for a long moment, more thankful than he could put into words that everything had turned out the way it had.
It was Alaska who stirred first. “Come on, Drake, I’m serious—we need to get you back.”
He nodded, closed the lid to the bunker, made sure it was undetectable to anyone walking by once more, then wrapped his fingers around hers and started back in the direction of The Refuge.