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She could do this. And as soon as she saw Sam Coburn, she’d run into his arms—or maybe skate, if she was still on this glacier—and tell him that no matter how much he’d pissed her off by shutting her out of the case, well…she was still furious with him, because look how well that had worked out. She was more in the case than he was.
But along with the fury were many other emotions…gratitude that he was trying to protect her, longing to see his little quirk of a smile again, fear that she never would.
Face it—when or if she saw him again, who knew which emotion would burst out first.
39
For once, Agent Bradley listened to Sam. He ordered the team that had futilely searched the Chilkoot property to divert to the secret Ice Falls road, with more military helos on their way for backup.
In the meantime, Sam was a passenger for the first time in a long time, whisked across ridges and valleys and forests by two U.S. Marines in a forest-camouflage helicopter.
As they flew, they listened to the raid over a crackling military radio signal. The updates came in short bursts interrupted by gunfire or angry voices.
“We’re taking fire!”
“We have six civilians defending a small camp. There’s someone out on the ice.”
“Damn! A charge went off out there. Possible injury.”
A few moments of gunfire, voices shouting, heavy breathing. Sam wished he had a weapon with him, though this kind of gunfight was far beyond his experience.
“We got ‘em on the run! Too bad there’s nowhere to go.”
“Shit, there’s a guy here says he’s FBI. We got someone undercover here?”
“No.” Sam heard Agent Bradley chime in from another helicopter. “No one’s undercover, tell them to arrest him like everyone else.”
The copilot relayed that message, and by the time they found a spot to land in the clearing in the woods near the Ice Falls, it was all over.
The camp was located just east of the falls, right where Sam had theorized it would be. It was nothing much, nothing that would be visible from above—a jagged granite overhang, a clearing littered with boulders that had been rolled across miles of mountains by the glacier. Sam imagined it would be easy to make everything they’d brought up here look like a boulder, or a stray chunk of ice.
As for climbers or other glacier hikers, they generally used the more established trail to the west. If anyone had seen anything…well, there might be some “accidental” deaths that should be investigated.
His plane was nowhere to be seen. No Molly, no Elias. No plane-jacker.
“We seized an unknown number of explosive devices, a bunch of remote detonators, and a buttload of weapons,” reported the lead ATF agent. “That’s our unofficial count, obviously. We think at least two charges have already been set on the icefall. We arrested six suspects, four men and two women. They’re not saying much.” He waved a hand at a military Jeep covered in mud. The suspects, hands in zip-ties, all sat on the ground next to it.
Sam recognized Soraya and Agent Useless, but none of the others. “Can I talk to those two? They might know where my missing plane is. Two civilians are also missing.”
The agent consulted briefly with the supervisor in his earpiece, then nodded at Sam. “Five minutes. Then we’re taking them to Blackbear.”
Agent Useless—whose actual name was Agent Euston, Sam reminded himself—must have put up a fight. His head was lolling to the side, and he was barely conscious. Just as useless as ever. Sam decided to focus on Soraya.
He crouched next to her. Her strawberry-blond hair was in a braid, and she wore snow pants and a hand-knit sweater. Her eyes lifted to meet his, and he could barely recognize the hardworking woman who’d talked about her babies so affectionately. She stared at him stonily, as if his existence was of no interest to her.
“Where’s Molly and Elias?” he asked.
Surprise flashed across her face. He knew what that meant.
“So you didn’t mean to take Molly. That was a mistake. You just wanted Elias back.”
She lifted one shoulder. “If she got in the way, that’s her problem.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “You obviously don’t know Molly. Once she gets involved, you better watch out.”
Her gaze slid to the side. “She’s just an outsider. She doesn’t matter.”
“See, that’s what I don’t understand about you Chilkoots. Do you really think you can survive without anyone else? You intended to block yourselves off…and then what? What about supplies and food? I’ve been delivering groceries to you for two years, and I know I’m not the only pilot who does. You people are so full of shit.”
