Fate and Destiny (13 page)

Although he obviously
didn’t like the idea, Shadow backed from the door enough to allow
Andrew to slip out of the cabin.

Two men got out of the
truck. The passenger was a bear of a man, outweighing Andrew by at
least a hundred pounds and towering over him by a good four inches.
Through the thick coat, his forearms looked like tree trunks. His
shaved head sat squarely on his shoulders, obliterating any neck
that may have existed.

The driver was closer to
Andrew’s height but he was scrawny and needed a haircut and a shave
to control the wiry black hair sprouting from the neck up. Andrew
noted the smaller man wore a jacket, unbuttoned and open to the
biting air. Warnings flashing through Andrew’s mind as he leaned
against the closed door, careful not to move too far from the cabin
and alert the kidnappers that he couldn’t walk very
well.

“
Good morning, gentlemen.”
Tipping his head and waving, Andrew hoped he sounded happy to see
the strangers. “You boys out clearing the roads sure does help
those of us who have been stuck up here.”

Andrew didn’t miss the
glance passing between the men as they walked to the front of the
snowplow. The thinner man was quick to respond.

“
Well we figured we got
the plow so we might as well put it to use. Are there a lot of
people up here in these cabins?” Brillohead was trying too hard to
act nonchalant with his question.

“
Well, I’m not sure. A lot
of them may very well be occupied with Valentine’s Day coming up. I
arrived the night before the storm hit hard and I haven’t been out
of the cabin since, except to let the dog out.”

Although Shadow calmed,
Andrew could still hear him growling and occasionally emitting a
worried woof. In Andrew’s mind, time started ticking away. Destiny
would begin to panic soon if he didn’t open the cellar
door.

“
So you been in the cabin
for the last few days huh?” At Andrew’s nod, Brillohead continued.
“We, ah, well we heard some girl came up missing and there were
some saying she might have ended up this way. We thought it would
be our duty to ask if anyone’s seen a girl around.” Brillohead
stared intently at Andrew.

“
A lost girl up here? Poor
thing wouldn’t survive up here with the storms we’ve had. You two
are the first people I’ve seen since I stopped for gas last week.
Just been me and the dog out here. Got in an argument with my wife
so I decided to let her cool her heels for awhile.”

Grinning at the men, Andrew
built on his lie.

“
I’d rather be stuck up
here in a blizzard with my dog than sit home and listen to her
bitch.”

The big guy didn’t say
anything, but his eyes flickered back and forth from Andrew to the
other man. Brillohead kept his eyes directly on Andrew, suspicion
coursing through them. He finally pulled his jacket closed and
zipped it up to the neck.

“
Well, if you happen to
see a young lady of about twenty five or so with long light brown
hair, could you give me a call? I’ll write down the number for you.
Her daddy is worried sick she took off without a word.”

Brillohead went back around
the driver’s side of the truck, opening the door to locate paper
and a pen from a pocket in the sun visor. Andrew could hear his
Destiny clock ticking away faster and faster. Big Guy didn’t move,
watching Andrew with a blank look in his eyes and his mouth
slightly open.

Before Brillohead could
return to the front of the truck and approach Andrew with the
paper, unexpected noises rolled up the driveway. Halfway around the
truck, Brillohead stopped walking.

Andrew peered down the
drive as both men at the truck turned to see what was coming. A
brown and white Ford Bronco with a row of various lights across the
top and SHERIFF emblazoned across the side appeared around the bend
between the trees.

Andrew
didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All he could think about was
the deafening
 
tick, tick, tick
 
echoing through his
head.

The sheriff parked near the
truck, leaving plenty of room for the men to turn around and leave
when they were ready.

Sheriff Matthew Parker
stepped from the truck, covering his bald head with his department
issued hat, keeping his eyes on all three men standing before
him.

“
Morning fellas. Saw you
boys clearing the road and thought I’d come up to check on our
residents. Haven’t seen a one of them in the past few
days.”

As he shuffled over the
snow, the sheriff kept his attention on the men at the truck,
except for a quick nod in Andrew's direction.

“
Can’t say either of you
look familiar. You local boys?”

Big Guy nervously split his
attention between Brillohead and the sheriff, who now stood near
the driver’s side of the truck, only a few feet in front of his
buddy. Brillohead remained focused on the policeman, a friendly
smile thick on his face.

“
No, Sir. We’re actually
not from around here, but we heard there was a lot of closed roads
out this way so we thought we could help.”

Nodding and smiling,
Brillohead maintained a non-threatening attitude.

Andrew gave a quick wave,
not moving from the door.

“
Morning, Sheriff
Parker.”

Shadow was
no longer barking or growling, and the cabin sat
silently.
 
Tick, tick, tick.

“
These gentlemen were just
asking if I had seen a young lady who’s missing. You know anything
about it?”

Big Guy turned towards
Andrew, the blank look slowly replaced by anger and fear.
Brillohead only grinned and nodded more, interjecting into the
conversation before the sheriff could reply.

“
Uh, yes, sir. We came out
this way looking for the daughter of a friend of ours. Seems she
ran away from home and headed this way, so we thought we could help
him out and clean the roads while we looked for her. Never know
what kind of snow drifts you’re gonna come across in these
mountains with the storms you’ve had.”

Finally making a furtive
glance to Big Guy, Brillohead seemed to suddenly notice his friend
was beginning to sweat. At least Andrew could stop worrying Big Guy
should close his mouth before his tongue froze solid.

Sheriff Parker didn’t take
his gaze from either man. He stood positioned to see them both in
case either of them made any sudden moves. Something about them
hadn’t set right with him since he saw them on the main road in
town. He also found it strange they didn’t go up any other mountain
passes to clear the roads.

“
That’s interesting.
Haven’t heard a thing about any missing girl. If she’s lost up in
these hills, we probably won’t find anything ‘til summer. Maybe I
should call out some reinforcements to help you look?”

Brillohead still didn’t
show any signs of cracking, but Big Guy was about to wet himself,
if he hadn’t already.

Brillohead's grin slipped
just a bit in the corners. He began moving back into the cab of the
truck.

“
Actually, her daddy
doesn’t want to make a big deal about it. He’s just too
overprotective if you ask me. A girl in her twenties should be able
to do what she wants to. Anyway, we really got to get going.
There’s a lot more roads to clear before we head home.”

Taking his cue from
Brillohead, Big Guy finally discovered his feet, slipping in the
snow until he was sitting safely in the passenger seat of the
truck.

Andrew and Sheriff Parker
each gave a friendly wave as the truck turned in Andrew’s front
yard, drove down the driveway and disappeared around the bend. Both
men listened as the truck came to the main road on the mountain,
then turned to go back down the mountain instead of continuing to
clear uphill. The man in uniform finally turned his attention back
to Andrew.

“
Well that was certainly
an interesting load of bullshit. You gonna invite me in and offer
me a cup of coffee? Or should I get a warrant?”

With the
departure of the thugs, Andrew nearly slumped to the ground with
relief.
 
Tick,
tick, tick.

“
Come on in Matt. You
aren’t going to believe this one.”

Matt headed towards Andrew
with a relaxed easy stride.

“
Hell, Andrew, I’ve known
you your whole life. You can’t shock me anymore.”

“
I bet I can. Oh, by the
way, one of us might get shot when I open the door. The way my
luck’s been lately, it’ll probably be me.” The shocked look on
Matt’s face was almost worth getting shot again. Almost.

Coming closer, Matt noticed
the limp as Andrew finally turned and opened the door. Entering the
cabin, he was about to ask what Andrew tripped over, but all
thought left him as he saw the woman sunk half-way into the floor
in the kitchen.

Cellar door open, standing
on a stair, leaning forwards with her elbows propped up on the
floorboards, the rifle in her hands was pointed directly at him.
The dog lying at the side of the hole in the floor regarded them
with a yawn and a couple of thumps of his tail.

 
 
“
I told you,
Matt.” Andrew said quietly before speaking to the woman holding the
gun. “Destiny, put it down. It’s just me. Matt, take off your
hat.”

Complying with the
instructions, Matt took off the hat, rubbing his hand over his head
to warm it and remove any lint that accumulated. The woman slowly
lowered the weapon, but she didn’t emerge from the cellar
completely. Her lovely green eyes grew large and
haunted.

“
Oh Lord, you brought the
sheriff up here.”

After a fleeting glance at
Matt, who just looked plain old confused, Andrew limped towards
Destiny. Offering her his hand to help her up the remaining stairs
from the cellar, Andrew was not surprised when she didn’t take it,
only looked at him with hurt shining in her eyes. Shaking his head,
he grabbed her elbow and helped her out anyway.

“
It’s not what you think
Destiny. I didn’t bring him up here.”

With his leg aching, Andrew
tried to embrace Destiny. If not for comfort, then at least for
support. Stiffly, she didn’t return the affection, instead, keeping
her eyes on the man in the uniform. Stepping back slightly, but not
letting her go, Andrew turned to the sheriff.

“
Sheriff Parker, meet the
runaway who didn’t run away. Destiny, meet my cousin
Matt.”

14.

Matt stepped forward to
shake Destiny’s hand, but dropped it back to his side when she
ignored his presence, instead turning back to Andrew.

“
Your cousin? The sheriff
here is your cousin?”

She thought about pulling
the rifle back up and shooting him in the other leg. With fury
pounding in her ears, she almost didn’t hear what he was saying in
his overly calm voice.

“
Yes honey, my cousin. If
we can just sit down and relax a little, I can straighten this all
out. I’ll get everyone a cup of coffee and we can talk.”

Debating whether to let him
limp around the kitchen serving them or allow him to sit while she
did it, Destiny was undecided. As Andrew opened cabinets and took
down cups, Destiny let her heart take control and helped Andrew
prepare the coffee.

Matt took the only
available chair near the fireplace while Andrew and Destiny sat on
the edge of the bed. Shadow contentedly lay on the floor in the
middle of all three. Andrew scanned the room, not sure where to
start. He decided it was probably best to alleviate Destiny’s fears
first before she threw her coffee cup at one of them.

“
Matt is my cousin and he
is the sheriff. I grew up not too far from here. I have a lot of
family around here. That’s why I pushed for this location to be
built into a recreation area. The economy here needs
it.”

He turned his attention to
Matt.

“
I am interested to know
why you decided to come up the mountain at that particular
moment?”

“
I heard you over the
radio asking for help. I answered but you didn’t come back and
respond so I figured you didn’t have very good reception up here.
The message that came through was garbled with static. Just
something about someone being hurt and needing help.”

His eyes scanned back and
forth from Andrew to Destiny.

“
I even called your cell
phone and left several messages for you to call me when you could.
I was worried since I didn’t hear from you so I’ve been trying to
get some of the plows up here, but a lot of the other passes around
here have more residents and older people who need access more than
you. So, the first time I see someone coming up your way with a
plow, I come up on their heels. I was relieved to see you standing
there at the front door. So what was the deal with the armed thugs
anyway?”

“
They were hoping I had a
spare body lying around they could claim. I only hope they bought
my story that there was nobody here except the dog and me. How did
you know they were armed?”