Part 23 (2/2)

Tank had to figure out a way to get free. He strained at the cuffs, but even his muscles couldn't move the steel that encased his wrists. He sent a pleading look toward Haley and Libby.

Something crashed in the trees, and Haley jumped. Her face went white. She looked around for a weapon. All Haley had was her walking stick. That would do little to deter a bear bent on finding its next meal.

Chet began to back away. ”I think I'll watch from the safety of the plane. Besides, I want to make sure Brooke doesn't see it.”

The cras.h.i.+ng came again, then a grunt Tank recognized as a bear's. Adrenaline surged. He couldn't die here, not like this. He sent a prayer up for help.

The brush parted, and a big brown bear wandered out. Tank recognized the jagged ear with a feeling of despair. ”Move away slowly,” he told the girls. ”See if you can find a tree, or back into the water.” Browns liked water, but maybe this big guy would back off. Looking at the gaunt animal, he knew his hope for the foolishness it was. This bear was desperate, the most dangerous kind.

The bear dropped to all fours and popped its jaws. It huffed and laid back its ears. ”Get ready,” Tank said. ”It's about to charge.” He backed away slowly. ”Cl.u.s.ter around me so we look bigger to it.” The women moved to either side of him. Oscar began to bark ferociously.

Chet still stood behind the women and had not yet made the safety of the plane. Tank knew the trooper was afraid to move quickly for fear of inviting an attack. Bears sensed weakness as well as they did carrion.

”Do you have your bear spray?” he asked Haley.

”I took it off when I went into the mine,” she whispered. Terror made her voice tremble.

The bear popped its jaws again and charged. ”Don't run, it might be a test charge,” Tank said urgently. Then he saw the way the bear looked directly at them. This was one bruin that wasn't going to veer away. ”Run!” he shouted. He wheeled and shoved Libby and Haley with his chest. He expected to feel claws shredding his back at any moment. He spared a glance over his shoulder and saw another bear charge from the brush. It ran directly at the predatory bear. Miki!

Tank wanted to cheer, but instead he turned and raced toward the plane with the women. If one of them could get to his rifle, they might pull this out yet.

Zing! A bullet buzzed by his head. He ducked and dived into the water and moved around the tail wing of the plane. The women moved around the nose and joined him. ”Get my gun. It's behind the seat.”

Libby nodded and clambered into the plane. She slid feet first back into the water with the rifle in her hand. ”Is it loaded with shot or drugs?”

”Drugs. But they'll drop a man even quicker than they will a bear.” He peered out the end of the plane and saw Chet approaching. ”Don't miss your first shot, Libby,” he said.

”I won't.” She took aim and pressed the trigger. A dart popped from the rifle and dug into Chet's thigh.

He swore and grabbed at it. Chet was trying to move through the water, but his motions slowed. He listed to one side, then crashed to the water. Behind him, the battle of the bears continued. Miki was smaller, but better fed and stronger.

”Get him before he drowns,” Tank said. ”And get the key to these cuffs. I need to help Miki.”

Haley ran forward and managed to flip Chet over onto his back. She supported his head above the water. Libby laid the gun on the floor of the plane and ran to help her.

She fished out the key and handed it to Haley. ”Get Tank unlocked. I'll hold up Chet.”

Haley took the key and rushed to Tank. He turned so his hands faced her, and she unlocked the cuffs. Once free, he grabbed the rifle and ran to the sh.o.r.e. Oscar was going nuts-running in circles, he was barking like they were in a circus act and he was giving them orders. ”Call your dog,” he yelled back to Haley. He didn't want the dachshund to get hurt.

The bears' ferocity was enough to frighten the most stoic man. He tried to aim at the big bear, but Miki kept getting in the way. With a last growl, Miki lunged, and the predator turned tail and ran. Tank aimed a dart into its disappearing flank, and the shot traveled true. The bear disappeared from sight, but he knew he'd find the bear a few feet into the forest.

Miki and Oscar sniffed noses, and then Miki ambled off into the forest. Tank cautiously followed. ”I've got to secure the bear while I can,” he said. ”You two get back in the plane and radio in for help. Call Anchorage and get some troopers out here.”

Haley hesitated. ”Don't go alone, Tank.”

He turned back to her and took her in his arms. ”I'll be okay, Haley. And we have a lot to talk about.” He kissed her quickly, then hurried after the bears. When he reached the forest, he moved cautiously. The old bear was a large mound of reddish brown fur. The drugs had taken it down. He knelt and checked the animal. Dead. The battle with Miki combined with the drugs and its poor condition had finished it off. A kinder end than Chet had planned for them.

Twenty-Eight.

Stalwart buzzed with the news of Trooper Chet Gillespie and his daughter both being taken into custody. Within hours, troopers from Anchorage arrived and began hauling out crates of artifacts from the dig. The Walshes' bodies were going to be exhumed for autopsy. All the tentacles of the plot would be exposed.

Bixby wandered around the scene barking orders. He stopped Tank when no one was looking. ”Looks like I owe you an apology,” he said gruffly. He looked at the ground, and his cheeks were flushed. He finally looked up. ”I'm never going to like you, La.s.siter.”

”I know. But regardless of what you think, I loved Leigh.”

”Not enough to give up anything for her.”

”I thought you said you owed me an apology. This hardly sounds like one.”

Bixby's face reddened. ”You like rubbing it in, don't you? You like making me look like a fool. Don't think I don't know people are snickering at me. But at least I cared enough about Leigh to try to find out the truth.”

”Yeah, you cared about her. And I can thank you for that.”

Bixby regarded him with a suspicious tilt to his eyebrows. ”Are you making fun of me?”

”Nope.” Tank thrust his hands in his pockets. ”I'd better let you get back to work.” A soft answer might turn away wrath, but it was hard to do when he wanted to tell Bixby what he really thought. A small part of him wondered if the trooper was right.

Haley sat in Tank's cabin and looked out the window into the yard. Oscar was curled up on top of Miki's back. She grabbed her camera and stepped to the door. Easing it open, she snapped some pictures, then went back to her seat at the table. Libby handed her a cup of coffee, and she took it with an absentminded nod.

Libby sat in the chair beside her. ”You seem deep in thought. Are you okay?”

”I guess.”

”Want to talk about it?”

Now might be a good time. The film team had gone off to produce a TV special of the last days of bear activist Kipp Nowak, Augusta had flown to Anchorage with Joy to buy the girl some new clothes, and Brooke was down for a nap. This time, nothing could keep the girl awake. Haley could use some woman-to-woman advice before Tank came back from town. ”Tank told me he loved me. Do you think he means it?”

A smile began to play around Libby's mouth. ”I knew it,” she said with a triumphant clench of her fist. ”Why on earth would you even doubt it?”

”He told me during an emotionally charged moment. I thought he might be reacting that way because of Brooke's disappearance.” She ran her hand over the blue-and-white gingham tablecloth to avoid looking at Libby.

”Tank doesn't say things he doesn't mean. Have you two talked since?”

Haley shook her head. ”There's been no time. He had to doc.u.ment the kill and turn over the carca.s.s to the State, give a statement to the troopers. It's just as well. I don't know what to do.” She raised her gaze and directed it at Libby. ”I love him, but I don't know if I can live here, Libby.”

”I thought you got over your fear when you went into the mine.”

”I did, but I'm still a city girl.” She pulled on her s.h.i.+rt. ”Rebecca Beeson silk tees. Joe's jeans. I love shopping and dining out. I like going to plays and museums.

There's nothing like that here.”

”You'd have Tank and Brooke.”

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