Page 23

TWENTY-THREE

Tiikaan stared at the gun pointing between him and Merritt and tightened his grip on Merritt’s backpack strap. Why had Merritt given the weapon to Nolan? Oh yeah, because who would’ve guessed the uncle was the psychopath?

Tiikaan clenched his jaw and raised his gaze to meet Nolan’s. If he was going to die, he wanted death to look him in the eye. Sure, he’d always thought his battle with life would be with a grizzly or a plane crash.

He never imagined it would be looking in the wild eyes of a crazed lunatic.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why.” Nolan’s bored voice shot anger through Tiikaan, especially when the man continued in a false whining tone. “Why are you doing this?”

Merritt sucked in a sob, her body trembling against his hand holding her pack strap. Tiikaan moved closer. Everything in him wanted to put himself between the gun and her .

Nolan shook his head. “Stay.”

Tiikaan stopped.

Nolan smirked. “Good dog.”

Tiikaan’s eyes narrowed, and he barely stifled the growl in his throat. He wanted to rip into Nolan’s throat and tear his gloating head from his shoulders.

But if Tiikaan didn’t figure out a solution and fast, both he and Merritt would end in the same fate as her father. At least now they knew who had betrayed her.

He darted his eyes around the cavern. There wasn’t anywhere he could push her behind, not with Nolan positioned in front of the columns of ice they’d just passed through.

Tiikaan doubted he could charge Nolan and get the gun. His hold on the weapon was too steady and sure.

Nolan took a step forward. Merritt stumbled back. Tiikaan followed, pulling her to a stop before she slipped into the water. He tried to scan the water’s edge to see if there was something they could hide behind like the columns, but all he saw was black.

“Now, because I think you deserve to know the truth before you die, I’m going to answer the insipid question.” Nolan waved his free hand like a magnanimous ruler.

“You mean your insipid question.” Merritt’s voice trembled, but it was more anger than fear. “I know why you did it, you greedy ba––”

“Ahh, ahh, ahh. Language, pumpkin.” Nolan paced in front of them, and Tiikaan watched for an opening. “Your sanctimonious father––”

“You mean, your brother? The one who would do anything for you?” Merritt shot back .

“Had become so wrapped up in his ‘clean mining’ high horse.” Nolan continued like Merritt hadn’t interrupted him. “It was becoming a problem, especially when he realized that the reports on the graphite mine might have been tampered with.”

So, Dr. Erikson had been right. Nolan turned away from them as he paced, and Tiikaan prepared to charge.

When Nolan turned back around with a gleam in his eye as he looked at Tiikaan and a smirk on his lips, Tiikaan knew there’d be no getting a drop on Nolan.

“And once he looked into those, it was just a matter of time before he looked elsewhere, and that would’ve been detrimental to me. Joni and I had worked too hard to have everything ruined.”

Nolan shrugged. “It seems a plane crash in Alaska isn’t all that difficult to arrange, though I had planned on your demise to be different. Can’t have questions raised with two similar deaths, now can we?”

Nolan held his arms wide as he took in the area. “The crash and this cave are so much better than I could have planned. Hard to be suspicious of the grief-stricken survivor.”

Maybe Tiikaan couldn’t get the drop on Nolan, but he could give Merritt time to run. Or he could wrestle the gun from Nolan, even with a bullet wound.

He knew better than most that animals don’t die right away.

Unless they’re shot through the heart.

Then he’d be useless, and Merritt would definitely be dead. He glanced behind him at the water, his heart thrashing against his ribs and up his throat .

“So, what?” Tiikaan focused back on Nolan. “You just planned to hold your breath and wait for the right time to pounce?”

He pushed his hand against Merritt’s collarbone on each word of “hold your breath” and prayed she got the clue.

“I’m trying to have a conversation with my niece.” Nolan glared, then pointed the pistol at Tiikaan’s chest. “Why don’t you see your way out?”

In one motion, Tiikaan pinned Merritt tight against him and fell backward off the edge, into the icy water as the explosion from the barrel echoed through the cavern. Piercing cold surrounded him with a splash, and the need to gasp almost had him sucking water into his lungs.

He pushed his arm between the strap and Merritt’s collarbone and gripped the other strap so that he wouldn’t be pulled from her.

They broke the surface, Nolan’s yell of rage the only sound as the water rushed them away. Tiikaan’s headlamp bounced off the edge of the cavern where the water disappeared beneath the glacier, giving him only a split second to warn Merritt.

“Big breath.” He filled his lungs and was swallowed by the deep.

Darkness engulfed them as the glacial water swept Tiikaan and Merritt beneath the ice. His muscles screamed in protest as he fought to keep his grip on her backpack straps, the current threatening to tear them apart.

The freezing water stabbed at his skin like a thousand needles, each second stealing more of his warmth. His lungs burned, desperate for air.

Tiikaan’s heart pounded against his ribs, each beat a warning of their dwindling time. He pulled Merritt closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. If they were going to die, they’d go together.

A faint glow appeared ahead. Hope surged through him as they burst into a small air pocket. Tiikaan gasped, dragging in precious oxygen. He felt Merritt’s chest heave against him as she did the same.

“Hold on,” he managed to rasp before the current yanked them under once more.

The relentless flow battered them against jagged ice formations. Tiikaan’s body absorbed most of the impacts, shielding Merritt as best he could. Pain blossomed across his back and shoulders, but he refused to let go.

Another air pocket.

Another desperate gulp of air.

Then back into the frigid depths.

Time lost all meaning as they tumbled through the watery labyrinth. Tiikaan’s limbs grew numb, his movements sluggish. Still, he clung to Merritt.

His vision began to dim, black spots dancing at the edges. The need for air became all-consuming, threatening to override his instincts. Just as he felt his grip on consciousness slipping, a larger opening appeared above them.

Tiikaan burst through the surface, gulping in air as he pulled Merritt up beside him. The roar of the river filled his ears as they were swept downstream, icy banks rushing past in a blur.

“Kick!” he shouted, his voice hoarse.

Merritt didn’t answer. He angled them toward the shore, fighting against the current with every ounce of strength he had left.

A dark shape loomed ahead. Before Tiikaan could react, they slammed into a submerged boulder. Pain exploded across his side, and he nearly lost his grip on Merritt. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his hold and pushed off the rock, propelling them closer to the bank.

His muscles screamed in protest, each movement a battle against the numbing cold. Tiikaan’s strokes became weaker, less coordinated. Just as despair began to set in, he spotted a fallen tree stretching into the river.

“There!” he gasped, using the last of his strength to maneuver them toward it.

They crashed into the branches, the impact nearly knocking the wind out of him. Tiikaan’s fingers, stiff and unresponsive, scrabbled for purchase on the slick bark. He dragged himself and Merritt along the trunk, inch by agonizing inch.

The shore was so close now, but his body threatened to betray him. His arms shook violently, muscles on the verge of giving out. Tiikaan clenched his jaw, forcing himself to keep moving. He couldn’t let go. Not now. Not when Merritt’s life depended on him.

With one final, herculean effort, Tiikaan hauled them both onto the muddy bank. He collapsed onto his side, chest heaving, the world spinning around him as exhaustion threatened to pull him under.

Tiikaan rolled to his side, his heart seizing when he saw Merritt lying motionless beside him .

“No,” he rasped, yanking his arm free from her backpack strap. He tore off his own pack, his frozen fingers fumbling with the clasps.

“Merritt!”

His voice cracked as he lifted her limp form, quickly removing her backpack. Her lips were blue, her skin deathly pale. No breath stirred from her parted lips.

Panic clawed at his throat as he positioned her, ready to start CPR. But before he could begin, Merritt’s body jerked. She sucked in a startled gasp, her eyes flying open. Relief flooded through him as she rolled to her side, violently expelling water from her lungs.

Tiikaan’s hand shook as he brushed her wet hair back from her face, his muscles trembling from a combination of exhaustion and bone-deep cold. The storm had subsided, but a biting wind whipped around them, chilling him to his core.

Merritt continued to cough and retch, her body racked with spasms as she purged the river water from her system. Tiikaan murmured soft words of encouragement, his hand never leaving her back.

When the last of her heaves subsided, Tiikaan gently pulled Merritt into his lap, cradling her against his chest. She shivered violently, her teeth chattering.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. “You’re safe now.”

He hated lying to her.