Part 15

"Could we climb a tree?" Kerry asked doubtfully.

"No, we'd be trapped. Do you see anything that looks like a trail?" Peter asked, eyes searching their surroundings. The trees were old pines; most of the green needles were high off the ground. At their level, dead branches poked out, snapping loudly if broken, bruising already stressed bodies as they did so. The underbrush was thick, but it wouldn't hide their presence. It was still early spring and leaves weren't out yet; there was no cover to hide behind.

"That could be a deer trail," Kerry said, pointing at a thread of a path, "but if it is, it probably only winds around through the woods and doesn't go anywhere."

"It's better than nothing," Peter said, propelling Kerry down the trail in front of him. He reached back and twisted some of the thicker brambles over the place they had entered the trail, hoping that it would confuse their pursuers. He wiped blood from the resulting scratches on his shirt as he followed Kerry. They were practically bent over double as they followed the narrow path into the undergrowth. Peter listened for sounds of pursuit, but couldn't hear an above the sound of his own movement.

"Try not to make so much noise," Kerry whispered over her shoulder. "If you kind of slide your feet along, you're less likely to break twigs." Peter tried it and found she was right. Moving as rapidly as they could, they made their way down the trail. Not far ahead of them, a clearing appeared.

Crouching so that their heads were no higher than the brush around them, they peered out into the clearing. At one side was a small pond, obviously the deer's destination. On the other side was the back of a structure.

"I think it's a cabin. Do we go for it?" Kerry breathed.

Peter looked around. There was no sound of movement, other than their own. "Yeah, we do," he answered. Not that they had stopped, he could hear faint echoes of voices coming from somewhere behind them, closer than he would like.

Feeling like the deer that used this trail, they ran across the clearing, keeping low. In mutual accord, they passed the part of the house that faced the clearing and ran around to the other side, in the shadow of the woods.

The door was locked. Peter was checking out the windows, trying to see which would be the easiest way to break in when Kerry held up a key. "It was under the flower pot," she explained, inserting it into the lock. The door swung open and they slipped inside. Kerry relocked the door behind them.

The cabin consisted of one large room downstairs, furnished with mismatched furniture. There was a small kitchen off to the right, and a ladder leading to a second floor. A bedroom, separated by a thin curtain was to the left. Through the doorway, Peter could see bunk beds built into the walls. Kerry scrambled up the ladder, wincing as she grasped the rungs.

"Nothing up here but beds," she called down, looking around the room. More bunk beds were built into the rafters. There were a few trunks situated around the room. Moving to the first one, she threw it open and started tossing blankets and linens onto the nearest bed, hoping to find something useful inside.

Peter was doing the same downstairs, opening drawers and looking for something, anything, useful. He found games, cards, flashlights, and canned food, but no weapons. There were three cans of warm cola. He opened and drank one, knowing the liquid sugar would help restore his dangerously depleted energy level. He put the other two aside for Kerry. A gun rack was mounted over the fireplace, but there was no sign of any rifles anywhere. He found the broom and shovel to a fireplace set, but no poker. Behind the couch, he found the closest thing to a weapon in the house—a baseball bat.

Kerry came down to the second floor with a tennis racket. "This was the only thing I could find," she said hopelessly. "There's no phone either."

"I noticed," Peter replied, running one hand through his hair. "Well, we have two options; we try to hide here, or we leave, follow the road and hope we don't run into Straker's men."

"Do you think they're close?" Kerry asked.

Peter shrugged, not wanting to lie. "I heard them, but who knows how far sound carries in the woods."

"Not far enough," Kerry said glumly. "I don't like being stuck here, though. If we keep moving, maybe they won't catch up."

"We can hope," Peter said with a sigh. Picking up the baseball bat, he led the way out of the cabin, only to be stopped by the ghost of a sound on the other side of the wall.

Part 16

"Are we almost there?" Kim asked. "Wherever 'there' is," she muttered under her breath. With every minute that passed, she couldn't help but feel that her sister was getting further and further away, no matter what Caine said. Frustration made her grumble. Maggie came back to push under her hand. Absently, she rubbed the dog's ears as they walked.

"We are…there." Caine replied softly, looking through the bare trees. Kim followed his glance and saw two men dressed just like the men at the house creeping through a break in the woods ahead. One was speaking quietly into a cellular phone.

Her heart began to pound. "We must be close," she exclaimed in a whisper, "Finally." She pulled her gun, only to have Caine frown at her.

"Put the weapon away," he said. "If you fire, you will alert the others to our presence. We must remove as many of them as possible without noise. Those two men are not alone."

Kim put the gun away, knowing he was right, and looked around for Kermit, but he had already melted into the trees. When she turned back to Caine, he, too, was gone. Irritated at being left behind, she grabbed Maggie's collar and watched the men.

The man with the cellular flipped it closed and put it in a pocket. He spun away from his partner, as if checking out a movement to his right. Kim didn't see where Caine came from, but he was suddenly behind the man, gripping his shoulder firmly. The man opened his mouth wide, but crumpled to the ground without a sound, falling into an ungraceful heap.

The second man whipped out a gun, aiming towards Caine. With a single fluid movement, Caine kicked the weapon from his hand. Kermit erupted from the undergrowth and grabbed the man from behind, one arm across his windpipe, preventing him from talking or breathing. The second man also slumped to the ground, unconscious. It had all taken less than a minute.

"Huh!" Kim exclaimed, impressed despite herself. Beside her, Maggie tensed, a low rumble coming from her throat. Kim threw herself to the side just as Maggie launched herself at a dark shape looming behind her.

Snarling, Maggie landed on the man's chest, knocking him off his feet. His gun flew out of his hand as he lost his balance and his grip. Kim seized the gun in midair and jumped, pushing Maggie off the man and landing where the dog had been. What breath he had left after the dog's attack was knocked out of him when she landed. She noted his gun had a silencer and stuck the barrel under the man's chin. "Where is my sister?' she growled, clicking the safety off.

"I'd tell her," Kermit recommended in a conversational tone, coming up behind her, hauling the man he'd choked into unconsciousness behind him. "She's a little pissed off about that missing sister. I'm not sure we can hold her back." Kim looked at her prisoner with a predatory grin. This was a routine she knew. Behind Kermit, Caine followed, his man over his shoulder.

The man on the ground was still wheezing for breath. "Don't…know," he gasped. His eyes moved rapidly between the faces hovering over him.

"How about we start with an easier question then?" Kermit asked, casually tossing his burden beside the fallen man. "How many of you are here in the woods searching for our friends?"

"Just the three of us," their prisoner gasped.

"Try again," Kermit grated as Kim pushed the barrel harder against the prisoner's throat. He pulled away from the pressure, but he could not escape from it.

"Besides the three of us, three others on foot," the man babbled, looking into the grim faces.

"Much better," Kermit purred. "Now, where's Straker?"

Looking like he was about to choke, the man cried out in protest. "I can't tell you. He'd kill me."

"We'll kill you if you don't," Kim said, her eyes gleaming dangerously.

"I don't believe you. You're cops," the prisoner protested. "You can't kill me."

Kermit just looked at him. "Where is Straker?" he repeated evenly, no expression in his voice or on his face.

The man on the ground blanched. With a gulp, he gave in. "Straker's in the van with the driver. They're heading for a cabin nearby. Your friends are inside."

"Where's the cabin?" As the merc eagerly gave Kermit the information, Kim looked around. Caine was gone.

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