Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

“That’s enough,” Alex ordered, and then moved to the woman. Once he’d tied up Michelle, he did a thorough search of both backpacks. What he found in one of them scared the daylights out of him. A phone. He brought up the number. It was the same phone that Liam had called him from. They had Liam’s phone. What had they done with his friend?

FOUR

Across the burning fire, the look on Alex’s face was alarming. He held Peter’s backpack in his hand. Something was wrong. What had he found inside?

Please, don’t let it be bad...

She held her breath. Their gazes locked and he silently tried to communicate something. He dropped the backpack and came over to where she stood, every step bringing more turbulence to her pulse.

“What is it?” She managed a whisper. The thought of losing her brother was terrifying.

Alex still held something in his hand. He silently motioned for them to step a little ways from the camp.

When they were out of earshot, he showed her a cell phone. She didn’t recognize it. She shook her head. She didn’t understand.

“I checked the number.” His tone was tense, so unlike Alex. Rachel braced for bad news. “This is the same phone Liam called me from before.”

She stared at him as the implication of those words finally dawned. “Why would they have Liam’s burner phone if they didn’t know where he was?” When Alex had no answer, without thinking, Rachel charged back to Michelle and yanked her to her feet. “Where is he? What have you done with him?”

Taken aback, Michelle stared at her with fear in her eyes, struggling to get away. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Let me go.”

“You’d better keep your mouth shut.” Peter glared over at his partner. Michelle visibly flinched. She was clearly terrified of Peter.

Alex went over to the man. “You’re in no position to try to intimidate her. If you want to help yourself, you’d better start cooperating.”

Peter wasn’t swayed. “I have nothing to say.” He shot Michelle a venomous look. “And neither does she.”

“She can speak for herself.” Alex took Michelle by the arm and pulled her away from Peter’s hearing.

“Don’t try anything foolish while we’re gone,” Rachel warned, and then followed Alex.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” Alex told her. “We’ll protect you, but you have to tell us what’s going on here. Who are you working for? Where’s Agent Carlson?” Michelle’s brittle laugh cut through what he’d said.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Michelle said in a hushed tone. She was visibly shaken and immediately seemed to regret her outburst. “My husband and I told you who we are. We came to you because we were lost and needed help, but you two have all but taken us hostage and we’ve done nothing wrong.”

Alex held up the phone. “And this? I found it in Peter’s backpack. It belongs to a friend of mine who’s gone missing up here. A federal agent. How did you end up with his phone?”

Michelle glanced back at Peter and then looked Alex in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You two are the first people we’ve run into. Maybe there are others here. People with bad intentions aimed toward your friend...and you.”

Rachel sucked in a breath. “What do you mean by that?” She was convinced Michelle was trying to tell them they weren’t alone up here. Or was she simply trying to dodge the question?

Michelle turned back toward Peter. “I have nothing else to say to you. And I would suggest you get out of here before you find yourself facing far worse trouble than you’ve seen so far.”

Shocked, Rachel riveted her gaze to Alex. There was no doubt in her mind the woman was trying her best to warn them without giving away too much.

Alex took Michelle back to where Peter was silently fuming. Then he motioned to Rachel and they stepped out of earshot once more.

“We need to get out of here now, Alex. I don’t know what her intentions were for saying what she did, but I believe she was warning us there are others up here, searching for Liam and probably for us, as well.”

Alex nodded then glanced over her shoulder to where the two sat. Michelle still looked afraid. Peter appeared to be browbeating her. “I think you’re right. Their driver’s licenses seem to back up their claim of who they are, but they could have been forged. And I’m positive I know this guy Peter from somewhere.”

This bit of news was unsettling. He’d said the same about the man who had attacked them earlier. Did Alex recognize the men because they were part of the same organization as he was? It was an uneasy thought.

“Do you have any idea how?” It was too big of a coincidence that Alex would know two of the men that were hunting them down. They really needed to figure out why they were being chased so aggressively. Perhaps in the process it would lead to answers into Liam’s location.

He shook his head, obviously frustrated by the elusive recollection. “I wish I knew. It’s on the edge of my memory, but I just can’t bring it out. Anyway, you’re right. If what Michelle alluded to is correct, they could have men on the way here right now.”

Which meant their window of escape was rapidly closing.

“What do we do about those two? We can’t leave them up here in the elements.”

“We stoke the fire and get out of here as quickly as possible before the people they’ve called catch up with us. Make no mistake—they didn’t just happen upon us.”

He was right. They’d probably been stalking them for a while.

“You need to let us go now.” Peter talked in an overly loud voice once they’d returned to camp. Was he trying to alert his comrades to their location? “You can’t leave us here. We’ll freeze to death.”

Alex ignored the man’s raging and piled enough