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

of conditions, the hike up Midnight Mountain was a physically challenging test. Having to run for their lives tripled the strain of the journey.

Alex stopped when he spotted the full round-log lodge in the clearing up ahead. “There it is.” It had been years since he’d last been up here. Even back then, the place had been showing signs of decay.

They hurried past the overgrown parking area and stepped up on the porch. It had more boards missing than were still intact. Alex peered through one of the grimy windows. Years of dust and cobwebs blanketed the floor and the remaining furniture inside. He tried the door. Locked. The windows, as well. Were they wrong about Liam being here?

The temperature outside had dropped considerably with the growing cloud coverage, and the threat of snow loomed. It had to be well below freezing.

He and Rachel trudged through piled-up snow on the north side of the lodge around to the back and tried the doors and windows. All locked, yet someone had broken one of the windows.

Please let it be Liam.

Alex carefully removed the remaining slivers of glass and crawled through the broken window. It was only slightly warmer inside but at least it offered protection from the wind and snow. Several hours had passed without any sign of the men who’d taken them hostage, and yet he didn’t doubt for a minute that they were still coming.

Alex unlocked the door and opened it for Rachel. “We need to search the place quickly. We won’t have much time before they get here.”

She glanced around. “There are so many rooms. We’ll need to split up.”

Rachel was right. They’d never get through the place otherwise.

“I’ll take the upstairs. You search down here.” She started to leave, but he reached for her hand, holding her there. All of her uncertainties were reflected on her face. “Be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you, too.”

She swallowed visibly and then slowly smiled. “I will. You be careful, too.”

While she began the downstairs search, Alex took the crumbling stairs two at a time. He and Rachel and Liam had been here many times in the past, so he knew there were only guest rooms up here. The time sitting vacant had taken its toll on the place, even more since the last time he’d visited it. Everything was showing signs of deterioration, and there were patches in the ceiling where Alex could see the sky. The weather and the elements were slowly reclaiming the place. A few more years and there wouldn’t be much left.

After a thorough search of the rooms, there was no sign that anyone had been up there in a while. Was he wrong about the broken glass? It might have been broken years ago. Maybe Liam never made it this far?

Alex hurried back downstairs to help Rachel finish the search. He’d reached the kitchen area when he heard it. A footstep!

He found Rachel. Before she could say a word, he held his finger up to his mouth then pointed outside. She understood and frantically looked around for someplace they could hide. An enormous stone bar covered the length of the room, dividing it from the great room. She indicated the bar and they ducked below it. Someone stepped up on the front porch. Liam? Another set of footsteps proved him wrong.

“I’m not so sure they’d come here,” McNamara growled. “I think they were bluffing, trying to throw us off.”

After a moment of silence, the second man said, “Looks like someone’s been in there. They broke out the window.”

McNamara said something unintelligible, then, “Hang on. The boss wants us to stand guard. The rest of the team is on their way. They have something.”

If he and Rachel wanted to stay alive, they had to find another way out before the other men arrived.

Alex pointed to the hallway and Rachel nodded. They crept as low to the floor as they could while heading down the long passage. He opened the first door he came to as quietly as possible. It was a small bathroom with only a slatted window above the sink. Not enough room to escape.

Rachel opened another door. It led to what appeared to have once been the laundry room. There had to be another way out beyond one of the remaining doors. There was no way he was letting these men take them again.

Alex tried the final door on their left. It opened up to a large bedroom suite with French doors leading out to a wraparound deck outside. If his bearings were correct, they should be at the south side of the lodge facing the woods. Opposite from the men on the porch.

They moved to the doors and looked out. Alex couldn’t see anyone. He said a quick prayer for their safe passage and slowly unlocked the door. It creaked as he opened it and he froze for a second.

Alex listened to make sure McNamara and the second man hadn’t heard the door. He could hear them talking quietly. A good sign. He hoped it stayed that way.

ELEVEN

Rachel eased out behind Alex and around to the side of the lodge. She peered around the corner. Not a sound could be heard beyond the sporadic conversation from McNamara and his goon.

“We’ll have to go slow, otherwise they’ll hear us,” she whispered.

Rachel stepped off the porch and Alex did the same. The snow lay deep in the woods behind the lodge, making the going slow. There would be no way to cover their tracks should someone happen this way, but the white blanket helped muffle the sound of their footsteps.

They’d barely covered any distance when the noise of an engine broke the silence of their surroundings. They stopped long enough to catch their breath.

Rachel’s lungs burned from the cold air. “That must be the rest of McNamara’s people.”

“This place will be crawling with men in a few minutes.” He looked at her, seeing the exhaustion she couldn’t hide. “We have to