The Lookout: A Gripping Survival Thriller Read online

  Although overnight the earth had seen a moderate amount of snow settle. It wasn’t uncommon to get up to four feet, but that morning it was nowhere close to the storm that Hank had been harping on about. There were still trail areas that weren’t deep. The sky had turned a gunmetal gray and blotted out what little blue she’d seen that morning. Snow was falling fast, getting thicker and making it hard to see but that was normal for December.

  They darted into the surrounding forest, slaloming around Douglas firs, pines and spruce. Boomer kept pulling hard and barking at the sight of every squirrel or rabbit.

  She sucked in the crisp air, freezing the back of her throat.

  Kelly basked in the natural beauty and remembered again why she’d purchased the land. Before she saw any success with writing, the lookout had been one of several rentals she wanted to develop. Ultimately she’d envisioned having a different tiny house in every state of the country and then living off the income. And, with the success of the lookout, it was beginning to look possible, that was until Cole entered the picture.

  The irony was she’d been introduced to him through Erin who had cut his hair. Somehow the conversation of who he was dating came up and she’d given him Kelly’s phone number, and encouraged him to call her. If she hadn’t been on the search for that someone special, she might have turned down the offer of coffee, but one meeting and Kelly had to admit that the uniform sucked her in, that and his initial charm. Those early months were magical. Time together was full of kindness, gifts and frequent getaways. In fact there was nothing in the days leading up to their wedding that would have given her cause for alarm. Sure, he drank more than most, and talked negatively about some of the locals but that was expected in his line of work. He saw the worst of society. No, nothing was out of the ordinary. It was only when they tied the knot that it all went downhill.

  Kelly slapped the thought of him from her mind as she slowed her pace near the edge of a rocky bluff that overlooked Stoney Lake. Nothing was moving out there, nothing but the cold. Her breathing eased, and she took out her phone, lifted it high and checked to see if she had a signal. Zero. She slipped it back into her pocket and got close to the edge, keeping a firm grip on Boomer. A few loose rocks fell, reminding her of how high it was.

  In the summer months, families would come up and picnic, accessing the lake from farther down. One year she’d caught a few teenagers who had climbed up to jump off the edge into the crystal-clear waters. She felt like an overbearing parent but she had to caution them as her property ended at the edge and she didn’t want to get in trouble if anyone got hurt. Fortunately no one did. Now with winter in full swing, the surface had solidified with a layer of slick ice. She crouched and dug out a smooth stone from an exposed area of the ground and tossed it over the edge. It landed, bounced and slid across the surface. She did it again, but with force and that time it broke through. It was deceiving to look at, as some areas of the ice were thinner than others, a point that was made clear a year ago after an attempt at ice fishing turned into an emergency. The temperatures had been mild and from the little information released in the local paper, the ice gave way and two men fell in. Had it not been for a group of hunters nearby, they might have died.

  Boomer growled, shifting Kelly’s attention away. She looked back at him and noticed he was staring at the tree line. He tugged at his leash and she pulled him back.

  “Boomer, you are not chasing the squirrels. We’ve already had this conversation.”

  It hadn’t been the first time he’d wanted to take off on her. He was the type of dog that if she called out to him, he would usually return to please her rather than pursue what looked like a tasty morning snack.

  Still, he wouldn’t let up. “Boomer. Boomer!” she said, finding herself in a tugging match as he barked incessantly. As hard as Kelly dug her boots into the ground he was just too strong. She nearly lost her balance as the leash slipped between her gloves and Boomer shot off at lightning speed toward the tree line, his leash trailing behind him.

  “Oh come on!” Kelly gave pursuit, yelling for him to come back but with her voice barely rising beyond a whisper, Boomer didn’t respond. The dog disappeared into the dense forest. She groaned, red faced, with sweat trickling down her temples from jogging. “Boomer!” she cried out as she hurried to catch up.

  She figured she’d find him barking up a tree. Instead, his tracks gradually got harder to follow because of how thick and fast the snow was coming down. Turning back, even her own footprints were being covered as a strong wind lifted snow and quickly created whiteout conditions. “Boomer!” Kelly yelled, her breath catching in her throat as she swallowed ice crystals.

  Eventually Kelly had to lift her forearm to block the gust of driving snow. She thought she heard a bark but trying to pinpoint it in the howling gale was near impossible. It felt like she was in a snow globe with heavy flakes spinning around her making visibility almost zero. The trees loomed over, twisting and reaching down on her like gnarled fingers, each one blanketed and frozen by the harsh weather.

  As soon as she wiped crystals from her frozen eyelashes more would blow in.

  She continued calling for him but her dismal voice was lost.

  Kelly removed her gloves and brought up two fingers.

  A sharp whistle. That would do it.

  Kelly let out the signal that never failed.

  Nothing.

  Where are you?

  Pressing on through hard flakes she surveyed the terrain. There were paw prints but were they his? She couldn’t be sure as there were multiple tracks heading off in different directions. Wolves? Northern Idaho had its fair share and guests had seen the odd one prowling through her property, searching for food. Some of them weighed upwards of a hundred to a hundred and thirty pounds. A shot of panic went through her. If a pack got hold of him, they’d tear him to shreds. “Boomer!” A frantic cry strained her already damaged throat. Her heart began pounding.

  “Boomer!”

  No response.

  Kelly continued searching through the worsening weather for close to an hour without luck. It was only as she was retracing her steps did she notice a glimmer of silver sticking out of the snow. Kelly tramped over and reached down. There, buried beneath was his leash.

  Surrounding it were large droplets of blood but no sign of him.

  She looked up and gazed around her, a cold chill came over her.

  How could this come off? The strong metal clasp required unlatching. Even if it had got caught on a limb, it wouldn’t have opened. It had never opened even after he’d run off before. No. It required hands.

  But there were no footprints, at least ones that she could see. Then again, the snow was bombarding the ground and… Cole?

  The thought of him prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.

  Backing up slowly, Kelly reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone.

  She powered it on, her eyes sweeping.

  “C’mon, c’mon!” she said holding it high, trying to get a signal. Nothing. Not even one bar. She shivered, though it wasn’t the cold but the grip of anxiety. She called out to Boomer one final time but it was useless, her voice, the wind, the snow, it was all working against her. She didn’t want to turn back but after an hour, after finding this, she had no choice but to return to the lookout.

  She jogged back with a new sense of fear.

  Could he have taken him?

  He’d always hated that dog.

  Did he know she was back? No. That was impossible. She hadn’t told anyone besides Erin and Hank. Then again someone could have spotted her at the gas station.

  Not wasting any time, Kelly collected the keys to the snowmobile, ran to the shelter close to the sauna and pulled back a heavy tarp. Every sound, every movement had her senses on high alert. The engine growled to life and the machine lurched forward, tearing up snow as she took off heading for the Emery Police Department.

  4

  Twenty-five minute
s. That’s all it took to reach Emery by snowmobile. Kelly glanced at her wristwatch, she was almost there when the weather worsened. As she burst out of the dense forest she felt the full onslaught. The initial blast of the blizzard nearly flung her clean off the machine. She tightened her grip and ducked low barreling forward through a tunnel of snow.

  Even with the bright halogen headlight it was still hard to see. The gray of day had been replaced by a wall of white, blotting out trees, vehicles, and turning buildings into mounds of powder. A harsh wind howled as nature unleashed its fury and threatened to stop her.

  Kelly leaned into the storm.

  Am I being irrational?

  It was a catch-22. On one hand Kelly knew the police could alert Cole to her whereabouts as some of his colleagues had taken his side, but on the other hand, if she did nothing and she was right, her worst fear could be realized and no one would know a damn thing until they found her remains — if they found her at all.

  Admittingly, it was possible that Boomer’s disappearance had nothing to do with Cole and that this was just her fear playing tricks on her mind, but the latch, the blood, that couldn’t just happen without someone involved. On the short journey in, she sifted through every scenario of how the latch on the leash could have come off but nothing added up. The few times Boomer had got away from her in the past, he’d always returned with the leash trailing behind him.

  A sharp gust of wind stole her breath, making it hard to think.

  Kelly swerved onto Main Street and was coming up on the police station when she saw a police SUV parked outside the Coffee Vault. The lot was packed with locals taking shelter from the brutal weather. Kelly hunched over, squinting through the deluge of snow that swirled like a tornado. She slowed, veering into the lot, coming to an abrupt stop beside a 4 x 4 black truck. Taking a second to calm her beating heart, she killed the engine and removed her gloves, lifted the goggles but kept her hood up and scarf on. The fewer that knew she was back, the better.

  Keeping her head low, she shouldered into the café.

  A bell above the door rang out, a few heads noting the change in temperature. They turned away, disinterested. The aroma of dark roasted coffee beans and pastries made her stomach grumble. The Coffee Vault was a cozy little abode that could have easily gone head to head with any of the finest coffee chains. It was new to Emery; the owner was a stylish young guy with a head full of dreams and cash to burn. Patrons lined the wooden stools at the counter, packed into plush leather seating, chatted and basked in the glow of a roaring fireplace. A couple gazed up at flat-screen TVs which played current news.

  Kelly stamped her boots, shook off a shell of snow and made a beeline for Officer Hurst. Kelly knew him as Lucas, a thirty-year veteran of the department, one of the good ones, the guys who weren’t easily swayed by department politics or other cops looking to abuse power. Six feet of brawn, with a slightly larger than average frame, he took up two seats. He was sitting alone in a booth at the far end, most cops did. It let him keep a close eye on the door, gave a way to see who was coming, at least that’s what Cole said the academy taught him. Hurst though was a different breed; he didn’t seem to care who approached.

  When Kelly reached the booth, he looked up over his spectacles. In front of him were a newspaper, a cup of coffee and a half-eaten apple pastry. He squinted for a second as she slipped in across the table from him without removing her hood.

  His brow furrowed. “Kelly?”

  She glanced to her left, hoping no one heard.

  Cups clinked, a waitress carried an order, and a teenager looked up from his phone. People were too busy yakking, or drinking coffee to notice. “Lucas.”

  The moment he heard her croaky low voice, his demeanor changed.

  “When did you return?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “I thought you were staying with family,” he said. He wiped sugar from the corner of his mouth with a napkin before dumping it on the table.

  “Needed to winterize the lookout and close it for the season.”

  “Couldn’t Hank have done that?”

  “I have a book to write.”

  He nodded slowly, taking a sip of his drink. “You want a coffee?”

  She shook her head, her leg bounced nervously below the table. “My dog’s gone missing. Took off this morning.”

  He offered back a confused expression.

  She dug into her pocket and removed the leash to show him. It clattered as the latch hit the table. “I found this in the woods. Someone removed it from his collar. I uh…” She took a deep breath and Lucas clued in and leaned back.

  He lifted a hand. “Now, Kelly, I know what you’re gonna say but…”

  “He hated this dog,” she shot back.

  Lucas went to say something but closed his mouth and looked down at it. A brief sigh, a glance around the room and then he studied her before scratching the side of his nose. “Maybe your dog just took off after an animal.”

  “And removed the leash?” she asked gesturing to it.

  “Could have got caught on something.”

  “There’s blood on it.”

  “Could have come from another animal.”

  She pushed the leash in front of him. “Try pulling back the clasp.”

  Reluctant at first, he tested it and then gave it back.

  “Look. I know you’re going through a difficult time but…” He was at a loss for words. “What do you expect me to do?”

  Her fingers twitched on the table, she bit down on the side of her lip. “I don’t know. Go over to his place. See if my dog is there.”

  Lucas put a hand up to his head. The radio on his chest crackled and he lowered the volume. “You know I can’t do that. Besides, I think it’s highly unlikely that Cole had anything to do with it.”

  Kelly shook her head. “Of course.”

  “I saw him yesterday. He said he was heading out of town.”

  “Yeah, probably to my place.”

  “No. North. A hunting trip.”

  She scowled. “Bullshit. He doesn’t like hunting.” She stabbed the table with a finger. “He knows I’m here.”

  “No one knows you’re here, Kelly. Hell, I didn’t even know you’d returned,” he said looking around. “And by the looks of it, I think you want to keep it that way. Now go home. You’ll probably find your dog waiting and realize—”

  “That this was all in my head? Huh? Is that what he’s been telling people?”

  “Kelly.”

  She screwed up her face. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have even come here,” she said slipping out of the booth. “I’m sorry.” Keeping her head low she crossed to the door. Glancing briefly up at the TV, she saw that the news was covering the change in weather. A red alert ticker ran along the bottom of the screen: Winter Storm Warning in Effect Could Bring Upwards of 50 Inches of Snow to Idaho and the West.

  Hank was right.

  She braced herself for the severe cold.

  As she made her way back to the snowmobile, Officer Hurst called out to her. “Kelly!” She turned and squinted as he tilted into the avalanche of snow. He took out his card and gave it to her. “Listen, if you have any further problems, that has my extension on it. I’m going to be a little busy tonight with the storm but I’ll keep checking my messages.”

  She tapped it against her glove and looked at him.

  “You know I don’t get much of a signal up at the peak. Wouldn’t be of much use to me. But thanks.” She handed it back and got on the snowmobile. Hurst stared on as a gust of snow hit him. Before starting the engine she looked at him and said, “What he did to me. I never made it up, Lucas.” Then she fired up the snowmobile and tore out of the lot.

  After returning from town, Kelly surveyed the property for fresh footprints in the snow. It would have been a lie to say she wasn’t scared. She called out to Boomer. Nothing. Tears welled in her eyes, frustration over the damage done to her voice. She couldn’t even cry out without pain. Ove
rwhelmed by the storm rolling in, she had no other choice but to head up to the lookout.

  Once inside, she emptied kibble into Boomer’s bowl then took it down and placed it under the portable shelter, hoping that if he was okay and he made his way back he would take cover there and have something to eat. Going around the side of the sauna, she scooped up the axe and chopped a few more logs, then gathered up an armful.

  Back inside, Kelly forced down the hatch and bolted it shut, then snagged up a pair of binoculars and went to the window and swept from side to side. It was useless. Nothing but whiteout conditions. She couldn’t see within a few feet.

  The lookout shook violently as a fierce gale picked up and threatened to topple it. Kelly removed her phone and gazed at the screen. “Great,” she muttered under her breath. The power was low, in the red, on 3 percent. Even if there was a slim chance of getting a bar she wouldn’t be able to use it for long. Kelly plugged it into the solar charging unit and hoped to God that the small, almost nonexistent amount of light they’d had over the past week before the snow hit had charged the green box enough to feed the phone some juice. She tapped it a couple of times because the tiny red light which indicated that it was connected to the solar panels didn’t light up. Loose wire? She ran her hand around the back but the cables felt snug. Odd. She’d seen reviews online about the unit having sporadic issues, but she’d only had this less than a year, and this was the first time she’d seen it acting strange. She considered braving the storm to check the external cables but it wouldn’t matter now — it was evening — as long as the battery inside the unit held a charge she was good to go.

  She flipped on the power switch so the outlets were ready. The battery voltage indicator needle shot upward and registered in the yellow which indicated that there was a small charge stored in the unit. Oh, wonderful. Just my luck, she thought. Erin had almost drained the battery. With the phone plugged in, a tiny LED light switched to green to let her know it was outputting a charge. Let’s hope there’s enough. Kelly lifted a heavy mallet leaning against a kindle splitter and split some of the kindling, then packed the fireplace with logs and sat back and stared into the flickering blaze, disturbed by the day.