Page 69 of Mountain Struggle

Chapter 22

Damien

Damien literally had to restrain himself from running after Tess as she disappeared into the mountain hut.

What if that madman kills her? What if he—

His phone vibrated in his pocket, interrupting his dark thoughts. He remembered he’d put it on silent.

“I’m two pitches from the top,” Drake said. Damien knew, from his friend’s breathless tone, just how hard he was pushing himself in the solo climb.

“Tess and Jamie are in the house with Dubois. I’m going around the hut to see if there’s another way in.”

“Wait for me,” Drake cautioned. “Kat went back to pick up Hiro and Gael , they’ll be here soon as well.”

“I’ll wait as long as I can,” Damien told his friend, unwilling to make a promise he couldn’t keep—the second Dubois called him, he was going in, no matter what.

“One officer interviewed Dubois’s neighbors. Apparently Dubois’s wife was sick for a long time—cancer—she died at the end of last year.”

Shit.

First a dead son. Now a dead wife.

A man with nothing to lose.

“That’s not good,” Damien said slowly. “Does he have any remaining family members?”

“She’s looking into it,” Drake said, huffing.

As he disconnected the call, Damien’s hand went to the lightweight Smith & Wesson J-frame revolver he’d taken from the helicopter. He made sure it was securely clipped to the back of his belt, and that the open shirt he was wearing over his black T-shirt covered it. It wasn’t his preferred way to carry, but it’d have to do in this case.

His phone rang. It was Dubois’s number.

“Where the hell are you? I figured you’d be storming the hut by now.”

“I came alone, Dubois, as you asked.”

“So you know my name,” the man said. He barked out a sharp laugh. “I’ll bet you don’t actually remember me, or my son.”

Damien forced himself to reply calmly. He couldn’t afford for the situation to escalate.

“I remember your son, Roger. What happened was an unfortunate accident. Nobody was to blame. Not you and not—”

The man growled his displeasure, an animal sound that chilled Damien’s blood.

“I know exactly who is to blame, and that’s you, Gray. For years I watched you, hoping the universe would right things, but things just got better and better for you. You have your job, you have your son, you have a woman … and what do I have?” His voice rose manically.

“Let’s sit down and discuss this, Roger—face to face. If there’s anything I did back then that you think—”

“Do not patronize me, you bastard,” Dubois snarled. “I have your son and woman now. You’ll do exactly as I say. Come into the house and out onto the terrace. I think you’ll like the view.”

Damien kicked a rock, furious at himself for not having been able to keep him on the phone for longer.

He sent a message to the team with his exact location.

Dubois wants to meet me in the terrace. I think Tess and Jamie are out there already.

Kat’s reply was almost instantaneous.