Chapter 46: MEETING THE ENEMY

Joyce's POV

I got to Pier 9 warehouse and it was empty and now, I had less than thirty minutes to find Vane. I haven't heard anything about the hospital in Pine Ridge and I was hoping they had already evacuated the patients or destroyed the bomb.

My boots hit hard against frozen earth, and my lungs screamed for air but I kept moving. Behind me Taylor and three others struggled to keep pace.

Victoria's voice broke through my earpiece. "The signal is moving southwest. He is heading toward the old mining district."

I jumped a fallen log. My ankle twisted on landing but I did not slow down.

Twenty minutes left.

The signal had appeared on Victoria's tracker three minutes ago. Vane was not even trying to hide anymore. He wanted me to follow.

Blood trickled down my cheek from a cut I had not noticed getting.

"The signal stopped," Victoria said. "He has stopped moving now."

I ran harder.

We burst into a clearing.

"Where is he?" Taylor gasped beside me.

“Signal moving again. East now."

East. Back the way we came.

He was leading us in circles.

Twenty-three minutes.

Vane was playing with us. Running out the clock while we chased shadows.

Taylor bent over and tried to catch his breath. "We cannot keep this up. He could be anywhere."

He was right. Vane had  much time to set up whatever game he was playing.

I closed my eyes, and forced myself to think past the panic.

Where would Vane go? Not just to hide. He would want to watch.

The old church steeple, Miller's Ridge, The water tower.

And Raven's Peak.

My eyes snapped open.

The fire tower. It had been abandoned for years but it still stood on Raven's Peak. Showing a clear view of the entire town..

"He is at the fire tower," I said.

Taylor looked up. "How do you know?"

"I just do."

I turned and ran toward Raven's Peak.

Taylor shouted after me but his voice faded behind me.

Ten minutes.

The climb up Raven's Peak was steep. My thighs burned. Sweat soaked through my shirt despite the cold. I grabbed rocks and roots to pull myself up faster.

All of them counting on me.

The fire tower came into view. Rust covered the metal frame. The stairs looked ready to collapse. But a fresh set of footprints led up.

I pulled my gun and started climbing.

Each step groaned under my weight. The whole structure swayed in the wind. I kept one hand on my weapon and one on the railing.

Halfway up I heard him laugh.

"I was wondering if you would figure it out," Vane called down. "You are smarter than Dalton gave you credit for."

I did not respond. I kept climbing.

Five  minutes.

The stairs got worse near the top. Entire sections were missing. I had to jump gaps and pray the metal held.

Finally I reached the platform.

Vane stood at the far edge. He wore a black coat and held something small in his left hand. The detonator. In his right hand was a gun pointed straight at my head.

"Drop the weapon," he said.

I hesitated.

"Drop it or I press the button right now."

I set my gun down slowly. Kicked it away.

Vane smiled.

"You made it here in good time," Vane said. "I am impressed."

"Now what?"

"I do whatever I want to do with all of you.”

"You cannot win this," I said. "Dalton will stop you."

"Dalton is busy dying at his pack house. Blackwood has him surrounded. Even if he survives, he will be too late."

My heart dropped. Dalton was in trouble and I was here. Unable to help him.

"So what now?" I asked. "You blow up the hospital and the city of Portland? You think that wins you something?"

"It wins me everything. Pine Ridge loses its hospital. Loses faith in the Grey pack's ability to protect them. My employers move in."

"Your employers."

"You have no idea how big this is, Joyce. How many people want to see the old pack system destroyed."

He was stalling.

Two minutes.

I took a step forward. Vane raised the gun higher.

"That is close enough."

"You are going to shoot me anyway."

"I have not decided yet."

I thought of Megan and all the patients who had done nothing wrong.

"There has to be another way," I said.

"There is not."

One minute.

My hands shook, from knowing I had failed.

Vane held up the detonator.

"I am going to give you a choice, Joyce," he said. His voice was calm. Almost kind. "You can die here with honor, taking the hospital's fate with you. Or you can watch me press this button and live with the guilt of every death. What's it going to be?"