Chapter 5 - THE FROZEN PASSThe storm had turned the Cascade Pass into a nightmare of white darkness.
Nathan’s heavy snowcat plowed through four-foot drifts, its massive rubber tracks biting into the ice as it descended the steep, treacherous mountain road. Visibility was less than five feet.
Ahead, through the veil of swirling white, Nathan saw the overturned wreckage of Marcus’s 4x4 truck. It had skidded off the cliff edge and crashed into a dense cluster of pine trees.
Nathan slowed the snowcat, grabbing his rifle, and stepped out into the knee-deep snow.
He approached the wrecked truck, his rifle raised. The driver's side door was wide open, torn off its hinges. Blood stained the snow leading away from the vehicle down into the ravine toward the abandoned timber airstrip.
Marcus had survived the crash and was continuing on foot.
Nathan tracked the bloody footprints through the dense timber. The cold air burned his lungs, but the rage in his heart kept him warm. Every step he took brought back memories of Sarah—her laughter, her loyalty, her desperate pleas seven years ago that he had callously brushed aside.
He had called her a failure. He had called her a disgrace.
And all the while, she was protecting him from a monster.
Ahead, a floodlight cut through the pine trees. Nathan reached the edge of the clearing overseeing the old, snow-covered runway.
Parked at the end of the strip was a sleek, black twin-engine private jet, its propellers spinning violently against the wind. Standing in front of the aircraft were four men clad in expensive black coats, holding assault rifles.
In front of them was Marcus Kane, dropping to his knees in the snow, his face covered in blood, holding his hands up in surrender.
"I don't have the drive!" Marcus screamed over the roar of the airplane engines. "My brother-in-law has it! He took the kids! Give me ten men and I’ll bring you the drive and the children!"
The leader of the group—a tall, silver-haired man in a tailored coat—stepped forward. He pulled a silenced pistol from his coat pocket and aimed it directly at Marcus's head.
"You failed us, Marcus," the silver-haired man said coldly. "We don't need you to get the drive. We'll simply go to the mansion ourselves."
"Wait! Please!" Marcus shrieked. "I gave you Sarah! I did what you wanted!"
"And Sarah was smarter than you," the man replied.
Nathan’s jaw dropped. The silver-haired man raised his head into the light.
Nathan recognized him instantly.
May you like
It was Victor Vance—the chief financial officer of the regional hospital network where Nathan served as head of surgery. The man who had approved Nathan’s promotions, his high salary, and his unlimited surgical budget.
The entire empire had been built on cartel money.
