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  The two rejoined the group, drank some water, and then shared their thoughts. They believed they were tracking three people: two males and one female. They hadn't found any more help signs or anything else to suggest that the hikers weren't just lost. The threesome had been traveling in one general direction except in the vicinity of where the help sign had been placed. They speculated that it might be reasonable to believe that the sign was simply vented frustration because the group was lost for a short period of time. Bruns would continue to accompany the searchers, but his initial investigation had not raised suspicion of foul play.

  As soon as the group began walking again, the radio crackled to life. Even though the message was broken, they could all make out the words, "…stolen car…Two Harbors." Everyone stopped in their tracks at that, and Bruns and Sandy left the group briefly for another discussion. When they returned, they signaled everyone onward. Amanda spoke up by yelling, "Request to be heard."

  Sandy stopped, faced her, and called the group back together into a circle. It was awkward at first because headlights were shining in their eyes and pointing all over the place. Once people settled in, Amanda said, "We're approaching an area where there are two cabins relatively close together. One is straight ahead and one is a half mile to the north. The one straight ahead belongs to Bart Perkovich. He only uses it during hunting season and sometimes in the spring and fall. The second cabin is on a small lake. It belongs to the Morgans. They come here all times of the year, but it's only accessible on foot, snowmobile, or ATV. There's one more cabin on that lake, but I don't know the owners. They bought it last year."

  "How well do you know this area?" Bruns asked as he pointed in the direction they were heading by jutting his chin.

  "Quite well, I hike it all the time."

  "Can you read trail signs?"

  "Human? Easily."

  He motioned for her to take the lead with a wave of his hand, and they all followed along behind. Within ten minutes they arrived at the first cabin. Tracks appeared to both enter and leave the front door. It was a stick-built structure that looked to have been a garage kit without the car-sized door. It was lap-sided and had a shingle roof. One small window was visible, and a metal stovepipe protruded from one corner of the roof.

  Bruns instructed the group to stay back and keep quiet while he approached the building with his gun strap undone and his hand near the holster. He gave three sharp knocks and announced, "Sheriff… Sheriff." Silence followed. He went through the exercise one more time before entering the building gun first. After three long minutes, he exited the structure, saying, "All clear."

  "Well, someone has been in there. The lock was forced, and it looks to me like they were looking for food or guns or who knows what. This cabin was clearly broken into. I'm going to make a call and try to get some help out here on snowmobiles."

  He stepped away from the group, forgetting that they all had radios, and put in the request. It was now past 10 p.m., and Jo's stomach was growling. After a long and active day, her metabolism was humming right along. Someone must have heard it because after a nudge, she was handed a PowerBar. When she looked around, she saw that everyone was munching.

  After a little discussion, the group agreed to keep tracking. Sandy relayed the following to the group, "It's going to take snowmobiles a good hour and a half to find this location, and someone is either lost or in need of help." She paused for emphasis. "When hikers become lost and they feel their lives are in danger, it's common for them to break into a cabin to gain shelter. Most will notify the cabin owners and reimburse them for damages."

  Amanda led the party to the second cabin, and they watched Bruns go through the exact same routine. The only difference was that the cabin was warm, and embers still glowed in the woodstove. It too had been ransacked.

  The group trekked along, following the tracks. Whomever they were following either knew the area or was extremely lucky. As soon as they rounded a small point, they saw smoke coming out the chimney of a third cabin, an old traditional log shelter. The rustic logs appeared to be pine taken right from the land. It was a simple one-story affair with no loft or dormer, one door, and a window on each visible wall. The cabin stood fifty yards from the trail, and a large clearing surrounded it.

  The would-be rescuers crowded at the far end of the clearing just off the trail as Bruns went through his routine: three knocks, identifying himself as police. Silence followed. He entered the cabin, and everyone jumped at the sound of gunfire. Sandy yelled out, "Bruns! Bruns, are you all right?" Nothing. The group waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally the door opened, and three people walked out in a line. The third and tallest appeared to be male, holding a rifle or a shotgun.

  CHAPTER 26

  At this point, Jo took charge. She motioned for the group to back into the relative safety of the woods. The three people walked north toward another unknown destination. Jo turned around, raising her index finger to her lips, signaling everyone to maintain silence. They all nodded wide-eyed. The threesome had probably heard Sandy call out and knew they had company, but they kept walking north.

  Jo's elevated heartbeat was pounding in her head, so she took a couple of long breaths and silently celebrated the fact that the threesome had not headed toward them. After waiting for what seemed like an hour, but was really only a minute, Jo motioned for Sandy to follow her and for the rest of the group to stay.

  They inched toward the cabin and gently peered in. It was necessary for Jo to open the door more to enter, and the squeak of the hinges sounded deafeningly loud. They cringed and held their breath. Silence followed. Jo entered, and Sandy followed close behind. Bruns was lying on his back. Jo took a quick look around and saw no one else in the cabin. She then put her hand to his mouth and felt a slight breath. She also felt for and found a pulse. She tried her radio with no response. She pulled his radio off his belt, thinking it might have more juice and got a crackly response. She informed dispatch in ten-code that she had an officer down and that it was an emergency. Jo stayed with Bruns and instructed Sandy to go inform the group.

  On her way out the door, Sandy turned to Jo. "Who put you in charge?"

  "Are you complaining?" Jo felt a little defensive, but tried to appear calm.

  "Do you know what you're doing, or are you just being stubborn?"

  "I'm trained." Jo thought to herself, You're not trained for this, what are you talking about? but she couldn't give up the control. This felt too much like work, and she was used to being in charge.

  "Good enough for me, this has clearly moved beyond a search, and he was the only law enforcement officer we had."

  "Get your medical person in here…err…. Could you please send in Ree?"

  With a dismissive wave, she was out the door. "On it."

  Ree quickly took his vitals and rummaged through her bag to find and apply bandaging to his chest wound. She also treated him for shock by finding a pillow to elevate his legs and a blanket to cover him. She hung a saline drip from a bunk and inserted the needle into the top of his hand.

  Once Jo was assured that Ree had medical matters under control, she looked around for the Deputy's gun. After a bit of searching, she found that it had slid under and behind a standing coatrack. She set the safety and placed the gun in her jacket pocket.

  Probation officers in Minnesota don't carry guns, but Jo had grown up with them. POs in nearly every other state carry weapons, and a longstanding battle existed in Minnesota between the Probation Department and the police, debating whether they should carry. The police think the probation policy regarding guns is nuts. Jo had had too many moments in recent history when she'd agreed with them.

  Jo rejoined the group to inform them that she had recovered the Deputy's gun. They all agreed to wait for a rescue team to arrive for Bruns before deciding what to do next. They could hear the faint sound of a chopper in the distance. Jo, though not overly religious, did a silent prayer that he would hang on.

  It ha
d begun to snow, and the flakes were heavy and wet. Jo felt another pang of intuition about how big this storm could be. Because she was a native of the region, she knew what could happen with the dramatic temperature changes produced by a cold and warm front dueling it out in winter. Although they were in a clearing deep in the woods, she could hear the wind picking up speed in the trees and gave herself a little hug in a symbolic brace against the oncoming storm and whatever else lay ahead of them.

  Zoey came closer to Jo. "You OK?"

  Jo shrugged and nodded toward the cabin. "I hope he's going to make it."

  "We can leave right now." Zoey brushed snow off of Jo's face affectionately.

  "You know I can't. It's too late for that." She looked down at the ground, avoiding Zoey's direct eye contact.

  Zoey placed her head down under Jo's so that she had to look at her. "It's OK, Jo. I know this is who you are. You haven't hid this from me. It's all part of the package."

  Jo felt a flood of relief and looked back at Zoey. "Thanks."

  "I do have a favor to ask, though. I have to pee — can you serve as lookout?"

  Jo laughed. "Me, too. Let's take turns."

  They quickly walked away from the group and into the woods. Zoey had no experience going in the snow, let alone deep snow, but what choice did she have? Just as she finished, she took a step in order to straighten up and slipped, toppling over with her pants still down. Jo ran over to her and tried her best not to laugh.

  Zoey immediately burst out, "So much for being the big outdoor north-woods woman." Jo extended her a hand, knowing better than to make any kind of comment.

  Once back in the larger group, Jo went inside to retrieve Bruns's more powerful radio and to check in with Ree. He was conscious. Jo told him that he was one lucky puppy to have a doctor caring for him in the field.

  "Yeah, lucky. Right," Bruns said with a wince.

  Once Jo knew things were under control in the cabin, she walked back out to Zoey.

  "I wonder who the hell that lunatic was and why he has two people at gunpoint."

  "You're not thinking about going after him, are you?"

  "That chopper will be here soon, and then hopefully some law enforcement on snowmobiles. I wonder if this has anything to do with Rick."

  "That was a long time ago." Zoey scrunched up her eyebrows.

  "Maybe he's up ahead." Jo pointed her nose in the direction that the threesome had taken.

  It was snowing harder, coming down wet and heavy. Jo knew they were all hungry. She had half a mind to raid the cabinets of the cabin instead of asking for another PowerBar.

  The sound of the chopper was moving closer, but Jo was concerned it wouldn't find the group because of the heavy snow. She instructed everyone to move out into the clearing, and they waved their arms overhead until the copter hovered directly above. Once they were sure the chopper pilot had them in clear view, they moved so that it could land in the clearing.

  The blades created a blizzard as the aircraft descended to the ground, and it felt as though hours rather than seconds passed before the blades slowed.

  Zoey and Jo had huddled together for protection and warmth. Jo couldn't help but recognize the seriousness of the situation. The drama of the helicopter landing in a snowstorm in the middle of the remote north woods was not lost on her, or on anyone in the group, for that matter.

  When the helicopter-produced blizzard calmed enough for her to look up, she saw that Zoey's entire face was covered in snow, and her eyelashes were iced over. Zoey laughed back at Jo and brushed at her face because she was also snowy and ice-covered.

  Two men carrying a stretcher holding medical equipment moved in a fast jog toward the cabin door. Jo and Sandy stepped aside. The men quickly got the update from Ree, lifted the injured man, and were reboarding the chopper when Jo tugged the sleeve of one of them.

  "Any chance you can send some law enforcement our way when you get back?"

  "Sorry, ma'am, we're going to be grounded after this flight. Only way we got off the ground now was the fact that he's on the force. The winds are way too high for regs. The snow is really coming down in Duluth, more up the shore. It's coming this way, and you know how it is here in the snowbelt. If there's big snow in Duluth, it's massive out here. I doubt you'll be able to get anyone in here. In fact, good luck getting anyone out during this storm. I suggest you hunker down in that nice warm cabin and settle in until it passes."

  Jo patted him on the shoulder and gave him a nod. Right before the chopper took off, he threw a bag out. Inside were candy bars and granola bars. Jo gave him the thumbs up, and the big bird took off.

  Sandy and Jo conferred away from the group again and devised a plan for the large group to remain at the cabin and stay warm until the storm passed. Sandy, Amanda, and Jo would venture out after the bad guy and his hostages, taking the gun and good radio. Scott would be left in charge of the group and would communicate with them via radio if the signal allowed.

  When it came time to go, Zoey pulled Jo aside. "I'm going with you."

  "No, you can't. It's safer this way."

  "I'm going." She had placed her hands on Jo's upper arms and was looking her in the eyes.

  "Ree isn't going. Believe me, this is going to be hard for me, too, but we can't risk both of us." Jo looked over at Sandy, and she and Ree appeared to be having the same conversation.

  "We've been through a lot together already, I know, but it's better if some of us stay fresh in case we need you later. It's a good strategy, like the mountain climbers use. You'll be our base camp. We'll get through this, I promise. Stay back, and watch out for each other," Jo gestured toward Ree.

  "But do you have to go?"

  Jo didn't answer. This was breaking her heart, but not enough to change her mind. Zoey was sullen but held onto Jo.

  CHAPTER 27

  Sandy, Amanda, and Jo followed what was left of the tracks. It was still snowing heavily. Although the snow wasn't as wet, the wind had picked up. Jo wondered if they would be able to find their own tracks to guide them on their return. Amanda was reading a compass, and they were relying on her knowledge of the area and her unerring woods sense. Once they had traveled some distance, Amanda stopped and turned toward Jo and Sandy.

  "I'm not sure where we're headed. There aren't any more cabins in this direction." She shrugged. "Maybe I missed one somehow, but I doubt it. I've been back here a hundred times."

  A little further along, she said, "See this?" Amanda pointed in a tree at a crude cross made out of tree branches. They both nodded.

  "I've been seeing these all over the place for months now. It's weird. Like there is some religious fanatic out here doing rituals or something." She said this more for Sandy's benefit than for Jo's. Something about the gravity of the situation made Amanda more talkative than usual.

  Jo asked Amanda how close they were to where Rick had most likely gone into the woods.

  "Not far, if you come in from the northeast."

  "We can't leave those hostages, so I guess we keep following," Jo said.

  "This is nuts. He tried to kill a man back there. We're not law enforcement." Sandy was trying to bring some reason into this.

  "That could be Rick up there," Jo insisted.

  "Jo, he's been missing for too long. It's not likely."

  "It's probably connected. I feel it."

  Sandy now regretted having that conversation with Jo about following her intuition. "And we can let the police sort it out. This is dangerous."

  "I'm going on. You can go back."

  Sandy didn't even respond, but started walking again in the direction of the hostages.

  Jo tried to radio their intentions. "Big Noise to radio." She only heard crackling in response. The snow and cloud cover must have been impeding the call. Jo decided to go on talking in case someone could hear her. "We're tracking an armed suspect and two hostages in the woods toward an unknown destination. We're traveling north by snowshoe. I can't hear your response but
will attempt to provide status checks. We're a party of three, with the rest of the group standing by at the cabin where the shooting occurred."

  With much trepidation, they tracked the threesome. Jo hoped that somehow the Sheriff's Department would send snowmobiles from Two Harbors. It was roughly thirty miles. She didn't want to lose sight of the tracks so that eventually she could help direct the rescue operation.

  In spite of her earlier outburst, Jo knew that Sandy was equally invested in this rescue. At least as long as it had a chance of succeeding. It was a matter of pride to her that the Big Noise Rescue Squad be known and respected for its response to any crisis or human need.