"Please, George. We've got to get back there and help him."

"Yeah--rush back and find out he's waiting to attack both of us? No way,

miry. Harlin went to town this morning on a supply run. We'll wait forhim to return, then you'll stay here while the two of us check out thecabin for any traps this guy may have set. You'told me yourself he was atricky, vindictive son of a bitch." George paused and serotehed hischin.

"Then again, he might even decide to ambush us here. I better" -- "Hecan't." Ellen wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly flashing on animage of Jack, tied to the bed. She shivered.

"He c-can't ambush us. He's ... he's tied up. He iusisted I do it before I hiked here, because he was afraid he'd revert and follow me."

George stared at her for a moment before he finally're leased a long sigh.

"I hate to call him sensible, but it was a bright suggestion."

He rubbed his hands together.

"Tell you what--I'm going to hike to your cabin and check this out. When

Harlin comes back, you can" -- "NOV' She gripped his arm, plea ling the

material of his sleeve between her stiff fingers.

"I'm going back with you. I can't stay here and wait. Don't ask me to, George."

He sighed.

"Can you manage another hike, or do you want to wait a little while and

recover?"

"I'm fine. Let's go now." She scrambled for her gloves and hat.

"Let me get my pack." When George returned, he had his coat on, his

backpack in. one hand and ashotgun in the other. He pulled on his gear,then slung the weapon onto his shoulder.

"I called back and put a hold on that Mountain Air Rescue chopper. Let's go." George held the door open for her and ushered her back into asunlit world of stark white.

I-lb COULD HEAR NOISF, small insignificant sounds the s'dence amplifiedand distorted. With his eyes-still closed, he imagined how the soundwaves entered his head and bounced around the interior of his brain. Judging by the way he felt, something certainly had been bounced off hisskull.

Two or three times, at least.

And I'm so damn stiff I can barely move.

A shock of adrenaline flashed through him. He was right; he couldn't

move.

He tested his arms,. reali/ng they were pulled awkwardly above his head.

Ropes? Oh, hell. Alexander Brody opened his eyes and strained his neck

to see the ropes knotted around his wrists.

A bed. I'm tied to a damn bed.

Alec twisted and pulled at the bonds, ignoring the pain in his head.

Panic flooded him. with new strength, but when brawn failed, cunning

took over. He eyed the glass sitting on the bedside table.

It was a calculated chain reaction; he bounced against the mattress as hard as he could, which bumped the bedside table, which caused the water

glass to rock slowly back and forth. When it fell to the bed, Alec shifted his weight to make the tumbler roll next to his shoulder.

Clenching the rim of the glass between his teeth, he strained backward

until he could wrap his fingers around the smooth cylinder.

After the third attempt, the glass shattered as it hit the iron railing.

Using a jagged shard, he laboriously sawed through the individual sir

ands of the rope. After fifteen minutes, the final filament separatedand Alec pulled his arms away A Killer Smile from the headboard andworked the ropes off. He sat up, rubbed his wrists and scanned his prison.

A simple one-room cabin.

How long had he been there, mmsed like the fatted calf? He turned hisattention to the ropes around his ankles, untying the knots. When hetried to stand, his muscles revolted and his head screamed in agony.Alec touched his throbbing temple, discovering a bandage.

"What the hell happened to me?" His words roared through the quietcabin, and he winced at the sound, half expecting a burly mountain manto burst out of the shadows.

Alec hand a sudden noise behind him, and he pivoted, dropping intodefense mode before the next heartbeat rocked his chest. His fierce gazedropped to the hearth.

The big black dog let out a rattling snore, stretched his paws towardthe fire, then opened one dark eye to glare at Although he knew therudiments of protecting himself from an attack dog, Alec had never usedhis training.

Nonetheless, he prepared for the animal's next move, which turned out tobe nothing more than a yawn and a sleepy but enthusiastic tail wag. Alecsighed in relief, "Good dog ... er, Blackie, Midnight, whatever yourname is.

Where's your master, boy?"

" The dog snorted, wagged again, then stretched out across the hearth,ignoring inquisitor.

A brief search proved that, other than the dog, Alec was alone in theone-room cabin. Through the window in the door, he saw fresh tracks inthe sunlit snow. They led from the front porch and disappeared betweenthe' trees. Alec assumed his "host" was out doing whatever it wasmountain men do in the great outdoors--hunt, trap, hapless victims . AKiller Smile Chilled by the mere sight of the snow, Alec returned to thefire to warm himself.

His attention was drawn to a drafting table, filled with sketches invarious stages of completion. They were mostly of dewy-eyed fawns andfluffy rabbits, reminding him of Bambi and Thumper. the sentimentalstuff women always seemed to like. He glanced at the signature on one ofthe completed drawings: Tess.

An explanation began to form in his mind, and its implication left asour taste in his mouth.

Not a mountain man. A mountain woman.

Isolated, alone. love starved? The sort of thing you expected to readabout in the screaming tabloid headlines found in the supermarketcheckout lanes.

Nothing like that could happen to him. could it? -Alec struggled withhis incomplete memories, remembering the fall but not the landing.

Closing his eyes, he strained to zember why he was on the mountain inthe first place. A case? A client? An irritating buzz filled his head.

He ran his fingers over the edges of the bandage. What about the womanwho found him? His nurse turned warden? She must have found him, carriedhim back to her cabin and decided to keep him. The sex-slave angleseened a little severe, but it fit the evidence at hand. After all,hadn't he just woken up and discovered himself tied to some woman's bed?

In his mind's eye, he conjured a picture of a woman capable of dragginghim to the cabin, strong enough to withstand the ravages of winter insuch a rustic setting. A tough old crone with an eye for captiveentertainment.

Alec swallowed hard, deciding to clear out, and leave no trail behindfor her to follow. When he found a pair of familiar-looking briefs on achair beside the bed, he ran his Killer Smile A Killer Smile fingeraround the waistband of his jean% and discovered a conspicuous absence.

With the sex-slave idea gaining more credence, he hut-fled through thecabin, trying to erase any signs of his presence. His jacket hung on apeg near the door. Fingering the puckered seams that crisscrossed hisjacket, Alec glanced down and saw only one boot. Did I lose the otherone when I fell?

Or did she take it in order to keep me a prisoner here?

Desperation guided inspiration; he rummaged through the kitchen, forminga makeshift snow boot out of a plastic bag, a dish towel and the sameropes that had imprisoned him earlier. Alec took one last look around atthe cabin, then struggled into his coat, praying she wouldn't come back soon.

He followed the tracks in the snow, matching them step by step. The coldcrept into his stopgap boot after only a few steps, but he trudged on,thankful for the numbing qualifies of the pain. Following the trail, hewalked for about a half hour until he rounded a curve and suddenly heardvoices ahead.

Stand or run?

Alec ducked behind a snow-flocked scrub oak and waited. Two figures camefrom the opposite direction, both well bundled against the cold.

They shuffled up the slight incline, making clouds as they puffed inwordless ex. eion. After they topped the rise and disappeared completelyfrom view, Alec returned to the trail. He began to run, paying littleattention to the tracks, as a seine of panic rose from his gut.

One of the figures was a woman.

And the other one had a gun.

GEORC PAUSED on the porch, pulling Ellen back from the door.

"Honey, let me go in first and check this guy out. You stay here. Iwon't be long." He pumped a shell into his shotgun, then entered thecabin.

EJLEN waited impatiently, wondering whether she shook from the cold orfrom a ease of nerves. She could hear the floorboards creak under George's heavy step. Wtt cn be taking so long? She refused to speculate on Jack's possible transformation.

George appeared in the doorway and beckoned for her to enter. Ellen drewa deep breath and stepped inside. Her gaze set fled immediately on thebed.

Empty.

The quilt had been neatly folded at the foot, and the spread turned backto reveal the worn white sheets. "Where is he?" She took a step to theside, trying to peer around George.

The ranger's face reflected a mixture of concern and disbelief.

"There's no one here."

"But he was here."

George raised one eyebrow in a wordless comment, then made a sweepinggesture.

"Well, he's not now. In fact, I don't see any signs anyone was everhere, except for you. And that worthless mutt of yours over there." Hestared down at the dog and shook his head.

"For God's sake, Hermitt, would you please wake up? You don't even knowI'm here!" Hermitt remained asleep, oblivious to the raised voice.

Ellen twisted her gloves off, wadding them in a small ball.

"I don't understand. He was here. He insisted that I" -- George'scondescending smile interrupted her train of thought, filling her withirritation.

"Damn it, George Pembroke. Don't give me that look. You've known me for154 A Killer Smile almost my entire life. I'm not one of those crazypeopl who make up invisible companions."

"Of course not, El." His voice was soft.

"I know you have your head screwed on right. But after what you wentthrough with that psychopath, is it any wonder you migh have a bad dreamevery now and then?"

"He was no nightmare, George. And I can prove Ellen glanced around theroom, despexate to proof. She knew it had to be there. Somewhere.

Crossing to the kitchen, she peered into the sinking one set of dirtydishes there and a dear board. She glanced at tiao empty peg where hishung. The single boot was gone, as well.

She tore back the curtain, exposing the own articles were lined up asusual on the back of tl chipped enamel slnle. A single the rae.

"The ropes." She squatted down by the foot looking for the ropes she'dused to lash his rail.

"The rope has to be here," she stated, her xeolve wavering on the edgeof bteking.