by Sharon Dunn
Jude stopped the galloping pace he’d been setting and turned to face her. “Yeah, I understand about life being derailed. I used to think I was going in that direction too, but then when I couldn’t stop that murder-suicide.” He shook his head. “I don’t know...it’s like I lost my way.” He reached out and squeezed her arm, offering her a faint smile.
From the moment she’d met Jude, she’d been drawn to the bright dancing quality she saw in his eyes. The slightly upturned mouth that suggested a mischievous side. She felt so conflicted. She was attracted to him and had been right from the start, but he stirred something up inside her that made her want to run. They had only known each other a short time. Maybe she was drawn to him because they both had suffered great loss. But part of her wanted the past to remain buried.
An uncomfortable feeling, a tightening through her stomach, made her start walking again.
Jude kept pace with her. “Maybe if we talked about this. I don’t know. Both of us had bad things happen. It sounds like we both gave up on a normal life because of it, marriage, kids, a home.”
She walked even faster. “I don’t know what there is to say. Talking about it just makes me hurt all over again.” It felt like a rope was being wrapped tight around her chest.
Jude dropped back a few steps behind her. “Okay, I’ll let it go.”
She hurried through the trees toward the snowmobile. They came to where it was parked. Now things just felt tense and awkward between them.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Jude’s attention was on the snowmobile.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Someone has been here.” He pointed to a wet spot in the snow. “They punctured the gas tank.” He leaned forward to have a closer look. “Could be a couple of bullets shot through it to make it leak out.” He stood back up.
Both of them tilted their heads. Lacey listened as tension filled her body.
A rifle shot rang out. The sound bruised her eardrum. Jude pulled her to the ground, seeking cover behind the defunct snowmobile. Her belly pressed into the cold hard snow. Jude turned his head so he was facing her.
“Let’s try to get back to the Johnsons’.”
Lacey wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. That might put the family in danger.
They jumped to their feet together and took off running toward the trees. Another shot zinged through the air. And then another.
Jude grabbed her arm and pulled her toward a ditch surrounded by trees. He searched the forest. “Judging from the noise, whoever is shooting at us is really close.” He pointed. “Shots came from over there. He’s between us and the Johnsons’ house. We can’t get back to there.”
“He’ll stalk us through the forest.” Her throat had gone tight with fear.
“We’ll have to head the other way,” Jude said. “Maybe we can work our way down to Mr. Wilson’s house.”
That was miles from here.
Neither of them moved.
“The Johnsons might hear the shots,” she said.
“Maybe. It is hunting season. What if they don’t think anything of it?” Jude continued to stare out, probably looking for the next place to take cover. She searched the trees where the shots had come from but saw no movement. Jude pointed back toward the snowmobile.
She nodded. They pushed up from the ground and ran back toward the snowmobile, diving behind it. The silence surrounded them. She lifted her head just above the seat of the snowmobile. At least when they were being shot at, she knew where the would-be killer was.
Jude tugged on her sleeve and they sprinted toward another cluster of trees. They ran for some time, making their way out close to the road though they stayed close to the forest to provide cover. Several times shots pinged off trees. They ran silently down the mountain.
The forest ended, giving them no choice but to dart out into the open. Lacey peered over her shoulder. The shooter was behind them. His muscular build and gray hair told her he was the first man they’d seen on the mountain. He lifted his rifle and aimed.
Her heart froze in her chest. She turned to face forward just as she felt herself falling through space. She’d come to a steep drop-off and fallen. She hit the ground and rolled head over heels. A mini avalanche followed in her wake sending a wave of snow behind her. She stopped rolling and landed in a sitting position with snow covering her legs.
Fortunately, her snow gear had kept her warm. Only her face was chilled. The field of white that surrounded her was blinding. She glanced above her, expecting to see the shooter taking aim. He hadn’t made it to the edge yet.
She rose to her feet, not seeing Jude anywhere. Had he fallen too or had he stopped fast enough to avoid the steep drop-off? She dare not call out to him. A hundred yards down the mountain was an outcropping of trees. She headed toward it. The softness of the snow had broken her fall. She wasn’t bruised, only fatigued.
Where was Jude?
She had only run twenty paces when she noticed a dark object partially covered in snow. Heart racing, she ran toward it, fearing that Jude had been buried in the little avalanche. As she drew closer, she saw that it was the backpack Jude had been carrying.
Terror warred with panic. Was Jude suffocated by the snow?
She leaned down. The backpack was not attached to a body. He must have fallen too and this had become detached as he rolled. She looked all around, not seeing Jude anywhere. She slipped the backpack on.
Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her glance upward. The shooter had come to the edge of the cliff and was taking aim. He lifted the rifle.
She couldn’t make it to the trees before he got a shot off. She dove to the ground and crawled through the field of white. A shot came very close to her. So close it must have lodged in the backpack.
A light breeze brushed the skin of her exposed face as she made her way toward the trees. Crawling solider style. Heart racing. Body tensed. Again, the silence surrounded her. She peered over her shoulder. The shooter fell partway down the cliff when some snow broke off. He’d dropped his rifle above him.
This was her chance to make a run for it while he climbed back up, got his rifle and lined up another shot.
She bolted toward the rocks and trees. Her boots pressed into the snow. She pumped her legs as her heart pounded. She fought for breath, running even harder, faster.
Like a baseball player sliding into home plate, she dove toward the cover of the evergreens. A bullet hit the tree in front of her. She hurried deeper into the trees. She peered out at the field of white.
Where was Jude?
* * *
Jude opened his eyes staring at the clear blue sky. He lay flat on his back. His head rested on a rock that protruded out of the snow. He must have been knocked unconscious. He remembered only the snow breaking beneath him, the ground giving way.
He’d been out so long, that despite the warm winter gear, he could feel a chill seeping into his skin. In his tumble, he’d lost a glove and the backpack. He unzipped his snowsuit and placed his frozen hand close to his chest to warm it. His gun was still there.
Jude pushed himself off the ground. When he heard what he thought were rifle shots, he lurched forward. The shots hadn’t come anywhere near him. His heart squeezed tight. Lacey was in danger.
A line of trees blocked his view of where the shots must have come from. He ran toward them. Once on the other side of the trees, he was faced with an uphill climb. He must have rolled some distance in his fall.
He dug his feet in the side of the hill to get some traction, feeling a sense of urgency as another gunshot shattered the silence. He worked his way up the snowy hillside. As he came to the crest of the incline, he saw the shooter, the broad-shouldered man, standing on the edge of the steep drop-off that Jude must have rolled down. He followed the line where the rifle was aimed just in time to see La
cey disappear into the trees.
He saw now the furrows he must have created when he rolled down the hill. Other than that, a field of pristine snow lay before him. In his fall he had rolled completely out of view of the shooter. In order to get to Lacey, he’d have to become a target himself.
Jude shrank back down the hill, running out of view for as long as he could. His cover ended. He took a breath and stepped out into the open. Dropping to the ground might make him harder to hit, but it would take forever to crawl across the white expanse to the trees where Lacey had disappeared. He opted instead to run fast and hard, moving in a zigzag pattern and dropping to the ground for short intervals so it would be hard to line up a shot on him.
His boots sank down in the snow as he hurried toward the safety of the trees. In his peripheral vision he saw the shooter step back, lift his rifle and take aim. Jude darted sideways just as another shot rang through the forest. Heart pounding, he kept his gaze on the edge of the trees. Another shot by his upper arm nearly knocked him over and took his breath away. He waited for the excruciating pain of a gunshot wound to disable him altogether, but the pain never came. It must have gone through the thickness of his snowsuit at the padded shoulder where it felt like he’d been punched hard.
Just as he reached the edge of the trees, he glanced up. The shooter had backed away. But Jude had a feeling he’d merely gone back to his snowmobile so he could meet Lacey and him on the other side of the forest. Just because the shooter had opted not to tumble down the steep cliff where he and Lacey had fallen didn’t mean the kidnapper had given up.
Jude entered the trees, his eyes searching. “Lacey.” He sprinted. The canopy of branches meant that there was less snow beneath the trees. Still, he scanned the ground hoping to see her boot print. He kept running, shouting her name several more times.
Desperation filled his awareness. Where had she gone? She hadn’t seen him. She probably thought she was on her own out here. The sound of the snowmobile grew louder. He kept on running, searching. Fear gripped his heart. What if the shooter caught up with Lacey before he did? What if she’d been shot before she got to the shelter of the trees? She might be lying somewhere bleeding, unable to respond to his cries. He pumped his legs, willing himself to go faster. He wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to Lacey. Choosing a path that looked most like a trail, he wove through the trees, running for at least ten minutes.
She nearly crashed into him.
“I thought I’d lost you.” Her hand rested on his chest. She tilted her head to look into his eyes. She was out of breath from running.
He gasped for air too as relief flooded through him. “I was afraid too.” He touched her cheek with his ungloved hand, relishing the warmth of her skin and the radiance of the affection he saw in her eyes. The prospect of losing her had made him realize how much he cared about her. More than anything, he wanted to kiss her and to hold her close.
She studied him a moment longer and then cast her gaze downward, breaking the heat of the moment between them.
Snow started to twirl around them. Their clear blue sky had become overcast. In the distance, a snowmobile engine revved.
“He’s still after us, isn’t he?” Lacey took a step back away from him, turning a half circle in the forest, probably trying to come up with a plan of escape.
He was grateful to see that she had recovered the backpack of supplies. “You have the radio still?”
She padded her chest. “Yes, but we’re not close enough to get a signal. I don’t think. I lost my bearings when we rolled down that drop-off. Do you think we could get back to the Johnsons’?”
He wasn’t exactly certain of their location either. “I think that we might end up even more lost. If the Johnsons heard the shots, maybe they’ll come out and see the sabotaged snowmobile.” He knew they shouldn’t count on help coming for them. He stepped forward and squeezed her arm just above the elbow. The snowmobile grew louder. Though it made sense to try and find the road that lead back to town, it would make them too easy to track down. “We just have to go where that snowmobile can’t go.” He took several steps deeper into the trees, turning to look back at her. Her auburn hair had worked loose of whatever had fastened it into place, framing her face and making her brown eyes seem even more filled with light.
He had a flash of memory. She’d pulled away when that electric moment had passed between them a few minutes ago. She didn’t want to talk about the tragedies that defined both their lives. The walls around her heart were just too high. He’d have to hold on to that warm wonderful memory of being with her in the café, knowing that that was all there would ever be for the two of them.
Why was he even thinking about that? They were lost. He turned back around, tracing a pathway through the trees with his eyes. He wasn’t quite sure where they were at in relation to the road. Maybe if they worked their way downward they would get to a place where they could radio for help.
Once they didn’t come home in the evening, a search party might be sent out for them. Even if Lev or somebody else found the sabotaged snowmobile, it would take some tracking skills to figure where he and Lacey had ended up and by then it might be too late.
ELEVEN
Lacey stared at the back of Jude’s head as she trudged a few paces behind him. They’d been walking for over two hours with no sign of any landmark to tell her where they were. What if they were moving away from the road? All she saw were trees, trees and more trees. The terrain had leveled off. The only good thing was they had not heard the snowmobile for at least twenty minutes.
The tension between them was palpable. She’d looked into his eyes, and the affection there had frightened her.
She stopped, planting her feet. “I don’t think we are making any progress here. We might actually be moving deeper into the forest and getting more lost.”
He turned to face her. His forehead wrinkled. “What do you suggest?”
She picked up on the ire in his words. She suspected his irritation wasn’t about where he was leading her. It was about her pulling away in the heat of the moment. She wanted to tell him that she had felt the electricity between them too, but it had made her afraid. Instead, she responded with an impatient suggestion. “I think we need to work our way back to the road so we can figure out where we are. I know it’s not safe to just follow the road but knowing where it is would be the best way to navigate.”
He tilted his head toward the sun in the sky, which was barely visible through the thickness of the trees. “You know he is still out there looking for us. He’s not going to give up. Someone from town should come searching for us once we don’t come in at sunset.”
“But they won’t know where to find us, Jude.”
“I’m doing the best I can.” Jude placed his hands on his hips.
Hearing the frustration in his voice made her soften. “I know you are. I’m sorry. I just don’t think we could survive if we had to spend the night out here.”
“Tell you what. Let’s walk for another ten minutes or so and then head out toward the edge of the tree line to see if we can figure out where we are.”
“Okay.” She tilted her head to see where the sun was. To the best of her recollection the road was east from where they were at. She pointed. “Probably the best choice would be to go that way.”
Jude changed direction, instead of moving due north he cut across the forest in a more eastward direction.
He continued trudging through the trees, taking the path of least resistance since there was no clear trail. It had snowed off and on throughout the day, just a light snow that never turned into a full-on storm. If another snowstorm moved in, they for sure would not be able to survive the night outside. They had a few hours before it got dark.
They walked for several hours, stopped to eat and drink from the supplies in the backpack and then kept going. As the sun set low in the sky, she
was giving up hope of ever coming out of the forest. It seemed to go on forever.
“Let’s try the radio and see if we can get anything?”
He stopped and nodded.
She pulled the radio from inside her snowsuit and pressed the button that activated it. “Hello, is anybody out there? This is Snow Team One.” She let up on the button and heard only static. She pressed the button again. “Hello?” She spoke more slowly as a sense of hopelessness invaded her mind. “This is Snow Team One. We’re in some trouble.”
The silence on the other end of the line caused a tension to twist through her chest and stomach. She squeezed the radio a little tighter.
“Nobody is there, Lacey.” Jude’s words were soft and filled with despair.
She glanced in his direction. He turned away and crossed his arms over his chest. “We got a little more daylight left. Let’s use it while we can.”
Lacey put the radio back in her snowsuit and followed as Jude set an even faster pace through the trees. She stopped in a clearing that looked like a tornado had gone through—broken tree branches and muddy snow.
“What happened here?” Jude looked around.
She looked closer at the tracks on the ground. “Herd of elk went through here. See the tracks? When there is a bunch of them, they’re like bulldozers.”
“Where were they going?”
“Maybe looking for food. Maybe some hunters scared them.”
It felt like the research that had brought her to Lodgepole in the first place was some faraway dream.
They continued to walk, still not finding an end to the forest or seeing any sort of landmark that might orient them. As darkness fell, the snow and the wind increased. She zipped her snowsuit up tighter. Jude placed his ungloved hand inside his snowsuit to keep it warm.
The sun slipped out of view, and the night grew cold. Wind blew snow in her face. She stumbled.