by Sharon Dunn
He pulled his glove off and touched her cold cheek. “Don’t blame yourself. The Bureau could have been more careful about their tails.”
“The investigation is going to fall apart because of me.” Her voice faltered. “And Nick won’t go to prison.”
He gathered her into his arms, holding her close. “We don’t know what is going to happen.”
The best-case scenario was that the FBI would have to lie low with the investigation and hope the smuggling would resume once the thieves thought the heat was off. They’d been so close too, one person away from identifying the mastermind behind the whole thing.
He drew Isabel even closer. All he could think about right now was comforting Isabel and giving her some hope.
He spoke into her ear. “We’ll get off this mountain and we’ll get it figured out.”
“We. I like the sound of that.” She stepped back, swiped at her eyes and tilted her head. “Thank you, Jason.”
“No problem.” He pressed his hand against her cheek, wishing they could stay in the warmth of this moment forever...but that wasn’t possible.
The wind gusted and swirled around them when they stepped outside. They ran in the general direction of the chairlift, using the trees for cover and shelter whenever possible.
The silhouette of the chairlift came into view. They crouched low by the trees. A moment later, the lights of the snowmobile appeared at the top of the hill and traveled in a circle. The motor hummed as it whizzed past them. They pressed back even deeper into the trees.
Once the snowmobile was some distance from them and headed back up on the other side of the lift, Isabel spoke up. “I guess that’s it, then. We go on foot.” He detected the fear in her voice.
“Let’s do this.”
They sprinted around the trees and wove through the forest until there were no more trees to hide them. Jason glanced up the hill where he could see the headlights of the snowmobile. He and Isabel were some distance from the top of the run, but it would be just a matter of minutes before they’d be spotted. They were dark figures on a field of white—easy targets.
He prayed they had enough distance between them to get to the next cluster of trees before they were caught and killed.
FOURTEEN
Isabel’s heart pounded. She willed her feet to pump faster. The buzz of the snowmobile grew louder as her boots pressed down the crunchy snow. They came to a steep part of the run.
Jason plopped onto his behind. She stared down at the incline below, which dropped off at a steep angle. It would be easier to slide than walk. She sat down beside him and pushed off with her hands.
The snowmobile would have to loop around the steep terrain. Still, the sound of its engine seemed to surround them, persistent in its pursuit.
They slid, gaining speed. She held her hands out to slow down. The searchlight swept over them as the incline leveled off. They burst to their feet and ran until they came to another steep drop-off. She slid, trying to brake with her hands. As she felt herself propelled headfirst, she tucked, falling forward into a half somersault. She stopped, landing on her behind but disoriented.
Jason appeared beside her. He grabbed her arm to help her to her feet and pointed up the hill. “He’s doing this the hard way.”
The snowmobile, with only one rider on it, was about to make the first jump. The rider revved the motor and sailed through the air.
Both of them sprinted, half sliding and half running on the treacherous terrain. The noise of the snowmobile told her he was making the jumps and getting closer. The machine sounded like a groaning angry monster.
Then the noise stopped.
As they ran, Isabel glanced over her shoulder. The snowmobile was on its side. The rider had gotten to his feet and was lifting off his helmet, probably preparing to pursue them on foot.
Isabel dug her heels in to keep from sliding. Jason sprinted six or so feet ahead of her. She watched the back of his head in the moonlight. The reflective material on his jacket made him look like a bouncing set of stripes moving down the mountain.
The rhythm of her own rapid footsteps surrounded her. She filled her lungs with air and pumped her legs even faster, drawing close to the tree line. Her feet slid out from underneath her and she fell.
A set of hands yanked at her from the side. Before she could scream, a hand went over her mouth and she was dragged sideways. She watched the stripes of Jason’s jacket disappear over a hill as Nick swung her around. He dragged her toward a cluster of evergreens. His hand slipped from her mouth.
She called Jason’s name, her voice barely above a whisper and filled with desperation.
“Oh sure, call for your boyfriend.” Nick loomed toward her, pulling off his gloves.
“I lost my gun somewhere.” He flexed his hands. “Guess I have to do this the old-fashioned way.” His words dripped with menace and an intense rage she had never seen from him before.
The blood froze in her veins.
In the distance, the sputter of a coughing engine reached her ears. The snowmobiler must have decided to try to get the machine unstuck.
She crab-walked backward to get away from Nick, knowing that nothing she could say would change his mind. He meant to kill her.
She flipped over and scrambled on all fours. Nick pounced on her, grabbing her by her collar and jerking her to her feet.
He pressed his lips close to her face, his breath like lava on her ear. “Get up. Let’s get deeper into the trees so lover boy can’t find us.”
She tried to twist free of his grasp, which only seemed to feed his rage. Once they were hidden by trees, he swung her around and clamped his hands on her neck. As she twisted her body and struggled for breath, she kicked him in the shin. He groaned but squeezed tighter around her neck.
Her eyes watered and white dots surrounded her field of vision. She drew her hands up to his, clawing his fingers and trying to break free. She pried his fingers off enough to speak each word delivered between gasping breaths. “You. Don’t. Want. To. Go. To. Prison.”
His grip loosened. “What?”
Her throat felt like it had been scraped with a utility knife. “Make it look like an accident. Like I fell off one of those steep jumps.” The move would buy her time and a chance at escape.
His fingers still pressed against her windpipe. “You think I’m that dumb. You’re just trying to find a way to escape.”
He pressed harder. She screamed, but it seemed to fade before it was out of her mouth. By now Jason would have glanced over his shoulder and come looking for her. But he’d have no way of knowing where they’d slipped into the trees.
She managed to pull his fingers away from her throat for just a moment.
“Please, Nick. Don’t do this.”
“Beg all you want.” His hands gripped her neck even tighter, shutting off all the air.
She scratched at his fingers and tried to turn her body to break free. Her vision became a single dot of light as all the breath left her lungs. Her knees buckled. Nick pushed her so she fell on her back. She took in one sharp breath before his hands were on her neck again.
Darkness surrounded her. Her last thought was that the snow felt cold on the back of her head.
* * *
As he sprinted back up the hill, Jason mentally kicked himself. It had only been a matter of a minute that he’d run without checking over his shoulder for Isabel. Nick must have been stalking them as they moved down the hill. Jason rounded the hill. The snowmobiler had righted his machine and was revving the motor, preparing for takeoff.
Jason darted into trees to avoid being spotted. He ran. Did he dare call Isabel’s name? He zigzagged around trees, pushing past the rising panic. The snowmobiler whizzed by along the tree line, his engine sputtering and humming. The headlights reached some feet into the forest. Jason ran deeper into the trees
, seeing nothing. He was out of options. He’d do anything to find her.
“Isabel.” He spoke her name rather than shouted it.
To the side, a rustling of tree branches caught his attention. He darted in the direction the noises had come from. Weight landed on him. He fell on his back. A fist landed a hard blow to his head while something pressed on his chest.
“She’s gone, lover boy. If I can’t have her, nobody can.”
The thought of anything bad happening to Isabel ignited a fire inside Jason. He slammed Nick’s back with his knee. The blow was enough to surprise Nick and knock him off balance. Jason landed another blow to Nick’s stomach. Nick groaned and doubled over. Jason pushed him off, jumped to his feet and kicked Nick in the head just before Nick tried to pull Jason’s feet out from under him. Jason hit Nick with leg jabs, one to his side and one to his head. Nick fell over and remained motionless. When Jason checked for a pulse, Nick was still alive but unconscious. Though Nick would probably only be out for a few minutes, Jason had no time or rope to restrain Nick with. His priority was finding Isabel.
Some strange energy flowed through Jason. He refused to believe Isabel was dead. Nick must have been bluffing to weaken Jason’s resolve. He ran in the direction Nick had come from, pushing tree branches out of the way. His heart beat intensely as he searched the ground made darker by the tree canopy.
He said her name not once but three times.
The snowmobile continued to patrol the perimeter of the cluster of trees. Light flashed through the trees and Jason spotted something of a light color, maybe yellow, lying on the ground. It was the knit scarf Isabel had worn with her wool dress coat.
She could have lost it in a struggle. He picked it up, held it close, picking up the scent of her floral perfume. Racing deeper into the trees, he spotted her dark form in a clearing. The porcelain skin of her face the only discernible part of her.
He dived to the ground and touched her cold cheek. Fear flooded through him at the thought of losing her. He cared deeply for her.
“Isabel.”
His finger trailed down to her neck, where he felt a pulse. She was alive.
He patted her cheeks.
“I’m here.” Her voice was scratchy, hoarse-sounding.
“Hey.” He cradled her head.
“I must have passed out.”
Nick probably heard Jason calling her name and decided to get rid of Jason before he had the chance to check to see if Isabel was still breathing.
“We don’t have much time. Can you stand?”
“I think so.”
He held out a hand for her and helped her up. He handed her the scarf, which she wrapped around her neck. The snowmobiler was still patrolling the tree line and Nick would be hounding them in minutes. They had no choice but to head down the mountain.
“Jason, I’m really cold.” Her voice was weak. It was clear from the inflection of her words that she was giving up.
Lying on the frozen ground for at least five minutes had only brought her that much closer to hypothermia.
“We’re halfway down the mountain already. If you stay with me there is a hot bath and a steaming cup of tea waiting for you at the end.” He pressed his hands on either side of her cheeks. “Can you do that for me, Isabel?”
“I’m sorry I messed up the investigation. But I can’t keep running like this.” Her voice cracked.
He gathered her into his arms. “I know. They’ll put you in protective custody. Don’t give up.”
Protective custody for her seemed like the only option now. Whoever was behind all this was clearly powerful, connected and relentless.
Jason held Isabel close. Her hat felt soft against his chin.
“Let’s go.” Her words seemed to be undergirded with new strength. “We don’t have much time.”
“That’s my strong lady.” He kissed her on the forehead. Their eyes met momentarily. He touched her lips with his gloved hand, feeling a magnetic pull toward her as an intense warmth washed through him. He wanted to kiss her on the mouth.
He pulled back. “This time I won’t lose you,” he said. “Not even for a second.”
As they ran through the trees, he could hear the snowmobile growing closer and then farther away as it searched for them. They moved out into the open, sliding down the steep parts of the hill.
A lamp outside the dark ski lodge came into view, a tiny light in the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the first sign of civilization. Glancing over his shoulder at where they had emerged from the forest, he could discern moving shadows among the trees. It could be Nick.
They made their way toward the ski lodge. There would be a phone there. He quickened his pace, making sure that Isabel stayed with him.
They neared the lodge. When he’d skied here, he and his buddies had found a window with a loose latch. Maybe it hadn’t been repaired even after all these years. He glanced up the hill at the sound of a motor. The snowmobile was headed their way, close enough that the men could see he and Isabel standing outside the lodge. He led Isabel around to the far side of the lodge.
The window latch was still loose. They crawled into what was the boys’ locker room.
“There’s probably a phone in the office,” he said, taking her hand and leading her upstairs.
The door to the ski-lodge office was locked. His hope deflated. They had only minutes before the snowmobiler would be outside.
“Now what?” Her words were saturated with fear.
His mind raced. “Lost and found. People might leave cell phones.”
He located the lost-and-found bins by the cafeteria just where they had been ten years ago when he’d skied here as a teen. There were bins filled with hats, orphan gloves, scarves and ski goggles and one bin filled with electronics. The first cell phone he tried was dead.
“Here, this one still has some battery left.” Isabel handed it to him.
The bright lights of the snowmobile shone through the window. Both of them ducked down as he pressed in the numbers for his contact.
While he dialed, Isabel scurried across the floor and peered through the window. The main door shook. It would take Nick and his accomplice a few minutes to break in.
“Two of them got off the snowmobile and are at the door.” Isabel’s voice was flat, devoid of emotion. “We have to hide.”
Jason held the phone to his ear. One ring. Two rings. Come on, Michael—pick up. The agents had to be out looking for them and waiting for a call.
Glass shattered. The men were breaking in.
Jason hurried to the far end of the cafeteria back into the boys’ locker room with the phone still pressed against his ear.
Finally, Michael picked up. “Yes, who is this?”
“Help us.”
“Jason, where are you?”
“We’re at the ski lodge and on the run.”
“I’ll get a man to you as soon as I can.”
“We’ll be headed toward the concert venue.” He doubted the concert was still going on, but maybe there would be a cleanup crew or someone still around.
The footsteps of Nick and his accomplice seemed to echo through the empty building, growing ever closer. He set the phone down. Isabel was already crawling through the window when Nick appeared in the doorway.
She glanced at Nick and then at Jason.
“Go,” said Jason. “I’ll catch up with you.”
Nick dived for Jason. Jason hit him hard twice against the jaw. The blow caused Nick to take a step back.
Jason jumped up to the open window. Nick charged toward him again, and Jason flipped around, kicking him hard enough to make him stumble backward and fall.
The move gave Jason enough time to get out of the window. He sprinted downhill, praying that Isabel had not been captured by Nick’s accomplice.
&
nbsp; FIFTEEN
Isabel ran in the direction she thought the concert venue might be. Much of the forest in Silver Strike had been preserved, even in town, so she darted from one clump of trees to the next looking for the building. She found a snow-packed road that led downward. Sooner or later she’d run into something, but being on the road made her too easy a target. She couldn’t stay on it for long.
She wondered too if Jason had made it out. Her heart ached to know that he was safe. She should have stayed behind to help him. That was what he would have done for her.
The hum of a snowmobile engine told her she needed to get off the road. She veered back into the trees. The snowmobile putted past her, clearly searching. She tore off the yellow scarf and threw it on the ground, knowing that it would make her more visible through the trees. Why hadn’t she thought of that ages ago? She darted from one tree to the next, taking the time to catch her breath and peer around the trunk of a tree. As the snowmobile eased by her, she saw only one rider.
A hand squeezed her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She swung around, ready to fight. Jason stood only inches from her. He placed a finger up to his lips, indicating to be quiet. The snowmobile faded in the distance. She looked up into Jason’s eyes, blue even in the shadows of nighttime. The memory of him kissing her forehead and then touching her lips rose to the surface. His eyes had grown wide as he leaned close. She had thought he would kiss her. In that moment, she realized she wanted to feel his lips on hers. He brought to life feelings that she had long thought were dead.
He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows up toward the lodge. A gesture that indicated Nick was in the forest searching for them.
As the noise of the snowmobile died out altogether, she heard faint sounds, the crackle of a branch, a padding noise that could be footfalls on snow.
Jason wrapped his arm around her waist and eased her around to the other side of the tree. His lips brushed her forehead as they faced each other. The rhythm of his breathing surrounded her. Nick’s footsteps became more distinct and louder.