Page 8 of Hard Pursuit
Every time her balance wavered, his hand was there, steadying her and keeping her from tipping too far.
Every step down they took, the weight on her shoulders began to lift. They reached the bottom, and she issued a hard puff of relief.
“You all right?” A set of dark blue eyes penetrated her, and she got the feeling that even if she lied, he would know.
She gave a swift nod. “Thank you. Seriously.”
He led her to the snowmobile, and she followed on shaky legs.
He reached into a pocket on the front of his jacket and pulled out a black object. “Put this on.”
She looked down at the black fabric in his hand and back up at him. “I’m sorry—what?”
“The hood.”
Panic flooded her system in a sharp rush. “What? No. No, I’m not putting a hood on. That’s—no!”
“It’s required for me to get you out of here.”
She threw a wild look around at acres and acres of nothing but white snow. No one to see where she’d been taken.
“Is this a rescue or a kidnapping?”
He gave a light shake of his head. “You want to get out of here, you put it on.”
The wind sliced through her jacket again, an icy reminder of how exposed she still was. She wouldn’t last long enough to hike back to her motel, even if she could find the trail.
“Where are we going? Who are you?” she pressed.
A plume of cold air bloomed with his sigh. “Look, I’m military. Let’s get you out of the blizzard, then we can talk.”
Military. So why would she need to wear a hood? Was this one ofthosemilitary bases—the ones that studied aliens in underground bunkers she’d seen so many conspiracy theories about?
Another gust of wind rocked her on her feet, and she barely caught her breath. She only hesitated a beat longer before grabbing the hood. She pulled it on, and the world went fromblinding white to pitch black. “If I ‘disappear,’ I’m haunting you.”
“Noted.”
He took her by the arm and guided her another step. “I’m helping you onto the snowmobile now. Lift your right leg.”
She did, and his gloved hand wrapped around her boot. He guided her onto the vehicle, and she settled in the seat, totally disoriented and so out of her depth that her pulse raced.
When he grasped her hand, she jolted. His voice was a low rumble as he leaned close. “Here’s a handle. There’s one on each side.” He guided her hand to a grip.
She wrapped her fingers around it and felt for the other. A moment later, the machine rocked lightly under the man’s weight as he took the seat in front of her. The engine roared, and they took off.
The hood blocked everything, leaving her with no sense of direction. She couldn’t see any landmarks and only felt the vibration of the machine and the wind tearing past them. She tightened her grip, trying to anchor herself in the seat even as she wondered why the hell she’d agreed to go with this stranger.
She’d raised two savvy boys and a girl, gotten them through their teen years unscathed.
And she’d completely failed all the lessons she’d taught them. Rule one: always let someone know where you’ll be, who you’ll be with and when you’re expected home. Rule two: keep your phone accessible. Rule three: know how you’re getting home before you go.
How could she be so dumb? She was going to be murdered and tossed behind a tree. In a decade, some hiker would stumble over her bones if she wasn’t devoured entirely by wolves.
Panic made her breaths come faster, and pretty soon, she was dizzy. She flailed out an arm and struck the man in front of her. His hand covered hers and he pulled it around his middle.
“Lean into me,” he called back to her.
She had no reason to trust him, but she needed to live through this ordeal, so she held on tight.
