“I…I’m fine. I can get up.” Maybe. If she concentrated really hard. Ignoring his hand—not to be a jerk, but because depending on him seemed like a long, slippery slope in a world of slippery slopes—she shifted back, steadied herself, and shoved up to standing, eyes screwed tight until the spins went away. Mostly. The ringing in her ears continued. Not a good sign.
“You walk?”
No.“Yes.” Definitely maybe. She put as much certainty into the word as she could. Sometimes confidence was all a girl had.
He pulled away, then returned with a curse when she started another slow slide earthward. Iceward.
“It’s fine,” she tried, but the words slurred together to make a sibilant mess in her mouth. “I’m fine. Don’t carry me. I can…”
He didn’t release her. Didn’t even look her way. Just trudged on, lugging her with him. The two of them a sodden, limping mass of humanity, with the happy dog leading.
Oh God. “Hang on.” She managed to pull away and yank her ski mask up just before throwing up on the ice. The pressure made her head feel close to exploding. Once she caught her breath, she breathed deep.
“Sorry.” Groaning, she put her hands to her streaming eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t respond.
When she looked up, it was to find him staring back in the direction from which they’d come.
“Let’s go.” The words were staccato quick. She grabbed the hand he offered this time and let him help her to standing just as a sharp bark burst through the quiet, so loud that she didn’t know where it had come from at first. Then another and another, the echoes pinging from one side of the lake to the other until the dueling retorts sounded more like rolling thunder than individual gunshots.
Gunshots.
Adrenaline was already pouring into her system by the time she recognized the sound. And this guy, superhuman machine that he was, didn’t even flinch when a bullet hit the ice inches from his foot—sending crystal in all directions, the shards sticking to his dog’s fur like minuscule chunks of glass. Aside from a grunt, his only response was to grab Leo, throw her over his shoulder, and run.
Chapter 15
Ash spun, ready to throttle whatever absolute wanker had fired a weapon. Were they idiots?
Deegan’s team—or what was left of it—was behind this. He couldn’t see them, but he knew they were there. The cretins had spent all morning thrashing through the woods, as if they were alone in the world. And now this.
He’d bet the shot hadn’t connected.
And the next had bloody well not either, or he’d have to pick off his ostensible allies himself before going after his far more intelligent quarry. Nobody was supposed to be killing their target. That wasn’t their mission. And it certainly wasn’t his.
He made his way to the cliff’s edge and put his thermal monocular to his eye just in time to catch a heat signature southwest of him. Almost in the very center of the ice. He could only assume it was the two he’d been following all along, with the dog, though it was difficult to tell from this distance.
He narrowed his eyes at the loping shape, almost sure that it was a running person.
It could be an elk, he supposed, or even a bear, though neither animal would venture onto ice that could be just hours from falling apart.
There!Another shape, low to the ground. That must be the dog. So, where was the second person?
He watched for a few moments before the truth hit him.He’s carrying her, he thought, his stomach dancing. Who were these people?
Goose bumps spread out over his skin, with shivers of excitement rather than cold.
The edge of the lake, he could see, even through the mixed precipitation and even from this height, was beginning to get that mottled look that said the ice was close to breaking.
My God.They were doing it, weren’t they? Ballsy bastard, whoever he was.
He swung the monocular left, toward Deegan and his team who, like Ash, were too far above the lake to reach it in good time.
Assuming that he was right and that was his target racing across the kilometers-wide lake, then the man had taken the risk of heading out onto the ice knowing full well that whomever followed would likely get caught in the breakup.
Quite the gamble, wasn’t it?
Unpredictable. Another long, slow shiver went through Ash. His quarry was not to be underestimated. He didn’t know yet if this was good or bad, but it stirred him. He hadn’t felt this energetic in forever.
