“Are you saying that we got that head start we needed?”
“I’m saying that by the time they get to where we’re standing right now, this lake’ll be water.” He threw a look up at the sky. “If we’re lucky.” He bent into the wind again, the chill settling hard in his bones. “Better go fast so we don’t get caught in our own trap.”
That was the problem with nature. You couldn’t count on her to be on your side. Even if it was the right one.
She muttered something under her breath and followed in his footsteps.
The air grew noticeably cooler as they crossed, the winds stronger in the middle of the lake. Above them, the sky was as clogged with clouds as ever.
He tried to forge on, but Leo lagged.
He glanced her way, looked down at her boots and back up. Was she hypothermic? She was so little that even with the thick hood on, the top of her head didn’t hit his shoulder.
Little, but not weak.
He threw another surreptitious look her way, scanning her figure from top to bottom and back up again. Under those thick outer layers was a strong, agile body. Before she’d added those bulky layers, he’d had an impression of curves. She was narrow, but not frail. Strong, but breakable.
Vulnerable.
And wounded, dammit.
He wanted to pick her up again. Wanted to sprint straight to the other side and not stop until he got her to safety.
But those assholes would be right on their tail. And where the hell was safety anyway? Schink’s Station was undoubtedly compromised. Once these guys marked you, you were as good as dead. As far as he knew, he was the only one who’d ever gotten away.
Then again, what did he know? Maybe there was a whole underground network out there, of folks like Leo, who’d gone against the people behind this and survived.
“The people” being the U.S. government sort of complicated things.
A sense of urgency rushed him, adrenaline ridding his body of everything but the need to run. “Come on.”
“Are they gaining? You see them?” She turned to look back. “You just said they were a couple hours behind us.”
“Hours aren’t enough.”
Would Leo have a place to hide out in the world? She said she worked with a team. That was good. Safety in numbers and all that.
So, what the hell was she doing out here alone?
They picked up their pace, which wasn’t easy given that he needed to test the ice with his pole every couple of feet. Her breath was audibly ragged, even with the racket of wind and rain and the cacophony of crackling ice all around. Her head was bad enough, but God forbid she’d suffered some kind of internal damage in the crash, because that wasn’t something he was equipped to deal with.
The thought sent something hot and bloodthirsty running through him, put murder in his veins.
“If only we could crack the ice.”
“What?” She squinted up at him, and it was all he could do not to take her shoulders in his hands and pull her into his arms. Which would be weird. “You want to…” She panted. “Breakthe ice?” And then, the woman laughed. “Feel like we kinda did that last night, don’t you?”
Something shifted far behind them. It rumbled beneath their feet, like an earthquake. The kind of sound that made every living creature stop and take notice.
“Made you smi—” She slipped and caught herself, legs apart, eyes wide, arms suspended, the stance so Bambi-like that he almost laughed.
“Thatmade me smile,” he said, more to get a rise out of her than because it was true.
She threw a dirty look his way, snagged his arm, and pulled herself back up to standing.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get off this thing.” Clenching his sleeve in one hand, the other still up, like an acrobat balancing on a high wire, she asked, “What happens if it breaks now? With us on it?”
