“Maya—”
“Seriously. I’m prepared now. I know what she’s capable of. Both of them. I won’t hesitate to defend myself.”
“Remember the bum shoulder? No, I don’t like it.”
“I know, but the sirens are getting louder. There’s no way they’re going to be able to find us unless we can signal where we are.”
“I’ll figure it out, but you need to stay here.”
“If I stay here, Ellie may escape.” She raised on tiptoes to kiss him, her soft lips grazing his and leaving him wanting more. She pulled back and met his gaze, conflicting feelings turning her dark eyes stormy. She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I hope that was okay.”
Gideon cleared his throat. “More than okay. Let’s revisit that once this is all over.” Assuming they lived through it. She took off before he could protest again.
Please,God,let us live through it.
Thirteen
SHE’D KISSED HIM.Something she’d dreamed about doing for years. And he hadn’t seemed to mind one bit. It might have been a selfish move, especially if he wasn’t interested, but deep down she knew he was. And kissing him, even that light brush of butterfly wings, had been the stuff of dreams. Now she wanted to live to see if they could have more.
Bemore.
Together. And she had a glimmer of an idea how to move things in the right direction to make sure they could explore that option.
But before that could happen, they had to find Ellie and Vance and stop them. If she didn’t, her dreams were dust.
She hurried around to the front of the condo, looking for fresh prints. None.
A shot rang out from the back. “Gideon!” Maya darted along the cabin wall, staying close to the rough wood. At the corner, she cautiously peered around and her heart squeezed. Using the tree line for cover, Ellie had her weapon trained on Gideon, who was near the stack of firewood and facing the cabin’s French doors.
Before Maya could get Gideon’s attention, Ellie’s gaze snapped to her, and the gun swung in her direction. Maya pulled back and bullets splintered the cabin beside her, sending wooden shrapnel raining into the snow. When the shooting stopped, she looked around again, praying she didn’t get a bullet in the head. Shecaught Gideon’s eye just as the French doors swung open and Vance bolted out of the cabin.
He spotted Gideon and never slowed. He ran down the steps of the porch, through the icy snow, slipping and sliding, with no weapon that she could see. But she knew what a good fighter he was. He could kill a man with his hands, and that seemed to be his intent as he reached the woodpile.
Maya stood still, watching, as did Ellie. The man dove over the stack of wood and landed on top of Gideon. Gideon grunted and the two men rolled down the slight hill away from the wood and into the open.
Ellie’s gun barked once more in Maya’s direction.
“Ellie, Vance, stop! It’s over!” Maya yelled.
The sirens were closer, but they wouldn’t be able to see what was going on, thanks to the privacy of the cabin’s location. Not unless they were watching the security cameras.
“It’s not over!” Ellie shouted. “We may never get to claim the land now, but you’re not going back to it! Ever!You’veruined everything!” The high-pitched screech echoed through the air, and Maya breathed a prayer for divine help.
She couldn’t see Gideon and Vance now. They’d rolled back behind the woodpile. But the sounds of their fight came through loud and clear. She had to do something to distract Ellie and help Gideon. She could only pray the men were evenly matched, with Vance’s head wound hampering his strength. “Security is on the way!”
For a moment Ellie had her weapon aimed at Vance and Gideon.
Obviously trying to hit Gideon.
“No, no, no,” Maya whispered. Using Ellie’s distraction to her advantage, Maya darted for the woodpile, praying she could get there before Ellie could refocus her aim.
A bullet whipped over her head, and she slid to her knees behind the wood. From her vantage point, she had a good look at Gideon and Vance.
And it was not going well for Gideon.
Gideon struggled under Vance’s weight. His back dug into the icy underlayer of the snow, sending shards of pain rippling through him while he tried to find some kind of leverage to get the guy off him. The man’s massive hands were wrapped around his throat and closing like a vise. Vance’s eyes were wide open, but he was lost in another time, another place, another battle, his PTSD set off by his wife’s gunfire.
“Vance!” Gideon’s gasp came out on a whisper. Another crack followed, then another, Ellie’s shots echoing off the mountainside like firecrackers. And very close to their heads. One more pop from another direction, someone screamed, and then the shooting stopped.
