“Be safe,” Jayce said.
“Will do.” Joel revved the snowmobile. “Find Kendra.”
“On it,” Jayce said
Joel sped up the mountain in the whiteout, trying to forge ahead in the snow and ice pelting at him.
Pleaseguide me,Father. I can’t see anything,but youcan see everything. Please direct me to Cassie. Let usget through this.
He’d been saying the same prayer for a year, but for the first time since she left him standing at the altar, he had hope.
Driving blind was crazy, but he had no choice. He couldn’t stop until Cassie was safe.
He couldn’t see their snowmobile, but finally the roar of its engine revved ahead. Off to his left. If Devon wasn’t careful, they could easily fly off the cliff. In this whiteout, it would be impossible to see it until it was too late.
Speeding as fast as the snowmobile would go, he veered toward the echo of the engine, finally catching sight of them.
“Joel!” Cassie yelled, slumber thick in her voice.
“Remember what I taught you,” Joel hollered.
They were so close to the cliff. She had to move fast.Come on,Cassie. Throw that elbow.
“Taught her what?” Devon mocked, their snowmobile driving ever closer to the cliff.
The fool had no idea of his surroundings.
Cassie swung her elbow back. It collided with his nose.
He released one handle, grasping his nose.
“Now, Cassie!” Joel shouted.
She lunged off the snowmobile, screaming as her leg hit the ground. She ducked into a roll, away from Devon.
“You—” Devon cussed up a storm.
Joel headed straight toward a very distracted Devon. Perfect. He rammed Devon’s snowmobile from the side.
Devon rammed back, but Joel regrouped and smashed into Devon—again and again.
Devon fought back, ramming him until Joel sped away.
“That’s right,” Devon taunted, speeding ahead, completely oblivious.
Joel rounded and sped back, ramming the side of Devon’s snowmobile just right—sliding him over the cliff he or Kendra had thrown Brady over.
Devon screamed the entire way down, then an explosion roared up—flames and smoke mixing with the storm.
Joel raced back to Cassie. Stopping the snowmobile, he shut it off and ran to her side, wrapping his arms around her.
She burrowed into him, and he sat there, holding her. The cold vanished—everything vanished, except the feel of the woman he loved in his arms.
Twenty-Two
“I CAN’T BELIEVEit was Devon,” Cassie said from near the fireplace. She’d been shivering nonstop by the time they made it back to the lodge. “I thought he was my friend.”
“He’s not your friend.” Kendra, who’d been trying to escape through the hidden passageways, laughed.
