Which left only reality.
Mira cracked open the cabin door. It was immediately snatched out of her hands by the hurricane-like downdraft of the helicopter and slammed into the wall of the cabin so hard that it rebounded. She grabbed it and pulled it nearly shut, peeking out through the crack.
From the strength of the wind, that was no lightweight helicopter up there. All the loose items that Dane had painstakingly picked up after the storm were now flying about in the clearing.A Chinook?she thought, squinting against the swirling dust and flying twigs. Those were heavy troop transport helicopters. Nobody would use something that big for search and rescue. What on Earth was it doing flying around out here?
Mira was starting to get scared. She was even more alarmed when several black-clad figures descended into the clearing on cables and thumped to the ground in the brilliant glow of the helicopter's spotlight.
The newcomers were wearing tactical gear, and they were armed.
Mira was moving on autopilot as soon as the first of the troops landed. She pulled the door shut and stumbled away from it. There was a wooden bar leaning against the wall beside the door, and she saw matching hooks to bar the door from the inside. Mira dropped the bar into place. That would only hold them for seconds, though.
She knew in her heart that they were here for Dane. Mira hoped he had gone to his hiding place, although she found it hard to believe he would abandon her.
If not, however, wherewashe?
She would never find out if she got shot or captured. The only window in the cabin big enough to escape through was the one over the table, which she recalled Dane had opened during their meals to let in air. She climbed up on the table, heedlessly knocking things over. A quick glance outside showed her nothing but the deep shadows along the side of the cabin. The trees were limned in the glow of the spotlight, whipping eerily back and forth in the downdraft, but she saw no sign of any soldiers at the side of the cabin yet; they were grouping out front.
So far.
However, if their tactics worked like the ones she had learned, they were going to surround the cabin and then burst in through the door. She had better be out before that happened.
Mira fumbled with the window's simple wooden latch. It opened inward, and she pulled it open as wide as it would go, put her legs out, and eeled to the ground. Her feet thumped in the grass beside the cabin. She pressed a hand against its log side.
The helicopter was even louder out here, shivering the air around her. She squinted up at its underbelly, but couldn't make out anything beyond the brilliance of the spotlight.
Now that she was outside, over the thumping of the helicopter, she heard shouting out front. They would be back here in moments. She had to get to the trees.
How can I do that without being seen?
Panic swept over her, but then her head cleared.
I was a U.S. Army soldier. I've been in enemy territory before. I can do this.
Mission objective: get to the trees. Mission objective: find Dane before these guys do.
She was bound to be seen in a flat-out sprint across the cabin's well-lit clearing. But the observers in the helicopter couldn't look every way at once, and there was cover. She gauged the distance from where she was standing in the shadow of the cabin's roof to the nearby woodshed.
Then she broke cover and dashed the few feet to the woodshed. She ducked inside and flattened herself against the neatly stacked wood.
Just in time, too. Three mercenaries in tactical gear thundered past an instant later. They would definitely have seen her if she'd stayed where she was.
She was now positive that these guys were mercenaries and not in the army of any country. They wore no identifying marks, and their tac gear was all black. Shields covered their faces. These were not nice people.
Mira risked a glimpse out of the woodshed. One of the mercs had taken up a position at the rear corner of the cabin. The others, she guessed, had fanned out behind it, probably meeting up with another team going around from the other side.
The window was going to be a target. She had to get away from it.
She estimated the distance from the woodshed to the edge of the woods. It was farther—several yards, at least. There was no way she could run that distance without being seen. But there was long grass between her and the beckoning fringe of the trees.
What if I crawl?
Swallowing hard, Mira dropped to her belly and snake-crawled for the woods.
It took all her courage to do it. Her back felt horribly exposed. She heard shouts from the mercs, followed by the splintering crash of the door being kicked in. Her only comfort came from knowing Dane wasn't in the cabin.
Butwherewas he?
She was getting more alarmed by the minute.
