Was he seeing things?
He stopped his truck and got out to check it out. As he got closer, he realized that they were indeed tire tracks. Someone had driven over this path since the blizzard.
Getting back in his truck, he turned toward the tracks, plowing his way over until he was following the tire tracks. He kept his pace slow so he didn’t miss anything.
The tracks veered to the left, as did Chay, slowing the truck to a crawl, scanning the horizon in the gathering darkness until he saw a vehicle parked in the distance. Not wanting to take a chance on alerting whoever was inside to his presence, he got as close as he felt safe and then radioed back to the checkpoint.
“Benally here. I found something. I’m leaving the truck and going on foot to check it out,” he said, giving them his coordinates so they knew where to find him.
Then he silenced his radio and got out of his truck. His feet sank into the thick, cold snow. It was bitter out and a chill went straight to his bones. Fear for Ava kept him focused and moving steadily through the snow until he got to the car.
Kneeling near the bumper, he relayed the license plate back to Lou, who was manning the checkpoint.
“I’m going inside,” he reported.
Pulling his weapon, he moved, keeping low to the ground. More snow started falling as he made his way to the one window. It was covered in some kind of cloth that only partially obstructed his view. Standing up quickly, he scanned the room, spotting Ava on the ground. She was crumpled into a ball.
He saw red at first, then took a really long breath so he didn’t go in there and get them both killed.
It took a minute before he saw the man standing over her. He was saying something and looked like he was going to kick her.
The door of the cabin burst inward like a gunshot. Ava’s heart raced wildly as she saw Chay come into the room with his weapon drawn. Daniel turned toward him, lifting his gun. He fired off a wild shot, which brought Ava up to her knees.
Ava cried out to warn Chay. But he was already on the move, closing the distance between himself and Daniel. Daniel fired another shot that grazed Chay’s arm, but he kept coming, hitting Daniel hard in the jaw. Daniel sidestepped him and leaned down over her, dragging her away from Chay and up to her feet.
The barrel of his gun rammed into her neck; it was hot from the bullets he’d fired and burned her. Scared, she wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want Chay to seeDaniel kill her. But with her bound hands and feet, she was like a limp rag doll in his arms. She used her bound hands to try to punch him, but he cocked the weapon.
“Stop. Ava, if you move again, I’ll kill you,” Daniel growled against the side of her head.
She went still. “Let him go. Let him leave and I’ll…I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Ah, that’s sweet, she’s pleading for your life. You know I killed the last man who thought he was going to marry her.”
“We’re not engaged,” Ava said. “You don’t have to kill him.”
“I do. You’ll say anything to save him. But I’ve seen your little family. I’ve been watching you for weeks now. I tried to warn you off visiting him with my car but you kept on,” he said.
“Running me off the road was foolish. I reported your car to the National Parks ISB,” she lied, wishing now that she had. But at the time it hadn’t occurred to her that Daniel might be out of prison.
“Enough. I’m not debating this with you,” Daniel said. Then he looked at Chay. “Leave now and she lives.”
Chay glanced at her and then back at Daniel. Her heart was racing so hard she could barely breathe. But Chay was calm as he looked from her to Daniel. He had to be planning something, but what? His arm was bleeding from where the bullet had grazed his shoulder. His eyes were so calm. She’d never seen him this way before.
This was the protector that she’d always known Chay was. For the first time, she saw the police officer and why he’d been called to serve. His emotions were buttoned up, and he was calmly facing down Daniel.
And that was unnerving Daniel even more. He kept talking, spouting things about how he was the only one who was going to be with her. But Ava kept her attention on Chay.
It took her a moment to realize he was readying himself to lunge at Daniel. Her body ached and her ribs were making it hard for her to take a deep breath. Knowing it was going to hurt a lot, but that she had to give Chay an advantage, she made her decision.
Ava watched him and then decided to help the only way she could. She lifted her feet off the ground so Daniel held her entire weight. Jerked off balance, the gun pointed away from her.
Chay was on Daniel, knocking his gun from his hand as Ava fell to the floor. She crawled away from the two men. Chay had the upper hand, but Daniel was strong and wasn’t giving up easily. Ava noticed Daniel was reaching for his weapon, and crawling as fast as her awkwardly bound body would allow her, she knocked it out of the way, but now she was close enough for Daniel to grab her hair, twisting it hard.
She cried out as Chay brought his foot down on Daniel’s upper arm, crushing it under his weight. Daniel let go of her hair, moaning from the pain as Chay wrestled his arms behind his back and got a pair of handcuffs on him. She heard the sound of sirens as vehicles got closer to them.
Everything else was foggy as men entered the cabin, taking Daniel into custody. Chay’s arms were around her, holding her gently and keeping her warm. He hadn’t let her go since the moment that Daniel had been taken from the cabin.
Ava looked up into the face of the man she loved more than anything. She was still afraid that Daniel would get away from the cops.
