If you win,it’s gonna be the hardest thing you’ve ever donein the entirety of your miserable lives, he promised their pursuers. Was it the money they were after? Then they could have it. But not the baby. And not Kit.
Ahead was a fire trail that split the meadow neatly. No way he could get his truck up there. Rock and a hard place, a cliff on the other side and killers behind. The ash coated his tongue with bitterness. Their only advantage was he knew the trail, hence he was able to navigate easier over the dips and hollows. It allowed him to increase the distance between them. A sudden offshoot to the road helped as well, a short hairpin turn tucked behind the shrubs that brought them back onto the main route in short order but forced the SUV behind them to slow to a crawl.
Kit was trembling now, from cold or fear or both.
His tricks would not work for long. He would have to make a stand. As he fought the wheel, he spelled it out. “I’m gonna stop and jump out, leave the engine running. Give me a few seconds, then you drive as fast as you can, take the first turn you come to, and follow the road straightup. Where it loops around the mountain, that’s where my cabin is. Door’s unlocked. Bolt yourself inside. Hide there. Call for help if you can.”
“What? Why?”
Because we’re circlingthe drain with no escape in sight.Not a great option, her and the baby alone, but he could not come up with anything better. He clutched his gun. “Only chance we got is if I can get to them before they come for us.”
“Cullen, there is zero chance that’s going to work.”
It was the first time she’d said his name. Why did it sound nice, rolling off her tongue, even if she was disagreeing with him? Better than when his brothers or bowling buddies said it.
“Hey, if it goes fine, I’ll meet you up there.” He winked. “You done real good with Tot so far, Kit Garrido. Honest. You’re going to handle this now. Turnoff’s hard to spot so look lively. Ready?”
“No.” She snatched at his jacket sleeve. “You can’t go off and get murdered and leave me. Do you hear? That’s not fair, and I won’t stand for it.”
He almost laughed at the schoolmarm tone she’d drummed up, which must have been an effort since she was simultaneously trembling with cold and patting the squirming bundle in her jacket.
“I’m open to suggestions, but they’re going to be on us again in a hot minute.”
“I need to think.” She chewed her thumbnail. “We could ...” Her mouth opened in a roundOof surprise as she looked past his shoulder. “Who’s that?”
A dirt bike careened down the fire trail. Cullen riskedturning on his headlights for a better look. The rider was wearing street clothes, caked in debris from his helmet to his sneakers. He was skinny with a fringe of hair trailing down his back.
Cullen flicked the lights off again and kept moving, squinting, gun in hand. “Who in the Sam Hill ...” They needed another pursuer like a hole in the head. Likely he was a wing man to the people in the SUV. The bike flew onto the main road in a slurry of debris, like some snippet from an action movie. Guy or gal was a skilled biker.
His nerves twanged. They were good and truly sandwiched. The only avenue available was to mow the biker down with the truck. He’d thought it was a solid plan until the guy pulled a gun from his pocket.
“Down,” he shouted to Kit.
He gunned the engine, moving the truck forward while trying to keep his head out of bullet range. The shot came, and several more. Answering fire from the SUV. The dirt bike swerved off the road and vanished back up the fire trail in a swirl of ash. What had just happened? Why weren’t they dead? He squinted in the rearview mirror while Kit craned to see behind them.
“The SUV is stopped. Why?” she whispered.
Since the air was thick and swirling, he rolled down the window and cautiously stuck his head out to get a closer look. A puff of wind stirred the debris cloud on the road, clearing so he could snag one precious glimpse that sent him into deeper confusion. “Tires. Evel Knievel shot out one of their tires.”
“How do you know his name?”
He did a double take. “I don’t. Haven’t you heard of Evel Knievel?”
“No.”
He sighed. Figured.
She craned to peer into the darkness. “So was he a good guy or bad guy?”
“Question of the hour.” He rolled forward once more, trying to work it out in his head. Who was the newcomer and why had he enabled their escape? “You sure seem to have a lot of people interested in you.”
“Not me. The baby or her mom.”
“And that’s your whole deal? You’re a trucker, nothing else?”
“What else would there be?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.” Maybe. “Never met a woman trucker before.”
