Her ears strained for the crunch of boots in the snow, the snap of a twig, anything to give away their hunters’ location, but the wind rustled the bushes and made it hard to focus. With luck, the same sound would cover their retreat long enough for them to disappear into the forest.
Once inside the shadow of the dense thicket of trees, Todd rose to his full height and darted from trunk to trunk. The snow hadn’t fully penetrated the canopy here, so they could run without leaving an obvious trail. She caught up with him behind a massive evergreen of some kind and tapped his good shoulder.
He glanced back, his expression severe.
“Why are we heading back?” Despite moving in a wide arc, they’d been circling closer to the compound, not away. Then again, if she’d expected them to flee, maybe the men would too. But surely they’d keep someone near the cabins just in case.
He raised a dark brow as if to remind her that she’d agreed to trust him.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head in capitulation.
Faint shouts came from her right, setting her heart hammering. So far, their pursuers seemed to be operating on the assumption that she and Todd would put as much distance between themselves and the compound as possible. Definitely her preference.
Trust him.
On wobbly legs, she let Todd lead her for several more minutes, past where they’d originally entered the compound, until they peered across a meadow at the east side of the main cabin, the bright sun glinting off the expanse of pristine snow. Her sunglasses had been lost along the way and she squinted at the row of oversized trucks parked in front of the small house.
“They’re all too new for me to hot-wire,” he said softly, as if jacking a car were a normal skill.
She almost laughed.
A man burst through the brush surrounding the cabin.
Lindsey covered her mouth to keep from gasping aloud, and Todd tugged her lower, pressing his finger to his lips. A wholly unnecessary gesture.
The man raced up to a gray SUV, his head on a swivel, a shiny gun like the one in her pocket gripped in his right hand. Starting up the car, he peeled out of the parking area and zoomed around the bend, fishtailing in his haste.
Did he hope to catch her and Todd on the road?
Todd beckoned her toward the edge of the trees to a tangle of wild branches that looked like blackberry or raspberry bushes, their leaves just starting to turn red for the season. They crouched at the shoulder of the road’s terminus, a cracked and potholed asphalt lot that had been cleared and salted, probably by the large Dodge with a plow attachment.
Now what?
“Stay here.” Todd bolted across the open ground and disappeared between two trucks, leaving her alone with the trees.
Everything that had happened in the last few minutes—the betrayals, being shot at, watching at least two men die, being forced to stab her best friend—caught up with her in that moment.
She turned away and vomited.
Todd’s right delt hurt like a motherfucker. The rest of him was pretty much numb from being cold and wet, though the radiant heat from the sun was warm on his beanie-clad head.
He peeked through the windows of each truck, looking for an unlocked door. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger an alarm. He hit pay dirt with an older black F-150 with an open bed that contained a truck box, a couple of plastic toboggans loosely corralled by a bungee cord, and some unopened bags of ice melt partially hidden under a blue tarp.
After scanning his surroundings, Todd opened the passenger door. There was no key above either visor, or in the glove box. He checked the center console, under both floor mats, beneath the seats, in the door pockets, and every other nook and cranny he could find. No dice.
He pushed the door until it latched and then quietly shut it completely, turning his attention—the part that wasn’t tuned in to every sound and movement around him—to the remaining trucks and SUVs. All were locked.
So, they weren’t going to drive out of here. And for all he knew, the goon who’d just driven off in the Explorer was now blocking the road anyway. But it appeared that the men expected Todd and Lindsey to run. They’d sent teams into the forest, down the road, and toward the trail. At least one of the guards was still patrolling the grounds at the far end of the compound though. Todd caught sight of him prowling between cabins.
He waited until the patrol was out of sight again, and peered into the F-150’s truck bed. If they were careful, it might just work.
Glancing around, he made sure the lines of visibility were clear and waved to Lindsey to keep low and join him.
Without hesitating, she bent over and ran to his side, looking as pale as he’d ever seen her. She might be wary of him right now, but she apparently trusted him to get her out of here. He hoped he could earn it.
When he told her the plan, she looked at him like he was speaking nonsense. But ten minutes later they huddled beneath the toboggans with the tarp crumpled loosely over their upper bodies, their lower legs hidden under the toolbox, which had a gap between its base and the floor of truck to allow for ladders and lumber.
Lindsey let him spoon around her to share body heat and conserve space, stiff and impersonal. They both shivered in their wet clothes, the cold creeping in through the uncomfortable floor of the truck bed. The only blessing was the lack of wind and the sun shining onto the tarp, heating his right side. Not much, but he’d take it.
