by Kaylea Cross
“Let’s go,” Avery said, and started jogging toward where they’d left Tate’s truck.
“Stay put with this officer until we come back for you,” he said to Rylee, who nodded and stepped back to stand next to the cop he indicated. Tate took off after Avery, the sound of his shoes on the pavement blending with the thud of his heart in his ears.
They had to intercept that vehicle before it reached its final destination. Nina’s life depended on it.
Chapter Twenty
Nina jerked back to consciousness when she slammed into something. She sucked in a breath at the impact, automatically trying to reach out and steady herself. Her arms wouldn’t work. Her brain was slow and sluggish, her eyelids heavy.
She had the sense that she was moving. Where…was she?
She fought to open her eyes. Her whole body felt heavy and lethargic. Why couldn’t she move her arms? It was dark, and she was bouncing slightly.
Nina grunted as she bounced upward, her head and side hitting whatever was above her. When she landed, the fog cleared slightly from her brain.
A car. She was trapped in a trunk!
The active shooter evacuation. That cop—he’d dragged her off to the side and put something over her mouth.
Panic tore through her. She twisted to roll onto her back, trying to get her bearings.
There was a faint light coming from the left. She squinted at it. A bit of plastic that looked almost like it was glowing slightly. The trunk release?
Sweat broke out all over her body. It was hot inside, with no air circulation, the sense of claustrophobia adding to the sensation that it was getting increasingly difficult to breathe. Where was this monster taking her? She had to get out before they got there.
Twisting onto her right side, she inched backward, pressing herself flat against the rear of the trunk. Her hands were bound at the wrists but her fingers were free.
The car slowed. She braced herself with her feet and tensed her muscles to try to keep from rolling as it turned the corner and began picking up speed.
Hurry, hurry…
She wiggled back into position, trying to find the release lever with her searching fingers. It was frustrating, not knowing whether she was close or not, unable to move her arms much, and every motion of the car made it that much harder.
Her heart raced frantically against her ribs as she felt along the plastic wall behind her. The car began to slow.
No! She had to get out. Had to run before he stopped. She wouldn’t be raped again and then killed.
Her frantic fingers found something. She strained her arms upward at a painful angle, her shoulders aching, and touched the area again. A sort of T-shaped lever. She closed her fingers around it, the stifling air rushing in and out of her lungs with each shallow breath, and waited.
The vehicle slowed even more. Came almost to a stop.
Now.
She set her jaw and pulled the lever downward, almost losing her grip because of the awkward angle. But it was enough.
The trunk popped open, leaving her squinting against the sudden flood of light. There was no time to think. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the trunk, then jumped.
She hit the road on her front, barely managing to keep from smashing her face into it. The impact drove the air from her lungs, pain exploding throughout her body. And the car was turning.
Get up. Get up and run!
Pure adrenaline had her struggling to her feet as she took in her surroundings. They were on a quiet, country road in the middle of nowhere. Trees bordered either side.
Panic drove Nina into a run. Weaving a bit, her gait hindered with her arms secured behind her, and still under the influence of whatever he’d drugged her with.
Her legs were numb as she veered across the road and headed for the trees, hoping to hide. She’d reached the edge of the road when she heard the skid of tires behind her.
She risked a glance over her shoulder, her heart clenching in terror when she saw the car plunging to a halt in the middle of the road. He’d seen her! Would be coming after her. And as a cop, he’d be armed.
A bolt of terror streaked up her spine, turning her insides to ice. Frantic, she scanned for a place to hide as a door opened and running footsteps came from behind her.
Through the trees she spotted the edge of a small building. She raced toward it, running in a zig-zag route to make it harder for him to hit her with a bullet, desperate to put more distance between them and find a hiding spot.
He was coming after her, sounded like he was getting closer every second, his heavy treads thudding against the forest floor. Nina ran as hard as she could, desperate to reach the building. It was coming more into view now, and she saw it was actually a cluster of little cabins, like a campground or something.
The urge to scream for help clawed at her but she swallowed it back, not wanting to give her position away in case he didn’t have a clear view of her. Instead she put on an extra burst of speed and darted across a thin strip of lawn toward the first cabin.
There were little alleys between them. She cut left around the first one, then left again, looking for a place to hide. But there was no one here. No one to help her.
She didn’t dare slow, didn’t dare try to hide in one of the cabins. She had to keep going, even though the fear clawed at her and her lungs burned from the exertion.
He didn’t call out to her. Didn’t yell any threats, and that almost scared her more. She couldn’t hear him now but he had to be close behind her, so close she didn’t dare risk looking back. She plunged headlong away from the last cabin toward the forest and veered right.
Her foot snagged on something. A cry locked in her throat as she went airborne. Unable to lift her hands to protect herself or cushion her fall, she hit the ground facedown and skidded across the mat of dirt and dry pine needles.
She winced, struggled upright and forced herself to her knees, the hot ball of fear trapped in her throat threatening to choke her. Branches snapped and cracked behind her.
A surge of terror drove her forward, running blindly through the forest as scrapes and cuts began to burn and throb all over her face. Blood dripped into her eyes. She shook her head but it didn’t help clear her vision. She kept running—until her left foot hit nothing but air.
A tight scream ripped from her as she fell, landing on her side this time. The world turned in somersaults as she rolled down a shallow ravine and hit the bottom with a thud.
For a moment she couldn’t move. Her lungs burned like they were full of acid, and pain obliterated her ability to think.
No. Get up!
Groaning, she rolled and pushed to her knees, managing to wipe the blood from her eyes by rubbing her face against her shoulder. She got up and staggered forward, totally disoriented.
Then she heard it. Water. Rushing water nearby. And the sound of that monster coming closer, somewhere above and behind her.
She broke into a limping run, aiming for the sound of the water. A small river or creek. If she could get to it, she might be able to hide her tracks, maybe buy enough time to find help.
The water came into view. A bank, sloping down to what looked like a small tributary of rushing water. She ran for it as fast as she could, frightened sobs choking her, tears blinding her.
At the edge of the trees, she ducked behind a thick trunk and paused, listening for the sound of her hunter. Once she left the forest and lost what little concealment it offered, she would be totally exposed for the few seconds it would take her to reach the water.
She glanced left, her heart leaping when she spotted the wooden dock about thirty yards away. The water must be deeper than she imagined. It was moving fast.
God, she didn’t know what to do. Keep running through the forest, hugging the riverbank? Or risk heading for the water?
A sound in the distance behind her made her glance around the edge of the tree trunk. Horror sent her heart rocketing into her throat when she saw the cop
racing through the trees—with a pistol in his hand.
THAT BITCH WASN’T getting away from him.
Vince plunged down the side of the ravine and skidded to the bottom, following the skid mark she’d left in the forest floor. He landed on his knees, jumped up and raced after her, his gaze pinned on the spot up ahead where he’d seen her dart between the trees, seconds before.
He couldn’t believe she’d managed to pop the trunk release and jump out as he’d made that tight, hairpin turn in the road. He hadn’t noticed the trunk, he’d been too busy navigating. As it was, he’d barely caught the flash of movement out of the corner of his eye as she ran for the trees.
Worse, he’d been forced to stay put for another fifteen to twenty seconds as a school bus passed by. That had given her enough of a head start to lose him initially.
But now he had her. They were all alone out here, there was no one to help her or hear her screams. If anyone heard the gunshots, they wouldn’t do anything out here.
He had to kill her. He was going to end this here and now, all he had to do was get within pistol range, kill her, then disappear for a few days. He’d kept his face covered at the campus. They’d never ID him. His wife thought he was off hunting in the mountains. And he was.
For his first human prey.
Vince’s long legs ate up the distance between them as he ran through the woods, dodging trees and fallen logs.
Up ahead, he caught a flash of Nina’s red dress as she disappeared behind the screen of trees. The sound of the river was louder now, the smell of it growing stronger. He raced after her, excitement mixing with a rush of fear as his conscience tried to surface.
He shoved it aside, ruthlessly blocking it. There was no other way to save himself, he had to do this. Nina would be his undoing otherwise.
Another flash of red. Eighty yards ahead she broke from the trees and began running down the riverbank. Vince cursed and tore for the edge of the trees, arriving just in time to see her running for a wooden dock farther downriver.
He stared in amazement. Was she going to jump? With her hands tied behind her in that fast-moving water she’d probably drown, but he had to be sure she died.
Breaking from cover, he ran down the riverbank just as she reached the dock. He was within range now.
He stopped, his chest heaving. His hands trembled ever so slightly as he took aim and fired at the center of her back.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tate’s truck bounced and jostled as he raced it along the dirt road, but he didn’t slow. He couldn’t. Every second mattered.
A few minutes ago, the LoJack signal from the stolen vehicle had stopped in front of them somewhere down this country road bordered by forest on either side. Missoula PD had been dispatched but Tate wasn’t waiting around for them.
All he cared about was rescuing Nina. Ever since that vehicle had stopped, his stomach had been a giant knot. Because stopping meant the kidnapper had reached his final destination—and Tate was terrified that would mean the end for Nina.
“We close?” he said to Avery, his tires kicking up a cloud of dust as they sped over the bumpy road. They still didn’t know who the kidnapper was, but it had to be the guy who had raped Nina. Nothing else made sense.
“Yes. Should be just up here,” Avery said, glancing up from her phone to look at the stretch of road ahead of them. “There, I see it—just at the bend in the road.”
The maroon-and-gray vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road. Both the trunk and the driver’s side door were open.
“See anything?” He immediately pulled to the left shoulder, putting the clues together in his mind as he slowed the truck. The driver had left in one hell of a rush. Why? What did it mean?
“No. Lemme out.”
Before Tate had fully stopped, Avery jumped out and raced for the other vehicle, service pistol in hand. Tate yanked the keys from the ignition, ran around to grab his rifle from the back, then followed her, weapon up and ready. He wanted to be able to get off a long-range shot if necessary. Where are you, Nina?
Avery was circling the suspect’s vehicle. “No sign of either of them,” she called out, immediately turning to sweep the surrounding area with her weapon.
Tate did the same, anxiety twisting inside him. He’d been in combat and later served on SWAT. He’d been afraid before during an op. But never like this. Never where someone so important to him was in the hands of a monster who wanted to kill her.
It took all of his mental discipline to block that out and stay in op mode as he took in their surroundings. The ground was hard and dry. He and Avery spread out, looking for footprints leading away from the vehicle.
Tate spotted some leading into the trees beyond his truck. “Found something.” Two sets, and they looked fresh. One smaller and daintier, the other wide and large like the treads of a work boot.
Avery hurried over, looked at the evidence, and nodded. “We can’t wait for a K-9.”
“I know. Follow me.” He led the way into the trees, rifle to his shoulder, searching for any kind of sign that Nina or her attacker had passed this way.
“I see something up ahead,” Avery murmured a minute later, positioned behind him and slightly to his right to watch their rear.
Tate craned his neck to see around a crooked tree ahead and spotted the outline of a building. Nina.
His stomach knotted as he ran toward it, soon realizing it was a group of small cabins. He didn’t bother trying to be quiet as he ran. It was too damn quiet out here. Had the bastard dragged her into one of the cabins to kill her?
Turned out the cabins were deserted, however. That was both good and bad. If she wasn’t there, it might mean she was still alive. But where had they gone? What had made the guy leave the car so fast, leaving it parked in the middle of the road where anyone could see it, without closing the door and trunk?
Frustration burned in his chest as he glanced around. Shit, they could be anywhere. “You go east, I’ll head west,” he told Avery. Splitting up wasn’t ideal, but they didn’t have a choice and he trusted that she could take the kidnapper out if she came across him alone.
“Got it.”
She took off in the other direction as Tate hurried away from the cabins toward the trees to his left. This area was on a low bluff overlooking a tributary of the river. He headed toward the edge of it, hoping to get a better view of what lay below.
A distant gunshot echoed through the air.
His entire body tensed, his heart constricting in terror. No. Please, no.
“Tate?” Avery yelled back at him.
“Down there!” He raced for the edge of the bluff, facing the direction the shot had come from. When he got to the edge and looked down, what he saw made his blood freeze.
“Nina!” he screamed, her name torn from the center of his chest. She was running down a wooden dock in the red dress she’d put on that morning. And the tactical cop from campus stood maybe a hundred-fifty-feet from her, a pistol trained on her back.
“Nina!” he roared, terror and helplessness exploding through him. The cop was within range of Tate’s rifle but it was a difficult shot and the angle was all wrong.
He raced along the edge of the bluff, trying to find a better angle.
The bastard hadn’t heard Tate yell. Instead the cop tracked her and fired again.
Nina toppled forward.
Tate’s heart lurched. No!
He watched in helpless horror as she fell off the end of the dock and plunged into the river.
****
The shock of the cold water hit Nina like a punch in the face. An instant after it closed over her head, she began to sink.
She hadn’t caught a full breath before she’d jumped, the sound of the gunshot ripping a cry of terror from her. For a split second she’d thought he’d hit her, but the bullet had missed.
He’d been coming at her. Her only choice had been to jump and try to swim out of firing range.
The water
was too murky to see anything. Her lungs burned already, the pressure excruciating. Having her hands bound behind her made it impossible to move her arms to steer or propel herself toward the surface. She was a decent swimmer but she kept dropping no matter how she twisted and kicked her feet, the current propelling her forward all the while.
Her flailing feet touched something. She bent her knees and shoved off of it, kicking hard, her face turned upward. What little air she’d had in her lungs was gone. The urge to breathe was overwhelming, a fire burning in her chest and a primal scream in her head.
Just as she was about to lose the battle, her head broke through the surface. She heaved in a desperate breath a heartbeat before the water closed back over her head.
Dammit, no!
She kicked hard, angling her body toward the surface. This time when she broke through, she twisted onto her back, struggling to keep her face above the water.
The current was strong, pushing her along at a surprisingly quick rate. Needing to see her surroundings, she bucked once to get her head fully out of the water.
She blinked the muddy water from her eyes and squinted. She was maybe thirty yards from the nearest edge of the riverbank. The dock was shrinking fast in the distance. And on the right…
A jolt of fear streaked through her when she spotted the cop racing after her along the riverbank.
The current tugged her back under. She fought her way back up, sucked in a bit of water with her next ragged breath and started coughing uncontrollably, her heart about to explode.
Her brain screamed at her to get out. She couldn’t stay in the water. She’d drown.
Gathering her resolve, she turned onto her side and determinedly began kicking as hard as she could, angling her body toward shore. The water wanted to pull her back toward the middle of the river. She fought it, the cold and panic quickly sapping her strength.
Her legs and feet were numb as she propelled herself at an angle toward shore. A glance to the left showed she had enough distance from the cop now, even if she got out on the same shoreline he was on. She might be able to get up the bank and back into the woods to hide. It was her only option.
