An Ill Wind

by Monette Michaels

  “Has he tried to run you off the road?”

  Fee could hear movement in the background. Trey was on the move, getting ready to come get her. She let out a sigh of relief. All she had to do was hang tough, stay alive, and he’d take care of the rest.

  “Fee, baby, has he bumped you?” Trey enunciated the words as if he were gritting his teeth at the same time.

  “No, not yet. He, um, keeps flashing his lights. He pulled up alongside me. That’s when I saw who he was. I pulled away.”

  She glanced at the rearview mirror. Stall was a mere car length behind her. Too close. She accelerated even more.

  “He wants me to pull over. I’m not going to.”

  “Good. Don’t.” Trey was running now. She could hear his feet pounding and his respiration elevate slightly. “I’m getting backup. We’ll be heading out in the helicopter. I’m also calling the sheriff and the State Police.”

  “Trey…” She swallowed hard. “…if he rams me…”

  “Whatever you do … keep driving. The Hummer can handle a few bumps. We’ll be there before you know it. Leave the line open, okay?”

  In her gut, she knew they wouldn’t get here in time. Her Plan A had been to outrun Stall, lead him toward Sanctuary, and let Trey and the others intercept and take care of him. Fee wasn’t sure she could handle Stall ramming her and still manage to keep control of the Beast. The window for her Plan B, going to ground at SSI’s cave, was narrowing, but she’d hold onto Plan A as long as possible since that was what Trey so obviously wanted her to do.

  “Yes, all right.” She focused on the road and listened as Trey alerted Price, Ren, Tweeter, and DJ. The knowledge help was on its way encouraged her.

  Then Stall hit her rear bumper. Hard.

  Fee couldn’t help it … she screamed even as she tightened her hold on the steering wheel and struggled to control her vehicle. The Beast lurched toward the left-hand side railing, and she barely managed to get the vehicle back to the middle of the road on the sharp S-curve.

  Under control once more, she pressed the accelerator and took the rest of the curves at sixty miles per hour. The Hummer ate the curve like the beast it was, snow and all. It was as if the Beast knew she needed it to perform at its optimum to keep her safe.

  “Fee?” She could barely hear Trey’s voice over the sound of the helicopter’s engines in the background. “What happened?”

  Yes, help was on its way, but she had decisions to make now. The road wouldn’t be any easier to navigate farther ahead. The conditions were once again approaching whiteout.

  Plan B was looking better all the time.

  “Fee, goddammit, baby. Talk to me.” Trey’s voice was all animal growl now.

  “He’s ramming me from behind.” Fee took a quick glance in the rearview mirror as she entered the next curve. The Beast slid to the left, and she made the correction, careful not to overcorrect. “I’ve gained some space on him. But with the steep drops … I’m sorry … at these speeds, I’m afraid of going over the side. So, I’m going to take the ranger access road and head for the cave. I remember the pass code for the outer door.”

  But first she’d have to get up that mountain path without being spotted by Stall. She’d worry about that later.

  “God, baby. He could catch up to you on the ground.” Trey cursed. “You aren’t armed.”

  Even if she were armed, she couldn’t shoot worth spit. Note to self: Frigging learn to shoot better. Trey could teach her.

  “I’ll be fine.” She hoped. “I know where I’m going, he doesn’t. I have the advantage.” She also knew how to cover her tracks, thanks to Keely.

  “Fuck … just fuck.” Trey’s breaths were harsh and raspy over the connection. She could almost picture him, struggling to regain control and not yell at her … not order her to obey him. Instead, he growled, “Stay alive.”

  “Planned on it. I have a lot to live for.” Fee made a sharp right off the state road and bumped onto the rutted, snow-covered access road which led to the ranger station and to a trail head parking area. She traveled at a speed that would’ve bottomed out any normal vehicle.

  Keeping the Beast at a steady fifty miles per hour, she was jostled from side to side and bounced up and down; she was thankful for the shoulder harness. Still, she’d have bruises where the harness dug into her body. After one huge dip in the road, she bit her tongue, tasted blood, as the vehicle found some air, then landed hard. All too quickly, her arms and fingers cramped as she struggled to keep the Beast on the road and out of the thicket of trees which lined both sides of the narrow road.

  Stall could still be on her tail, but she couldn’t risk looking. Even if she did look, she wouldn’t be able to see with all the snow blowing around and being thrown up by her tires. If she took her eyes off the road, she could easily lose control. Plus, she needed to keep her eyes open for the turnoff to the trail head parking area. The SSI cave overlooked the clearing where hikers left their vehicles for day hikes; in fact, the cave, while on SSI property, was just off one of the more difficult public hiking trails.

  There it was. She took a hard left and arrowed her way onto the narrow, snow-filled, gravel-based lane. The trees were much closer on each side of the track. The scraping of the tree branches over the Beast’s exterior sounded like fingers on a chalkboard. The screeching noise grated on her already overexposed nerves. She firmed her jaw to keep from screaming. A tension headache throbbed behind her eyes and made her sick to her stomach.

  God, please, not now.

  She took several breaths and forced her jaw to relax, hoping to stave off the blinding headache.

  Just as Fee thought she couldn’t handle one more foot of this nightmare of a lane, she was in the parking lot. She drove toward the sign displaying the map of the area trails. She slammed the brakes, threw the car into Park, shut off the engine, and stumbled down and out of the Beast. Her head met the door, and she fell and landed in snow up to the middle of her shins.

  Pain and shock blinded her for a split-second. Flashes of white light and floating dots of yellow and blue swarmed her vision. She held onto the Beast’s door like a life preserver as the world spun around her. She swallowed the hot, acrid nausea.

  Get your ass moving. Be sick later.

  Fee closed her eyes for a few seconds and let the world and her stomach settle a bit. But her headache was here to stay, a constant thrumming which threatened to take her down.

  Don’t let it. Move.

  Over the ticking sounds of the Beast’s cooling engine and the wind whistling as it whipped the snow around, the sound of a car’s laboring engine came closer and closer.

  Fee got out the SSI satphone Keely had given her and made sure the line was still connected to Trey. The sound of the helicopter coming over the line told her it was.

  “I’m heading to the cave,” she panted into the phone.

  She didn’t wait for a response, wasn’t sure she could hear one anyway over the pounding in her head and the helicopter noise. She pushed forward, moving toward the head of the trail that led to the disguised entrance of a side trail which would take her to Cave A-5.

  Soon the fear, the altitude, the cold, and, yeah, Fee’s own lack of cardio-training began to take their toll on her. Deja-fricking-vu. She’d also been out of shape the last time she’d run from danger on this mountain. The good news was this time she only had her ass to cover and only one bad guy trying to take her out. The bad news was she could still die.

  “Stay safe. Stay alive. We’re not far now.” Trey’s deep voice reached her, cutting through the white noise. His words became her mantra. Just the sound of his voice gave wings to her feet and put hope in her heart that once again she’d defeat death.

  “Hurry, Trey.” Her teeth chattered. Her words were slurred. But she knew he’d gotten her message when he yelled at DJ to hurry up and fly the damn bird faster.

  Her feet numb and her body convulsively shaking from the wet and cold, Fee stumbled from rocky spot
to rocky spot, trying not to slip or disturb the snow so as to leave as little of a trail as possible. When there weren’t rocks, she moved to the more heavily treed areas where less snow had accumulated and the piles of pine needles had melted the snow that had fallen.

  Stall had no way of knowing about the hidden side path to the SSI cave. She’d parked by the trail head sign for a reason. There were three trails originating at this particular parking area. She could’ve taken any one of them; two of the trails led to the ranger station farther up the mountain. Stall might assume she was going for shelter and help.

  She couldn’t think about the possibility of him choosing the one trail she’d taken. If she did, her fear of being caught would paralyze her and he’d catch her. She’d promised Trey to stay safe … to stay alive. She planned on doing that.

  For several long, hard minutes, she huffed and puffed her way uphill on the expert-level hiking trail through dense trees and over uneven ground. Every muscle in her butt and legs protested the torture. Her lungs burned. The altitude she’d cavalierly thought she’d mastered in the month she’d lived in Idaho was proving to kick her ass.

  Then she spotted the holly bushes that marked the side trail. She cried out with relief. Her breathing was shallow and inefficient. She wheezed to catch a full breath. Tears streamed down her icy cheeks and froze on her skin. Fee needed to lie down, preferably in a warm dry place and burrow—like the SSI cave or Trey’s bed—but neither of those were anywhere close yet.

  For now, Fee had to keep moving, had to get behind the bushes, then she had to climb to the lookout where she would allow herself a short breather. From that vantage point, she’d be able to see the parking lot and her back trail—and exactly where Stall was.

  Covering the last ten feet or so toward the bushes was a labor worthy of Hercules, but Fee made it and slipped between the bushes and the mountain wall. Once past the holly, it was another five or six minutes up a sharp incline to the overlook where she’d first met Trey last June.

  By the time Fee reached the lookout, she was drenched from sweat and snow and ready to collapse. Leaning on the stacked rock wall which bordered the overlook, she worked on catching her breath and focused on her back trail. The dark blue Hummer Stall drove was in the parking area and blocking her Beast from leaving.

  She snorted softly. Asshole wouldn’t be leaving, either. Trey, Price, and the others would take his vehicle out to ensure that.

  Fee searched the area for her nemesis. She found him halfway up the trail she’d taken from the parking area and heading for her position.

  Dammit, either he’d seen the trail she’d taken, or he’d guessed correctly. Right now, he stood in the shelter of some trees, tracking his surroundings with the scope on the rifle he held.

  God, she wished she had a sniper rifle or any weapon. Yeah, she probably couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, but she sure would give it the old college try.

  Stall stood still. He looked to be breathing hard. Good, he was also out of shape, probably more so than her. Yay. If it came down to it, she could probably outrun him.

  Energized by that conclusion, she turned to move up … toward the cave’s entrance.

  The shot took her by surprise. A piece of rock splintered by the bullet sliced her cheek even before she heard the crack of the rifle echoing off the mountains.

  Fee dropped down, behind the stacked rock wall. Dammit. He’d seen her movement through the rifle’s scope.

  Trey’s voice startled her. “Fee! Was that a shot?”

  For a moment, she’d forgotten the phone was connected.

  “I’m okay,” she muttered into the phone. “He saw me. But he hasn’t figured out how to get to me yet.”

  “Stay put. Don’t give him a target. You’ll be exposed going up the path to the cave.”

  Picturing the side trail, she realized Trey was correct. There was a short shot where anyone looking up might see her, but the exposure would only be for maybe a space of six or so feet, then she’d be sheltered behind solid rock.

  If she had to, she could run the short distance where she’d be most exposed. She couldn’t stay here and let him come upon her. He’d shoot her, disable her, then, well, she didn’t want to think of how much damage he could do in the time it would take Trey and the others to get to her.

  “Fee…” Trey’s voice was insistent and his next words demonstrated he knew how her mind worked. “Don’t try it. Even a bad shooter could get lucky.”

  “I can’t sit here and wait … I c-can’t.” She stuttered to a halt as Stall called out.

  “Fiona!” Only Stall and her father ever drawled her name that way. She hated it. “I’m coming to get you, bitch.”

  Fee whimpered at the back of her throat. “Trey…”

  “We’re less than five minutes out, baby. Hold on for me. Stay hidden.”

  Fee would love to hold on and stay hidden, but already she sensed her stalker closing in. Looking around, she searched for anything that could be used as a weapon.

  Her gaze passed over the man-made rock wall which bordered the lookout. There were massive cracks in the layers of rocks. She then pictured the angle of the slope below the overlook. The slope was steep and covered in rocks from erosion and past rock slides.

  Sharp angle. Leverage. Force. Loose rocks. Rock slide potential.

  Fee needed leverage to expand the cracks, weaken the stacked rocks. Then she’d have to apply the right amount of force at the right spot. With luck, she could start a rock slide that would cover the winding trail leading to her. This would block Stall from getting to her, or with luck, hit him if she timed it correctly.

  Keeping her head down, Fee knee-walked back to the precarious stacking of rocks that someone at SSI had built as a defensive position. She studied the layers of rocks. If the undergrad physics class she’d taken years ago was right, she needed to apply force—“Here,” she muttered as she applied pressure with her shoulder and pushed.

  Pain shot up and down her arm and into her neck. “Sweet Jesus, these are heavy.” She let up for a second. Another shot, over her head, pinged as more rock chips flew. “Fuck you, Stall.”

  Fee leaned into her chosen rock and shouted “Aiyeeahh!” to focus her energy. It only shifted slightly. She was too weak. Falling on her ass, she huffed out several breaths and felt like crying.

  Strongest part of a woman’s body for $1,000, Alex.

  What were legs and hips?

  Fee lay on her back and raised her legs, bent at the knees to resemble the tabletop position in Pilates. She tightened her core and placed the flats of her feet on the spot she’d decided to use. She inhaled, then exhaled, and applied all the force she could, pushing up and through her heels. The rocks moved a bit. Grunting, breathing through the movement, she did it again and a few rocks moved and then rolled down the slope.

  Stall’s shouted “fuck” made her heart happy. She applied even more force, panting as if she were pushing out a baby, and even more rocks slid down the side.

  It was working.

  Then more rocks crashed and were answered by a scream and “Fuck you, bitch! Gonna hurt you … hurt you…”

  Fee froze at his threats, was thrown back into the memories of him grunting over her and hurting her.

  Shit, shit, shit. Snap out of it, Fee.

  She gritted her teeth and shoved against another place on the rock wall. Stall was still mobile and heading her way. Fee had to stop him before he got to the holly bushes. He knew where she was. He’d easily find the way up now.

  Fee grunted and panted as she shoved harder than before. These rocks were slightly bigger than the earlier ones. When she managed to get two big rocks loosened and sent them tumbling, she could hear even more rocks join them farther down the slope.

  Yes!

  “Fuck, bitch. Gonna kill you … by inches,” shouted Stall. His voice was shaking, breathless. Hell, if nothing else, she was keeping him occupied and off-balance and tiring him out.

  G
un? Bang bang. You’re dead. Keep pushing.

  Yeah, there was that. Fee began putting pressure on other areas. Some places she dislodged a rock or two, but some she could barely budge. By now, her breathing was a series of wheezing inhales and grunting exhales.

  “Fee?” Trey’s shout caught her attention.

  She kept shoving with her feet and placed the phone to her ear. “What?” She panted, trying to catch her breath. Her head, her whole body, screamed with pain and exhaustion. “Sort of busy here.”

  Spacing out Trey and the noises from the helicopter, she kept working on loosening more and more rocks. But still, in the back of her mind, she heard the fear in Trey’s voice and was driven to reassure him she was okay … that she was holding off Stall until Trey and the others got to her.

  “I’m rolling rocks down on him.” She grunted and then shouted, “Aiyeeahh.” Panting, she continued, “If I can move enough of them, I’m hoping to start a rock slide and keep him from coming up the path.”

  “That’s my woman,” Trey said.

  Trey’s pride in her and the affirmation from the others in the helicopter would’ve made her smile if she’d had the energy, but she needed all her strength for dislodging rocks.

  Go for the gold, Fee.

  One more giant thrust resulted in the sound of a large amount of rocks grinding and sliding down the slope. Stall’s resulting screams and cries of pain followed by silence broken only by the whistling winds made her weak with relief.

  “No rush now, guys. I got this,” Fee shouted. “I did it. He just screamed. He’s down.”

  Fee let her legs drop, and then she turned onto her side and curled into a ball to try to keep warm now that she wasn’t exerting. She really should get up, go to the cave, and get out of the cold and wet … but she had no energy. She’d just lie here until Trey came to get her.

  CHAPTER 22

  Minutes earlier, SSI helicopter

  “Push it, DJ,” Trey growled. “He’s shooting at her.”

  “Do you want to fly this bird?” DJ shot a glare at him.