Page 44 of Hunted

Romano snapped himself out of his worry by mentally insisting she’d made it to the house. She was inside right now, and she was warm and dry and safe. He envisioned her wrapped in a blanket, warming her feet by the fireplace, that fat yellow cat purring in her lap.

Only the ever-growing knot in the pit of his stomach kept insisting that wasn’t the scene he was going to find.

He managed to stay on the fire trail. He was snow-covered and shivering before he’d reached what he judged was the halfway point, but the extreme cold only drove him on. Maybe he even picked up his pace, calling her name as he went. It seemed that the storm abated a little. That the wind eased and the snowfall slowed as he moved on. Or maybe he was just going numb and his senses were dulled.

But no. He’d made it.

He stopped and stared off into the gloom at his right. There was a glow, very pale, but there. It was like trying to see a streetlight through heavy fog, as he squinted and started toward it. The light led him off the fire trail, into the forest, but it remained visible, even grew clearer as he went. And then the trees he’d been hiking through came to an end. And he was seeing Lexi’s house beyond the veil of the storm, the outdoor light glowing like a beacon, and he ran toward it.

Thank God! If the light was on, she must be …

Halfway across the driveway, he paused, studying that outdoor light now that it was more visible. It was the kind of light that came on automatically at dark.

He put his observational skills into gear and felt his heart sink. There wasn’t a single light glowing from inside the house. Only the automatic outdoor one.

He wanted to run up the front steps, slam the door open and yell her name. But he didn’t. A lifetime of caution wasn’t overcome that easily. He drew the gun and moved slowly, his feet making furrows in the snow. Then he walked up the three concrete steps. He stood before the dark wood door with its fan-shaped, snow-encrusted panes of glass, and he listened.

The house was silent. Not a sound or a movement from within. He didn’t think Lexi was there, and the idea that she wasn’t almost put him on his knees. They actually began to buckle. It was a sensation Romano had only experienced once in his life.

He steadied himself, trying to weigh his options. Fortunately, it didn’t look as if anyone else was there, either. He tucked the gun under his arm and rubbed his hands together to warm them. It didn’t help much. Neither did blowing on them.

He turned to look behind him, just once. Just to be sure. No vehicles. No tire tracks. No footprints. Then again, if there had been any, they’d have been filled in by now.

He tried the brass doorknob and found it unlocked. Then he pulled the gun out again with his right hand, held its barrel steady as he opened the door with his left.

In the bit of light that spilled in from outside, he saw the far wall. The dark, empty fireplace without so much as a glowing ember to attest to recent use. No one waited in ambush inside. So Lexi had been right and he’d been overly cautious. No one was there.

Including her.

He replaced the gun and turned on some of the lights. The more light, the better. He didn’t care who else might see them right now. These were for Lexi, in case he couldn’t find her, the lights might guide her in.

But he would find her. He had to.

He turned back to the door and headed out. He kept thinking of Lexi, lying in the snow, dying. He kept picturing himself discovering her lifeless body, and it was tearing his insides apart. Dammit, she hadn’t done a thing to deserve any of this. She’d been dragged into a situation beyond her control, and now she might die because of it.

No. No, she damn well wouldn’t die, because he wouldn’t let her. He was going to do it right this time. He wasn’t going to lose another person he cared about. Not again.

He swallowed hard, realizing that he’d just admitted he cared for Lexi Stoltz. He hadn’t wanted to. But the woman made it impossible to keep a distance. She’d wormed her way under his skin, and yes, he’d let himself care.

She was out there, somewhere. He wasn’t going to quit until he found her.

Chapter Eleven

He thought she was dead when he finally found her. He’d been veering into the woods along either side of the fire trail, checking out every snow-covered clump of deadfall that even remotely resembled a body. And then he’d glimpsed a light in the distance and raced toward it. The flashlight was wedged between the limbs of a pine tree, just about head height, aimed back toward the trail. And Lexi lay still at the base of that same tree, snow covering her face and clothes, even her closed eyes, like some morbid white shroud.

His heart did things he hadn’t thought it was still capable of doing. Like breaking, for instance. The sight of her shattered it to dust.

He dropped to his knees beside her, choking on the words he tried to shout at her, brushing the snow and frozen hair away from her face and eyelashes. “Lexi! Wake up, Lexi. Come on!” He pressed his nearly numb fingers to her throat in search of a pulse. It wasn’t hard to find, because it was pounding like a jackhammer.

“You’re alive!” He fumbled in his pockets for her pills, shook two of the tiny tablets from the bottle and then opened her mouth and poked them all the way to the back of her throat, hoping she’d swallow. Then he pulled her limp body against him. Her arms and head hung like a rag doll’s, but he held her all the same. “You’re alive, and dammit, you’re gonna stay that way.”

It was closer to the house than back to the camper. Just because White’s men hadn’t been there when he’d checked the place, didn’t mean they weren’t watching from somewhere else, or checking in on occasion. But he had no choice, at the moment. Lexi’s life hung in the balance.

He lifted her into his arms and began trudging back the way he’d come. She didn’t move or make a sound, but he couldn’t stop to check her, didn’t dare stop to check her, terrified beyond reason that he’d find her heart had stopped.

She wasn’t gasping. He told himself her muscles would relax when she was unconscious and that her racing heart might slow down. He looked down at her as he carried her into the pool of light outside the house. Her skin was pale, her frozen lashes resting on her cheeks. She looked like an icy angel, a frozen princess under an evil spell.

He shouldered the door open, kicking it closed behind him, and headed straight up the stairs to her bedroom. Damn, it was cold in there. A little warmer than outside, though. At least there was no wind.

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