Page 83 of Survive the Night
“Let’s go.” Without waiting for a response, Aaron moved sideways toward the snowmobile, dragging Sarah along with him.
“Think about what you’re doing,” Gordon said, surprising her. “This is how you fall.” He stared at Sarah, and she blinked at him, trying to figure out what was going on. Why was Gordon giving life advice to her brother? “First thing to do when you get yourself into a hole is stop digging.”
Fall? Hole? The way he’d emphasized the words caught Sarah’s attention, but why was Gordon talking about holes, of all things, right now?
Realization hit her so suddenly that her body jerked.
“Watch it,” Aaron growled, pressing the muzzle harder against her skull.
“Don’t, Xena!” she shouted, and Aaron dragged her backward several steps. He stopped when he saw that Otto still had a grip on the dog’s collar, and Xena wasn’t even pulling against him.
“Whatever you’re doing, knock it off,” Aaron growled, tightening his arm. For a few terrifying seconds, Sarah couldn’t breathe. She tried to ignore the pressure on her lungs as she met Otto’s eyes.
“Wait.” Otto took a step forward. “Let’s talk about this.”
Aaron jerked Sarah back, farther away from Otto. “Come a step closer, and I will shoot her.”
Otto hesitated before moving forward again a single step, causing Theo to grab his arm to hold him back.
“I said, stay there!” As he stepped back, Aaron pulled the gun from Sarah’s temple and pointed it at Otto.
“No!” She bit Aaron’s forearm hard, clamping her teeth into his flesh. His bellow of pain gave her grim satisfaction. Releasing her grip, she twisted in his loosened hold until she was facing him. “If I’m dying, then so are you.” She threw herself forward, using her weight to drive him backward that final, critical step.
“What—?” His foot hit empty air, and his face flattened with shock. He started to topple backward, pulling Sarah with him, and she squeezed her eyes closed and pictured Otto’s beautiful face. Aaron released her, his arms flailing out to the sides to catch his balance, but it was too late. They were already falling.
Until Sarah wasn’t. Something caught the back of her coat, and she jerked to a stop, dangling above the booby trap. Aaron tumbled down, falling twenty feet before he hit the ground with a solid crunch. She watched as his body bounced, his head snapping forward and back, and then he was still. Deathly still.
She was hauled up, and her view was broken. Frantic hands turned her around and pulled her into a hard, wonderfully familiar chest. Otto clutched her close, breathing roughly but not saying a word. Wrapping her arms around him, this amazingly gentle man she’d thought she’d never see again, she held him just as tightly, just as quietly. She didn’t mind his silence.
After all, that was kind of Otto’s thing.
She smiled, closing her eyes. They’d done it. They’d all survived, and now could live happily ever—
Whump-whump-whump.
Her head jerked up as she searched the sky frantically. “Another one? I thought we got them all!”
“Two was only an estimate,” Theo said as he and Hugh grimly handcuffed a struggling Lieutenant Blessard. “Everyone back in the bunker!”
“No need.” Norman Rounds’s bland voice stopped everyone in their tracks. “It’s the FBI.”
“The FBI?” Theo repeated. “How do you know? And how would they know we needed help?”
“Because I called them.”
“How?” Theo demanded. “All our communications are down.”
“I used Gordon’s ham radio.”
Hugh swore. “I knew you had a ham radio! I knew it!”
“Norman!” Gordon said, turning a dark shade of red. “That is a secret of the brotherhood. I can’t believe we trusted you!”
“I can’t believe you had a ham radio and didn’t let us use it to call for help!” Hugh shouted.
“The feds aren’t help!” Gordon yelled back. “They’re just as evil as the rest of them—more, even!”
Everyone started arguing as the helicopter got louder. Fighting the urge to bolt, Sarah watched the chopper carefully as it closed in. It did look bigger. The light placement was different, and it was a lighter color. She didn’t completely relax, however, until it landed in the field next to the workshop and a half-dozen people wearing jackets with FBI on the backs poured out of it.
