Page 82 of Mountain Rescue
“Good, Bella. Let’s find our girl.”
“I’m going to kill you, bitch,” Robert yelled.
Going to have to catch me first.Rachel dodged around trees, changing directions every few minutes, hoping to lose him. She’d never been more grateful that running was a part of her training regimen.
She ignored her pounding heart and tender feet. None of those mattered more than getting away from him. She’d hoped he would decide she wasn’t worth chasing, that he’d be better off leaving and trying again another day.
No such luck. He was chasing her. She willed herself to run faster. The sound of gunfire filled the air a millisecond before a bullet whizzed by her ear. Again! The bullet hit the tree in front of her, and the bark exploded from the impact, a piece hitting her cheek. She stumbled.Damn, that hurt.
He was too close. She darted to the right, then a few minutes later to the left. She had to lose him. The sound of his footsteps faded, but she didn’t celebrate. He wouldn’t give up until he found her.
She slid down, planting her butt on the ground behind a boulder and tried to catch her breath without wheezing and giving away her position. If only she had her phone so she could call Dallas. He and the guys were at the other cabin, waiting for Robert to show up, having no idea that he had found her.
A baseball-size rock poked into her leg, and she pushed it aside. At this point, Robert probably wouldn’t bother raping her before just shooting her. Not being raped would be a blessing if he did manage to kill her, but she had no intention of dying.
Think, Rachel.Realizing she still had the blade in her hand, she slid it back in its slot as she tried to come up with a plan to save herself.
“Where are you, bitch?” he yelled.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“Come out now, and I won’t torture you.”
Yeah, right. She was already lost and didn’t know which way the cabin was. If she ran deeper into the woods, she could become lost forever, wandering around until she died of thirst or a bear ate her. The guys didn’t even know she was missing, and even if they did, they didn’t know where she was. The only way out of this was to go on the attack. To surprise him. She looked at her paracord bracelet, then at the rock she’d tossed aside as an idea formed. It could work.
She scanned the area around her, her gaze landing on two trees about four feet apart. Pushing up, she grabbed the rock before running to the trees. This had to work, she thought as she unraveled the paracord. She wrapped the line about two feet from the ground around the first tree, then hurried to the second one and tied the ends of the paracord together.
Timing was going to be everything, and as she positioned herself a few feet behind the cord next to the boulder, she squeezed her hand around the rock and tried to calm her breathing.
“Where the hell are you?” Robert called out. “The longer I have to chase you, the worse it’s going to be for you.” He was close now.
She blew out a long breath, then called on all her acting skills. “Oomph.” She dropped to her knees. “Damn, that hurt,” she cried out, revealing her location.
As soon as Robert appeared, she kept her body behind the boulder as she peeked around it. “Please. You don’t have to do this.” His eyes, so full of evil, stayed on her face as he stepped toward her. She’d counted on that, on him not looking down.
“By the time I’m done with you, doll, you’re going to beg me to kill you.” He had his gun down at his side as he started for her, and she kept her eyes on it. If he lifted it and pointed it her, she’d start running again. When he was only feet from her trip line, she ducked behind the rock, hoping he’d think she’d taken off.
“Fucking bitch!”
She peeked around the boulder. Yes, he was chasing her.
“Aghh.”
The second she heard him crash to the ground, she stepped around the boulder, took aim, and threw the rock as hard as she could, hitting him in the head. Who knew having to learn to throw a spear accurately in one of her movies would pay off in a way she’d never expected? Go her!
Before he had a chance to recover, she raced to the gun he’d dropped and picked it up. He wasn’t moving, but she wasn’t about to check for a pulse. Not taking her eyes off him, she backed up until she was out of his reach.
Now what? She couldn’t leave him out here and chance he’d get away again. If she knew for sure he was out cold, she’d tie him up with her paracord line, but that would mean getting close to him. What if he was faking it?
“I should just shoot you and be done with it,” she said. He groaned. Okay, not dead. That was too bad, but she couldn’t bring herself to shoot him even though he deserved it.
Robert groaned again, then rolled over. When he saw her, he sat up. “Your death is going to be slow and painful.”
She held the gun in front of her with both hands the way she’d learned to do when handling a weapon in the movies. “Shut up, or I swear, I’ll shoot you.”
He laughed. “You don’t have it in you to kill someone, doll.”
“Maybe not, but I do,” Dallas said, walking into view, his gun aimed at Robert.
