Page 48 of Hide My Heart
I grab her and heft her up, but it’s too slippery for me to put her over my shoulder and I don’t want to crush Beck.
The tree trunk behind us splits from a hail of bullets. I duck and run, zigzagging, pulling Amber along with a squalling Beck.
“No, don’t go for the cabin,” Amber shouts. “He’s shooting from that direction.”
“How did he get up here?” My head whirls, and I can’t get my thoughts in order. “I thought the roads are impassable.”
“They are,” she huffs. “He hiked up.”
“Then what should we do? We’ll freeze to death.”
“He’s set traps near the cabin,” Amber says. “He’s probably broken in by now. We have to get to his truck and see if we can drive it down. I left the keys in place.”
“Okay. I hope the wheels aren’t frozen in place.” I change directions, and we fall several times for every few steps we take. Both of us grab tree branches to use as hiking sticks and to test for traps, and we scramble as fast as we can downhill, cutting off the road for the fastest way down.
The gunshots sound farther away as we roll down a slope and catch the switchback of the road below.
“Do you think he’ll come after us?” I ask as we half-ski and half-skate down the slick, icy road. “Or will he figure we’ll die down here on our own?”
“He will track us down,” Amber says. “He’s a hunter and a trapper. He doesn’t leave anything to chance.”
“Then we better run faster.” I gasp for air.
We take another shortcut through the forest of trees, dodging falling ice and scrambling over downed trees. This is crazy, but if we can reach the main road, we can flag someone down.
I’m pulling Amber along when a sharp, slicing pain threads through my thigh.
“Keep running,” I shout at Amber. “I’m hit.”
I lose control of my legs as numbness spreads over me, rolling head over heels, tumbling down the icy road until I crash into a pile of ice.
Gunshots ricochet off the ice pile, and when I look up, I see Hunter taking aim.
TWENTY-FIVE
Amber
My heart flips out mythroat as I watch Nate being gunned down. Bright-red blood leaves a glaring trail on the white ice and snow, and the woods are peppered with gunshots.
I want to cry out. To scurry down there and drag him back, but Beck is wailing at the top of his lungs, and it’s only a matter of time before Hunter turns on me.
The shots mark where Hunter thinks Nate is hiding, behind a pile of ice and slush. I grab on to a tree and pull myself uphill. The baby sling makes it hard for me to use both arms, but I have to let Beck dangle.
He doesn’t like it one bit, his cries loud and shrill.
I’m sure Hunter hears him, but he’s focused on taking out Nate before he comes after us. I have to do something to distract him, but what?
My breaths heavy and ragged, I claw my way, bent over, up the slippery slope. Must get back to the cabin. Must hide Beck somewhere warm. Must find Hunter’s cell phone and call for help.
But deep inside, I know it’s too late.
Nate is hurt, bleeding out. It’s only a matter of time before Hunter gets close enough to shoot him point-blank.
I crawl over an embankment and roll onto the mushy grass on the road shoulder. The cloud cover has receded and the sun is back, warming the road.
Ice cracks underneath my boots, and I’m able to get some traction by staying on the muddy shoulder. Fallen branches and trunks litter the road, blocking it here and there.
My heart sinks.
