The Eligible Suspect. Jennifer Morey

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СКАЧАТЬ other entrance. She flattened her back against the wall, breathing hard, looking around for a weapon. She spotted the phone on the side table. Hearing Korbin fighting the stranger, she ran to the phone and then back to the wall for cover, ducking as the man fired again. Bullets struck her cabinetry and Korbin leaped into the living room, taking cover with her.

      They had to get out of here.

      “This way!” Savanna ran for the front entry.

      She stopped short when the man in black emerged from the other kitchen opening, aiming his weapon and blocking their escape. She waited in horror for him to shoot.

      Korbin moved so that she was behind him. “Don’t shoot.”

      Savanna wasn’t going to wait for the man to start firing his gun. Picking up a bottle of wine from the buffet and wine cabinet, she hurled it at the man. He ducked and the bottle shattered against the wall.

      Korbin charged forward and punched the stranger hard enough to knock him down. He fell to the side, partially in the kitchen.

      Savanna ran to the front entry and took cover there, lifting the phone. There was no signal. The line was dead. Not that calling the police would do much good. How would they reach them in time with all the snow on the ground?

      Oh, God. What were they going to do?

      Dropping the phone, she heard Korbin fighting the man again. Peeking around the corner, she didn’t see them. They were in the kitchen. A loud crash told her something had just gone through her patio door. Another gunshot rang out, followed by a few smacking punches, and then the two men crashed to the floor in the kitchen entry. Korbin had the intruder’s wrist in his grip, keeping the gun aimed upward. The intruder twisted free but Korbin hit his face and then kicked the gun from his grasp. It clattered to the floor. Savanna ran to pick it up just as the man pulled a knife from a holder on his boot. He lunged at Korbin, who jumped back to avoid being cut.

      Savanna moved to stay out of his way and saw the other man run for the broken door. Korbin didn’t chase after him.

      “Let’s get out of here.” Korbin took the gun from her and guided her into the entry, looking back to make sure the man didn’t follow.

      “Who was that?” she asked.

      He put his back to the wall near the doorway. “We can’t stay here.”

      “Why not? That man is out there.”

      “There’s a lodge across from Chavis’s cabin. Let’s ski there,” Korbin said, gesturing to her closet full of gear. “Get dressed.”

      Savanna kept everything in here anyone might need for cold weather. “You, too.” She handed him long underwear that was still in the package. Korbin stayed by the door with the gun. The house was quiet.

      “Maybe we should stay here,” she said. “I think he left.”

      “Your back door is broken. He’ll come back. We should go somewhere safe.”

      Korbin had a good point. If the man returned, he’d be able to get inside. But would they be any safer out in the wilderness? It was a long way to Hurley’s lodge.

      “He’s on a snowmobile,” she said.

      “We’ll hear him. We have to get away from here,” he said.

      “Why? And why did a man show up in my house shooting at you? What’s going on?” Was he on the run from something?

      Korbin looked at her as she handed him a jacket.

      “Was that a cop?” she asked.

      “No.”

      “Who was it, then?”

      He shrugged into the red-and-black Descente breathable jacket. “I don’t know.”

      Wondering if he was lying, Savanna found long underwear and a lightweight fleece. “But you know why he’s after you.” The man had to be after him. No one would come after her.

      Next she found a breathable jacket and snow pants but didn’t dress. That feeling of foreboding intensified. Instinct urged her to stay in her house. She could board up the window with extra fencing that was piled outside the stable.

      “Get dressed, Savanna.”

      She threw the garments she held onto the floor. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

      After peering out from the entry to check if the man had returned, he said to her, “You have to.”

      “No, I don’t. You brought that shooter into my home. It was peaceful until you got here.”

      He stared at her. “This involves you, too, now.”

      The sting of shock froze her. “How?”

      He hesitated, much the same as he had when he’d first gotten stuck on her road. “He saw you. You’re with me. That means you’re in danger.”

      Just because he’d seen her? “Why was he shooting at you?”

      “Get dressed, Savanna. I don’t have time to explain right now. We have to get as far away from here as we can.” When she only stared at him, he urged, “Please. Just listen to me. And trust me. I’ll keep you alive. I promise.”

      “I’ll keep myself alive by staying here.”

      “What if he comes back here?”

      Her face grew cold with dread. “Why would he do that?”

      “Savanna...”

      She stared at him as she began to see his point. She might not be safe here and she would be at Hurley’s. Get to Hurley’s. That’s what she had to do. She quickly dressed and then slipped her feet into ski boots. Putting a pair of boots in front of him, she went back to the closet and threw him a hat, gloves and goggles. A backpack came next. Korbin caught it and slung it over one shoulder and then caught a transceiver she tossed at him last.

      The sound of crunching glass, as though someone had stepped over some in the kitchen, galvanized her into faster action. After slinging her own pack onto her back and securing her transceiver, she picked up two pairs of mountain skis just as a loud crack of a firing rifle deafened her and took a chunk out of the doorjamb inches from Korbin’s head. He fired back and ran after her out the front door.

      The intruder had a rifle now!

      Shaking, frantic for air, Savanna shoved her booted feet into the skis, Korbin doing the same beside her. She skied toward the trees, looking back to see the man with the rifle appear in the front doorway. He saw them skiing away but didn’t fire. Instead, he disappeared back into the house. With sickening dread, Savanna knew he’d go for his snowmobile. He’d track them down and kill them. The faster they reached Hurley’s the better. The only problem was that a straight line to Lost Trail Lodge was over a fourteen-thousand-foot mountain. Assuming they could stay hidden from the gunman, they would have to ski miles of rugged terrain. Even if they took the shortest route, she didn’t think they’d make it before the next storm hit.

      Tucking СКАЧАТЬ