“Low enough.”
“Fly as fast and as low as you can.”
The chopper ate up the distance a hundred times faster than Sam had been able to on foot. A handful of minutes later, the tracks abruptly veered off the road into a thick grove of trees.
“I can’t follow the tracks any farther,” Will said.
“Find a place to drop me in,” Sam instructed. “They’ve got to be close.”
Through the thick tree cover, they looked down into a small trailer park.
“Damn it,” Will said, “I thought all of these trailers had been cleared out last year by the Forest Service.”
Just then, Sam saw a flash of color and movement. Yanking the helicopter’s ladder back out, he secured it to the lip of the aircraft. “Get as close as you can. I’m going to jump.”
Will didn’t bother telling him he was crazy; he simply got to work positioning the chopper over a small hole between trees.
But as he prepared to descend, Sam’s blood ran cold.
Dianna was chained to a dirt bike, and the man who’d shoved him down the mountain was holding a gun to her sister’s head, only feet away. In the time it took him to get on the ground, both April and Dianna could be killed.
On the verge of fighting the hardest fight of his life, rage swept through every cell, every nerve.
He was going to save Dianna, even if he had to die to do it.
Time seemed to slow down as the man’s finger twitched on the trigger. And then, suddenly, sand and dirt and pine needles were whipping into her eyes, and Dianna realized whirring helicopter blades were breaking apart the silence of the forest.
Without yet seeing him, Dianna felt Sam’s presence and she was filled with renewed strength.
But before she could act, April took advantage of the man’s distraction, kicking him hard in the balls, successfully knocking him off balance, the loud bang of a shot going wild and slamming into one of the trailers.
When keys fell out of his pocket, despite her obvious exhaustion and injuries, her tough little sister managed to grab them with her bound hands. Dashing over to Dianna, she got to work on undoing the chains around her right wrist.
But all Dianna wanted was for her sister to get away.
“Give me the keys and run!” she pleaded with April.
But April’s stubborn expression said she wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m not leaving you,” she said in a gravelly voice.
But seconds later, seeing that the man was back on his feet, Dianna grabbed the keys with her free hand and tried again.
“Go!”
This time April started running, but she was too weak to outrun the man with the gun. His face furious, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the forest.
Oh God. Dianna needed to get the final locks undone so that she could run after them and save her sister, but she could barely get her numb fingers to work.
And then, miraculously, Sam was beside her.
“He’s taken her into the woods. We’ve got to save her.”
Taking the keys from her and quickly undoing the locks around her left wrist and ankles, he untangled her chains with a steady hand.
“Run toward the clearing behind you and wait in the helicopter for us.”
Without waiting for her agreement, he sprinted into the forest, following the two sets of footprints.
Dianna’s limbs shook as she lifted one leg over the seat and held herself up against the handlebars. She trusted Sam to do everything he could to save April, and she knew he wanted her to be safe in the helicopter—just as she’d wanted April to run to safety—but there was no way she could sit back and wait in the wings while he faced down a truly crazed man.
Not when the lives of the two people who mattered most to her were on the line.
Moving as fast as she could on partially numb legs, she prayed with every step that April was still alive. Running past the last trailer, into the thick grove of trees, her heart raced from a combination of panic and exertion. But what she saw in front of her made her heart nearly stop.
The man had shoved April to the ground, one boot on her skull.
But his gun was pointing straight at Sam.
Looking down the barrel of the gun, Sam knew he had only seconds to act, when he suddenly heard a familiar sizzle.
A flare.
He should have been furious that Dianna hadn’t listened to him when he’d told her to get in the goddamned helicopter, but how could he be anything but amazed by her quick thinking? She’d always been the smartest person he knew.
The lit fuse flew past Sam’s shoulder, nailing the man’s chest dead center. The man’s shirt caught on fire and he stumbled back.
Screaming in pain, the man jumped around the forest, leaving April wide open. Both Sam and Dianna dove for her, but Dianna was faster. Pulling her sister up off the forest floor, Dianna sank to the ground, cradling her sister’s body in her arms.
Sam turned his focus back to the man who had almost taken everything from him, just in time to see the gun pointing at them. On a roar, just as a shot rang out, Sam launched himself at the man.
There was a sharp tug in his thigh, but he’d already been ignoring brutal pain for more than an hour. The new wound barely registered.
Tackling the man, they rolled over each other, the slope growing steeper and more precarious every few feet. Taking a quick glance at the forest, Sam realized they were on the edge of a precipice and picking up speed.
At the last possible second, he let go of his hold on the stranger, reached out with his good arm, gripped a narrow tree trunk, and held on for everything he was worth.
The man’s hands slipped from around Sam’s shoulders, his eyes widening with the sudden knowledge that he was going to die. Down, down, down he went, his screams for help echoing through the forest.
And then, his cries were suddenly broken by the sound of his gun going off.
Everything went silent.
It wasn’t the first time Sam had seen someone die in the mountains. But it was the first time he wasn’t going to head in to drag the body out.
Blood dripping from his arm, from his face, but mostly from his thigh, Sam knew he needed to pull himself up to safety. His vision starting to go, he hoisted himself onto a thick shrub he hoped would hold his weight.
He looked up the mountain to where Dianna was still sitting holding her sister, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She was safe. His job was done.
His brain and body could finally shut down.
“Fly as fast and as low as you can.”
The chopper ate up the distance a hundred times faster than Sam had been able to on foot. A handful of minutes later, the tracks abruptly veered off the road into a thick grove of trees.
“I can’t follow the tracks any farther,” Will said.
“Find a place to drop me in,” Sam instructed. “They’ve got to be close.”
Through the thick tree cover, they looked down into a small trailer park.
“Damn it,” Will said, “I thought all of these trailers had been cleared out last year by the Forest Service.”
Just then, Sam saw a flash of color and movement. Yanking the helicopter’s ladder back out, he secured it to the lip of the aircraft. “Get as close as you can. I’m going to jump.”
Will didn’t bother telling him he was crazy; he simply got to work positioning the chopper over a small hole between trees.
But as he prepared to descend, Sam’s blood ran cold.
Dianna was chained to a dirt bike, and the man who’d shoved him down the mountain was holding a gun to her sister’s head, only feet away. In the time it took him to get on the ground, both April and Dianna could be killed.
On the verge of fighting the hardest fight of his life, rage swept through every cell, every nerve.
He was going to save Dianna, even if he had to die to do it.
Time seemed to slow down as the man’s finger twitched on the trigger. And then, suddenly, sand and dirt and pine needles were whipping into her eyes, and Dianna realized whirring helicopter blades were breaking apart the silence of the forest.
Without yet seeing him, Dianna felt Sam’s presence and she was filled with renewed strength.
But before she could act, April took advantage of the man’s distraction, kicking him hard in the balls, successfully knocking him off balance, the loud bang of a shot going wild and slamming into one of the trailers.
When keys fell out of his pocket, despite her obvious exhaustion and injuries, her tough little sister managed to grab them with her bound hands. Dashing over to Dianna, she got to work on undoing the chains around her right wrist.
But all Dianna wanted was for her sister to get away.
“Give me the keys and run!” she pleaded with April.
But April’s stubborn expression said she wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m not leaving you,” she said in a gravelly voice.
But seconds later, seeing that the man was back on his feet, Dianna grabbed the keys with her free hand and tried again.
“Go!”
This time April started running, but she was too weak to outrun the man with the gun. His face furious, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the forest.
Oh God. Dianna needed to get the final locks undone so that she could run after them and save her sister, but she could barely get her numb fingers to work.
And then, miraculously, Sam was beside her.
“He’s taken her into the woods. We’ve got to save her.”
Taking the keys from her and quickly undoing the locks around her left wrist and ankles, he untangled her chains with a steady hand.
“Run toward the clearing behind you and wait in the helicopter for us.”
Without waiting for her agreement, he sprinted into the forest, following the two sets of footprints.
Dianna’s limbs shook as she lifted one leg over the seat and held herself up against the handlebars. She trusted Sam to do everything he could to save April, and she knew he wanted her to be safe in the helicopter—just as she’d wanted April to run to safety—but there was no way she could sit back and wait in the wings while he faced down a truly crazed man.
Not when the lives of the two people who mattered most to her were on the line.
Moving as fast as she could on partially numb legs, she prayed with every step that April was still alive. Running past the last trailer, into the thick grove of trees, her heart raced from a combination of panic and exertion. But what she saw in front of her made her heart nearly stop.
The man had shoved April to the ground, one boot on her skull.
But his gun was pointing straight at Sam.
Looking down the barrel of the gun, Sam knew he had only seconds to act, when he suddenly heard a familiar sizzle.
A flare.
He should have been furious that Dianna hadn’t listened to him when he’d told her to get in the goddamned helicopter, but how could he be anything but amazed by her quick thinking? She’d always been the smartest person he knew.
The lit fuse flew past Sam’s shoulder, nailing the man’s chest dead center. The man’s shirt caught on fire and he stumbled back.
Screaming in pain, the man jumped around the forest, leaving April wide open. Both Sam and Dianna dove for her, but Dianna was faster. Pulling her sister up off the forest floor, Dianna sank to the ground, cradling her sister’s body in her arms.
Sam turned his focus back to the man who had almost taken everything from him, just in time to see the gun pointing at them. On a roar, just as a shot rang out, Sam launched himself at the man.
There was a sharp tug in his thigh, but he’d already been ignoring brutal pain for more than an hour. The new wound barely registered.
Tackling the man, they rolled over each other, the slope growing steeper and more precarious every few feet. Taking a quick glance at the forest, Sam realized they were on the edge of a precipice and picking up speed.
At the last possible second, he let go of his hold on the stranger, reached out with his good arm, gripped a narrow tree trunk, and held on for everything he was worth.
The man’s hands slipped from around Sam’s shoulders, his eyes widening with the sudden knowledge that he was going to die. Down, down, down he went, his screams for help echoing through the forest.
And then, his cries were suddenly broken by the sound of his gun going off.
Everything went silent.
It wasn’t the first time Sam had seen someone die in the mountains. But it was the first time he wasn’t going to head in to drag the body out.
Blood dripping from his arm, from his face, but mostly from his thigh, Sam knew he needed to pull himself up to safety. His vision starting to go, he hoisted himself onto a thick shrub he hoped would hold his weight.
He looked up the mountain to where Dianna was still sitting holding her sister, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She was safe. His job was done.
His brain and body could finally shut down.
