No—no—
She broke through the forest and found her own trail, footprints blotted out by bootsteps.
And then, the bell, so loud now, sounding like he was on top of her. She turned, peering through the darkness.
The light scoured the forest again, this time closer, and she threw herself against an evergreen, crouching low.
Orlando bounded into the swath of light. His tongue out, his ears perked, his body joyous in the snow. For a second, the terror of life and death dropped from her.
To Orlando, this was a game. Fun, with a reward at the end.
Which turned her stomach even more when, from behind her in the forest, a shot sounded.
It echoed into the night, the sound sharp and raw and—
Just as she expected, Orlando froze. Barked, as if in warning. And then, he bolted back into the darkness.
So, mission over.
Maybe that was a good thing, right? Because then he’d return to Jericho safe. Afraid, yes, but unharmed.
Please let her get to the house before Mars.
She stood up.
Too soon.
Another shot, and this one shook the arms of her evergreen and chipped off frozen bark from a nearby tree.
“Stop, Tatum!”
Close. Too close. She turned and Mars thundered toward her, his gun pointed at her, his light trained on her.
She lifted her hands.
Run,Orlando,run.
And take Jericho with you!
Because, wouldn’t you know it, she was again in the hospital, hearing his voice. “They would have killed me.”
Yes, yes they would have. And Mars wasn’t even out for blood then.
She stepped out into the light. “Nobody needs to get hurt, here, Mars,” she said, her voice even.
He stopped, a good ten feet away from her—too far for her to grab the gun—and laughed.
Laughed.
She stared at him.
“Oh, Harley, don’t be stupid. Everyone is going to get hurt.”
From somewhere in the darkness, she heard a growl. Maybe it was Mars. Then he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger.
18
The sound of the gunshotshredding the darkness pierced through him as ifhe’dbeen hit. It threw Jericho to the ground.