I felt a touch of my anxiety over what was about to go down ease.
Eventually, a low drone mixed into the sound of rushing water and the wind blowing through the pines. It threaded down the valley, bouncing off the peaks on either side. My breath caught in my chest as I waited for the first glimpse of Walker’s plane.
My heart skipped a beat as it came into view, flying low around the bend as Walker did his promised pass. The wings waggled once before he pulled up and circled around.
My jittery heart now raced. Whatever happened next would determine our fate.
Walker lined up with the middle of the widest furrow on his second approach. The plane’s skis kissed snow with a soft slice that carried across the whole flat, and the plane rolled to a stop a hundred yards down from where we stood.
And then Deke turned around.
“Here’s how this is going to work.” He looked at Toren. “You and you”—his eyes bounced to Dustin—”stay here.” He turned to me. “You’re coming with us.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach and bile rose as what was left churned. Slowly, I sat up, arms and legs unfolding. One word whispered through my mind:No.
“No.” Toren’s quiet voice echoed my thoughts and held an edge.
“It’s not a request, McCrae.” Deke’s hand moved toward his jacket. “She’ll be returned unharmed once?—”
Toren moved.
He covered the distance in two steps, crutch abandoned. With all his weight on his good foot, he extended his arms and grabbed onto Deke’s right arm before the man finished his sentence.
Deke moved fast, though, and, in the same motion, he bent his arm and pivoted on his left foot into Toren. His boot came down with a swift chopping motion directly onto Toren’s left ankle.
The sound that came out of Toren’s throat made my vision go white at the edges as fury swelled in my veins. My feet hit the ground.
Toren went down on one knee. Deke grabbed Toren’s injured left hand and wrenched his fingers sideways.
“Toren!”
I didn’t think. I ran at Deke, hitting him shoulder-first in the side as hard as I could. I bounced off, and had a minimal effecton his balance, but the few inches I managed to move him were enough to break his grip.
Toren reacted. I don’t know how, but somehow, he pushed past the pain he was in and regained his footing, getting a fistful of Deke’s collar.
Deke pulled his gun before Toren could land a punch.
But it wasn’t pointed at Toren. It was pointed at me.
“Back off.” Deke was breathing harder now. His flat eyes hadn’t changed. “Now. Both of you.”
Toren’s fingers loosened slightly, then tightened again. He looked at me, then back at Deke.
The other man pulled the hammer back on his pistol.
Oh, shit…
I closed my eyes, waiting for the searing pain of a bullet tearing through me. Maybe I’d get lucky and it’d go straight through the part of my brain that handled pain, and I wouldn’t feel a thing. Just keel over and wake up in another life, floating through a sunny grass field, next to my gram.
“Hey!”
A distant shout made my eyes pop open.
Deke took two steps back, wrenching his coat collar from Toren’s grasp. Gun still up, he looked around for Vic and Toby.
Vic was gone. A trail of fresh boot prints led into the forest to the right. Toby, eyes as round as saucers, stood with his hands up at his shoulders, not moving toward anyone. His gaze was fixed beyond us at something in the distance.
I chanced a look and saw Walker and another man about seventy-five yards away, running toward us.