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The snap of a twig made her jerk to her right. There was no sound of a snowmobile. The man who’d attacked them couldn’t walk through this snow. It was too deep. Had he taken a pair of skis from her house?
Korbin pulled out the gun and aimed into the forest. She looked in that direction but saw nothing. Then a figure moved among the trunks. A mountain lion prowled forward and stopped when it saw them.
Savanna’s heart slammed in her chest, but she remained still and quiet.
Korbin didn’t fire. He waited. A gunshot would alert the man after them of their whereabouts. One good thing about the snow is that it would soon cover their tracks. The big cat’s head faced them, studied them and then sprang into an acrobatic run through the forest in the opposite direction.
He turned toward her. Calm. Full of secrets. Different from the man she’d spent an evening with, showing off her train set and watching a movie. Handling a gun was not unfamiliar to him. What was he hiding?
* * *
Crimson Morning came into view. Korbin had taken the lead and they’d made good time. Savanna showed no signs of tiring, but he skied to a stop in front of the yurt. No other skiers were there. The lodge had likely held off any tours until after the storm.
Korbin looked for signs of the shooter. He hadn’t heard the snowmobile, which could mean he’d taken to skis for quieter stalking.
He looked at Savanna. “Are you okay to press on?”
She nodded. She must feel better about the time they’d made getting here. Korbin loved that about her. She hadn’t asked him about the gunman, either. Getting to safety was the top priority, but he knew she was thinking about it. He’d have to explain it eventually. She was a tough woman, albeit in a slender, feminine body.
Korbin skied past Crimson Morning and began another climb. A feeling came over him about halfway up the mountain. Had he heard something? They were in a clearing. He looked into the trees and didn’t see anything. But then a slight movement just upslope caught his eye. As soon as he spotted a black hat poking up above a fallen log, the explosion of a rifle echoed off the mountainside. The bullet splintered a tree trunk beside him. Pieces of bark hit his jacket.
“Get down!” he yelled, scrambling on his skis to take cover behind the tree.
A second gunshot cracked. He heard it hit the snow near his feet. He leaned his shoulder against the tree and checked on Savanna. She’d crouched behind another tree not far from him, gripping her poles, eyes wide with terror, breath misting the air, giving their position away.
Korbin pulled out the gun.
Another gunshot erupted. The bullet tore through his backpack, giving his body a jerk. If he tried to peer around the trunk, he just might get a bullet in the head for the effort.
The shooter had a clear shot. All he had to do was wait for them to move. Damen. Korbin had known it was him as soon as he’d heard the snowmobile back at Savanna’s house. He had followed him here, maybe even predicted where he’d go. He had a snowmobile, a pistol, a rifle and skis. He’d planned well. Korbin had to predict his next move. But how? He and Savanna would have heard him if he’d ridden this far. Unless he’d ridden to this point and waited for them, knowing they’d try to seek help at the lodge. Korbin wouldn’t have thought Damen was smart enough to pull something like this off. And his biggest question was why? Why come after him? Why try so hard to kill him?
He looked for a way to escape. The trees where they had taken shelter weren’t thick. Just on the other side, another clearing offered a possibility. There were two drawbacks, however. One, the trees were spaced wide enough to offer little protection, and two, the clearing over there was an avalanche chute. But if they could reach it and ski away...
Spotting something that would serve as good cover, he looked toward Savanna and whispered harshly, “When I start shooting, ski for that boulder.”
She jerked her head, spotting the boulder, and then nodded at him.
Korbin stuck his poles into the snow and eased the pistol beside the trunk. Aiming in the direction where he’d seen the hat, he fired and then sprang into motion after Savanna started skiing. He skied hard to the next tree, where he fired again. His bullet hit a fallen tree trunk where the hat bobbed down and out of view. Korbin skied the rest of the way to the boulder, joining Savanna there. When Damen kept firing, Korbin fired back until the gun clicked. No more bullets.
As soon as he tossed the weapon aside, a distinct rumble began high up on the mountain.
“Avalanche,” Savanna murmured, fear giving her voice a tremor.
“Get away from the chute.” Korbin looked over the boulder. He didn’t see the hat anymore. Damen had gone to take cover, probably hoping they’d die in the avalanche. Which they very well could. The trees weren’t thick here. It was a small cluster that divided chute. They were right in the middle of the avalanche path.
“Get back into the trees!” he shouted. It was the best chance they had.
In an instant, the rumble was upon them. Korbin was flung forward and bashed into a tree. A white cloud engulfed him and he heard Savanna scream. He wrapped his arms around the trunk and held on. Snow ripped down the mountain, splintering trees and crashing with a deafening roar.
Seconds later it was over. The avalanche reached the valley and went silent. Korbin looked for Savanna...and didn’t see her.
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