Mountain Hideaway

His gaze flickered to the rearview mirror. Just as he feared, headlights swerved onto the road behind him. A car closed the space between them by the second.

“Hold on!” Trent gripped the steering wheel as he pressed the accelerator even harder.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Tessa’s voice sounded thin and fraught with tension.

“The exact opposite, actually.” He saw the car behind them gaining speed, nearly close enough to rear-end them. One bump could send his Jeep into the massive rock wall beside them. One nudge could propel them to their death. He’d seen fatal car accidents plenty of times before, from back when he’d worked patrol.

He couldn’t let that happen now. There weren’t many options for what he could do out here, but thankfully his training in the military and as a detective had taught him a thing or two. The road didn’t have many intersections and the nearest one was probably three miles away, at least. That meant he had three miles of trying to drive faster and with more control than the guys behind him. It was the only way he’d outwit them.

He continued to gun it, careful to stay in control. Tessa let out a soft moan beside him. “I can’t watch.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“Do you have a gun?”

He resisted the urge to glance her way and try to read her expression. He couldn’t afford to take his eyes off the road. But what in the world was she getting at? “I do.”

“Where is it?”

“In my jacket.”

Before he realized what was happening, Tessa reached into his coat and pulled out his Glock.

“What are you doing?” Alarm captured his voice.

“Trying to stay alive,” she muttered. She rolled down the window, and gusts of frigid air whipped inside the Jeep. With more guts than he’d realized the woman had, she leaned outside and fired the first shot.

The car behind him swerved.

“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” he shouted over the wind.

“I’ve been taking lessons.”

The car behind them quickly righted and charged even closer. Tessa fired again, and the sound of rubber skidding across the road filled the air. The car kept coming. Just then, the back glass of the Jeep shattered.

The men were shooting back. If they managed to pierce a tire, Trent and Tessa would be goners.

A bend in the road appeared. The area was even narrower with a cliff on one side and a rock wall on the other. This was their only chance.

Trent braced himself. “Hold on!”

He grabbed Tessa and pulled her inside before she got herself killed.

Ahead, the trees disappeared and the nighttime sky was all that was visible. Tessa sucked in a deep breath beside him.

This was a twenty-five-miles-per-hour curve. He remembered it well. It was sharp, merciless and adorned with several danger-ahead signs.

He had to think quickly.

Instead of slowing down, he gunned it. They charged toward the open sky ahead. One wrong move and they’d free-fall off the mountain. It was a chance he had to take, especially since the other option meant certain death.

God, be with us!

“You’re going to kill us!” Tessa screamed.

At the last minute, he jerked the wheel to the right. The Jeep skidded, nearly going into a spin.

His heart pounded out of control as the edge of the cliff neared. The car fishtailed, started to right itself, but suddenly spun.

Trent held his breath, lifting up more prayers.

Lord, please help us stop in time. Our lives depend on it.

THREE (#ulink_2e7eb2ed-e072-52b5-8158-ac9175ae5f8f)

Tessa opened her mouth but the scream stuck in her throat. As the Jeep veered closer and closer to the edge of the mountain, her life flashed before her eyes. Her regrets. Her time apart from her loved ones. Everything she’d been through over the past year.

She didn’t want things to end this way.

God, please! It was the second time today she’d found herself praying, something she hadn’t done in months. Maybe it was time to change that.

Suddenly, the Jeep righted itself. Before three seconds had even passed, she felt Trent press the gas again. They accelerated down the road, her heart pounding radically out of control with each second of forward motion.

She looked over her shoulder just in time to see the car behind them swerve. The tires screeched before the horrible sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.

Her eyes squeezed shut as the vehicle charged over the edge of the cliff.

Tessa felt the color drain from her face as a sick feeling gurgled in her stomach.

“You okay?” Trent stole a glance her way.

She nodded, still shaky and queasy. “I guess.”

“At least they’re not following us anymore.”

“That’s one positive.” She couldn’t think of many. She’d been plucked from her obscure life and into a nightmare. Now she was hanging on for dear life on a thrill ride she’d never wanted to be a part of.

Someone was clearly trying to send a message.

She’d been discovered, and now she was in a Jeep with a stranger who might or might not be trying to kill her. For all she knew, this man was a part of this elaborate scheme. Maybe his plan involved earning her trust just so he could stab her in the back. Some people got their kicks that way.

Just then Trent pulled off the main road and onto a smaller one. They snaked through the mountains, turning a couple more times before they reached a driveway similar to the steep, narrow one that had led to her own cabin.

She didn’t ask questions, though her mind raced as she tried to process everything. She needed a plan, just in case things turned ugly. She’d have to take her chances and run if this man turned out to be a thug. The woods were more survivable during the day when she could see what was coming. She’d even risk plunging herself into the wilderness at nighttime if she had to. It wasn’t ideal. But she’d do that before she surrendered.

The man stopped in front of three cabins, cut the engine and turned to stare at her.

When he didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat. “Where are we?”