Without sparing her pursuer a glance, she pumped her legs harder. Once, she almost rolled her ankle when she tripped over a rock in the thick grass. Stumbling, trying to extend her lead, her momentum propelled her forward. She touched down with one hand and one knee, recovered and built-up speed again. Her lungs labored, and a stitch developed in her side.
Lissa crossed another pitted parking lot, jumped over a ditch, and dashed into the surrounding barren field. There was no adequate cover yet. She just had to reach the trees on the far side.
Behind her, a gunshot cracked. Her heart racing, she crouched lower and hunched her shoulders inward, trying to become a smaller target. Another shot rang out. Her ears rang, and blood pumped through her so hard it was difficult to hear. She stumbled again but kept moving. By some miracle, two additional bullets missed, whizzing past. Lissa zigzagged across the last section of field before slipping through the rusted barbed wire on the far side.
Her backpack caught on the top strand. Another shot hit the fencepost on her right. She shrank inward, yanked her pack free, and climbed the hill, her legs burning. At the top, she disappeared into a stand of trees, her breath ragged and her heart banging like a drum.
Just before she dropped over the ridge at the far side, she looked back. The man with the rifle remained near the row of warehouses, but he was no longer alone. Another jeep had parked with four more men, all of them armed. The first man lifted his binoculars, aiming them right at her position. Shesucked in a breath. He pointed, and the new men strode into the field, fanning out.
Lissa cursed, spun, and took off, running once more, branches whipping across her face, floundering through the bushes as she searched for a trail. Twice she fell, both times scraping her hands on rocks. Thorns tore at her face and limbs, but she kept moving. From the fiery pain on her heels, the blisters must have popped. Still, she ran.
She had another five long miles to go.
Chapter 19: Lissa
Lissa dropped to a fast walk, her arms swinging, her throat dry, and muscles shaking. A glance over her shoulder toward the fiery orange glow of the setting sun told her she’d been on the run for hours. She hoped she was still headed in the correct direction. Each time she tried to catch her breath, the pursuing men had reappeared, closing in. Daylight had faded into twilight, leaving deep shadows as potential hiding places. Soon she might find a place to hunker down.
She glanced from side to side searching for a spot. She needed to rest. The temperature had dropped, though she remained hot from exertion. She fanned herself as she strode while the breeze ruffled her hair.
She couldn’t stop yet, because she wasn’t in the clear. The jeeps had driven perilously close to where she’d crouched three times, and she worried they’d catch up this time as well. They must be more familiar with the countryside and the web of roads—an advantage. The men on foot had come closer still, but she’d evaded them, so far. Her luck couldn’t hold much longer unless she found somewhere to stop once full darkness descended.
She slipped from one grove of spindly, leafless trees to the next, always scanning for men on her trail. A panicky feeling rose, threatening to drown her in fear. Nothing to climb, nowhere to hide. It felt like a matter of time before she wasintercepted. On her right, the road branched as her map had shown. She chose the fork patched with packed dirt and gravel. It appeared to be in better shape than the broken highway she’d crossed not far back. Maybe xTerra maintained it. Maybe she should risk traveling along it. She shook her head. It was too exposed.
Her hackles rose. She couldn’t stay in the open. She willed herself to move faster.
Her chest heaved as she accelerated, her breath still puffing and her cheeks hot. Behind her, in the distance, came masculine voices carried on the evening breeze. First from one direction, then another as her pursuers worked together, closing in. Her chin trembled. She couldn’t run anymore. It had to be dark enough.
She cast around for a last-ditch place to hide off the road. Dark gray outlines of boulders loomed in the dim light. They stood two hundred yards away and might be her best chance.
Lissa took a breath and altered her course. She trotted toward the outcropping and circled around to its rear. One of the tallest rocks had split, a jagged crack running upward at an angle for the first twenty feet. Without further deliberation, she scaled the craggy surface. The cold, prickly stone scraped her hands as she gripped for fingerholds.
It wasn’t easy to climb with hiking shoes and her heavy pack, but she kept trying until she’d clambered about fifteen feet. Just a little farther. Her abused fingers ached, and several knuckles bled, but she struggled upward, desperation adding to her remaining strength.
With one last heave, she swung onto a thin ledge under an overhang, which ran the length of the perch and narrowed at one end. Above her, the rock formation rose another dozen yards in a spire. She lay gasping on an uneven bench about two feet wide and several yards long. The outcropping disappeared intothe shadow beneath the overhang. Perfect. She zeroed in on the long, shadowy section. There wasn’t much room underneath, but it might give her some protection.
It would have to do and was better than remaining on the ground.
She unclipped her pack and shoved it deep into the blackness. Her backpack was black and navy blue, which should make it difficult to see from below as dusk deepened into night. It might even be mistaken for part of the boulders. She wiggled foot-first, stomach down, into the end of the overhang beside her pack, pressing backward and scooting along the ledge until her boots hit the narrow back where she didn’t fit. She held still, waiting as she tried to regulate her breathing. If only her heart would slow.
Footsteps crackled below as someone stepped on a stick. They had a light.
Lissa held her breath. Beaded sweat ran down her face, causing her to shiver.
“She came this way.” The tired voice seemed more resigned than excited. “I caught a glimpse.”
Pursuers nearby. Her heart smashing against her ribs, she covered her mouth and closed her eyes, willing them to move on. The stone chilled her tired muscles.
“What’s one chick matter?” said a deeper voice. “I doubt she was even armed.”
“The Boss said, ‘No one in or out of xTerra.’ Where else could she be headed? We can’t let her mess this up.” The men stopped just below where she lay against the cold rock.
She sank lower, melded to the stone digging into her hips, praying for them to leave.
“She knows nothing. The guys are certain she came from the south.”
“Her timing is suspicious,” said the deeper voice. “Look. Her tracks disappear here.”
Shit. She must have left footprints in the half-dry mud.
