Page 150 of Shadowing You

She shook her head. “This is as fast as it goes.” She stayed on the route they’d taken earlier, following the double line out, the machine gliding over the snow.

Then the line bent westward, but she angled into the trees, aiming downward.

There was no trail, just tree trunks and narrow spaces between them.

The snowmobile bumped over something and came down hard, but Mei Lin didn’t slow, just kept threading the pines and bushes, branches clawing the windshield. She drove as hard as the woods and the machine would allow. If she wasn’t careful, she could crash them into a tree.

Ethan twisted again to see behind.

Four-wheelers were following. They were a hundred yards back, but the snowmobile was faster, even with two of them on it.

This might actually work.

But the farther they descended the mountain, the less snow was on the ground. It became patchier and thinner, and the snowmobile’s track struggled and coughed in the mud.

Mei Lin aimed for snow, but there wasn’t enough.

They were slowing down.

Whereas the enemies’ ATVs had gained traction. They were closing the gap. Seventy-five yards back. Fifty.

Think, Ethan.

There was nothing he could do. But he had to do something.

He had no choices.

He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the feel of his wife in his arms, knowing he could lose this, lose her, if he didn’t come up with a plan B.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The machine was slowing.

Mei Lin leaned into the next gap between the trees, aiming for a thin patch of snow. A low branch struck the windshield and flung moisture across her face.

She ignored it. She couldn’t slow down. She needed to move faster. But nothing she did worked. The snowmobile sludged through the mud.

She twisted around a group of trees, turning to peek behind.

They were so close. If nothing changed, those men would close the gap any minute.

Ethan’s left arm was clamped around her middle. She assumed he held the weapon in his other hand. How many bullets did it have? Not enough to protect them if she couldn’t get them out of there.

She had a phone with a red marker and a husband with a gun and a machine that refused to work on wet leaves and slushy ground.

Please, God. We need a miracle. Show us a way. Stop the men behind us.

The Lord sees you. Mei Lin heard Āyí’s voice, whispered in her ear on their shared bunk.

Mei Lin believed those words. She held onto them as tightly as she held the handlebars.

Then Ethan’s mouth was at her ear. “No matter what happens…” His voice slid beneath the rumble of the engine. “No matter what happens, you keep going. Don’t stop for anything. You hear me? If the machine dies or gets stuck, grab the phone and run.”

They slammed over a fallen branch, and she barely held on.

“Can you hear me, Mei Lin?”

“Yes, yes.” But she had to focus.