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Her blood pressure went up.
Frantic, she abandoned the escape release for the floor. Her fingers curled around something long and heavy with a cylindrical head. Socket wrench.
She clenched her jaw and began psyching herself up for Snips to open the trunk.
Another rut in the road sent the car jumping up again, but it kept bounding along. Figuring it was now or never, Josie yanked on the glowing square.
The trunk lid flew open.
Dawn's pink glow filled the sky, illuminating the empty countryside.
Sucking in a deep breath, Josie raised her arms to cover her head and rolled out of the trunk. All the air in her lungs vacated as soon as she landed with a thump on the dirt road.
The car kept moving.
She scrambled up, ignoring the blinding pain in her side, and stumbled to a copse of trees by an abandoned farmhouse. Rocks bit into her knees as she rested her forehead against scratchy bark, gulping in air and wondering how much time she had until Snips figured out she'd escaped.
Minutes. If she was lucky.
Her gaze followed her footprints between the road and her hiding spot. A dead giveaway. Careful as she could, she tiptoed in her tracks back to the road. The crusty top layer of snow stuck to her clammy palms when she tried to brush away evidence of her location. But the formerly powder snow had hardened during the cold night, making the top layer as brittle as the crust on a crème brûlée.
She searched the area but everywhere she looked, the light gleamed off the icy covering. Despite the cold, a bead of sweat rolled down the back of her neck.
That's when she saw it. Under the trees, the snow had piled up into a small mound, no doubt pushed by the winds that never ceased to blow.
Josie negotiated her way back to the trees as quickly as she could while not making any new footprints, gathered an armful of snow and scurried back to the road. She packed the fresh snow into the indentations left by her boots, smoothing it as best she could, and working her way backwards until the evergreens blocked her from the road.
Her breath hovered in the air as she panted. She rubbed away the goose bumps that had grown into goose mountains on her arms and tried to formulate a plan.
At the rumble of a car's engine, her first instinct was to spring from her hiding spot and wave down the motorist. She caught herself just in time. Peeking through the branches, she watched a sedan with Nevada plates crawl down the dirt road.
Blood roared in her ears and she double-checked the job she'd done with the snow. Dread squeezed her throat closed. Quarter-sized drops of red spotted the path between where she'd landed in the road and the tree line. She wiped her hand across her lower back where the trunk had snagged her skin and stared down at red-tipped fingers. The cold and her own panic had blunted the pain, but hadn't stopped the bleeding.
The black vehicle continued forward. Too late. Nothing she could do but cross her fingers and hope.
Josie squeezed her legs close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins.
The engine's purr was practically next to her now.
She clenched her eyes shut and buried her face between her knees.
“Josie girl, we're going to find you.” The wind carried Snips’ taunting call across the frozen fields and giant snowflakes fell from the sky.
Every nerve in her body screamed at her to push away from the tree's rough bark and run. To sprint to safety.
But there was no haven out here, only flat, snowy land until McPherson's Bluff rose straight and tall from the plains half a mile away—or the decrepit farmhouse ten yards ahead.
Muscles tensed, she waited. Trapped.
Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the motor of Snips’ car faded away.
Too freaked out to be relieved, she forced herself to count to one hundred to make sure they'd gone before hurrying to the farmhouse to assess her options in a more protected area.
Someone had nailed two-by-fours across the windows and doorway. She yanked at the boards covering the door until one finally gave way, providing just enough room for her to crawl through. Dirt and trash covered the floor. Twigs and bits of debris formed what looked like a nest inside the hearth. She scanned the room for occupants. The last thing she needed was a rabid animal thinking she'd invaded its turf. Finding nothing, Josie sank to the floor, wanting nothing more in the world than to fall apart.
She ground her teeth together, determined to stave off anxious tears. Fuck this. If there was any time to reach down deep and proudly wear her pair of brass balls, this was it. She inhaled a deep breath of frigid air and let it out in a huff.
Better. She could do this.
