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When she didn’t struggle to get away, Ahmed smiled. “Hold still, baby, while I cut your ties.” He held her gaze as he knelt in front of her, then glanced away for a split second to position the knife. An audible pop later and she could move her feet.
Too bad her legs were tingly from lack of blood circulation. They would only get worse when the flow of blood increased, so it was now or miss her opportunity. She glanced at Matt, and he nodded slightly.
Ahmed rose to his feet. “Ready?” He took a step back and swung his arm to indicate she should go first.
Sally kicked her leg with all the strength she possessed. The toe of her shoe landed firmly in his testicles, exactly where Daniel and Matt had instructed it should. Then she braced her foot on his sack and dug in, crushing any flesh that got in her way.
“Fuck!”Ahmed grabbed himself with one hand and went down on his knees, his eyes rolling back in his head. He clutched the knife in his other hand, holding it to the side of his body as though he were about to drop the weapon. Sally swung her leg again, flipping the knife from his hand and sending it flying toward the men. Matt and Daniel both slid their ropes down the post until they were sitting on the ground, but the knife was still two feet short.
Ahmed rolled into a fetal position as Sally started moving. He grabbed futilely for her ankle. Her hands still securely bound, she ran to where the knife had dropped and kicked it with her foot until Matt was able to grab hold.
“Good luck.” She was already out of breath.
“Get out of here,” Matt said.
Sally didn’t look back. Sprinting through the open barn door, she picked up speed as she went. Luke’s Jeep was stationary at the top of the last hill that overlooked the cabins and the river. Why had he stopped?
Of course. The remains of Daniel’s cabin still smoldered. He would see the destruction and know something was wrong. If she could just get close enough to warn him before one of Ahmed’s men shot her in the back, he might get away. Their plan had worked so far.Please, God, let me do this one last thing.
She ran, ignoring the pain in her knee, the sawing of the zip ties at her wrists and the blood still seeping from the wound over her eye. She strained to see Luke in front of the Jeep parked on the hill ahead. He appeared to be holding something big and black to his face. Suddenly, Travis’s Chevy rumbled over the rise and skidded to a stop behind Luke’s Jeep.
Staying purposefully away from the cabins and the road, Sally plowed through knee-high grass and jumped over rocks. Spotting two of Ahmed’s men running to intercept her, she ran faster. Her breath labored in and out of her lungs and her heart hammered as though it knew this was her last run. Hopefully, Matt and Daniel had gotten away too.
She pressed on, running on sheer adrenaline now. Damn, if she could only wave her arms, it would be helpful. Just a little farther and maybe her voice would carry to Luke.
“Catch her, you idiots!” Ahmed’s voice from behind her was steeped in pure rage. Obviously remembering himself, he repeated the command in the language of his men.
Sally took a chance and glanced over her shoulder. They were gaining on her. Apparently, they weren’t going to shoot her. Guess Ahmed wanted her alive. That was sure to be a bad thing. Racing to the top of a small mound, her feet slid out from under her and she fell. Rolling to her back, she pushed to her feet. The men were so close—she was out of time.
“Luke!” She forced herself to run again, although she didn’t have enough lung capacity for keeping her pace and screaming like a banshee. The men were gaining. “Luke, it’s a trap! Don’t come in! It’s a trap, Luke!”
One of the men tackled her, and she was all out of fight. She’d done what she’d set out to do—warn Luke. Jen was safe, and he’d survive to take care of her precious little girl. Her lungs hurt. Hell, everything hurt. The men’s faces, covered with black masks, blurred before her eyes as they stared at her. One of them said something, but he could have been asking for the next dance for all she knew. She didn’t have the energy left to care. The smaller of the two drew a machete from inside his cloak and placed the tip on her chest, repeating his words.
“Go fuck yourselves.” The second time in her twenty-nine years she’d dropped the f-bomb…and it felt pretty damn good. But what was the matter with her? She wasn’t being very polite. She looked directly at the machete man and smiled. “Pleasego fuck yourselves.”
The two men looked at each other and laughed. Sally chuckled along with them…until machete man raised his huge weapon, poised over his head for a few seconds, and slashed downward.
Sally wiggled onto her side and drew her legs up to her chest in a useless attempt to protect her vital parts. She closed her eyes. Why the hell did people have to use knives? Give her a nice quick bullet any day. Okay. Now she was rambling. Probably in shock. What would it be like to be dead? She’d miss her baby…and Luke.
The terrorist dropped to one knee against her back, and she heard the machete plunge home. A sharp pain…and then nothing. It didn’t matter, though, because the darkness was already upon her…taking her somewhere safe…and quiet…
* * * *
He’d seen the plume of smoke from miles away, but when Luke topped the last rise that overlooked the resort cabins, he slammed on the brakes and stared at the devastation below. Daniel’s cabin was gone. Still smoldering, a pile of charred rubble was all that was left, part of the blackened chimney standing sentinel over the rest.
“What the hell?” He tore open the glove box and rummaged until he latched onto a pair of binoculars. His brother was always prepared and evidently kept his Jeep ready to go as well. He glanced in the rearview mirror as he had repeatedly for the past half hour. This time, he spotted a cloud of dust racing along the rough and pothole-filled road three or four miles behind him. Luke grimaced. At the very least, he was going to owe Travis a new set of shocks.
Luck had been with them when he’d finally reached Garrett on his cell phone. He and Rachel were in Coeur d’Alene, picking up supplies for the lodge. They dropped everything and headed for Sandpoint. Luke had turned back about five miles out of town, leaving Travis and Coop to escort their charges to a prearranged rendezvous point north of Sandpoint. As Luke had expected, Travis must have hauled ass to catch up to him, probably urged even faster by the column of smoke.
Luke stepped from the Jeep and raised the field glasses. The place was like a ghost town. The old Ford pickup sat in its spot near the ruins of Daniel’s cabin. All the remaining cabins were closed tight, and there wasn’t a soul to be seen. The horses and Bridgett’s pony chomped the grass in their pasture, apparently unaffected by whatever had gone on. At the dock by the river, four small fishing boats bobbed with the current, securely fastened to the wooden structure. Had there been four boats? More? Less? He couldn’t answer the question with certainty.
He had to get down there to assure himself Sally and his friends were safe, but his need warred with logic that said to wait for backup. Logic would have lost the battle if his buddies hadn’t been a mere mile away.
Two minutes later, Travis’s Chevy roared up behind the Jeep, skidding on the packed dirt as the engine went silent, and Travis and Coop piled out. Luke tossed the binoculars to Travis as the man shouldered up beside him.
His friend raised them and peered through. “Shit o’ Friday. That must have been one hell of a blaze. Where is everybody?”
“Let’s go find out.” Luke started for the Jeep.
