where they could, and slowing in places where the snow grew too deep. With the effort, white clouds puffed out as her lungs labored to supply oxygen to her frantic heart.
Life and death.
This was a matter of life and death.
Hadn’t she wanted a quiet life? She’d moved here from Portland to put distance between her and tragedy. And now...this. Anger churned inside, fueling her strides.
Rich had done this. There was no other explanation. Olivia had asked why he’d come back to the States and he’d replied that he was finished working for the private military contract security company in the Middle East. He’d been restless, if not distressed.
Oh, Rich. What have you gotten yourself into? What have you gotten us into?
He’d brought these men here after him. She knew that in her gut. And now they were after her, too. Her and Zach. The man she wanted to forget, along with all that had gone wrong in her life, was in the mix, as well. Though he’d taken the lead, she pushed ahead of him. He didn’t know where to go. He didn’t know the area like she did and had said as much.
Still, she needed to hear from him. Did he have any ideas? An escape plan? “Where do you want me to take us, Zach? Where should we head?”
“Let’s lead them away from the snowmobiles, lose them, and then we can backtrack so we can ride out of here.”
She ducked under a branch. A bullet sliced across her helmet.
“Olivia!” Zach pushed her to the ground again.
“Will you stop doing that?” She pushed him off.
“Get behind the trees!”
She did as he asked, and together they crawled over and hid behind a thick-trunked pine—wide enough they could both press their backs against it. Catching her breath, she looked up and watched huge flakes dance on the air and flutter down toward her. They landed on her face and stuck in her lashes. She blinked them away.
Pulling her helmet off, she examined the damage. That had been close, much too close. She stashed it to the side, intending to leave it behind. The bright pink of the helmet had been intentional, meant to be visible in the woods to prevent hunters from shooting her by mistake. But now wasn’t the time for visibility.
“Good idea.” Zach peered at her, nodding his approval. “If anything, that helmet makes you an easy target.”
His icy blues turned more intense. Olivia peered out into the woods, looking anywhere and at anything except Zach. Sitting this close to him when she’d wanted to forget him, and having him with her in this far too surreal situation, would be her undoing if the shooters didn’t get her first.
“But without the helmet, you’re far too exposed.” He tugged his white helmet off. “Take mine.”
She whipped her gaze around to his. Yeah. Much too close. “What? No. Zach,” she whispered. “I’m not wearing your helmet. So put that back on.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Fury boiled inside. “I don’t need your protection.”
Hurt flickered in his gaze then vanished behind a stone cold stare. Oh... I didn’t mean to say that. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. When would it ever end?
Her legs trembled with fear and her lips weren’t far behind. She wouldn’t let him see her like this—a weak, scared little girl—though why she wanted to hide that from him she wasn’t sure. After all, someone was trying to kill them and she was scared. There wasn’t any reason to be ashamed of that. But she didn’t want him to protect her. She didn’t want to be that vulnerable.
Did she have a choice?
And wasn’t Zach scared, too? Trying to read his mind, sense his emotional state, wouldn’t do either of them any good. Again, she averted her gaze, listening, watching for the shooters as she caught her breath.
Zach gently touched her chin and turned her to face him. “Are you okay?”
It hurt when he touched her like that, all gentle and caring. She didn’t want that from him, or for him to see that she was absolutely not okay. But he probably already knew. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
He studied her, his blue-eyed gaze seeming to soak up every inch of her face. For a split second, she worried about her appearance. But she’d long ago given up the smoky eye shadow, snow plum blush and deep mauve lipstick she used to put on for him. Her self-consciousness fell away as she realized he hadn’t donned the helmet after her refusal to wear it, and that gave her ample opportunity to take him in up close and personal. That smattering of day-old stubble across his strong jaw. A few crow’s-feet that hadn’t yet emerged around his intense blue eyes when she’d last been this close to him. Protection practically spilled off him. That and something she couldn’t read behind his gaze. But maybe she shouldn’t even try.
Still...what was he thinking?
“We need to get moving.” He hesitated, then asked, “Can you lead us the long way around to the snowmobiles so we can get out of here? That is, if they haven’t already disabled the machines so we couldn’t do just that.”
“I can try. But what about Rich? I still need to find him. I can’t leave without him.”
She hadn’t wanted to entertain the possibility that Rich was already dead. She wouldn’t let her thoughts go there, but the hope she’d held on to was quickly slipping away.
“We’ll find him, don’t worry. But don’t forget he’s ex-military. He’s trained to survive. My priority is getting you to safety.” Zach suddenly stiffened and angled his head. He ducked low and peered around the tree. “Time to go.”
Zach stood and clambered around as he pressed his back against the tree. “I’m going to hold them off. You keep hidden behind the trees as you run and try get as far away as you can. Just keep going.”
“What? I thought you wanted us to make our way back to the snowmobiles? I’m not leaving you. I don’t want to find Rich only to have to come back and find you.”
“You won’t have to find me. I’ll be right behind you. I’m just giving you a head start.”
Zach aimed and fired off his weapon, the sound ricocheting through her head, ringing in her ears. Okay, well, maybe she could put some distance between them.
He fired another round, and then another in rapid succession. She wished for her own weapon, the one she’d left at home. She could help Zach. He would run out of ammo soon.
“Go, Olivia. I’ll find you. I can’t hold them off forever. Don’t make me waste these bullets.”
Just as she would have turned from him, he grabbed her collar and pulled her face close to his. His chest rose and fell, and the intensity in his eyes as he appeared to drink her in stole her breath away. “Be careful out there, Olivia. Don’t take any chances. I promise I’ll find you.”
For a split second, in the midst of lethal danger, her mind flooded with memories of kissing him. Her senses tingled. Her breaths came quicker, but not from the danger. Then he
