woods were as familiar to her as the back of her hand. She had the advantage.
In front of her, the woods thinned. Almost there. The path blurred with her tears. What did this man want?
The road appeared before her. Across it, the Beacheys’ house loomed as a shadow, save a single light burning in the kitchen. Someone was awake.
Rachel stumbled onto the road. Losing her footing on the icy pavement, she fell hard to her knees. Please, no. Not like this. Not without knowing her sister’s fate.
Frantic, she glanced back. A dark silhouette appeared at the edge of the woods. The man spotted her and started running toward her.
“Help!” she screamed as loud as her labored voice would allow, hoping the Beacheys might hear her. “Help me, please!”
With scraped hands, she pushed off the pavement and managed to keep her feet underneath her. Hurry. She had to. But it was impossible on the slick road.
She peeked over her shoulder. The man had stopped near the road. He was no longer looking at her but down the road. What was he waiting for?
Beyond her drumming heartbeat, she caught the sound of a car’s engine coming toward her. Rachel whirled at the sound. The vehicle topped the hill close by. Blinding headlights pinned her in place. Before she had time to react, the SUV was almost on top of her.
What if the driver worked with her attacker? She’d fought so hard to be free only to die here on this road.
Tires squealed on the slick road as the driver tried to stop before he hit her. Rachel shielded her eyes against the glare. Her heart in her throat, she braced for the impact.
Seconds passed. Nothing happened. Quiet returned to the countryside. The car had stopped. She was alive. A single breath slipped from her body. Her gaze darted to the last place she’d seen her attacker. He wasn’t there.
The Beacheys’ home was close. If she ran, would she make it in time?
The SUV’s door opened. Her heartbeat ticked the seconds off.
“Rachel?” That voice! It jumped out at her from her youthful past. Noah? More than seven years had passed since he’d moved away, yet she’d thought of him so often through the years. The young man she’d lost her heart to at seventeen had now just saved her life.
Deputy Sheriff Noah Warren wasn’t sure he trusted his eyes. Standing before him, illuminated by the bright headlights of his patrol vehicle, was the woman who’d stolen his eighteen-year-old heart.
And he’d broken hers.
As he advanced on her, the shock of seeing Rachel again under these unexpected conditions sent shock waves through his body.
“Rachel?” he said her name again and blinked, half expecting her to disappear. When he opened his eyes, she was still there and one thing became clear—the look of fear on her face appeared permanently embedded there. Her green eyes were huge pools of light that told a story of desperation.
Noah couldn’t believe his past mistakes were about to reach out to him once more. He’d thought of her so many times through the years, considered reaching out to her when the heartaches of her life took place. Thought better of it. He’d hurt her badly. She wouldn’t welcome hearing from him again after the way things ended. Best to leave the past where it lay. As hard as it was to accept, their future was never intended to be together. God had other plans for both of them.
He snapped out of his daze. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice anything but steady, reflecting how he felt.
Rachel took an involuntary step back and peeked over her shoulder. Shivered visibly.
“You have to help me, Noah. He’s still out there. He tried to kidnap me.” Her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper, the words shocking.
Noah whirled to look in the direction she pointed, then back at her. “Who’s out there?”
“I don’t know who he is. He wore a mask and it was dark. He came into my home and tried to force me to go with him.”
Noah couldn’t believe what he heard. Through the headlights, he could see red marks on her cheek. Her bare feet were cut and bloody, hands scraped, flame-red hair loose and tangled.
“Let’s get you inside the cruiser where it’s warm. You must be frozen.” When she seemed incapable of moving, he clasped her arm and gently guided her to the passenger side.
Opening the door, he paused when Rachel didn’t budge. Her stricken gaze locked onto him, and he knew something else was coming.
“Noah, I think he has Eva.”
The news robbed him of his next breath. “What do you mean he has Eva?”
“She wasn’t in her room and her bed was not unmade. Eva promised to be home by ten and she wouldn’t break that promise. He has her, Noah. You have to find my sister.”
Eva missing? He still remembered the young blonde girl who used to follow them around. “I’ll find her, I promise. Come, get inside where it’s warm. I need to call for backup.” The urgency in his tone must have reached through her fear. Gathering the skirt of her gown, she climbed inside. Noah retrieved the blanket he kept in the SUV along with other emergency supplies and tucked it around her legs. Clicking the locks in place, he shut the door and reached for the radio attached to his jacket.
In the distance, a vehicle fired to life. Noah swung toward the sound. It sounded close, a little ways past Rachel’s home. He peered into the dark night. No lights appeared. Had he been wrong about the distance? Noises carried in the country, the sound echoing off the mountains. Perhaps the car was farther down the road than he thought. As much as he wanted to investigate, he didn’t dare leave Rachel alone.
“Dispatch, this is Deputy Warren requesting immediate backup for a possible 207 on Spruce Road near the Beachey farm.”
The sheriff’s dispatcher, Janine Mills, picked up right away. “Copy that, Noah.” A second of silence followed. “Aden and Megan are en route. I’ll notify the sheriff. Is anyone hurt? Do you need an ambulance?”
He glanced inside the patrol vehicle where Rachel watched him with huge eyes. “Yes, send a bus. The victim has cuts on her feet and she’s been exposed to the cold for a while. It would be a good idea to have an EMT take a look at her.”
“Will do. Backup is five minutes out. Stay safe, Noah.”
Noah ended the transmission and called Aden on his cell.
“We’re close,” Aden assured him.
“Good. Can you and Megan take a quick ride down Aspen Glen Road? I heard a car start up a little distance from here. It might be nothing.”
“Or it could be our perp. We’re at the intersection now. Talk to you soon.”
Noah shoved the phone in his pocket and clicked on his flashlight, moving to the edge of the road. He flashed the light in the direction of Rachel’s childhood home. Her
