Harlequin Intrigue December 2016, Box Set 2 of 2 by Debra Webb

Author:Debra Webb
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488027321
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

“That can’t be right,” Erin said, panic like a giant hand gripping her heart. “Duane said the bomb wouldn’t go off for a week.”

“Maybe he lied. Or he had the ability to reset the timer remotely.”

She threw off the sleeping bag and reached for her clothing. “We have to leave now,” she said.

“That’s too dangerous,” Mark said, but he began to pull on his own clothing. “It’s pitch-dark out there and still snowing. If we try to leave now we’ll get hopelessly lost and maybe freeze to death.”

His words made sense, but this whole situation was beyond crazy. She couldn’t respond to it logically. “We have to reach help before it’s too late,” she said.

He put a steadying hand on her shoulder. When she raised her eyes to meet his she felt bathed in his calm determination. “We’ll leave as soon as it’s light enough to do so safely,” he said. “Meanwhile, we can spend the time gathering supplies and getting ready.”

“All right.” She took a deep breath. Everything was far from all right, but maybe she could hold on if she pretended it was. “What do we need to do?”

“I’ll start by fixing a hot meal.”

“I couldn’t eat.”

“This isn’t about appetite. It’s about survival. You’ll stay warmer and keep going longer if you get some calories in you.”

While he heated canned chili, she rolled up the sleeping bags and the blankets from the bunks. When he summoned her to the table she forced herself to choke down the food, which might have been sawdust in hot water for all she could taste. As she ate, all her attention was fixed on the band around her throat and the digital display she couldn’t see that was ticking down the minutes until her destruction.

Mark did his best to keep her distracted. While he rigged a makeshift knapsack out of an old hunting shirt he found hanging by the front door, he had her gather the rest of the canned food, a can opener and matches to go into it.

When the sun was far enough up in the sky for them to clearly see their way, they climbed out the back window of the cabin. “We’re bound to intersect a main road within an hour or two,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any place in the state where we would be farther from civilization than that.”

“I hope your brother knows some fast—and close—bomb experts,” she said.

“He’s FBI. They have experts on everything.”

“Great.” She did her best to sound optimistic, but Mark must have seen through her bluff. He patted her back.

“We’re going to get through this,” he said. “Come on.”

If she hadn’t been so miserable over the bomb and their chances for escape, she might have enjoyed the hike through the snow-covered woods. Last night’s storm had left the world draped in a white coverlet that sparkled in the early morning sunlight. But the same snow that made the world look soft and beautiful all but obscured the drive leading up to the road, and left them both wet to the knees from trudging through it.

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