Hunted by Maggie Shayne

Author:Maggie Shayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, wounded hero, on the run, mystery and romance, love after loss, maggie shayne, romantic supsense, single father romance, shattered sisters
Publisher: Maggie Shayne

Chapter Eleven

He'd been veering into the woods along either side of the fire trail, checking out every snow-covered clump of deadfall that even remotely resembled a body. And then he'd glimpsed a light in the distance and raced toward it. Lexi’s flashlight was wedged between the limbs of a pine tree, just about head height, aimed back toward the trail. And Lexi lay still at the base of that same tree, snow covering her face and clothes, even her closed eyes, like some morbid white shroud. She looked dead.

His heart shattered.

He dropped to his knees beside her, choking on the words he tried to say, brushing the snow and frozen hair away from her face and eyelashes. "Lexi! Wake up. Come on!” He pressed his nearly numb fingers to her throat in search of a pulse. It wasn’t hard to find, because it was pounding like a jackhammer.

And the relief that flooded him was almost as intense as the initial devastation. He fumbled in his pockets for her pills, shook two from the bottle and then opened her mouth and poked them all the way to the back of her throat, hoping she’d swallow. Then he pulled her limp body against him. Her arms and head hung like a rag doll's, but he held her all the same.

It was closer to the house than back to the camper. He couldn’t be sure White's men weren't there, or watching from somewhere else, or checking in on occasion. But he had no choice. Lexi’s life hung in the balance.

He lifted her into his arms and trudged onward. She didn’t move or make a sound, but he couldn't stop to check her, didn't dare stop to check her, terrified beyond reason that he'd find her heart had stopped.

She wasn't gasping. He told himself her muscles would relax when she was unconscious and that her racing heart might slow down. He looked down at her as he carried her into the pool of light outside the house. The light startled him, until he recalled it was an automatic one that came on by itself at sundown. He could see her better in the light. Her skin was pale, her frozen lashes resting on her cheeks. She looked like an icy angel, a frozen princess under an evil spell.

He shouldered the door open, kicking it closed behind him, and headed straight up the stairs to her bedroom. Damn, it was cold in there. A little warmer than outside, though. At least there was no wind.

The window was closed. The rope ladder, rolled up on the floor beneath it.

That was…bizarre.

He lowered Lexi onto the bed, folded the covers over her, and pressed his head against her breast to listen. Her heart was beating more slowly than before. Maybe it was back to normal. Maybe she was going to be okay.

She might not stay that way long if he didn't act fast. Kindling laid ready in her bedroom fireplace, just as it had when they'd left the house.

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