Page 30 of Danger In The Backcountry
Realization struck, but Rome didn’t dare shoot to his feet as he pulled back at the chance the black bear would turn on him, his good hand covered in blood.
Sam hadn’t been a sick killer’s next victim. “You were the distraction.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
She woke to darkness.
No. That wasn’t it. Material scraped against her forehead and over her eyes. A blindfold. Her back ached as something sharp dug in. She tried to roll, but her arms were pinned beneath her. Flexing her fingers, Lettie noted the plastic digging into her wrists. He’d zip-tied her.
Her balance shot to one side then back, and her surroundings seemed to groan in response. She was in some kind of vehicle. Large, from what she could tell. Maybe a van.Gather information. Determine your location.Rome’s voice in her head talked her down from the brink of crying.Now isn’t the time for hysterics. Her intern had abducted her.
Again. Only this time he hadn’t worn a ski mask. He’d worn a different kind, one she hadn’t thought to be a mask at all. Her shoulder pinched as she tried to sit her upper body up, but she somehow managed to brace herself against what felt like a wheel well. The blindfold wouldn’t budge, but from the almost rocky sound of gravel, it sounded as though they’d left smooth asphalt for rougher terrain. Going back into the park?
Her breathing stuttered. This wasn’t happening. It had to be some kind of bad dream. She knew Shawn. They’d spent hours in the lab together, working side by side, sharing jokes and learning about each other, becoming friends. He’d been a small-town kid from Nebraska looking for lab experience before he started applying to graduate school programs. Zion National Park had an opening since they’d brought on a brand-newecologist from up north. It’d been the perfect opportunity for him to move out of his parents’ house and live on his own. But in the seconds before Shawn had wrapped his hand around her neck and cut off her air supply until she passed out, she’d seen him for who he really was.
A killer.
Had it all been a lie? Had she really been that ignorant? Just as she’d been oblivious to Rome’s past? Her stomach churned at the thought. Shawn, whoever he was, had killed four people for getting too close to her. He wanted Rome dead to make the way for himself in Lettie’s life. The tears threatened to spill down her face, but she wouldn’t let them. No. She had to think clearly. Use her damn brain to get herself out of this mess.
No one was coming for her.
She’d sent Rome away, and when she’d come back into the hotel room, he’d been gone. He wasn’t coming back, and he most likely didn’t even realize she was gone. Wouldn’t until Randy or the law enforcement rangers came back with more questions for their investigation.
Well, she had all the answers now, but they wouldn’t do any good.
She wasn’t getting out of this alive. Because no matter what Shawn believed, he didn’t love her. And she didn’t love him. Only one man owned her heart, and she’d practically spit in his face the moment Rome had dared to tell her the truth.
The van rolled over a bump, tossing her a couple inches off the hard metal floor. She slammed down onto one elbow, a moan escaping her control. So much for pretending unconsciousness until they got wherever he was taking her and making a break for it.
“Good. You’re awake.” His voice sounded far away but distinct. The same voice he’d used to taunt her in the wilderness. “We’re almost there.”
“Where are you taking me?” Lettie skimmed one foot across the van’s interior, but didn’t meet anything that might be used as a weapon or to cut through the zip ties at her wrists. Like Shawn had made sure to clean it out before stuffing her inside.
He must’ve planned this. Hunted her down with the intention of bringing her…wherever they were going. If he brought her back into the woods, she might have a chance of outrunning him again. Though she wasn’t thrilled with how she’d ended up the last time she’d escaped his clutches. But if he took her somewhere else… Somewhere nobody knew about…
“Home.” The van bumped and glided at Shawn’s direction.
Home. She’d had that once. First, with her parents, though walking through the front door had taken a little piece of her soul each time. Then with Rome. Where she’d learned the true meaning of the word. Where she felt the tension melt off her shoulders every time she pulled into the driveway. Where she’d felt loved and cared for, where she’d felt safest. But it wasn’t the house they’d bought together that had made her feel safe. It wasn’t the van she’d built out and escaped to these past six months, or any physical structure at all.
It was Rome. He’d been the one to make her feel loved. The one who helped her feel safe in her own body and mind. Who’d gone out of his way to ensure she could rely on him to help her forget the world and the tension between her and her parents and the issues at work. A new determination took hold as she realized wherever Rome was, that was home.
And she wanted it back.
That love and safety and relief she felt every time he was near. She wanted his terrible home-cooked meals, the half-assed attempts at washing her lacy undergarments and that look on his face when a pipe burst in their kitchen wall and covered them in frigid water.
She wanted her life back.
But the home Shawn spoke of pooled dread at the base of her spine. Whatever a man like him considered home, she didn’t want to cross the threshold into it. Lettie pressed her knuckles together, straining the zip ties at her low back. While most of the training Rome had instilled in her over the years concerned outdoor survival, there were a few tricks he’d taught her in case she was ever attacked. She just needed enough force and the right angle, but she wouldn’t find it crammed into this van.
The van stopped short, and she tipped to one side.
This was it. Either she fought for that life she’d taken for granted for so long or she became Shawn’s next victim. No in-between. Because while she’d set out for Zion to give herself space to heal from the divorce and to start fresh, she’d only made the cracks in her heart worse by ignoring the pain. By thinking distance could change anything. But she’d never felt more whole than she had the past few days. With their bickering and apologies, with Rome’s determination to tend to her wounds and hers to make herself a victim of his cruelty, he’d unknowingly sutured her back together.
The van rocked a split second before the driver’s side door slammed shut. Crunching gravel was the only indication of Shawn rounding toward the back of the vehicle. She didn’t have much time, and she didn’t have any other choice than to use her underwhelming size to her advantage. Lettie scrambled to aim her legs toward the back of the van, right where Shawn would open the doors.
Cool air breezed into the van as her intern wrenched the doors open.
Strong hands secured around her ankles and pulled. Something sharp scraped down her spine, cutting through her shirt and through skin. But she didn’t react. Couldn’t risk his reaction before she was ready.
