“I see him. Hold on!”
The throttle whined as Bane turned it farther. With one hand, Bane pulled a gun from somewhere up front. He slowed minutely, the gun raised, and fired. I glanced back to see the guy slump off the machine. The snowmobile veered back into the trees as its rate of speed decreased.
Looking around I didn’t see anyone else, but felt completely exposed and buried myself further into Bane. Anyone in the tree line could take a shot at either one of us and we’d be finished. Bane bee lined for the trees. After we’d been in the trees for a few minutes, he slowed and looked around. A large boulder sat ahead. Pulling behind, the engine silenced.
“There was only one intruder that registered on the cameras, but I need to make sure.”
Bane pulled out his phone and flipped through different screens like he did often when we were together. “None of the other pressure places, trip wires, or cameras are registering anything. That’s odd.”
“Why?”
He checked a few more things. “Because they know it would take a team to take me down. This was a scouting trip. The man only tripped the outermost wires. Normal protocol has the perimeter closer than mine is. It’s a hell of a lot to keep up with, but gives enough warning to escape.”
Scouting meant one thing. They were coming. Bane could have been gone. The nauseous uneasy feeling came over me again. I shivered. Bane looked me in the eyes. “Let’s get to my other vehicle. In these frigid temps we won’t last long out here without the proper gear. I’m going to keep you safe, angel.”
It was freezing as I worked to keep my teeth from chattering. The snow mobile came to life immediately. As we drove cautiously, Bane stayed tense as he scanned the area. The speed was more moderate as we weaved in between the trees.
After an hour of driving, I was frozen to the core. An opening came into view and I heaved a sigh of relief. The cedar smell calmed me as I took deep soothing breaths. Buildings came into view as Bane stopped. None of the snow had been disturbed from what I could see.
Lowly, Bane spoke, filling me in. “This is one of my places. It has a vehicle inside the shed. I’ve been out here once about two weeks ago to make sure everything worked. It can’t be monitored since it doesn’t have electricity, but we’d see if anything had been disturbed.” Bane brought his hands up to the side of my face. “Remember what I told you if we were to get separated.”
“O-o-okay. I do.” The cold became almost too much to bear.
Bane looked back at me with concern. “Let’s go.” Bane ran in a half-crouch and I attempted to keep up with his pace. The air eerily silent. Not even the birds chirped. Bane looked to the left and to the right of the building before going to the door on the far right side. It seemed like no one had been here, which eased my nerves as Bane’s tracks from the time before he’d came were gone from the snow.
Coming to the door, Bane unlocked it. “Stay here. Let me check it out.”
Wrapping my arms around myself, all I wanted was to be in the vehicle with heater on full blast. A commotion started as I heard men tussling. There was a grunt, then Bane’s booming voice. “Maren, run!”
The reality momentarily rooted me in place until the words connected with my brain. I turned and headed for the trees where the snow mobile was. Where was I going to go? I had no idea. Wait. Bane told me to always use the compass and head south. It would take me into town. That was part of the protocol we’d discussed numerous times.
Making it to the snowmobile, I stopped when a man in a white outfit sat on it with his gun pointed at me. Not any man—Eric Thornhill. His picture had been on the computer screens for endless hours. I’d recognize his crew cut hair and leathery tanned skin anywhere.
I gasped and turned to run in the other direction.
“Don’t think about it, sweetheart. I have Frank back at the cabin. Do you want to be the cause of his death?”
Frankie. I stopped and faced him again, feeling the goose bumps on my skin raise in apprehension. The man hopped off the snow mobile and wrenched me into his grasp. “Let’s go see how loverboy is faring.”
As if he was being summoned, Bane came running out into the open. A gash on his chest and
knuckles bloodied. “Maren, are you okay?”
The gun cocked to my head and my heart stopped beating, rendering me speechless. “She’ll be fine as long as you listen. I have no problem putting a bullet in her head like I did Jasmine.”
The blood from Bane’s face drained as he watched me. Who was Jasmine? I felt light headed and swayed. Eric’s grip tightened on me. “Keep it together, sweetheart. Now you’re responsible for not only Frankie’s life, but Bane’s also.”
Bane talked. “Deep breaths, Maren. You can do this.” I nodded and focused on my breathing. The darkness leaving the edge of my vision.
“Let’s get back to the cabin. Put these zip ties on your wrists after you dump your weapons, Bane. If we find any on you when we get back, I’ll hurt the girl.” For a minute, Eric let me go and threw the plastic ties to Bane. Cautiously, he picked them up, watching Eric. Bane hesitated for a moment. “Don’t fuck with me. I won’t hesitate taking another woman away from you.”
“I’m going to kill you, motherfucker,” Bane said as he deposited two guns and three knifes into the snow. The blood darkened around the cut on his shirt. Bane was hurt. I checked him over closer and it appeared to be more of a surface wound.
Eric laughed. Actually laughed. “Like you did the first time …”
Fire emanated from Bane as he watched Eric with nothing but pure hate. “Let her go. I’ll come without any issues.”
Dramatically, Eric paused like he was thinking about it. “I don’t think so. You see, Maren has a bit more to play in getting what we want.”