Chapter 61

CHAPTER 61

A ndi stared at Duke.

What was he thinking? He was planning something. She just wasn’t sure what.

She held her breath, wishing he wouldn’t put himself on the line. But she knew him well enough to know he would.

She held her breath as she watched Duke take a step forward. Reach down to grab the zip ties.

As he did, Ranger suddenly had a coughing fit.

Heath’s gaze darted to him.

As it did, Duke dove for the man’s gun. He tackled Heath as he shoved the man’s gun away.

Then he called over his shoulder, “Run!”

Andi remained frozen.

She didn’t want to leave him.

But Ranger grabbed her arm. “Come on!”

With one last glance at Duke, she took off with the rest of the gang. Tears wanted to blur her eyes, but it was too cold outside for tears.

Right now, she needed to keep moving. This was what Duke wanted.

But where would they go?

“This way!” Juniper called.

They took off toward the reindeer pen.

The reindeer pen? Why in the world would they go this way? They should be headed to the lodge. Somewhere with walls. Somewhere it was warm.

Andi glanced behind her.

She saw Duke rise to his feet. As he did, Heath gripped his gun and slapped Duke across the face with the barrel.

Duke fell to the ground.

“No!” she muttered.

She tried to stop and turn around, but Ranger grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

As gunfire sounded, grief clutched her chest. Duke . . .

Then Heath started toward them.

Ranger gripped her arm tighter. “Duke would want you to keep going.”

But all Andi could think about was how much she loved him. How she couldn’t see her future without him. She should have let him in. Shouldn’t have been so stubborn or prideful.

She looked at the rest of the group across the field and saw that Juniper had darted into the reindeer pen.

“What are you doing?” Ranger called as he paused a moment.

But Juniper didn’t slow down. “Come with me. Trust me. Please!”

The rest of the gang had no choice but to follow.

Maybe Juniper knew something that they didn’t.

Their lives depended on that fact.

Andi could barely think as Ranger pulled her over the fence.

The rest of the gang ran ahead of them, following Juniper.

More gunfire rang out.

Heath was shooting at them!

She glanced ahead. Saw Juniper motioning toward them as she stood in the center of the field.

Staying out in the open seemed like a terrible plan.

Andi trudged through the snow anyway, trying to get to the rest of the gang. Part of her didn’t care. Not if Duke was dead.

Was he dead? Could he have survived that gunshot?

More bullets rang out behind her.

But Heath was apparently a terrible shot, perhaps more skilled with a knife.

Just when she didn’t think she could run a step farther, Andi finally reached the rest of the group.

She sucked in icy breaths that hurt her lungs.

“Juniper, what’s your plan?” Ranger paused, his jaw muscle thumping with tension.

“You’ll see.” She glanced around.

There was nothing to see. Only a few random reindeer wandering about.

“We should see if we can get to the lodge.” Ranger sounded no-nonsense. “Before it’s too late.”

“He’ll just find us there and hunt us down one by one,” Juniper stated.

“And what’s he going to do right here?” Mariella asked. “He’s going to make human snowmen out of us or something.”

Andi shivered at the thought.

She glanced up.

Saw Heath had reached the fence and started to climb over.

It was only a matter of time before he reached them. Before they became easy targets. Targets that even an unskilled marksman could hit.

Oh, Lord . . . help us. Please! Be with Duke also. I’m begging You. Please!

“I don’t know what you all were thinking,” Heath muttered as he lumbered through the snow drifts toward them. “But thanks for sticking together and making this easy on me.”

He was going to kill them all, wasn’t he?

And Gibson was probably still ten minutes away, at least.

There was no one to help them.

Nowhere to hide.

They’d made a fatal choice by coming out here, Andi realized. Why had Juniper led them this way? Was she in on this also?