29. Kat

TWENTY-NINE

Kat

I had this horrible feeling we were going to die.

The truck's wheels crunched over gravel and snow, my grip tight on the steering wheel. Every few seconds, I risked a glance at Owen in the rearview mirror. His face, contorted with anger, was a mask I couldn't recognize. Livy's soft sobs from the backseat were the only sound other than Owen's gruff voice.

"Keep driving, Kat. Bearclaw Mountain," he muttered. Now that we were in close quarters, I could smell the whiskey on his breath—if the empty bottle on the passenger seat wasn't enough proof.

"Owen, please." My voice broke as I tried to reach him, the cousin who once built forts with me, not this stranger holding us hostage. "Remember when we used to race to the old oak tree? You always let me win."

"Shut up about the past!" His shout made Livy whimper louder, her cries piercing the tense air.

"Okay, okay," I breathed out, casting another wary glance his way. "Just…talking, Owen. That's all."

"Shut up!" His voice sliced through the cab. "I'm tired of being the forgotten one. I deserve that money, Kat. After everything I've put up with."

I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribcage. I couldn't believe he'd done all this just for the sake of selling the ranch, I hadn't realized he had this much resentment toward us. He'd acted like he was such a good friend…but it had all been a lie.

The truck slid to a stop in the parking lot at Bearclaw's foot, an expanse of white stretching out, untouched by any but us. The snow was coming down faster now, the front edge of the storm crawling across Silver Ridge. The mountain loomed, hooked like a claw.

I'd hiked it many times…but it had never looked quite like this.

Never like a tomb.

"Out," Owen ordered, his knife glinting as he pressed it tighter to Livy's throat.

For a second, a reckless thought sparked in my mind. I eyed the whiskey bottle, imagining the satisfying crash of glass against his skull. But my hands stayed on the wheel, my body frozen as he shoved the door open and dragged Livy out into the biting air.

I followed his instructions, no other option available. It was freezing up here, and it reminded me of how I'd so narrowly dodged death in the river yesterday.

Now, all that meant nothing.

"Phones. Out of your pockets, on the ground." Owen's command was sharp against the howl of the wind.

I fumbled with my phone, its cold surface slipping from my numb fingers and clattering onto the trailhead marker. Livy's joined moments later. Owen lifted his boot and brought it down hard on the screens, a crunch echoing through the silence that followed. He seemed satisfied with the shards littering the snow.

"Walk," he said, voice curt, gesturing with the knife.

We moved, our feet sinking into the calf-high drifts. Snow gathered on my lashes, each flake a tiny prickle against skin already raw from the cold. I could barely feel my toes. Livy was shivering so violently, I heard her teeth chatter. We weren't dressed for this; even if Owen didn't kill us, we would freeze to death.

"Keep moving," Owen barked from behind us.

Maybe he just planned on leaving us here while he escaped like he said…but I doubted it. I fully believed he intended on killing us. I had to think, had to find a way out of this. But all I could see was white stretching in every direction. How do you protect someone when you're out in the open? When there's no place to hide?

And Gabe. God… Gabe . The thought of him tore through me, sharp as the wind. We'd just found each other.

Would he ever know what happened to me? To us? A sob caught in my throat, but I swallowed it down.

Tears would freeze on my face. Useless.

"Keep up, Kat!" Owen's voice, laced with impatience and something darker, pushed at my back.

I had to do something. For Livy. For me. For Gabe.

Then I saw it—a rock, its jagged edges barely peeking through a blanket of snow. It was big, solid. I glanced at Owen. He was focused on Livy, the knife still too close to her skin. This might be my only chance.

"Owen, wait," I said, my voice shaking. "My foot's caught."

"Damn it, Kat!" His annoyance was palpable as he stomped toward me.

I jerked my leg as if struggling, let out a grunt, and pitched forward into the snow. My hand closed around the rock—cold, hard, real. This was it. This was our chance. I had to make it count.

"Get up!" Owen reached down, his grip iron on my arm as he yanked me to my feet. "We don't have time for this!"

"Sorry, I just?—"

I didn't finish my sentence. As he pulled me up, I clutched the rock tight…

…and I swung hard.

It connected with a thud on the side of his head. He staggered, a burst of red staining his temple, the rock, the snow.

With any luck, he was dead.

But we hadn't been all that lucky so far.

"Run, Livy!" I screamed.

We turned and bolted, our hearts pounding louder than our footsteps. Snow swirled around us, a blinding curtain. Panic clawed at my chest. Where were our tracks? The car was out there somewhere, hidden by the storm.

"Aunt Kat, I can't see!" Livy gasped.

"Keep going! Just run!"

The world was white, silent except for our frantic breathing and the crunch of snow underfoot. Everything else was erased, as though we were the only two souls left on earth.

"Stay with me, Livy!" I reached back, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it hard. We couldn't stop. Not now.

Livy's hand slipped from mine. She stumbled, her knees buckling on the unforgiving ground. "Kat!" Her voice cracked with fear.

"Get up, Livy!" I hoisted her to her feet, but she cried out in pain. Her ankle must have been messed up. That left me with two options—to carry her or distract him. If I carried her, it would slow us both down, so…

"You bitch!" Owen's enraged scream pierced the snowstorm. "I'll fucking kill you!"

I could see him through the flurries, running toward us. He was tall, fast; there was no way we could escape with me carrying Livy.

"Keep moving!" I pushed her forward.

She hesitated.

I couldn't let him take her. Not her.

"Go!" I yelled at Livy, shoving her ahead of me. "I'll distract him!" Tears blurred her face as she looked back, shaking her head. "Run!"

"Kat—" She choked on a sob.

"Go!" It was a command now.

She turned, her figure small and fragile against the storm, and ran. I watched for a moment, making sure she didn't fall again, then I waved at Owen. "Over here, asshole!"

I made sure I had his attention…saw the blood running in a crimson rivulet down his forehead.

Then I ran in the opposite direction from Livy, toward a clearing where he could see me—at least long enough for Livy to get away.

I sprinted away from him, keeping only enough distance to set my trap as I searched for a hiding place. I found it a moment later—a boulder—but he was already closing in. I ran toward it, lungs burning with the quick inhales of snow and frost.

Owen, furious and spitting curses, blundered into the clearing. I pressed myself flat against the cold earth behind the boulder, frozen in place, barely daring to breathe. His eyes scanned the white expanse, looking for any sign of movement.

"Come out, come out!" he taunted, his voice a growl that made my blood run cold. "You can't hide forever!"

I had this vague, stupid memory of playing hide and seek with him as kids.

He'd always been very good at it.

I waited, every muscle tensed like a coiled spring. He stepped closer, boots crunching on the frosty crust.

This was it—the moment to act or be caught.

I couldn't let him find Livy. Couldn't let him win.

With a burst of adrenaline, I lunged from my hiding spot and threw myself at him. My body slammed into his with all the force I could muster, sending us both tumbling to the ground. We grappled, my fingers searching for the knife, his hands like iron. He was strong, but desperation lent me a frantic energy. I clawed at his grip, trying to wrestle the knife away.

He pushed, and I felt myself losing ground, the strength ebbing from my limbs. In one swift movement, he shoved me off. My back slammed against something hard—a branch, jutting out of the ground. Pain exploded at the back of my skull; warm blood trickled down my neck.

Dizzy, I rolled over, squinting through the snow. Owen stood over me, knife in hand, his silhouette fuzzy from the wound to my head.

"This is it, Kat," Owen sneered, looming closer. "The ranch is mine now."

I couldn't muster a response, my head pounded with each beat of my heart.

"Should've stayed in California," he growled.

I lay there, staring up at him. The cold seeped into my bones, numbing everything but my fear. I squeezed my eyes shut, and thought of Gabe.

Gabe, with his strong jaw, that half-smirk he gave when he thought he was being clever. Gabe, with the dark hair I wanted to thread my fingers through one last time.

If these were my last moments, I wanted them filled with thoughts of him, not this…not terror and blood in the snow.

"Goodbye, Kat." Owen's voice felt distant, as if coming from far away.

This was going to hurt.