Chapter 22

22

Kinsley took a deep breath on the porch and coughed. An eerie yellowish-red cast lingered in the sky. It seemed like she was in one of those doomsday movies. Armageddon.

The forest fire was clearly coming closer. The logging path led in that direction. Was he really going to head into the fire? She shuddered.

"Stop stalling." Yapp jabbed the gun harder. "Keep moving, and we won't have a problem."

She held her stance. "But the fire. We can't go in that direction."

"You'll do what I say if you want to stay alive." He jerked her down the steps and onto the cobblestone walk that led to the driveway. He set off at a rapid pace, and sadly, they reached the gate before anyone came to her rescue.

"Enter that code," he demanded.

She took her time moving to the keypad and pressing the keys in the number order that Jada had shared. The gate clicked and started to swing in, the motor groaning as it pushed the wide gate open. Reid could see the gate opening if he were looking at the security program, but at this time of night, he was likely in bed and paying no attention to it. Unless of course, after a certain time of day, it issued an alarm, waking him up.

Please let that happen.

She glanced up at the camera, eyed it, trying to beg Reid to come to her rescue. She didn't know if this was one of the cameras Yapp had taken out or not, but it didn't hurt to try something that wouldn't get her killed.

He jerked her arm and hurried across the road, then down the ditch and back up to the logging road. This wasn't the beginning of the road as there was no entrance from the main thoroughfare, but he pushed her straight ahead toward the fire.

Oh please, don't let us have an issue with the fire.

They shouldn't. At least she hoped they wouldn't. They hadn't been notified via a text message or by a law enforcement officer coming to the cabins to tell them to leave, so it couldn't have advanced close enough to require evacuation.

She tried to slow down, but Yapp grabbed her around the waist with his free arm and picked up his speed, forcing her to come along with him. She had to move quickly to keep up, but soon she saw an old rusty pickup. If they were heading toward a fire, she would much rather be riding in a newer vehicle. This one looked like the truck models she remembered in her childhood and also looked like it could fall apart at any time.

"Are you sure this truck is safe?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter. Was the only thing I could afford coming out of prison, so it'll have to do." He released his arm around her waist, leaving the gun resting against her temple, and opened a large tool storage bin in the truck bed. He pulled out a thick rope. "Hold your hands out."

She did as he asked, and he wound the rope around her wrists. He put the gun in his belt and cinched the rope hard, cutting into her skin.

Now! Run now.

She bolted away from him. She'd gone three feet, tasting her freedom. The rope jerked hard. Spinning her around. He slammed her against the side of the truck.

Pain radiated up her back, her ribs feeling like he might've broken one or more of them, and she had to fight not to cry out.

He slammed an elbow to her ribs to hold her body in place. He must've seen her reaction to hitting the truck. She didn't want to let him know he'd hurt her. To give him satisfaction. She tried to clamp down on her lips, but a cry of pain escaped before she could.

"That'll be the least of your pains if you try anything like that again." He tied the rope tighter, digging deeper into her skin.

He lifted his gun again, placing it on the other side of her head, and opened the driver's side door. With his free hand, he held the length of rope. "Get in, stay in the middle, and no funny business."

She wouldn't do anything right now, but she sure would continue to look for an opening to get away from him.

She slid under the steering wheel and across the cracked bench seat, stopping in the middle as he directed. No reason to take any chances with the gun still at her head. Even if she wanted to act, he'd given the rope very little slack, leaving her no choice but to obey him.

For now.

She expected him to climb in, instead he tied the end of the rope around his waist, then removed the gun and got behind the wheel.

Sure, she was still his prisoner, but at least she didn't have that infernal gun at her head anymore. A sense of freedom gave her hope she would find a way to escape this madman.

He cranked the engine, and it took several tries before the vehicle rumbled to life, running rough. Maybe it would break down before he could escape and someone would come to her rescue.

She glanced at the radio playing country western music. "Can we at least tune in to the local emergency channel and listen for evacuation orders?"

"Fine, but keep it low so it doesn't distract me." He shifted into gear and floored the gas pedal.

The engine coughed and caught, and the vehicle jerked forward, bumping over the rutty dirt road.

She fumbled with the radio knob until she found the emergency channel. She turned it low so it wouldn't bother him but high enough for her to still hear it. They reviewed evacuation orders starting with the adjoining county. Level 2 – Be set—be set to evacuate at a moment's notice, with significant danger in the area. Their county had just been issued the first warning. Level 1 – Be ready—prepare to evacuate and be aware of danger in the area.

She hated that any emergency evacuations had been issued, but with the one for their county just having been issued, the teammates would get an alert on their phones, hopefully waking them up. Reid, being the strong leader that he was, would likely check on all of his team, discover Dev was in trouble, talk to Jada, and learn Kinsley had been abducted.

At least she prayed that was what would happen.

She bounced along with the truck, ignoring her ribs and keeping an ear out for any new alerts while continuing to search for an escape. But her attention kept going to the changing color of the sky ahead of them. With each passing mile, the color shifted from yellow to orange to red clogged with black. Despite not pulling in outside air, the inside of the truck filled with the stench of the fire, and her throat and nose hurt.

She could almost feel the flames. Imagined an agonizing death in a forest fire that burned up to two thousand degrees. Living in Oregon, where forest fires were common, the number she'd learned in high school had stuck in her head.

She glanced at her abductor. "Are you looking ahead? Can't you see that we're getting closer and closer to the fire?"

"We only have a few more miles to go, and then we'll turn off on the main road. Head in the other direction. We'll be fine."

"But you went past several turnoffs already. Why not take them?"

"That's what your bodyguards would expect me to do. They'd be thinking the same way you are that we shouldn't be getting closer to the fire. So I have to do the opposite of what they expect and throw them off our tail."

"Even if it means burning us alive?" She tried to keep her tone level, but it skyrocketed with each word.

"You're exaggerating. Now shut up so I can concentrate."

He'd no more declared that things would be fine when the engine started to catch, running rougher as if it were going to give out on them.

"Please," she said. "Don't get any closer to the fire with this mangy old truck. It sounds like it's going to die."

"I told you to shut up." He replied quickly, but he glanced at her, and the worry on his face told her what he really was thinking.

Worry on his face or not, he didn't change plans and continued in the same direction.

The truck sounded rougher and rougher with each turn of the tire. It sputtered, caught for a long moment, then sputtered again and cut out.

He coasted to a stop and turned the key. The engine whined but didn't catch. He cursed and fumbled with the knot on the rope tied to his body. He spent precious time working it until he got it loose and climbed out. "I'll check it out, but you'll come with me."

He tugged on the rope until she had no choice but to exit the vehicle. She followed him into the thick air, instantly congealing her lungs and making her cough.

It didn't seem to bother him, but based on the packs of cigarettes lying on his dashboard, maybe it didn't have as much of an effect on his lungs as hers.

He tied her up to the bumper and patted the gun in his waistband. "If you try to run, I'll shoot you in the back."

He fixed his steely gaze on her. He would fire all right, and it wouldn't take much provocation. He soon wouldn't need her anymore, and he likely planned to kill her anyway.

Dev glanced at his brother behind the wheel of his SUV. " Level 1 evacuation alert. Fires are coming closer, and they're driving right into it."

Colin's eyes narrowed. "Which means so are we."

He hated that his brother might be injured because of him. "If you want to stop and get out, I totally understand. I can go this alone, but I'm going after her no matter what."

Colin glanced at him. "I'll go with you, but we don't take any excessive risks with the fire. You and I both know the flames can change direction at the drop of a hat, and we don't want to be caught in it."

"Agreed," Dev said, but even if flames advanced too close for comfort, he would jump out of this vehicle and continue on his own into whatever he might find.

"You're sure you want to continue on this path and not take one of these side trails?" Colin asked.

"We stay the course." Dev stared out the window at the changing color of the sky. Now a reddish orange. Not good. Not good at all. "My best guess is he wants us to think he turned off, but he's continuing on because he doesn't think we would believe he would drive directly into the fire."

"Let's hope you're right."

"Even if I'm wrong, we called in his vehicle description to Russ, and his men are looking for the truck on the roads these trails feed onto."

"Good thing you saw his pickup tonight so we know he's driving the same truck as before," Colin said.

The SUV hit a rut in the road, arcing pain up Dev's side. He bit his lip until he could speak. "Having just gotten out of prison, I can't imagine he could afford even the junky truck I saw, much less a second vehicle." Visions of Kinsley terrified in Yapp's truck consumed Dev's brain. They were only minutes behind, but in a life-or-death situation, a minute made a huge difference.

Please, please! Don't let us be too late. Not by a minute. Not by a second. Not by any fraction of time. Let us arrive in the perfect time that I know You've already ordained to save Kinsley.