Chapter 22

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Stephen tugged Heidi under the branches of a tree before the spotlight hit them.

He didn't know who was aboard that helicopter, and they couldn't take any chances. With the darkness, it would be difficult to identify anyone.

"Stephen . . ." Heidi whispered as she clutched his arm.

It was almost impossible to hear her over the whomping of the helicopter blades.

If only he could get a better look at the aircraft itself . . . but it was too dark.

Just then, his phone dinged.

He glanced at the screen, and his pulse quickened.

It was Kai Kaleo, another colleague.

Stephen put the phone to his ear. "Kai?"

"Stephen, it's me," Kai said. "We're in the copter, looking for you. Can you see or hear us?"

Stephen turned to Heidi. "It's them. Some of my colleagues."

Heidi's eyes widened with hope. "Praise God!"

"Yes, we can see you," Stephen told Kai. "I'm going to turn on my flashlight so you can see where we are."

Stephen stepped out from beneath the tree branches and began to wave the light at the chopper.

Please . . . let them see us.

Instead, the copter headed farther away.

"Kai, do you see us?" he yelled into the phone.

When he didn't hear a response, he put it to his ear. "I think we lost our connection."

"We can't let them get away!" Heidi yelled.

They both waved, but the copter still headed away from them.

He dialed Kai's number again.

The call didn't go through.

His heart thudded.

"What are we going to do?" Heidi asked.

"Keep trying to get their attention." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Over here!"

He knew he probably couldn't be heard over the helicopter's engine. But he tried anyway.

He waved his flashlight again and prayed—prayed hard.

I know I don't deserve this. I've done things I regret. Things I shouldn't be forgiven for. But help us. For Heidi's sake. She doesn't deserve this.

Just then, the aircraft swooped around. Headed back toward them.

Maybe the men onboard did see them after all.

But their problems weren't over yet.

Stephen glanced around as their next challenge hit him. "There's nowhere for them to land here. We need to find somewhere flat and cleared of trees."

"How much space do they need to land?"

"About a hundred square feet."

Heidi scanned everything around them. "I'm not sure we're going to find a clearing that big."

"Me neither. But we need to move."

Just then, a bullet split the air.

Stephen's breath caught.

Those men chasing them . . . they must have seen the helicopter hovering overhead.

Now they knew Stephen and Heidi's location.

He grabbed Heidi's hand.

Who would get to them first—his team in the helicopter or the gunmen?

Heidi instinctively ducked, even though she wasn't sure where the bullets were coming from. She thought the gunmen were aiming at the helicopter, but she couldn't be sure.

Either way, she needed cover.

"This way!" Stephen tugged her through the forest, moving so quickly her feet felt as if they only skimmed the ground.

Heidi hardly knew what was in front of her. Occasionally, a branch or a thick grove of trees or a boulder seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sometimes the ground was slick with leaves, and sometimes it was flat with dirt.

It didn't matter. They kept moving.

The helicopter hovered in the distance.

Seeing it was a comfort—help was here. But it was also a dead giveaway of their presence.

"Kai said there's a place in the distance where they can land," Stephen yelled over the noise of the copter as he glanced at his phone. "We just need to get to it in time."

"I feel like we're headed toward the gunmen."

When Stephen didn't answer, she knew what that meant.

They were headed toward the gunmen.

She prayed even harder. She hadn't stopped ever since they started this, to be honest.

They ran until her lungs burned and her muscles protested.

Then Stephen seemed to slam on brakes behind a cluster of trees.

She sucked in a sharp breath as she ducked around him to see why he'd stopped.

She saw the clearing ahead. Saw the helicopter landing.

How close were the gunmen?

"We don't have much time!" Stephen shouted. "We need to make a run for it. But stay low!"

As the copter got closer to the ground, Stephen's grip on her hand tightened. "Now!"

But just as they began to run, more gunfire exploded.