Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The machine was slowing.
Mei Lin leaned into the next gap between the trees, aiming for a thin patch of snow. A low branch struck the windshield and flung moisture across her face.
She ignored it. She couldn’t slow down. She needed to move faster. But nothing she did worked. The snowmobile sludged through the mud.
She twisted around a group of trees, turning to peek behind.
They were so close. If nothing changed, those men would close the gap any minute.
Ethan’s left arm was clamped around her middle. She assumed he held the weapon in his other hand. How many bullets did it have? Not enough to protect them if she couldn’t get them out of there.
She had a phone with a red marker and a husband with a gun and a machine that refused to work on wet leaves and slushy ground.
Please, God. We need a miracle. Show us a way. Stop the men behind us.
The Lord sees you. Mei Lin heard āyí’s voice, whispered in her ear on their shared bunk.
Mei Lin believed those words. She held onto them as tightly as she held the handlebars.
Then Ethan’s mouth was at her ear. “No matter what happens…” His voice slid beneath the rumble of the engine. “No matter what happens, you keep going. Don’t stop for anything. You hear me? If the machine dies or gets stuck, grab the phone and run.”
They slammed over a fallen branch, and she barely held on.
“Can you hear me, Mei Lin?”
“Yes, yes.” But she had to focus.
“If they take us both,” Ethan said, “then we’ll both die.” He spoke each word carefully. “If he catches me, he won’t kill me. He’ll use me to find you. As long as you’re free, he won’t kill me. You understand?”
“We will not be separated.” She yanked the handlebars to avoid a low branch.
“Promise me, Mei Lin.”
A gap opened between two trunks. There was a tiny bit of snow there. Maybe it would help. She took it, searching for another patch of snow. The trees were growing thicker. Even so, there was less and less snow.
“Promise me.” His arm tightened. “You have to get away.”
She didn’t have time to think or even process what he was asking. This moment—the ground, the trees—nothing else mattered. She would promise anything if it would make him stop talking so she could focus. “Fine. I promise.”
“I love you.” The words were a breath against her ear.
And then his arm slipped away.
The weight at her back vanished, cold pouring into the place where he had been, the machine suddenly light and wrong beneath her. She let off the throttle and twisted, waiting for him to get back on.
But Ethan was scrambling to his feet and up a short hill, the pistol in one hand. He turned to look at her, barely pausing. “Go!”
And she understood.
He hadn’t fallen. He’d let go.
He’d let go so she could move faster. So she could escape.
Her chest split open.
No!
But the men were coming.
And Ethan was running.
She turned, set her thumb to the throttle, and lurched forward. Maybe they would only follow her. Maybe Ethan would be safe.
Tears blurred her vision.
She drove toward the red dot, toward the place where Asher thought they’d find help.
Leaving the man she loved.
Keep him safe. Please, God. He is the bravest, most foolish man You ever made. Do not let me lose him again.
A gunshot erupted behind her. Ethan shooting at them…or them shooting at Ethan?
The trees began to thin. Pale light opened ahead where the forest gave way to a meadow. On the other side, maybe there would be a house or a village or…or something or someone who could help. She was so close.
They’d been so close.
The snowmobile spluttered and died.