Trailing Justice (Refuge Cove #3)

Chapter 1

She couldn’t die out here. But she might.

She was cold. So cold.

And lost. She had no idea where she was anymore.

And the footsteps behind her kept coming.

Her throat constricted at the thought.

But she couldn’t deny reality.

Running was her only hope.

It was her only chance of getting out of this situation alive.

This couldn’t be the end. She had too much unfinished business.

Why hadn’t she tried harder to make things right? Why had she been so stubborn?

That same stubbornness had led her out here into the forest.

She should have known better than to backpack by herself.

When she’d realized the danger she was in while on the trail, she’d fled, leaving everything behind. Now all she had was her jacket and her dwindling strength.

She slowed. Had she lost the man chasing her?

Then she heard the footsteps pounding through the underbrush.

No, he was still there. Still following her.

Still close.

She had to keep moving!

She took another step, and the slope dropped without warning. Her boots skidded on packed snow, and she careened downhill, half running, half falling.

One of her palms slammed against a tree trunk. Bark bit into her skin. Branches whipped her face.

Snow slanted sideways, stinging her eyes. The beam of moonlight that had guided her minutes ago vanished behind thick cloud cover.

Now there were only black trees against black sky. Her world had been reduced to shadowy shapes and frenzied motion and tension-inducing noise.

She’d known coming out here was dangerous.

She’d known it from the moment she stepped onto the trail.

Desperation had outweighed caution.

As she pushed herself forward, a branch snapped behind her.

He was closer.

Too close.

Could he see her?

She didn’t dare look back. She couldn’t.

Looking back would slow her down.

Whoever was following her wasn’t slipping on the ice. Wasn’t gasping for breath.

No, he was gaining ground on her.

Her lungs burned. Each inhale scraped raw in her throat. Her thighs trembled.

How long could she keep doing this? She wasn’t sure.

Her foot hit something, and she stumbled again. She barely caught herself.

Keep moving!

She glanced up. Just ahead, the trees thinned.

It was a ridgeline maybe. Or a clearing.

Or a trap.

It didn’t matter.

She aimed for it anyway. Maybe help was waiting there.

Please, God! Can You send a guardian angel? Are guardian angels even real? Are You even real? Right now, I want to believe more than ever.

She took another step, and snow gave way beneath her boots.

Then the earth vanished.

Her body lurched forward into nothing. Air swallowed her.

She pitched into the dark, the woods tilting away behind her.

Then gravity took hold.

She stifled a scream as the ground rushed up to claim her.