Chapter 23
Elena’s lungs burned as she pushed deeper into the forest, her airbag injuries throbbing with each impact of her feet against the frozen ground.
The temperature had dropped and her breath clouded in front of her face.
It had to be almost three in the morning.
She’d caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall in the confession room.
She paused behind a massive oak, pressing her back against the rough bark, and struggled to control her breathing.
They’d seen her run into the woods. The pickups had stopped to let out men who were hunting her.
Now, the sounds of vehicles had faded, but voices echoed through the trees—men shouting to each other as they combed the area.
If she could just avoid them long enough, she could plan her next move.
She stayed still, waiting. They should be coming at any moment now.
She pulled the coat tighter around her and crouched low, listening.
They expected her to keep running forward, deeper into the forest. And for a moment, she considered it.
A branch snapped somewhere behind her and Elena lowered herself to the ground behind a fallen log.
She controlled her breathing, making each inhale and exhale shallow and silent.
Two men passed within twenty feet of her position, flashlight beams sweeping across the forest floor. They carried rifles and held them like they knew how to use them. She had no doubt they did.
“She can’t have gotten far,” one said. “Iris wants her alive if possible.”
“After what she did to Owen? I’d rather bring her back in pieces.”
Elena remained motionless until their voices faded. The mention of Owen brought a grim satisfaction.
She thought about the hunting cabins. If she calculated correctly, they were maybe two miles from the store. But that far in these conditions, with Iris’s people hunting her? She’d be exposed and isolated, with no guarantee of finding a working phone.
No, she needed help now. Going back to the market was still her best chance.
When she was certain they were gone, she headed back the way she’d come but continued in a long arc, moving from shadow to shadow, that would bring her down the road from the store. Every muscle ached. Some more than others. But pain meant she was alive, so she’d take it.
She broke through the tree line and crossed the road into the woods in case her pursuers decided to backtrack. The wind carried the faint sound of voices and vehicles from the direction of the store, but as she went deeper into the forest, those faded.
It would take her more time to get there, but if it threw the preppers off her trail, it would be worth it.
She angled right, continuing the wide path that would eventually bring her back toward the highway and the store.
The old tracking lessons from childhood came flooding back—how to walk without leaving obvious signs despite the snow, how to use natural features to mask her trail, how to double back on pursuers.
It wasn’t perfect, but it might buy her some time. Maybe.
Ironic that she and Iris had done those things as childhood games. Games she’d hated for the most part but that might now save her life.
After long minutes of careful navigation, Elena spotted the lights of the convenience store through the trees.
She’d circled back with success, approaching from the opposite side of where she’d entered the forest. The parking lot was all but empty now—no trucks, no pursuers.
Just the same truck that had been there when she’d tried to use the phone.
She crept closer, staying within the tree line. The market’s lights were still on, but she couldn’t see anyone moving inside. The pay phone stood at the edge of the lot, illuminated by a single overhead bulb.
Her first call had dropped. The second attempt hadn’t connected at all in her haste to run. She needed to try again, to reach Sully or the sheriff, but the exposed position of the phone made her hesitate.
Behind the building stood a storage shed and a dumpster—perfect cover where she could hide and watch for approaching vehicles. She’d wait for the right moment, then make another attempt at the phone.
She darted across the open space between the forest and the back of the building, staying low. The shed door was locked, but the space between it and the dumpster offered a narrow gap where she could wedge herself out of sight.
Elena settled into the hiding spot, her back against the cold metal of the dumpster. From here, she had a partial view of the highway in both directions. She could monitor approaching vehicles while remaining hidden.
Minutes stretched into an hour. Her body trembled from cold and exhaustion, but she forced herself to stay alert. Just a little longer, then she’d risk the phone again.
“I knew you’d circle back.”
The voice froze Elena’s blood solid. She turned her head slowly to find Iris standing ten feet away, a pistol aimed at her. Elena rose to her feet, keeping her hands where Iris could see them. “How did you find me?”
“You always did this as a kid. Remember our tracking games? You’d double back instead of running forward like everyone else.” Iris smiled, a cold, vacant look in her eyes. “I know how you think, Eleanor. I always have.”
“My name is Elena now.”
“Your name is whatever I say it is.” Iris stepped closer, the gun never wavering. “I don’t have time for games anymore. LaVoy is furious. The FBI is crawling all over our land. Everything I’ve built is falling apart because of you. You with your perfect life surrounded by perfect people.”
“That was you at the ranch that day. The woman Sully chased?”
“That was me. I was just watching you. I’ve been watching you for a while now. You and your perfectness.”
“I’m far from perfect. But I’ve found peace and I want that for you too. I want my sister back.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“And the man who tried to grab me that day by the fence line?”
“Another failed attempt to get you to the compound for your reeducation.” She shrugged. “All failures,” she whispered. “Every last one of them. But here we are. Success at last.”
Elena assessed her options. The distance between them was too great to rush her sister before she could fire, and there was nowhere to run. So . . . no real options. Her heart squeezed.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Iris. I love you. I miss you. I’ve missed you for years. We can walk away and make up for lost time. Please.” She ended her plea on a whisper, and for a moment, something flickered in Iris’s gaze and she thought her sister’s lip trembled.
Then her eyes hardened and her chin lifted. “No, we can’t. This ends now. You weren’t supposed to die like this, but I guess even a great plan can have a different ending. As long as the end result is the same.”
The gunshot cracked through the night air, echoing off the surrounding trees. Elena flinched, expecting pain, but felt nothing.
Iris’s face contorted in shock. She staggered forward, dropping to one knee as blood bloomed across her shoulder. The pistol fell from her grasp as she collapsed.
Behind her stood their father, his hunting rifle still raised.
“Dad?” Elena whispered.
He lowered the rifle, his weathered face a mask of anguish. “I couldn’t let her do it.”
Elena rushed forward, kicking Iris’s gun away before kneeling beside her sister. Blood pulsed from the wound, soaking through her jacket.
“You’re not dying on me,” Elena said firmly, pressing her hands against the injury. “Not like this.”
Iris’s eyes burned with hatred and confusion. “Why are you helping me? I was going to kill you.”
“Because you’re my sister.” Elena tore a strip from her own shirt, wadding it against the wound. “And I’ve lost enough family already.”
Her father stood frozen, the rifle hanging limply at his side. “I never thought it would come to this. My daughters . . .”
“Call for help,” Elena ordered him. “Use the pay phone. Tell them we need an ambulance.”
He nodded and hurried toward the phone booth.
Iris’s face had gone pale, her breathing shallow. “You should let me die.”
“That’s not who I am,” Elena replied, maintaining pressure on the wound. “That’s not who I ever was. And you weren’t going to kill me.”
“I . . . I don’t know. I might have,” Iris whispered, her voice weakening. “I hated you for leaving me there. For fourteen years, I hated you.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. Mom was so torn. Gutted about leaving you—”
“She came back.” Iris’s eyes fluttered. “Two years after you left. Father caught her trying to get to me. They were going to send her to reeducation, but then she escaped again and that was that.”
The words punched her. “What? Mom came back?”
But Iris didn’t answer, her eyes closing as consciousness slipped away.
Elena held her sister until her father returned. She looked up at him. “Iris said Mom came back?”
“She did. And I helped her leave again. I even told Iris to go with her.” His throat worked. “But she turned me in. I was the one who went through the reeducation.”
For a moment, Elena could only stare at the man. “Then why didn’t she come find me if we weren’t hiding from you anymore?”
His shoulders slumped. “Because you were hiding from Iris at that point. And LaRoche.”
Headlights swept across the little parking lot as multiple vehicles arrived simultaneously—sheriff’s cruisers, FBI SUVs, two ambulances. Elena kept pressure on her sister’s wound, her mind reeling from Iris’s revelation. And her father’s.
Men shouted orders. Flashlight beams cut through the darkness. “Here!” Elena shouted. “We need a medic!”
Paramedics rushed over, quickly taking control of Iris’s care. Elena stepped back, her hands covered in her sister’s blood. She watched numbly as they worked to stabilize Iris, loading her onto a stretcher.
“She needs to live,” Elena told them. “She’s my sister.”
A paramedic nodded. “We’ll do everything we can.”