Hell, maybe Morgan had sat down in a chair or couch and fallen asleep.
Not likely.
He was probably listening, waiting for her to make a move.
Well, she was going to make one. What could she lose? Morgan didn't want her dead, so he wasn't going to shoot her if he caught her. She'd try the Land Rover first and see if she could hot-wire it. She'd spent the last few hours prying the brass trim off the marble fireplace in her bedroom to make a jimmy stick. If that didn't work, she'd hike down the mountain and see if she could see the lights of another house. For all she knew, Denver might be only a few miles away.
What she did know was that she couldn't wait any longer. She had to do something.
She closed the door and went over to the window she'd opened a few minutes ago. It was snowing harder and there was already a little pile of snow dampening the carpet.
She pulled her jacket closer around her and swung over the windowsill.
She'd gotten the Land Rover started.
Judd smiled and put down his brush as he heard the roar of the engine.
Smart woman. He wondered how she'd managed to open the door.
He heard the vehicle's tires crunch in the snow as she peeled away from the lodge and down the mountain. He moved across the room to the closet and got out his jacket and gloves. A moment later he was trudging down the mountain, his gaze on the taillights on the road ahead of him.
He hadn't gone ten yards before he lost his footing and slipped. He recovered before he fell, but it wasn't the cold that sent a chill through him.
Ice.
Shit.
Dammit, the snow was so heavy she could barely see the road ahead of her.
Alex lifted her foot from the accelerator and braked lightly. Even the slight pressure caused the Land Rover to skid on the ice-covered road.
She frantically turned the wheel into the skid and then straightened the car.
God, that had been close. A foot more and she would have been off the road and plunging down the mountain.
She drew a deep, shaky breath to steady her nerves.
No big deal. She just had to drive more slowly. This Land Rover was a strong workhorse of a vehicle and meant for rough driving. She just wished she could see better. Once she got down this mountain she'd be—
Icy branches looming out of the darkness, blocking the road, reaching out . . .
“No!” She turned the wheel, but it was too late. A branch shattered the windshield as she skidded on the ice and into the tree.
“Jesus!”
Judd broke into a run as he came around the curve, sliding and falling and then getting to his feet again.
The headlights of the Land Rover were piercing the darkness, but the SUV had come to a stop, wheels still spinning as it rested on top of the fallen tree—and the big branch that had smashed through the windshield, splitting on impact to a dagger-thin splinter.
A splinter that had entered Alex's body and was pinning her to the seat.
“This is going to hurt.”
What was he talking about? She already hurt, Alex thought dazedly.
“Do you hear me? I can't wait. I have to get you out of here. I've got to break this branch and get you free. I'll try to be quick, but you mustn't fight me or you'll tear more. Do you hear me, Alex?”
“I . . . hear you.” She opened her eyes to see his face before her.
Icy blue eyes. Ice everywhere. The windshield lay shattered around her like glittering cubes.
His hand was closing on the branch.
She stiffened as she realized what he intended to do. “No!”
“I have to do it. I have to get you back up to the lodge. I can't leave you to get help. You could die of hypothermia out here.”
“Hurt . . .”
“I know.” His hand gently stroked her hair. “It's going to hurt like hell. But only for an instant and then it won't hurt anymore. I'll take care of you.”
Safety. Smoke. Dad . . .
No, this wasn't him. Her father was dead.
God, she missed him. . . .
“Alex, will you try not to jerk?” He held her gaze with his own. “I'll take care of you. I promise you'll be safe. I promise you'll live if you'll only help me.”
“Dad . . .”
“It's not your father, Alex.”
Yet her father was here. Acrid smoke, rescue dogs, and Sarah holding her. Life was important. She had to remember that, or her father would have died for nothing. She nodded and closed her eyes. “Do it.”
Agony.
“I need a doctor up here, Galen,” Morgan said as soon as Galen answered the phone. “Someone who's good and fast and will keep his mouth shut.”
“Why?”
“There's been sort of an accident.”
“I don't like the sound of this.”
“Alex is hurt.”
“Oh, shit. Tell me you didn't cause this ‘accident.' ”
“I can't do that. I think she's going to be okay, but I want to make sure there's no nerve damage. I don't want her crippled. I need a doctor to clean and stitch the wound. One that won't insist on her going to the hospital.”