Her Mistletoe Protector(27)

At some point she must have dozed, because a noise startled her awake. Another wild animal moving through the woods? She stayed perfectly still, straining to listen.

After several moments, she crawled from beneath the quilts and moved silently over to the window overlooking the back side of the cabin. There weren't any stars out as they were well hidden behind a blanket of clouds.

She heard it again, the same thunk that had woken her. Did animals make that kind of sound? Somehow she doubted it. She stuffed her feet into her athletic shoes and cautiously made her way down the hall to find Nick.

* * *

Nick shot upright when he felt a hand on his arm. "What?" he asked harshly, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he gazed up at Rachel.

"Get up, I think I heard something outside," she whispered.

His pulse kicked into triple digits and he swung around to put his feet on the floor. "Are you sure?" he asked in a low, raspy voice as he quickly slid his feet into his shoes and tied the laces.

"I don't think it was an animal," she said, her eyes wide with fear. "It was a thunking noise and I heard it twice."

Nick wrestled with guilt, knowing that he should have taken Jonah's advice and found a new place to stay. But it was too late for self-recriminations. He needed to get Rachel and Joey safely out of the cabin. "Wake up Joey and make sure he's wearing his winter jacket and his shoes, okay?"

"Okay." To her credit, Rachel didn't panic and went to do exactly as she was told.

He used the poker to break up the remains of the fire, and closed the iron doors on the fireplace, to help douse the flames and eliminate even that small bit of light. The room was plunged into darkness and it took him a minute for his eyes to adjust. He tucked his weapon in his shoulder harness and then went over to peer out the large picture window.

He couldn't see much, but that was okay, since it helped keep them hidden, as well. When Rachel and Joey returned, he crossed over to them. "Be as quiet as possible, okay? Follow me...we're going outside."

Rachel snagged his arm. "Aren't we safer in here?"

"No, we're boxed in. Try to trust me on this, Rachel."

He could barely see her in the darkness. "I do trust you, Nick."

Whether or not he deserved her trust remained to be seen. But they had to move, so he simply led the way over to the front door. As quietly as possible, he eased back the dead bolt, although the click was louder than he liked. Without wasting time, he opened the door and cast a quick glance around the clearing.

Joey and Rachel crowded behind him, waiting silently for his direction. He took a moment to pray for their safety, before guiding them out onto the front porch, keeping as close to the cabin as possible.

Rachel sent Joey first, and then followed from behind. He didn't have to tell her to make sure the door didn't slam shut as she softly closed it before making her way over to where they stood. The night was so cold they could see their breath in the air, and the frozen leaves and brush would make it far more difficult to move silently through the woods.

First, he needed to figure out which was the best direction to go. He waited for a long moment, listening to the sounds of the night. It was too cold for any insects, but at least the wind had died down.

As much as he wanted to use the car to escape, he couldn't deny the possibility that the intruder had already found it and disabled it. At least, that's what he would have done.

No, their best bet was to stay hidden in the woods for as long as possible. He didn't dare use his cell phone yet, as the light from the screen would only broadcast their position to whoever was out there.                       
       
           



       

The closest grouping of evergreen trees was to the left in the nine-o'clock position, so he bent down to whisper in Rachel's ear. "Follow me to the evergreens."

He could feel her head nod, her hair brushing his face. Satisfied, he inched across the porch, praying the boards wouldn't creak.

The trek to the group of evergreens seemed to take forever, but the moment they reached them, he felt himself relax. Thank goodness they were all wearing dark clothing, and, without the moon, he hoped their pale faces wouldn't attract too much attention.

"Stay here, I'm going to take a look around," he whispered again, right next to Rachel's ear.

"No, wait," she grabbed his arm in a tense grip. "I smell smoke."

He paused and tried to estimate how long the scent of smoke would linger in the air after he'd put out the fire inside the cabin.

"There!" Rachel whispered urgently, pointing to an area behind the cabin.

He saw what had captured her attention. Orange flames flickering in the darkness.

Fire!





FOURTEEN

Rachel stared at the small flickering flames in horror. The kidnapper must have found them. Who else would do such a thing? She knew Nick thought Morales had been ordered to kill her and Joey, but they'd managed to get away. The kidnapper must have come back to finish the job. And what if she hadn't woken up from the thunking noise? Would they have died inside the cabin? Had that been the kidnappers' plan all along?

Cold fear slid down her spine.

Thank You, Lord, for saving us!

"I think the outhouse might be on fire," Nick whispered. "And if that's the case, I'm afraid the fire will spread to the cabin." He paused, looking out over the trees. "Looks like the wind is blowing north. We'll need to head south so that we're heading in the opposite direction."

"Okay." She wasn't about to argue. Joey's hand was trembling inside of hers, from the cold or fear or both. She tightened her grip reassuringly, knowing she'd do whatever was necessary to keep him safe. "Lead the way."

Nick stayed between the trees, moving slowly and silently away from the cabin. She did her best to follow in his footsteps, but it seemed like twigs snapped loudly beneath her feet and her clothing brushed and snagged against the tree branches with every step. The cold night air blew sharp against her face, but she knew the fire was the bigger threat compared to the stinging cold.

Although both could be deadly.

They hadn't made it very far when a loud crack echoed through the night.

"Get down," Nick urged.

Someone was shooting at them! She instinctively dropped low, ducking behind a tree while covering Joey's body with hers, protecting him the best she could.

They waited motionless for what seemed like an hour but was likely only a few minutes. There was no further gunfire and she wasn't sure if that was good news or bad.

Was the kidnapper tracking them through the woods right now?

"We need to split up," Nick whispered, his mouth close to her ear.

"No! We need to stick together!" she whispered back.

"Listen to me." Nick's tone was harsh. "We need to get help. You and Joey are going to take my phone and head southeast. When you're far enough away, call 911."

"I don't even know where we are," she murmured anxiously.

"The address here is 472 and Highway MM."

She silently repeated it to herself, committing the address to memory.

"I'm going to draw the gunman away from you and Joey. So you need to get moving, now."

"I still think you should come with us," she whispered again. She couldn't help remembering the last time she'd tried to save her son by sending him out of the mangled wreck of their car only to watch him be captured and kidnapped. What if the same thing happened to Nick?

"Go!" he said, and he turned and fired in the direction from which the gunshot had originated. "I'll hold him off long enough for help to arrive."

She hesitated, torn between two impossible choices. She desperately wanted to get Joey to safety, but she also didn't want to leave Nick, unable to bear the thought of anything happening to him. Yet she knew her son was depending on her so she did as Nick asked, staying low and easing back into the cover of the trees, keeping Joey close to her side.                       
       
           



       

Joey must have understood the acute need for silence since he didn't say a word as they made their way through a particularly thick grove. When they'd gone about twenty yards, she crouched behind a large tree and took out Nick's phone. She unzipped her coat, using the edges of her jacket to help hide the unmistakable glow of the phone screen as she called 911. The operator seemed to take forever to answer, and when she finally did, she hoped she remembered everything correctly.

"Please send help," Rachel said urgently. "Someone is shooting at us and he's also started a fire. The address is 472 and Highway MM."

"Are you hurt?" the dispatcher asked.

"Not yet, but please hurry!" There was another loud crack followed by a cry of pain and she instinctively clutched Joey close, using her body as a shield to cover her son's.

Even though she'd dropped the phone, she could still hear the dispatcher's voice talking. She frantically searched the ground with her fingertips. The snow was cold, making her fingers numb, but she eventually found the phone and powered it off.