“We’ll hear him. We have to get away from here,” he said.
“Why? And why did a man show up in my house shooting at you? What’s going on?” Was he on the run from something?
Korbin looked at her as she handed him a jacket.
“Was that a cop?” she asked.
“No.”
“Who was it, then?”
He shrugged into the red-and-black Descente breathable jacket. “I don’t know.”
Wondering if he was lying, Savanna found long underwear and a lightweight fleece. “But you know why he’s after you.” The man had to be after him. No one would come after her.
Next she found a breathable jacket and snow pants but didn’t dress. That feeling of foreboding intensified. Instinct urged her to stay in her house. She could board up the window with extra fencing that was piled outside the stable.
“Get dressed, Savanna.”
She threw the garments she held onto the floor. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
After peering out from the entry to check if the man had returned, he said to her, “You have to.”
“No, I don’t. You brought that shooter into my home. It was peaceful until you got here.”
He stared at her. “This involves you, too, now.”
The sting of shock froze her. “How?”
He hesitated, much the same as he had when he’d first gotten stuck on her road. “He saw you. You’re with me. That means you’re in danger.”
Just because he’d seen her? “Why was he shooting at you?”
“Get dressed, Savanna. I don’t have time to explain right now. We have to get as far away from here as we can.” When she only stared at him, he urged, “Please. Just listen to me. And trust me. I’ll keep you alive. I promise.”
“I’ll keep myself alive by staying here.”
“What if he comes back here?”
Her face grew cold with dread. “Why would he do that?”
“Savanna...”
She stared at him as she began to see his point. She might not be safe here and she would be at Hurley’s. Get to Hurley’s. That’s what she had to do. She quickly dressed and then slipped her feet into ski boots. Putting a pair of boots in front of him, she went back to the closet and threw him a hat, gloves and goggles. A backpack came next. Korbin caught it and slung it over one shoulder and then caught a transceiver she tossed at him last.
The sound of crunching glass, as though someone had stepped over some in the kitchen, galvanized her into faster action. After slinging her own pack onto her back and securing her transceiver, she picked up two pairs of mountain skis just as a loud crack of a firing rifle deafened her and took a chunk out of the doorjamb inches from Korbin’s head. He fired back and ran after her out the front door.
The intruder had a rifle now!
Shaking, frantic for air, Savanna shoved her booted feet into the skis, Korbin doing the same beside her. She skied toward the trees, looking back to see the man with the rifle appear in the front doorway. He saw them skiing away but didn’t fire. Instead, he disappeared back into the house. With sickening dread, Savanna knew he’d go for his snowmobile. He’d track them down and kill them. The faster they reached Hurley’s the better. The only problem was that a straight line to Lost Trail Lodge was over a fourteen-thousand-foot mountain. Assuming they could stay hidden from the gunman, they would have to ski miles of rugged terrain. Even if they took the shortest route, she didn’t think they’d make it before the next storm hit.