Page 69 of Protecting the Flame

“Or border patrol. On either side. Yeah. Wouldn’t be the first dirty agents in history.”

She could tell him a thing or two about that. “So, what do we do, Will?”

“I don’t know, Emma. I am coming up empty here.” His bruises had gone a sickly yellow-green as the blood decayed and was reabsorbed, but Will had worked harder and longer than even she, and the elements, fatigue, and hunger were starting to show. Small fissures scored his cheeks, and there was a quarter-sized spot near his left ear that was fish-belly white with the beginning stages of frostbite. For the first time since this whole nightmare began, he’d not bothered to shave. “We have one weapon. Hunter is still trapped. I have to check her out, but I’m assuming Rachel can walk—”

“Walk?” Hunter straightened as far as he was able. “Wait a minute.”

Emma ignored him. “She can walk. Mattie and I are fine.” She didn’t mention Scott. Let him drag his own sorry ass. She wished she could feel sorry or even sympathy for the guy. “But, at the risk of sounding like a racist stereotype, I truly know nothing about birthing babies.”

Will managed a thin smile. “You’d manage. All I’m saying is that slogging through snow for umpteen miles won’t help her or the baby, if it comes.”

“You said yourself, the baby seems fine, and she feels all right. The thing is, we know they’re coming, They have to be. It could be today, tomorrow, the day after that—”

“Or they wait for a spring thaw.”

She shook her head. “All that money and the drugs? I wouldn’t take that chance. People are probably still looking for us and they know it. I’m saying we strip the plane and leave. Let them have their shit.”

“No, wait, you can’t leave me.” Hunter’s face shivered with emotion. His eyes pooled. “I’m a sitting fucking duck. If they don’t get me, the wolves will or that mountain lion or, shit, I’ll rot and die that way. You might as well put a bullet in my brain right now.”

“Not everyone’s leaving,” she said, keeping her eyes on Will. She saw the moment the words registered.

“Wait a minute,” he said, his eyes widening. “You can’t be serious. You?”

“You see anyone else who can?” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “One, you’re the only doctor. Two, that means Rachel needs you. Hell, it means everyone does. Mattie could fall and break a leg or whatever. Third, Scott is…let’s just say he’s unreliable. He also happens to be Rachel’s husband and that’s his kid she’s carrying. He should be with them.” Turning her hands palms up, she finished with a shrug. “That leaves only one person to stay with Hunter.”

“No, it doesn’t, and you know it.” He took her by the elbows, his grip steady and strong, and drew her close enough she saw the flecks of gold in his eyes and her reflection captured there.

“Damn you,” he said, a tremor in his voice. “It means leaving two.”

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