Page 121 of One Last Chance

“Negative. We lost her in the woods. But Shep has located two heat sources. What’s your twenty?”

“I’m on Jubilee Creek, just below Treble Chute, I’d say three miles from Jubilee Lake.”

“According to Shep, she’s on the north side of the river, about a half mile south of your position?—”

A gunshot punched the air.

Axel froze, watched birds scatter downstream. Glanced at his kayak.

Without a skirt, he’d never make the next falls—not without swamping the boat.

“I heard a gunshot—I’m headed toward it.”

He tucked the radio into his vest, picked up the paddle, and took off running. Found the trail along the river.

A scream sounded, but it might be a hawk or an eagle?—

Another scream, and it sounded close, rising above his breaths and his heavy, water-soaked footfalls.

“Axel, do you copy?”

He slowed, pulled out the radio, still running. “Copy.”

“Shep found a heat source—just above Glacier Veil—she’s not moving.”

No. “Is it Flynn?”

“He doesn’t think so—Flynn is south, maybe a quarter mile or less. Be careful?—”

“Copy.” He held the radio in his grip, the paddle in the other, running hard.

The falls ahead roared, growing louder, and he cut toward the shoreline, standing on a rocky outcropping, peering downriver.

Nothing.

Parker, where?—

Then he spotted her, climbing out onto the rocks, her blonde hair in tangles, wearing a T-shirt and jeans. He didn’t see any blood, but—“Parker!”

The turbulence caught his voice, swallowed it. She collapsed onto a boulder, and he took off, skipping across boulders, praying he didn’t slip.

Shots sounded in the woods, and Parker screamed, ducking, pulling herself toward the edge?—

“Parker!”

She looked up, around . . .

Blood had pooled under her, but from where, he couldn’t know. If she’d been hit by a .270 cartridge, the internal bleeding would be lethal.

The fact that she had made it this far said maybe the killer had missed, mostly.

Except, maybe the hunt was still on.

He scrambled over the wet rocks, hunkering down, then crawling over to her. She lay on the rock, halfway in the river, her arms wrapped around herself, eyes closed, whimpering. “Parker—it’s me. Axel Mulligan—I got you.”

She opened her eyes. Drew back, her breaths fast and hard. “What—what?”

“It’s me. Remember me?”

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