Page 5 of Zero Visibility

“I know, but it’s all a lie, I promise. Go to the Silver Hills Ski Village and wait for me there. I’ll be there sometime tomorrow morning. Stay out of sight. As soon as I’m with you, I’ll explain everything. Hurry, Jen.”

“I will. I’ll grab some things and head out right away.”

The small amount of relief he had at speaking with her didn’t ease the fear inside. Until he saw for himself that she was okay, he’d be worried every mile of the way. “Do you still have the handgun I gave you for protection?”

“I do. And I still know how to use it.” There was a hint of amusement in her tone. An inside joke between them, and a surprise that Jen was a better shot than him.

“Good. Take it with you along with as much ammo as you can carry. Call me the minute you’re safely out of the area.”

She exhaled a heavy breath. “I will, I promise.”

“Stay safe, Jen. I love you.” He waited a moment for her to respond. When the pause was too long, he was ready to push end when she whispered, “I love you, too.”

Despite the danger she faced, he couldn’t stop smiling. She still loved him. Was that love enough to hold their marriage together after all the things he’d done to tear them apart? He sure hoped so.

“She okay?” Will asked from the driver’s seat.

“I think so. She’s scared to death, but Jen’s strong, and she’s a better shot than I ever hope to be.”

The men chuckled before silence returned to the SUV. Ben opened the photos on his phone and found the last one he’d taken of Jen. A few weeks before she left him. She smiled at the camera. That brilliant smile had a way of annihilating gloom from any room. Her left hand ran through her golden-brown hair. The wedding ring glistened in the sunlight. At that moment in time, she appeared happy, but he knew differently now. Every secret he was forced to keep from her widened the chasm between them. That she still believed him at all was a miracle. And she still loved him.

Ben had been devastated when she left. He’d begged God for a second chance to save their marriage. God had granted it, but they both had to stay alive long enough to make it happen.

???

The noise of her labored breathing was enough to alert anyone in the neighborhood, she was almost certain of it. Jen slung the backpack loaded with clothes, the extra burner phones, cell service booster, and ammo over her shoulders. She kept the phone along with the loaded gun in her coat pocket.

In the past, she’d hiked whenever her job as a veterinarian assistant would allow. At one time, she and Ben shared the activity, until his work had taken him away from it and her.

The cold air slapped her in the face the minute she left the protective cover of her house. Fear had her struggling for breath. The skies above were lacking in stars, but the fires from the earlier explosions gave enough light for her to see where she was going.

She left her backyard and did her best to keep hidden as she skirted the neighbor’s houses. Once she passed the last one, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Another couple of miles before she arrived at the animal hospital.

Outside of her neighborhood, a commercial-zoned area appeared. A string of shops in a strip mall came into sight. Jen moved to the back of the shops and started down the alley. She was almost halfway down when a noise of something crashing inside one of the shops had her searching for cover.

Voices. More than one. She hid behind the dumpster as two men flew out of a door.

“Let’s get this stuff in the car and go back for more,” one of the men said to his partner.

From her hiding spot, she saw a silhouette move to the car parked close by. The door opened. Trunk popped. The two men piled boxes into the back and slammed the trunk before heading back inside.

Slipping quickly from her hiding place, Jen ran. If she were caught, she’d be a liability to them. She didn’t want to think about what they might do to her.

Jen didn’t slow down until she was some distance from the shops. She’d reached the rural area close to the animal hospital. Every little sound had her looking back over her shoulder expecting the looters to appear behind her. Or worse yet, the men who’d showed up at her house.

In the darkness, nothing looked the same as in the light of day. Jen stopped for a moment to regain her bearings. If she kept going the way she was, she’d reach the hospital soon. After walking another half hour, it came into view.

Jen fished out the keys she’d been given and slipped inside the building, relocking the door. Some of the animals rousted at her entrance. She moved past the dogs. Some whimpered. A few barked. “It’s okay, it’s just me.” Jen grabbed a few treats for them.

Inside the vet’s office, she rummaged through the desk drawer until she located the keys to the truck. Jen took out her flashlight and wrote a quick note for her boss, letting him know she’d taken the truck and would return it soon. Nothing more.

She tucked the note inside his desk drawer out of sight, then she headed back outside to where the truck was parked. Jen tossed her bag in the passenger seat and quickly slipped behind the wheel. With the handgun within reaching distance, she started the truck.

After what happened at her house, Jen was too afraid to use any of the main roads. She turned onto one of the smaller county roads and drove as fast as she dared while constantly checking the rearview mirror.

Her hands shook on the wheel and she gripped it tighter. Men who claimed to be in power were coming after her and Ben, and she had no idea why.

She called Ben as promised once she was mobile. “I have the truck and I’m heading—"

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