Page 40 of Thin Ice

Abby returned to the fire and knelt beside Brookes. “The road isn’t far. I’m going to check in with James and see how far away our rescue team is.” She stared at him. “We’ll stay here as long as we can.”

Brookes was grateful for the extra time. The fire had done wonders to make him feel better. He was almost certain he could make the walk on his own steam. As he stared into the fire, he could almost picture another time. A simpler one. A roaring fire in the fireplace. He and Abby curled up on a sofa. The kids in bed. Just happy to hold each other close.

“Brookes?” The question in her tone grabbed his attention and he faced her.

“I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.” Good thoughts.

She drew in a breath and leaned over and kissed him tenderly. He loved her so much. Wanted to believe the dream was God’s way of telling him the future was going to be okay.

“Don’t you leave me, you hear,” she whispered against his lips. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

Tears clogged his throat. “I won’t. I promise. Don’t you leave me either.”

She hugged him close, and he ignored the pain in his chest because he wanted to be close to her.

The phone chirped a message and she pulled it from her pocket.

“They’ll be here in ten minutes. They’re meeting us two miles down the road. We need to leave.” She sounded almost sad. Abby wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him to his feet.

“I can make it on my own,” he told her when she started to help him.

“Okay.” She smiled at him and told everyone what was happening. “Let’s get the fire covered up.”

Together with Snake’s and Nick’s help, they covered the fire with snow until it was out of sight. Once it was finished, Abby started toward the right where they would eventually meet up with their extraction team.

“My heart is racing,” she told Brookes. “I’m so afraid Legion’s people will show up before our people reach us.”

“I feel the same way.” He clasped her hand in his. “I’m sure there will come a time when we won’t have to worry about Legion.” He had doubts. Maybe he wasn’t trusting God enough, but his faith had taken a beating lately. As they eased through the woods, something caught his attention and he stopped. “What was that?”

She listened. “A vehicle. Coming from the wrong way to be our people.”

“That’s got to be Legion.” Brookes worried that the people coming for them would be cut off by their minions. “Call James. Let him know vehicles are coming toward us. See if our people can get off the road, and we’ll come to them.”

Abby nodded and made the call. She listened for a moment. “Thanks, James. They’re close. He’s going to let them know to get out of sight. We’ll need to keep moving their way.”

Not exactly the news he’d hoped for at this point, but he didn’t want to risk the team’s lives.

As they kept moving through the woods, another vehicle could be heard along the road on which they’d been traveling.

He had a sinking feeling. “They’re going to fan out and search the woods near the water to make sure we’re gone.”

Her hand tightened in his. “Let’s pick up the pace.” They started walking faster.

Every little sound had Brookes concerned. If those men caught them, there would be no extraction for them. They’d all die here in the woods. The faster pace took its toll on his injured body. All he could think about was resting. At this point he believed he could sleep for a year.

An engine fired to life behind them. It sounded like a four-wheeler. If Legion were using four-wheelers, it wouldn’t take them long to reach them.

“Faster. We have to go faster,” Brookes forced the words out. With Abby at his side, they ran while the people around them did the same.

Brookes’s labored breath burned in his chest. He could feel himself slowing down. Blood soaked his shirt. He was bleeding again, and he’d lost so much blood already. The pace was too much for him.

Just when he was close to passing out, a dark object appeared in front of them.

“That’s got to be them.” Abby said and they stopped running. She pulled out her weapon. “Just in case.”

Brookes removed his weapon from his jacket. They slowly advanced on the vehicle when he noticed a second one parked behind.

As they approached, men got out. Abby dialed the phone.

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