Page 58 of Hunted

Inside? Yes, she wanted to go inside. And she wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him not to open that Pandora’s box. Not yet, at least. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

“No.” Oddly enough, her voice gave no indication of her turmoil. “Let’s do it right here.”

Connor nodded. He worked the misshapen padlock’s hasp until it came out and then he opened the box and pulled out a simple spiral notebook, the kind you could pick up at any drugstore for ninety-nine cents. It didn’t look capable of destroying the world.

He dropped the box and stepped out of the hole, up onto the level, snowy ground nearer the kerosene lamps she’d lit while he’d been digging. He flipped open the cover. Lexi moved closer. Her flashlight illuminated the white pages, and her eyes scanned line after line of numbers and symbols, some of which she understood, and others she’d never seen before.

She knew enough, though, to realize that this was a formula. A recipe for death, right there, in Connor’s strong hands.

“Well. Seems I’ve arrived just in time.”

Lexi gasped, whirling at the grating voice she’d heard only once before. Her surprise at seeing the pale man standing there in the snow paralyzed her for an instant.

Mr. White, the man who’d murdered Connor’s wife and little boys, stood too close, his feet planted on either side of the shovel, pointing a gun at them. “I’ll take that notebook, Romano.”

“The hell you will.”

White shook his head, smiling, chilling her with the evil that seemed to glow from his pink eyes whenever he looked at her. “You have two choices. I shoot you and take the book. Or you give me the book—" his grin broadened, “—and then I shoot you.”

Lexi must have moved, though she wasn’t aware of it, because White’s alien eyes jerked toward her all of a sudden. “As for you, pretty lady, you just stand perfectly still. You surprised me last time, but I won’t make that mistake again.”

She said a word she’d never uttered in her life as a blinding, white-hot rage exploded in her brain, then lifted her foot and stomped down hard on the business end of the shovel. Its handle shot upward, right between White’s legs and he fell to the ground howling.

Only it wasn’t just an agonized howl. He was howling … a name, a command. Connor slammed the notebook into Lexi’s chest and jumped on White.

Lights blazed in the distance as some tank-sized pickup truck bounded toward them. Its path vaguely followed that of the dirt road, crushing the snow that covered it. Its spotlight swung left and right, finally stopping when it illuminated the two men tangled in combat, fighting for the gun.

Lexi made a mad dash for the snowmobile they’d left parked near the front steps. The second she stepped away from their boss, the men in the mutant pickup started shooting at her. Puffs of snow appeared in front of her feet where the bullets hit. She stuffed the journal inside her coat and ran faster. Tires spun in snow as the approaching truck sought traction, then lurched, then spun, then lurched, making its way closer through the deep, unplowed snow.

She swung onto the snowmobile, almost shouting in triumph when it started on the first try. Gunning it, she shot easily over the snow. And when she reached the spot where Connor and White still wrestled for the gun, she jerked the handlebars and hit the brake, skidding around sideways.

“Connor!”

She wasn’t even sure he heard her shriek his name. Then he landed a blow to White’s chin that snapped the bastard’s head backward, shoved himself to his feet, and jumped on behind her. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, and his body bowed over hers, shielding her while she gunned the throttle. They shot off into the forest with bullets zinging after them.

Romano was frozen half to death by the time they reached the little town. Not that it mattered. His shivering was nothing compared to what would happen if White and his goons caught up to them.

Fortunately, by the time the bad guys got that oversized truck turned around and headed back down the mountain, he and Lexi would be long gone.

He and Lexi. He’d thought they’d be going their separate ways. But the bastard had arrived early and ruined his plans.

Why was he so glad about that?

Lexi pulled the machine around behind the general store and killed the engine. And only then did it occur to him to ask, “Where’s the notebook?”

She patted the front of her coat. “Right here. Don’t worry.”

As she said it, she turned to look at him over her shoulder, and he had to battle the urge to kiss her. And then he asked himself why he had to battle it, and he kissed her anyway.

It was brief. His lips caught hers, drew on them for a moment. He wanted more, but?—

“There’s a car in that driveway across the street,” he said softly.

“Don’t tell me. We’re going to steal it.”

“Borrow it. Come on." He got off the sled, took her hand and together they ran across the road to the car. Connor glanced in through the driver’s side window, and smiled when he saw the keys dangling from the switch. “Romano catches a break,” he muttered. He nodded to Lexi and she went to the other side.

When he opened his door, she did the same. They landed simultaneously in the front seat, and when the two doors slammed, there was only one bang. They backed out, and started down the road without a single light coming on in a single window.

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