Christy Barritt - Mountain Hideaway

He hit the accelerator and the tires turned against the steep, winding mountain road. This road was tricky enough in the daytime, but right now, with no overhead streetlights and dull, no longer reflective guardrails, it would be a particularly treacherous drive.

But he had to get out of here fast. Whoever was shooting at them wasn’t playing around. They were shooting to kill.

Who were those men? How had they found him? And the bigger question, why did they want Tessa dead?

Trent knew he’d been careful. But something must have triggered someone with less than honorable intentions to the fact that he’d tracked down Tessa.

He’d assumed she had run away because of her broken engagement. Further digging into her past had shown she was in massive credit card debt, had lost her job and had been seeing a psychologist.

Some feared she’d lost it. There had been no signs of foul play in her disappearance. Just a note: “I have to go. Don’t try to find me.”

Her family didn’t believe any of that, though. They feared she was in trouble. Maybe she’d seen a crime and fled. Maybe someone had forced her to write that note. Had forced the massive purchases on her credit cards.

They claimed she’d never seen a psychologist, that she was happy and one of the most stable people one could meet.

Trent had been trying to discover what was reality and what was fiction.

Had the men who were after them—whoever they were—talked to Bill Andrews after Trent?

Bill owned the cabin where Tessa was staying. Trent had questioned him about her disappearance and, as they discussed Tessa, the man had mentioned his fond memories of the times when she had come with his family to an old hunting cabin he owned in West Virginia. Bill hadn’t been back in years.

On a whim, Trent had decided to check the place out. No one was supposed to be staying there. But when Trent had seen the light in the window, he’d suspected that his hunch was correct. Tessa had known about the cabin and was using it to hide out.

The vehicle outside the residence hadn’t been her car. She must have gotten a new one, along with taking a new name. The woman had to be intelligent to make it as far as she had without being detected.

Maybe Bill had told those men about his cabin, just as he’d told Trent. More than likely, though, the men who were shooting at them had followed Trent here. That meant that he’d led these men right to Tessa. He should have been more careful. Maybe there was more to her story than he’d assumed.

He’d have time to think about that later. He’d promised Tessa’s mom that he’d do everything in his power to bring her daughter home safely, and that was exactly what he planned on doing. He would have to formulate his moves carefully in order to make that happen.

He watched the speedometer climb, knowing these speeds weren’t safe on the winding road. Beside him, Tessa was deathly quiet. He stole a glance at her and saw how pale she’d gone, saw how her knuckles were white as she gripped the seat. The woman was terrified.

His gaze flickered to the rearview mirror. Just as he feared, headlights swerved onto the road behind him. A car closed the space between them by the second.

“Hold on!” Trent gripped the steering wheel as he pressed the accelerator even harder.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Tessa’s voice sounded thin and fraught with tension.

“The exact opposite, actually.” He saw the car behind them gaining speed, nearly close enough to rear-end them. One bump could send his Jeep into the massive rock wall beside them. One nudge could propel them to their death. He’d seen fatal car accidents plenty of times before, from back when he’d worked patrol.

He couldn’t let that happen now. There weren’t many options for what he could do out here, but thankfully his training in the military and as a detective had taught him a thing or two. The road didn’t have many intersections and the nearest one was probably three miles away, at least. That meant he had three miles of trying to drive faster and with more control than the guys behind him. It was the only way he’d outwit them.

He continued to gun it, careful to stay in control. Tessa let out a soft moan beside him. “I can’t watch.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“Do you have a gun?”

He resisted the urge to glance her way and try to read her expression. He couldn’t afford to take his eyes off the road. But what in the world was she getting at? “I do.”

“Where is it?”

“In my jacket.”

Before he realized what was happening, Tessa reached into his coat and pulled out his Glock.

“What are you doing?” Alarm captured his voice.

“Trying to stay alive,” she muttered. She rolled down the window, and gusts of frigid air whipped inside the Jeep. With more guts than he’d realized the woman had, she leaned outside and fired the first shot.

The car behind him swerved.

“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” he shouted over the wind.

“I’ve been taking lessons.”

The car behind them quickly righted and charged even closer. Tessa fired again, and the sound of rubber skidding across the road filled the air. The car kept coming. Just then, the back glass of the Jeep shattered.

The men were shooting back. If they managed to pierce a tire, Trent and Tessa would be goners.

A bend in the road appeared. The area was even narrower with a cliff on one side and a rock wall on the other. This was their only chance.

Trent braced himself. “Hold on!”

He grabbed Tessa and pulled her inside before she got herself killed.

Ahead, the trees disappeared and the nighttime sky was all that was visible. Tessa sucked in a deep breath beside him.

This was a twenty-five-miles-per-hour curve. He remembered it well. It was sharp, merciless and adorned with several danger-ahead signs.

He had to think quickly.

Instead of slowing down, he gunned it. They charged toward the open sky ahead. One wrong move and they’d free-fall off the mountain. It was a chance he had to take, especially since the other option meant certain death.

God, be with us!

“You’re going to kill us!” Tessa screamed.

At the last minute, he jerked the wheel to the right. The Jeep skidded, nearly going into a spin.

His heart pounded out of control as the edge of the cliff neared. The car fishtailed, started to right itself, but suddenly spun.

Trent held his breath, lifting up more prayers.

Lord, please help us stop in time. Our lives depend on it.

THREE

Tessa opened her mouth but the scream stuck in her throat. As the Jeep veered closer and closer to the edge of the mountain, her life flashed before her eyes. Her regrets. Her time apart from her loved ones. Everything she’d been through over the past year.

She didn’t want things to end this way.

God, please! It was the second time today she’d found herself praying, something she hadn’t done in months. Maybe it was time to change that.

Suddenly, the Jeep righted itself. Before three seconds had even passed, she felt Trent press the gas again. They accelerated down the road, her heart pounding radically out of control with each second of forward motion.

She looked over her shoulder just in time to see the car behind them swerve. The tires screeched before the horrible sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.

Her eyes squeezed shut as the vehicle charged over the edge of the cliff.

Tessa felt the color drain from her face as a sick feeling gurgled in her stomach.

“You okay?” Trent stole a glance her way.

She nodded, still shaky and queasy. “I guess.”

“At least they’re not following us anymore.”

“That’s one positive.” She couldn’t think of many. She’d been plucked from her obscure life and into a nightmare. Now she was hanging on for dear life on a thrill ride she’d never wanted to be a part of.