Read Online Chill by Stephanie Rowe - Free Book Online Page B

bartender said, as he wiped a cloth casually over the counter near her.
    She shot a frantic look at the red exit sign and knew she’d never make it. God, why hadn’t she anticipated this? Shit, shit, shit!
    The man took a step toward her, and she bolted for the rear exit.
    “Hey!” the man shouted, and she heard him pounding across the floor. A hand grabbed the back of her sweater, and then suddenly he pitched forward into her. She stumbled and went down as he crashed heavily beside her.
    She scrambled to her feet as the other two went flying into a nearby table. She shot a frantic glance at two weathered Alaskans sitting casually at a table beside the bar. They both had their feet stretched out in front of them, in the aisle.
    One of them tipped his red-and-black checked hat at her.
    “Thanks!” She spun around and ran for the door as the men started to climb to their feet.
    She heard a gruff voice behind her snarl something about not allowing women to be threatened in their bar, and then she slammed her palms into the exit door and sprinted outside.
    The frigid air sucked the breath from her chest, and she coughed as she ran past a Dumpster toward the side of the building. If she could just get to her car, she had a chance. She was almost to the corner of the bar and—
    A man stepped in front of her, his face obscured by shadows. He had broad shoulders and an arrogant swagger to his stance. “Isabella.”
    Isabella skidded to a stop at the deep male voice, her heart leaping with joy. “Luke? You came back?”
    Then he took a step out of the shadows, and she realized it wasn’t Luke at all.
    It was the man who’d shot Roseann.
    Nate raised his gun and pointed it at her. Isabella froze, unable to think of anything but Roseann’s body splayed on the floor, and his utter lack of hesitation to shoot her friend. And the gun he had aimed right at her heart. “Nate—”
    He suddenly raised his hands and dropped the gun. “Fuck.”
    Luke’s grim face appeared over Nate’s shoulder. He moved slightly, revealing a shotgun he had lodged in the back of Nate’s neck.
    Isabella’s heart leapt. “Lu—”
    He shook his head once and sliced a hand through the air in front of his face to tell her to be silent.
    Isabella clamped her lips shut.
    Silently, Luke grasped Nate’s shoulder and used the gun and his hand to turn the man into the wall, so his face was buried against the side of the building. In that position, Nate couldn’t see either of them.
    Luke jerked his head toward something behind Isabella.
    She turned and saw acres and acres of dark, endless woods. The forest was pitch black, miles and miles of untamed wilderness, in a night that was dipping quickly to well below freezing. Was he kidding? “But—”
    He shook his head once and held up three fingers, then dropped one.
    The countdown.
    Three seconds to run for her life.
    She turned and ran.

C HAPTER S EVEN
    Luke waited until he could no longer hear her crashing through the brush. Until Isabella Kopas had been utterly and completely swallowed up in the Alaskan outback.
    A black car circled behind the bar, and its headlights flashed near Luke.
    He pressed the gun harder into the back of his captive’s neck, certain the Dumpster would keep them shielded from view. But he could feel the tension building in Nate’s body, and Luke knew his prisoner would not stay submissive for long. And if Nate had known who was holding him pinned…he wouldn’t have played possum for even a second.
    Jesus. Nate holding a gun on a woman. What had he become? The man had once been Luke’s best friend. Before all hell had broken loose.
    No time for regrets. Luke had to vacate. Nate would recognize him if he so much as coughed, let alone showed his face.
    Luke swore under his breath, quickly scanning his surroundings for an option. He had to get out without being seen. Without crossing the line that separated him from his birthright.
    The easiest choice was to knock Nate