Read Online Hunted by Beverly Long - Free Book Online

confirm or deny that but he wanted a look.
    “We can get there,” he said. “Here’s what I think is going to happen. The emergency response folks are going to make sure that the fire is out. They’re going to light that area up and while your car is some distance from the cabin, I think it’s possible that somebody will see your car. If that happens, some brave soul is going to get a ladder and very carefully climb up, in an effort to assess the status of the people in the car.”
    “And when there’s nobody inside?”
    “I imagine that they’ll search the immediate area. When they don’t find anything, at daybreak, a massive search will ensue. The first assumption will be that a body or bodies were thrown from the car. They’re going to think that they’re working against the clock, that someone who is injured and caught up in a tree or lying on the cold ground is living on borrowed time.”
    She was quiet for a minute. “As bad as things are, I’m feeling pretty lucky right now.”
    “You’re right. You got out of the car and neither of us was in the cabin. We both got lucky.”
    “Do you believe in luck running out?” she asked, her tone soft.
    “I believe that luck favors the prepared.”
    “That’s good enough for me.”
    “The people who did this probably aren’t going to be satisfied until they know for sure their mission is accomplished. They’re going to want to be close enough to know that a body was recovered. That may work to our advantage.”
    “We’ll be watching for them and they won’t necessarily be watching for us,” she said.
    “Right. But it may not be easy to pick out the bad guys. While the cabins are pretty isolated, it was a big blast. Some locals may come to see what’s going on.”
    She wiped the palms of her hands on her blue jeans. “Nothing is ever easy. Let’s go.” She opened her door.
    He took an extra minute to grab the gun and ammunition that he’d shoved under his seat. When he had first gotten back to the States, he’d had a quick layover in Oregon. Had visited his mother’s grave and gone to the storage locker where he still kept some things, including the handgun, which he’d purchased many years earlier. He’d told himself that he was headed toward the mountains, and everyone carried a gun there. But he’d also felt better knowing that he was armed, in the event that some fool really believed that he could possibly have sold out his friends, his country, and came after him.
    When he’d realized that Larry Donovan kept a fully loaded shotgun at the cabin, too, he’d felt even better. And he’d brought it along for extra insurance. But for right now, the Glock felt just right in his pocket.
    He got out of the truck and walked around the front of it. Chandler had gotten out and was standing next to her door. He shone the flashlight on her. It was snowing hard and her dark hair was catching the fresh flakes. Under any other circumstances, it would have made a beautiful picture.
    “Let me get one more thing,” he said, reaching into the box in the back of the truck and pulling out the binoculars that he’d tossed in at the last minute.
    They weren’t military quality, but would certainly be better than nothing. He strung the lanyard over his neck. He started to shove the lid back on the box and stopped. He grabbed his duffel where he’d thrown his extra jeans, shirts and underwear. He pulled out a pair of thick white socks. “Your shoes are going to get soaked and your feet are going to get cold. Not much we can do about that. I’ll take these so at least you’ll have a dry pair to put on later.”
    The minute he said it, he knew he’d screwed up. Her pretty green eyes filled with tears.
    “What? I’m sorry. You don’t have to wear them.” He stumbled over his words. Chandler had been a rock up to now, taking everything that had come her way. And he’d made her cry with socks.
    She put her hand on his arm and he held perfectly still,