All she could hear was the pounding of her heart. There wasn’t a person in sight for miles that could help her now that Josh had fled. The discarded camera perched on a stone was the only reminder that he’d been there a few seconds ago.
She looked over the ridge. These men were dangerous, and she was alone. She checked her phone and wanted to toss it down the mountain. No bars. She shoved it into her coat pocket.
How had her laser-focused reporter instincts derailed her so badly? Both Josh and Grizz had tried to warn her, but she hadn’t listened.
She’d take Grizz’s ornery nature in a heartbeat over her odds with militant men and a secret compound. Her mind went numb, and her hands wouldn’t cooperate. Those men hadn’t seen her. At least she could still collect evidence for the authorities. And her story that would inevitably follow.
Dani turned on the camera, hit record, and scanned the compound to document everything.
How was she going to get out of the woods? At least she had the map. It was still light outside, and it would be until late, surely. But would she be stuck hiking down the mountain in the dark anyway?
Don’t panic. Do. not. panic.
A scream shredded the silence.
Dani froze with the camera rolling. She watched as the guards dragged another prisoner across the courtyard.
Not a prisoner.
The man had a windbreaker on, and Dani could see the yellow INN logo calling to her like a beacon.
International News Network. Her network.
Josh.
What were they going to do to him?
She had to rescue her cameraman. But how? She looked around for a rock to throw or something she could use as a weapon. Maybe she could set off a distraction and give Josh time to run.
But then what? She wouldn’t be able to fight these guys off when they inevitably came for her.
No weapons. No self-defense skills. No contact with the outside world.
Her legs gave out and she pitched forward, her knees hitting the dirt. Her breaths came short and fast, and she clutched her chest, willing her lungs to take in air.
The gunshot stopped her heart. Josh slumped to the dirt, and the men behind the fence turned to look at her.
Dani realized then that she’d screamed.
No no no. Adrenaline surged, and her brain shouted for her to run.
She sprinted through the woods, part of her trying to remain quiet while the other part shouted at her to pick up speed.
She tripped and dropped the camera.
No time to retrieve it. She righted herself and raced forward.
Behind her, a twig snapped. At this point, she prayed it was a bear.
Chancing a look over her shoulder, she saw a man through the tree branches. Make that two men. With big guns. She froze, but it didn’t matter. They’d spotted her.
She bolted, tree limbs whipping her in the face. The mud from the rain made the terrain slippery, and she prayed her feet wouldn’t fly out from under her. Down the mountain she went.
A bullet whizzed by her head. She clamped her mouth shut, but it didn’t stop the scream that reverberated across the mountainside.
She was going to die on this mountain. And no one was coming to her rescue.
* * *
