Given her current position, she had three potentially fatal choices. Heart and liver. Both protected by the ribs. And the femoral artery at the juncture of the groin. A smaller target, and harder to reach.
Provided Vonn stood within range, she intended to use the element of surprise to her advantage by stabbing him as soon as he opened the trunk.
After?
She’d run like hell.
She tightened her grip on the knife as the sound of his shuffling feet reached her.
He rounded the car and passed her by. A door opened on the passenger side. He collected some items, and then porch boards creaked under his weight.
Another round trip to the car and back.
A minute or two passed while Vonn unloaded supplies, and nerves strung tight, sweat broke out at the back of her neck.
He approached again. The car door slammed shut.
Her muscles tensed, and her body jerked as he banged his fist on the metal trunk. “You ready to have some fun, Jellybean?” With the chirp of a key fob, the latch released with a click.
The lid opened an inch at a time. And he was there. Right where she needed him to be.
Adrenaline seizing her, she uncoiled and struck. The blade slicing through the skin of his torso, she shoved the knife up under his rib cage right to the hilt. As Adam had taught her, she twisted her wrist and withdrew just as quickly.
Better to have the knife in her hand than stuck in his abdomen.
Eyes wide and mouth gaping in shock, he staggered a step back, blood pouring from between his fingers where he pressed them against his stomach. She didn’t wait to see what happened next. She threw herself out of the trunk and ran. A quick glance at her surroundings and she rejected the laneway for the forest. The terrain would be more difficult to navigate, but the coverage was preferable to the open road.
The first gunshot sounded as she reached the edge of the clearing, and expecting more, she willed her legs to move faster.
“Eve!” She recognized the voice but rejected the impossible. She wanted Adam to find her. Wanted him with the force of a thousand exploding suns, so her mind had conjured him. A trick. A trap she couldn’t fall into if she wanted to survive the night.
The trees enveloped her as she ran deeper into the heart of the woods, her light bouncing off branches and rocks as she flew past.
“Eve!”
Shit!Close. Vonn was way too close. She froze in place and turned off her light.
Panic flooded her system until her eyes adjusted. Moonbeams filtering through the thin canopy of leaves allowed her to see her immediate surroundings.
A heavy tread closed in on her location.
Oh God! She needed to hide. Fast.
She looked around, eyes straining. There. Off to the right. A stand of trees, thicker than the others, a couple of dense bushes at its base. She pivoted and ran. Not fast enough. He caught her by the arm and swung her around. Her knife trapped in his iron grip, she couldn’t use it against him.
But she could still fight.
Eve threw a weak left-handed uppercut in the direction of his wound. It landed, and a grunt of pain gave her some satisfaction. Until he hauled her against his hard chest, and the smell of leather and man reached through her fog of terror. “Adam?”
“Are you hurt?” Urgent kisses covered her face while capable hands skimmed over her head, neck, shoulders, and arms.
“How?” she croaked, stunned disbelief numbing her senses as he took the knife from her hand. “How did you find me?”
“Every vest has a tracking device.” Satisfied she wasn’t about to bleed out, he kissed her again. Hard. On the lips. “Jesus, Eve.” He pulled her back into the circle of his arms and held her tight. “You scared the shit out of me.”
He trembled as much as she did, his breathing labored, and she remembered his injury. “Your lung! You shouldn’t be running around out here.”
He snorted. “I could have two broken legs, and I’d still come for you.”
