When Leah was a distance from the house and there was still no sign of anyone leaving the house, she turned and ran up onto the plateau. As she ran along the crest of the hill, the frequency of the rifle and pistol rounds going off in the house increased. A few times, what were probably thirty-round rifle magazines went off in bursts, so the sound was like a pitched battle being fought with automatic weapons. Leah kept running hard for nearly ten minutes without slowing, trying not to fall or turn an ankle in the dark.

Just after she had gone between the strands of barbed wire onto the next ranch, she heard the first of the helicopters. There was the deep growl of the engines and the chop-chop-chop of the rotors from far off, but then the sounds grew louder.

She felt tempted to hide among the oak trees, but she knew from a career of police pursuits that hiding from a helicopter among the trees was a foolish idea. She kept running. The only way to beat the choppers was to be where they weren’t looking. For a time, the attention of the helicopter pilot would be fully engaged by the burning house and the explosions, and this period was her only opportunity. Once the helicopter started moving over the larger area that included her, she was lost.

She turned right and dashed downhill between the rows of vegetables. As she descended, she built up to a speed that she knew was dangerous, but she had to take the chance. She was determined that she was not going to defend herself by firing her rifle at a police officer.

Her steps came down on the soft-tilled and irrigated soil, so she was able to control the shocks. If she kept herself between the rows, she could probably avoid getting tangled in the plants and tripping. Her long legs were an advantage, because she could take giant steps on the downgrade and not let her torso get ahead of her feet, causing her to tumble. She didn’t waste time looking over her shoulder for the helicopter, because nothing she was going to learn would be worth the cost of slowing down.

In another minute she was on level ground, and the big garage-like storage building was just ahead. She resisted the temptation to let her pace diminish because she was near the end. Instead she concentrated on sprinting, landing on her toes, and digging in on each step.