With pinched lips, Tony patted the front of the seat where a caddy was attached, fumbling around until he retrieved his phone. He pressed his thumb against it to unlock it before sliding it across the seat hard enough that it would’ve clocked her on the nose if she hadn’t shifted to the side. ‘No signal. But feel free to try yourself if you don’t believe me. And it’ll take at least two hours, maybe more in the dark, to get somewhere with even a minimum signal strength. And then I’ll have to wait for help to come, and even if they allowed me to leave again which they wouldn’t because they’d need to interrogate me, it would take me at least another couple hours to get back up here.’ His eyes bored into hers. ‘We could do that – but your friend may not have that much time.’

The fear that she’d driven Emerson back into danger overrode the lure of safety, and Addis shook her head. She couldn’t live with herself if she was whisked away while her best friend continued fighting for her life, either against their kidnapper or against the elements.

The letdown drained the remainder of her earlier adrenaline rush, and without her permission, her body betrayed her by crashing down. She put up a valiant struggle to keep her eyes open, but aside from propping them open with toothpicks, the battle was lost. Her muscles liquefied until she pretzeled herself into a warped fetal position within the cocoon of the blanket. One word ran like a ticker tape across her mind as she drifted off: Emerson.

At the sensation of flying through the air, she bolted upright – or at least she tried to – but found herself securely fastened in someone’s arms. Disoriented, confused, she struggled to figure out where she was, what was happening. Seemingly out of nowhere, yet another cabin popped into view.

She was carried up the porch steps, and as the door swung inward, her struggles doubled in effort. Twisting her neck to the side, she sank her teeth into a muscular bicep. Like a dog fighting to keep his bone, she snarled and swung her head back and forth, fighting the gag reflex when blood coated her lips as she broke through skin.

The next thing she knew she was flying through the air as she was unceremoniously tossed onto a leather couch. She bolted upright and planted her feet in the direction of the door. But three steps in, her path was blocked, and she was enveloped in a bear hug with her feet dangling off the ground.