Between Anchorage and Fairbanks, AK—Thursday, 2:47 a.m. AKDT

Evelyn couldn’t believe it was over. Amarok had appeared out of nowhere and put a stop to everything. Bishop had barely scratched her eyelid with the ice pick, and that was because he’d jerked when he heard Amarok hit the side of the van. He hadn’t had time to push it through the thin bone of her eye socket to reach her brain.

She was fine, would recover. She just didn’t know if she could say the same about her baby. She couldn’t feel any movement. Not a kick or a jab. Not so much as a flutter. The trauma she’d been through might’ve been too much for their child.

“Are you okay?” Amarok used his good hand to untie her.

She glanced over at Bishop, who was lying on his side, staring sightlessly under the vehicle.

“Don’t look at him,” Amarok said. “Look at me.”

She couldn’t hold back the tears as the ropes on her hands and feet came loose. She told herself there was no reason to cry, but she couldn’t help it. Her relief was that profound. “How’d you find me?” she asked, wiping the blood from her nose and mouth.

He didn’t take the time to explain, just reached out to draw her closer.

She leaned against his chest, painfully aware that he’d been shot, grateful for the strong hand that cupped the back of her head as she broke down and wept.

“What’d he do to you?” he asked at length.

“I’ll tell you everything,” she said. “But not now. We need to get you to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted, but she got the impression he couldn’t move his right arm anymore, and it looked as though he was about to pass out.

“Where’s your truck?”

Letting go of her, he sank onto the bumper of the van and put his head between his knees. “A quarter of a mile down the road. Give me a minute. I can’t walk that far quite yet.” He drew a deep, audible breath. “I can’t believe you’re safe. I can’t believe I’ve got you back.”

When his eyes lifted to her swollen belly, she understood what he wanted to know but was afraid to ask. “I can’t tell you anything about the baby,” she said. “Only that Bishop didn’t manage to rape me, or … or even hurt me.”

“But…”

Apparently, he could hear the hesitation in her voice. “But I haven’t felt any movement for the past couple of days. Bishop drugged me to get me out of the cooler and into this van, though. I’m not sure what effect that might’ve had on the baby.”

“We’ll get you to a doctor,” he said more matter-of-factly, and she knew then that he was trying to be stoic, to hide his worry and concern for her benefit.

“Okay, but we’re going to get you to a doctor first. We’ll drive this bucket of bolts to your truck and come back for it and Bishop later.”