The turnoff should be right ahead, Sasha thought. But it might not be in time. Not only were they being chased by Masenak and Reardon, but there was another vehicle behind them. Davidow? She couldn’t tell. It was a blur. Then it wasn’t a blur, it was a truck filled with Masenak’s soldiers!

There was the turnoff!

Only seconds later Chaos was making the turn, closely followed by Nightshade. They were both running full speed down the rocky shale road toward the complex of warehouses, garages, and helicopter pad below when Sasha saw the huge orange transport chopper hovering in the center of the canyon over the pad. It was about to land.

Not good.

There was no doubt the pilot and any other of Reardon’s men on board would be armed and lethal. And that meant there might be no safety for her or any of the other people down there that Alisa had sent to help them. Reardon and Masenak were so close, and they must have seen the helicopter, too. All Reardon would have to do was make a call to order that firepower turned loose on them.

A bullet whistled by her head, burying itself into the shale rocks of the road ahead!

And it came not from the helicopter but from Masenak’s car, which had just made the turn onto the canyon road.

*  *  *

“What are you doing?” Masenak reached out to grab Reardon’s gun. “She’s valuable. We’ve got to catch her, not kill her.”

“She made a fool of me.” Reardon knocked his hand aside. “Do you think I’ll tolerate that? I’ve watched you indulge her and let her treat you as if you were nothing. Well, she won’t treat me like that. It’s the horse that’s important, not the girl. I’ll get another jockey. That was a warning shot. Then next one won’t be.”

“She’s valuable,” Masenak repeated. “And she’d be much more entertaining if you kept her alive. You have that helicopter sitting down there on the pad. Call the pilot and order him to send out the crew, grab the other sentries on duty, and go after her. We’ll trap her between us.”

Reardon swore savagely. But the next instant he reached for his phone.

*  *  *

The shot hadn’t been that close, Sasha thought desperately. Maybe they’d only wanted to frighten her into stopping. But though the bullet had obviously been aimed at her, the horses were also in danger. She had to get them all off this access road and then take them to somewhere down below where she could find cover or protection. Alisa had said they might only have to hide for a short time before she could get to them. The road exit wasn’t far now. Only a short distance…

*  *  *