“I can’t get inside,” she yelled, hoping to warn whoever was in there that a raving lunatic was close by and to simply stay quiet and stay put.

Corinne hid her gun behind her back and cried out, “Help. Please help us.”

Darby heard movement inside the hut. She couldn’t allow anyone else to get caught up in this nightmare. She couldn’t let another innocent life be taken when she was Corinne’s target.

“Don’t come out here! She’s the killer the police are hunting!”

“You little bitch.”

Corinne fired blindly at the shack and they both heard a cry of shock or pain. Darby’s heart hammered frantically against her ribs. She expected to be next and braced herself for a bullet.

Instead, a hard yank on the back of her hood had her falling backwards onto the unyielding ice. She would have banged her head if not for the thick cushion of her jacket.

She scrambled to find purchase, but Corinne was pulling her along the frozen surface of the lake by the hood of her parka. The other woman tried the doors of the truck, but they were all locked.

Corinne screeched loudly. And swore. Then she grabbed Darby’s hood again and hauled her along like a dead seal. She gasped, barely able to suck in air at this temperature. Her throat hurt. Her lungs hurt. Where was Eban? Had he noticed she was gone yet? Presumably, he was the reason the helicopter was flying at night—hopefully searching for her.

A second hut was tucked in behind the first. This one was dark and no vehicle sat outside which suggested it was unoccupied. The sound of the helicopter seemed to have gone off in another direction. Dammit. Where was the cavalry?

“You can’t kill everyone who gets in your way, Corinne. Even if you are angry, and justifiably so. For all you know, the person in that hut suffered the same way you and I have suffered. They might be a victim too. They might need medical help.” She used the word victim deliberately. Corinne might have found a way to feel powerful, but it didn’t make her a survivor. Her trauma had destroyed the best parts of her. Darby didn’t kid herself that Corinne would spare her life. Not when Darby would go against her at every turn.

She saw a shadow flitting in the background but didn’t allow her eyes to track the movement. It was probably the wind and snow, but she hoped it was her rescue.

They reached the door of the second hut and Darby’s stomach turned. Now she was next to it, the structure bore an unsettling resemblance to the hut where she’d been abused in Indonesia. She couldn’t, wouldn’t go inside. Especially not with a freaking maniac.

“Let’s smash the window of the truck,” she suggested desperately. “I know how to hot-wire it. I can get us out of here even if I won’t help you kill anyone.”

Corinne let her go. Her expression faltered, but the gun did not waver. “I thought you understood.”