Jake scanned the surrounding woods. Any tracks they might have made had been covered by the falling snow. Then he remembered that the cabin wasn’t far from the lake. Rasmussen might have taken her there. There were no trees, which would make an excellent landing point for a small chopper. Even though the lake was frozen with a foot of ice, a chain-saw would make short work of the ice. The deep water would be the perfect place to hide two bodies….
Dashing back inside, Jake tore off his snowmobile suit and stepped into the snow camouflage parka and pants. If the heavy snowfall continued, he might just be able to reach her before it was too late.
He sprinted through the woods, muscling through drifts and fallen logs. Branches scratched at his face and snagged his clothes, but he didn’t slow down. His heart dropped when he spotted a person lying against a tree a dozen yards away. He looked down and saw blood in the snow. Plenty of it. Leigh, he thought, and sprinted to the tree.
Mike Madrid lay on his side, the snow surrounding him dark with blood. For a moment Jake thought he was dead. “Aw, man, no.”
Then Madrid raised his head and cursed. “Took you long enough,” he said weakly.
Jake began to assess the other man’s injuries. “Easy, partner. Let me have a look at you.”
Gently he rolled Madrid onto his back. The other man groaned. He’d been shot in the abdomen and was slowly bleeding out.
“Bastard has armor-piercing bullets,” Madrid said.
Jake snatched up his cell phone and dialed Sean Cutter. Cutter picked up on the first ring.
“I got a man down,” Jake said without preamble.
Cutter swore. “Who?”
“Madrid.”
“How bad?”
“Code red.”
“Where are you?”
“Michigan. Southeast of Sault Sainte Marie. I’ll turn on his GPS. We got heavy weather, Sean.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Come armed.” Jake disconnected and turned to Madrid. “Where did they take Leigh?”
“I was in and out of consciousness for a while. But from what I gathered, they’re going to kill her, drop her body through the ice,” Madrid said, gasping for breath.
Jake broke a sweat beneath his winter gear.
As if the words had taken too much energy, Madrid closed his eyes. Jake reached out and touched the other man’s shoulder. “You’re going to be all right, partner.”
“Go get that…son of a bitch.”
Jake knew how painful a gut shot was and wished there was something he could do. He reached into Madrid’s coat and pulled out his cell phone. Removing the back, he turned on the GPS chip all MIDNIGHT agents were required to have installed and tucked the phone back into Madrid’s coat pocket. “Cutter’s on the way with a medivac.”
“Go get her, Vanderpol.”
Jake squeezed Madrid’s shoulder, then rose and started toward the lake. He ran for what seemed like miles. Abruptly the trees opened to a vast white plain Jake recognized as the lake. He skidded down the embankment and hit the ice running. Visibility was only a few yards. He had no idea which direction he was going. He didn’t even know if his hunch was right. All he knew was that he was out of options.
He’d just hit his stride when a scream shattered the silence. He halted, listening.
“Jake! Jaaaaake! Help me!”
The terror in Leigh’s voice shattered his heart. If he didn’t get to her soon, it would be too late.
Adrenaline pumping full force through his body, Jake started in the direction of her screams.
LEIGH COULD FEEL the cold numbing her body as she trudged through the snow toward certain death. But even though she was terrified of the horrors that waited for her beneath the ice, she could only think of Jake. Oh, how she’d wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. That she would never get the chance broke her heart.
She shouted his name, but her voice was getting weak. The cold and terror working in tandem were zapping her strength. She’d sworn she wouldn’t give Rasmussen the satisfaction of seeing her cry. But as the thug forced her closer to the hole in the ice, she had to choke back sobs.
The thug who’d caught her and was now taking her to Rasmussen had grown silent. Even his grip on her arm had loosened some. Leigh suspected he might have a smidgen of humanity left in the shell of his heart, but she knew it was not enough to save her. She knew Rasmussen would kill anyone who got in the way of his goal, including his own men.
She stumbled on the ice where the surface had buckled, and fell to her knees, sobbing openly now. Wherever Jake was, she prayed he was safe.
“Get up, lady.”
The thug’s voice reached her as if from a great distance. Not certain she had the strength to rise, she looked up. The snow was coming down so hard she could barely make out his expression.
“I need to rest,” she said.
“You’re going to get plenty of rest where you’re going.” He took her arm. “Let’s go.”
A shift in light behind him caught her attention. A spec of gray.