her palms against the top of the cab and prayed the seat belt would hold her in place and the cab wouldn’t be crushed. A pathetic cry escaped her throat.
Too many ways to die in this scenario flashed through her mind all at once. She feared a free fall. Then the sudden impact.
Death.
Palms sweating and heart racing, she tried to focus on praying. On trusting God.
Tires spun out and the engine roared as Liam accelerated, trying to gain control. She couldn’t look. Her breaths came faster. Suddenly . . .
The truck bounced and jarred her. Rae shrieked and opened her eyes. The truck lurched forward.
Oh, thank God . . .
“Yes!” Liam shouted. “We have traction.”
She had a strong feeling they weren’t out of danger yet. “This is good?” She squeezed the armrest as the truck cleared a copse of trees.
“We’re at a steep grade, but it’s maneuverable. This snowy slope is better for a controlled descent than the straight, rocky drop. If I can just make it . . .”
Her head hit the top of the cab. This was far from controlled. But she saw now what had happened. Liam had maneuvered the truck so it caught a slope, barely missing a hundred-foot drop.
“Hang on. We’re not out of this yet.”
“Have you done this before?”
“What? Drive down the side of a mountain? No.” Terror twisted with the exhilaration edging his words. “Right now, I need to prevent us from hitting that river at the bottom.”
An explosive pop resounded, and Liam lost control. The truck swerved to the right, then toppled onto the driver’s side—all of it happening within a few seconds. Leaning toward her, he held on to her. The truck rocked back and forth. Would it roll all the way?
When it stopped rocking and settled, Rae blew out a breath. “Is it over?”
“I hope so.” Liam slowly released her, and gravity pulled her toward him, though her seat belt fought to keep her in place. She sucked in a few breaths, trying to grasp the events.
“What just happened?” she whispered.
“I think a tire blew. We’re lucky the truck didn’t keep rolling, but it looks like we’re up against a snowbank. It could give way, so we’re still in a precarious position. I don’t want to tip the truck and start rolling or end up plunging to the bottom.” His brown eyes were dark and in them she understood what he didn’t say.
And that would kill us both.
“We’re alive.” He said the words as if he struggled to believe them.
Rae got that. She couldn’t believe they’d actually survived either.
The way breath whooshed from him concerned her. “Are you okay? You’re all right. Please tell me you’re all right.”
“Yeah. Sure.” He unbuckled. “Are you all right?”
“My chest hurts from the seat belt. I feel jarred.” And bruised. “But I’m alive. Thanks to you and your driving. That was incredible. You’re incredible.” The buckle kept her in the seat, so she left it on for the moment.
“I don’t know about that. Listen, we need to get out of here. Whoever ran us off the road might come down to finish the job.”
“You don’t need to say more.”
He positioned himself against the door and dug around in the console.
“What are you doing?”
“Your door isn’t going to open. I have to shoot out the windshield. Cover your head.” He tossed her his coat.
“What about the airbags? Will they deploy?”
“I don’t think so, but be prepared for that too.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. You ready?”
Rae buried her head in his coat as she covered her ears. She might have screamed with the first blast—definitely with the second. She started to drop the jacket but pulled it back over her head as cold air rushed through the front of the cab.
“Stay there.”
She felt him shift around. Heard glass breaking.
“I’m kicking out the rest. We don’t want to get shredded climbing out and then bleed to death.”
A few more moments, then she dropped the coat to look. Liam had cleared much of the windshield away. He looked cold but determined.
“Here, Liam. You need your coat.”
He dropped back into his seat. “Thanks.”
He dug around in the back seat, then yanked a blanket forward. I’ll cover the glass for our great escape with this.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t just stay in the truck?”
He leveled his gaze at her. “I’m not sure about anything right now.”
Rae nodded and tried to unbuckle. “It’s stuck. It won’t unlock.”
Liam stretched his legs and jammed his hand into his pocket. He pulled out