You Only Die Twice - By Christopher Smith Page 0,23
had been left, and then she tried to see if she could get a connection, but she couldn’t. Everything outgoing had been dismantled and since she was no techie, she knew that whatever he’d done to the phone, she’d never be able to fix.
She put the phone back in her pocket―and her heart stopped when her fingertips touched something cool at the very bottom of it. She knew at once what it was, and the thrill she felt was undeniable. She forgot she had it on her because she rarely smoked, though she did last night because Patty was with her and that’s what they did when they went out. She’d been so distracted by everything that was happening to her, she hadn’t even felt it in her pants. She pulled out the red Bic lighter and gave it a flick. It took three tries for it to light, but when it did, it was perhaps the most beautiful sight she’d seen all day.
Besides the moose.
Hunters hunted in these woods. The less responsible ones would leave debris behind, like tin cans used for coffee or food. If she could find an old can, she would be able to create a small fire and boil water in it. That would kill off any bacteria and she would be fine. She wasn’t so much worried about food, at least not right now, but water and shelter were critical for her survival.
She needed to make plans. First, she had to find a water source. Second, she had to make an inconspicuous shelter that was near it. Third, she needed to find something, anything, that could be used to boil water.
Finally, what was most daunting is that somehow she had to do all of this without him hearing her, and she wasn’t sure that was possible, since building the shelter alone would involve the breaking of branches. Worse, when she created a fire, the smell of the smoke would give him an idea of where she was. At night, if she started even the smallest of fires to generate heat, he’d see the glow. So, at the very least, she couldn’t have a fire at night. The smoke would drift in the breeze, which might actually confuse him if the breeze came from different directions, but the glow was a mainstay. He’d see it. He’d find her.
She thought about that for a moment, and her mind went to a darker place. If she was prepared for him, was it so awful if he found her? If she could draw him to her, what were the possibilities if she did?
She looked around her, from the forest floor to the few dead pines scattered amid the living trees. She studied their branches, which, if broken, could be used as a weapon.
But he has a gun.
So he did. But at night, in the ever-changing shadows cast by a fire, he might not see her until it was too late.
It was a risk, a big one because setting a fire would absolutely draw him to her, but what else did she have?
And then, in a rush, it came to her.
She thought it through. She smiled in spite of her broken lips and the knowledge that the odds were against her. She knew she likely wouldn’t come out of this alive. But it was something. And it could work.
For the first time since she woke this morning, beaten to a pulp on some random forest floor by a maniac she didn’t know, she felt a spark of hope and knew exactly what she had to do.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ted Carpenter stood deep in the woods, his gun at his side, his breathing labored, his heart slamming against his chest as if it wanted out every bit as much as Cheryl Dunning wanted out of these woods.
He was lost.
Before he was chased by the moose, everything was going as planned. Everything was under control. She was in his sights. He was scaring the hell out of her just as he and Kenneth did with everyone they eventually murdered.
And then she disappeared.
She probably saw the moose herself and ducked behind some trees. If that was the case, then she set him up. She intentionally hadn’t warned him. She let him run straight into that moose’s path―not to mention its wrath―as if his life meant nothing to her. As if he wasn’t there to serve the Lord. As if he wasn’t there to represent the Lord. Didn’t she get it?
Obviously not.
If she was in