He caught her hands. Her gloves were gone, only bits of fabric remained. “Are you?” Thomas demanded his voice an angry growl.
Noelle shook her head.
Somehow, they’d both made it out of that hell.
Jenny was sobbing.
Thomas rose to his feet. He picked Jenny up in his arms. “Watch my back,” he told Noelle.
She had her weapon ready again. The killer had to be close. He’d set the fire just moments before, but...
It wasn’t the time to chase after him. They had to get Jenny to safety. Jenny was the key. She could help them identify her attacker.
Noelle hurried her steps and followed closely behind Thomas. His hold was gentle on Jenny. He had to be freezing, but he didn’t slow at all. He was fast and strong, and his grip on the young woman was unbreakable.
For an instant, the snow-covered landscape vanished, and Noelle saw—
Not flames. Not snow. A forest. Woods. Noelle remembered the moonlight that had trickled through the tops of the trees. She’d stared up at it as he’d held her. His grip had been so strong. So solid. She’d been...safe.
Noelle’s grip tightened on her gun as the image faded. She glanced back over her shoulder. The cabin was burning; the hungry flames consumed the place, destroying any evidence that might have been left behind.
But...
Jenny is safe. She survived.
Noelle was used to finding the bodies of the victims in her job as a profiler. She usually arrived too late to help anyone. But this... This was different.
We saved her.
She kept her gun up as she hastened after Thomas and Jenny.
I’ll always be with you.
The voice whispered through her mind, and the voice—it belonged to Thomas.
* * *
JENNY WAS LOADED into the back of an ambulance. Thomas watched its lights flash on as the siren’s cry filled the night. Jenny had been sobbing when she was loaded up. She’d told him again and again how sorry she was. He made her lure us into that cabin—he wanted us all to burn.
“I can’t thank you two enough.” Sheriff Hodges came toward him. He stared at Thomas, then Noelle with wide eyes. “That girl... You saved her.”
They’d
nearly died with her. Thomas looked back at the wilderness. “When are the dogs getting here?” Because every moment that passed was another moment the perp could use to flee.
“We can’t send them out, not with the storm.”
He’d been afraid of that. The snow was already falling so much harder, and the howl of the wind was constant now.
The sheriff ran a gloved hand over his face. “Word came through on the radio a little while ago. The storm’s due to hit any minute. It won’t be safe to send anyone out. The snow’s gonna be too thick. The snowstorm will last all night.”
And it would give the killer out there the perfect cover for his escape.
“Jenny wouldn’t have lasted until dawn.” Noelle’s voice was soft. “If he hadn’t killed her, then the storm would’ve.”
Thomas could feel the push of the impending gales. As he’d carried Jenny, he’d fought to stay upright as the wind and the snow blasted against him.
“You two need to get secure for the night.” Hodges gave a firm nod. “I’ll get my men to check the area once more, but then I have to send them in. I won’t lose any of my people for that guy.”