Then...hell, he’d revealed too much. Mercer would nail his hide to the wall, but Thomas didn’t care. Noelle deserved to know what was happening. Especially if the past was coming back—and it sure looked as if it was.
He headed around the cabin and shined his light up near Noelle’s window.
Snow covered the area once more, and there was no sign up there anyone had been climbing on the cabin. No sign but...
His light lowered. It hit the ground. The snow was blowing wildly around him, flying hard. He turned to the left because over the howl of the wind, he’d thought he’d heard—
His light fell on the shadowy form of man. A man who stood less than fifteen feet away from him. The man was bundled up, with a thick ski mask covering his face.
He stared at Thomas for an instant, then he spun away.
“Stop!” Thomas snarled.
But the man didn’t stop. He ran into the thick snow, heading for the line of trees.
And Thomas hurried after him as he fought the grasping hold of the snow.
* * *
THE THUNDER OF a gunshot rose over the howling of the wind.
Noelle lunged for the door when she heard that sound. Forget securing the interior of the cabin. Thomas needed her!
She already had on her borrowed coat, and she rushed for the door with her flashlight in one hand and her gun in the other. She didn’t have on gloves, and the wind whipped against her skin.
“Thomas!” The gale seemed to yank the cry away from her.
Another gunshot rang out. It sounded as though it had come from the line of trees near the east. She fought the snow and struggled in that direction.
Her light flew around. She didn’t see Thomas and couldn’t see anything but the line of trees and a haze of white as the snow spun in the air.
Thomas wasn’t answering her call. Had he been the one firing? Or had someone been shooting at him?
She pushed into the shadows of the trees. The cold was already making her body shake. Her fingers had a death grip on the flashlight and the gun.
A shadow rushed to the side, moving in the corner of her light. She spun to the left. “Thomas?”
Then something hit her. No, someone. The tackle sent Noelle flying into the snow. She shoved up with her elbow, ready to break her assailant’s nose.
“It’s me!”
Thomas’s voice.
“He’s got a gun, baby, so be careful.” He rose then. He didn’t have a light, and hers had slipped from her grip. She floundered, trying to find it, but he caught her hand. “The light just makes us a bigger target.”
Noelle thought she heard laughter then, tangled with the howl of the wind.
Thomas pulled away from her. He seemed to be swallowed by the thick snow. She scrambled to her feet. Her eyes were narrowed as she struggled to keep him in her line of sight, but he was moving quickly, even in that thick curtain. Heading deeper into the woods as he followed his prey.
Someone was in the house with us. Someone saw...
“I remember you...”
Did she hear those words? Imagine them? The storm was so loud.
“Noelle...” Something brushed over her arm, and she jumped as she spun around.
But... No one was there.