Free Chill by Stephanie Rowe Page A

it’s always good to break in new clothes.” She forced herself to smile. “Adventure is always a good thing.”
    How many times had she gone through this exercise in her life? Silly little things to take the edge off enough that she could function. “And Nate didn’t shoot me right away, so there’s something else that’s going well.”
    His hesitation had told her he wouldn’t shoot her until he had the necklace and everything she knewabout it. She had it hidden in her pants, but how long would that work? She should stash it for later retrieval. She sighed and leaned her head back against the towering pines. What if she concealed it up there? Marked the tree somehow? If she could make it up there—
    Isabella stood and slung her bag across her shoulders.
    She grabbed the bottom branch, then gasped when pain shot through her injured shoulder. Her head spun, and she let go of the branch, staggering under the agony. She knelt in the damp pine needles, clutching her arm while she fought to stay conscious under the onslaught of pain.
    Her head spun and she let herself collapse to the ground. She would give the pain a moment to subside.
    Then she would get up and soldier onward. It was pretty obvious she couldn’t afford to stop again.
    But as she let the cold forest floor seep into her body, she had a bad feeling she wouldn’t be able to start again. That she’d reached her limit.
    “No!” She braced herself on the ground and shoved herself to her knees. “You will not give up.”
    She grabbed a branch and pulled herself to her feet, gritting her teeth against the agony.
    And then she began to walk again.
    She didn’t even know what direction she was going.
    She just went.
    Luke moved silently through the forest, staying just out of sight and sound of Isabella as he followed her progress.
    He’d slipped past her stalkers and headed into the woods after her. Not to make contact. Just to make sure she was all right.
    He’d picked up her trail easily enough, and he’d caught up after about thirty minutes. He was keeping vigil to see if the others were following her, but as far as he could tell, they hadn’t ventured into the woods.
    Isabella had evaded them, and he’d been surprised by how far she’d made it by the time he caught up.
    He was equally surprised by how long she’d continued to press on, even when she began stumbling from exhaustion.
    She was a survivor.
    A woman who wouldn’t sit down and let the bad guys take her, unlike—
    No.
    He wasn’t going there. He wasn’t revisiting memories.
    Isabella let out a squawk of pain, and Luke jerked his attention back to her. She was on her knees again. Her long hair was tangled, her clothes muddy.
    He swore and forced himself not to go to her, but each time she stumbled, it was getting more difficult. “Come on,” he whispered. “You can do it.”
    There was only another mile until she’d hit a road. If she could make it there—
    “Get up, you lazy dog,” Isabella muttered. “This is the perfect way to burn off all the junk food you’ve been eating the last three days. Feel the burn, dammit!”
    Luke grinned as she surged to her feet again. “Atta girl,” he said quietly. “You can do this.”
    But as he watched, she began to sway.
    Dammit.
    With a feeling of certain impending doom that he was going to damn them both, as well as Cort and Kaylie, Luke acknowledged that without him, she was done.
    And that was something he couldn’t live with.
    No other woman could die because of Marcus, no matter what the circumstances. “Damn you, Marcus.”
    Isabella staggered and her knees began to buckle, and all hesitation fled.
    Luke was by her side before she hit the dirt.

C HAPTER E IGHT
    Luke caught Isabella just as she started to fall. Her body was lean and curvy as he scooped her up.
    She tensed instantly and leapt out of his arms. Her eyes were wide as she stumbled backward to get away from him. “No!”
    He held up his hands. “It’s Luke.