Free Carved in Stone by Kate Douglas Page A

Nate. It hurt.”
    “We’ll talk about that later.” Maybe by then he’d have time to come up with a logical explanation. He crawled back out to the edge of the cliff to take one last look at the activity below.
    Nate saw the brittle rock explode next to Alex before he heard the rifle’s sharp report. Sharp fragments spattered across the two of them as they scurried back from the edge.
    “Damn it all! I think he saw me,” Nate gasped, pressing himself close to the rocky ground.
    “I think I might have figured that one out for myself,” Alex answered dryly, wiping a trickle of blood off her arm and grabbing her camera bag.
    The men below them shouted, but their voices were lost in the sound of a backfiring engine. Moments later, the rhythmic thrump, thrump, thrump echoed up the cliff as the helicopter’s blades shredded the still air.
    Nate grabbed Alex’s hand and hauled her to her feet behind him. The exposed plateau offered no protection.
    “The trees,” he shouted. “We have to get under the trees where they can’t spot us.”
    Stumbling at first on the rough ground, Alex struggled to catch her own rhythm. She shifted her pack over her shoulder and was quickly running as fast as Nate, hand in hand with him across the open plateau. The forest loomed dark and secure only a hundred yards away.
    The distance felt like miles. The sound of the helicopter drew closer. Gasping for breath, still clutching each other’s hand, the two of them finally reached safety beneath the sheltering canopy of the trees. Alex’s legs folded and she crumbled to the ground in relief.
    “Don’t stop. We have to keep going!” Nate yelled, almost yanking her arm out of the socket as he dragged her deeper into the woods. “C’mon, sweetheart, you can make it.” He pushed her ahead of him through the thick undergrowth, protecting her face from the tall ferns and thick brush that slapped and tore at both of them.
    Fighting for air, Alex gasped, “I’m not your sweetheart!” She barely heard Nate’s bark of laughter before he suddenly pushed her through a thick tangle of ferns and shoved her to the ground behind a massive downed cedar.
    She heard it then, in rhythm with the pounding of her heart, the thrump, thrump, thrump growing louder as the helicopter cleared the rim of the plateau. The noise moved closer, a throbbing beat she felt internally, as if it echoed deep inside.
    The craft hovered close against the edge of the forest, just beyond the trees where she and Nate lay hidden. A sob caught in Alex’s throat. She pressed herself against Nate’s broad chest, welcoming the comfort of his strong arms and the steady beat of his heart against her cheek.
    The helicopter hovered, suspended directly in front of their position. The wind from the blades whipped the branches and filled the air with dust and debris. Then the blast of air stilled as the engine powered down and the blades rotated without power. A few seconds later the forest went silent.
    Nate held his breath. Alex’s entire body trembled and he was painfully aware of her shuddering attempts to control each gasping breath.
    “This is the only place they could be, Duke.” The guttural voice apparently belonged to the third man. The unmistakable sound of a shell sliding into a rifle chamber punctuated his words. The predator stood just on the other side of the log, a few feet from their hiding place. A moment passed, and then he glided silently through the forest.
    Alex’s trembling increased. Her eyes went wide and her terrified gaze locked on his. Her face was flushed, her skin damp with fear. Nate slowly raised his head, just in time to see the shadowy figure of the cowboy step into his line of vision. The man appeared to be moving parallel to their hiding place, though he remained partially hidden in the undergrowth on the far side of the log.
    Alex flattened her body against Nate’s chest. Her eyes glittered with barely controlled hysteria.
    A sudden crash of