They heard the thunder of footsteps up metal stairs.
They needed to get out of here and fast. The door they’d come through led back to the parts storage room. Jason ran down the hallway and tried another door that had stairs leading down. Just as he closed the door he heard voices in the hallway headed back toward the office.
There were at least five men in all. The three who had been in the office and two who had tied them up. He had to assume that at least one of those men would remain in the glass office watching the snowplow area. This plan was fraught with risk, but it was the best they had. The stairs opened up on the floor where the plows were. Jason pressed against a wall by the door so shadows covered him.
Sure enough, the man who must be the boss or owner, and was probably the mastermind behind all the smuggling, stared down from his office. Even if they stayed close to the wall, there was a ten-foot stretch where they’d be spotted before they could hide behind one of the plows.
Isabel remained at the base of the stairs, door slightly ajar, waiting for the signal from him. He could just make out her face in the little slit where the door was open.
Jason tilted his head and watched the man above them, waiting for a second of distraction when he and Isabel could traverse the area where they’d be visible.
The seconds ticked by. The man continued to survey the area below. Jason became aware of the hardness of the wall against his back, of his own breathing and of Isabel perched behind the partly open door, her gaze fixed on him.
Finally the short muscular man, Mr. Gun, came into the office and the owner turned his back to Jason.
Jason bolted toward the first snowplow. The soft padding of Isabel’s footsteps behind him pressed on his ears. He crouched in front of the machine in between the plow blade and the garage door. Easing around to the side, he glanced up. The owner was staring out the office window again. Jason shrank back into the shadows as his heart pounded out an erratic beat. No way could he climb into the cab and not be spotted. That meant they would have only seconds to get out of the warehouse before someone would be on their tail.
He slipped back around to the front of the plow by the blade where Isabel still hid.
She leaned close and whispered in his ear. “The plow on the end doesn’t have any lights shining on it.”
He peered down the line of plow blades before nodding that her idea was the most viable one. They scurried from one plow to the next. He eased open the cab door of the last plow. Isabel got in after him on the other side.
He stared down at the control panel, trying to get his bearings, grateful to see that the key was in the ignition.
“The garage door. There’s a switch.” Before he could say anything, she had jumped out of the cab and headed toward the wall.
He started the vehicle as the door eased open and Isabel raced to get back in the cab. Now for sure they’d be noticed. He eased the plow forward even before the door was all the way open.
Isabel grabbed hold of the door and tried to climb into the cab as the tracks of the plow rolled forward. He reached out a hand and pulled her in.
Two men were behind them. One jumped onto the cab of the plow.
Jason hit the accelerator as the plow eased forward onto the flat area outside the garage doors. Another garage door opened, and the lights of a second plow glared out at them.
Jason gained speed, climbing the hill toward the road. He chose the steeper terrain, hoping that would get rid of the unwanted guest clinging to the outside of the cab.
The man jumped off. Jason caught a glimpse of movement as the man raised a gun.
“Get down.” He threw a protective hand over Isabel. Gunfire shattered the glass of the cab and rained down on them. His skin stung where the glass cut him. A chilly breeze blew in around them.
The plow lumbered up to the road that led back into town. Top speed looked to be about thirty miles an hour.
The other plow slipped in behind them.
Isabel sat back up, craning her neck. “Nick is in the other plow.”
Jason pressed the gas pedal to the floor, wishing they could go faster. He turned out onto the main road. One of the cars from the warehouse passed him and then slowed to a crawl. Nick was still bearing down on them in the plow.
“They’re trying to box us in.” Jason stared at the road ahead, where a car was coming toward them. He couldn’t risk the life of an innocent person.
He eased off the gas.
The car going in the opposite direction whizzed by.
Metal scraped against metal as Nick rammed into the back of them. Both of them jostled around in their seats.
Jason pressed the gas, turned the wheel and prepared to ease around the slow car in front of him. The car edged onto the wrong side of the road.
“Fine—that’s how you’re gonna play it?” Jason jerked the wheel in the other direction. The blade collided with the car as Jason pushed him toward a ditch.
The car was no match for the power of the plow. With one final push, the car slid into a snowbank. But Nick still rolled toward them.
Nick rammed against the side of them with the blade raised.
Jason pressed the accelerator and cranked the wheel as the other plow pushed them down the road sideways. He disentangled his plow from Nick’s.
Jason rolled forward off the road to get away from Nick. The
