“Why?”
“You’re listing to the right.”
“I didn’t notice,” she said. “My head hurts, but-”
“I think you have a concussion. Here-this is a good place to take cover while Duke tracks her.” He helped Nora over a fallen redwood tree. It was large enough that if they sat behind it, they would be mostly out of sight. She pulled her gun out. Maggie couldn’t think she’d be able to get to them, not three against one, but Nora knew that Maggie didn’t think logically. Maybe in her own mind it made sense, but not to Nora.
“Sit still,” Sean said, “I’ll keep-”
Movement to the west had them both bracing for attack. But it was Duke who emerged from the woods.
“You’re both okay?” he asked, partly jogging, partly sliding down the mountainside to reach them.
“Yes,” Nora said.
“Nora has a concussion,” Sean said.
“We don’t know that-”
Duke squatted beside her, touched her face, her head, his hand came away with sticky blood. He kissed her lightly, then helped her stand. “We need to get out of here. You need a doctor, and the smoke is getting so thick I don’t know if Sean will be able to take off.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sean said. He glanced at Duke, concern on his face. Nora caught the exchange.
“Boys,” she said, “I’m okay. Really. Do you know which way Maggie went? She obviously knows this mountain well, she can disappear and we won’t be able to find her.”
“Right now, getting the three of us out of the middle of this forest fire is my number one priority,” Duke said. “We’ll come back and search for her when it’s contained.”
“She could be long gone,” Nora said. She wouldn’t be able to rest knowing that Maggie O’Dell was free to go after the people she loved.
“We’ll cross that bridge later.” Duke helped Nora over the log, down to the road, and then they stayed to the side, away from the steep incline down into the deep canyon. Duke kept his gun drawn, knowing that they weren’t safe from Maggie yet. “You do know how to get back, right Sean?”
“Yes. Keep to this road.” He had a compass in his hand. “Where the road meets itself, we head two degrees northeast and we’ll hit the plane in less than a quarter mile.”
Duke was extremely worried about Nora. She insisted she was fine, but she couldn’t walk in a straight line. That made her vulnerable, and Maggie was in the woods. Waiting.
Duke had watched her, listened to her, and knew Maggie wasn’t going to run away. She wanted revenge on Nora for a whole host of things that had little to do with her in the first place. But in Maggie’s head, Nora was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in the young girl’s life. Maggie fully intended to go after her now, especially because Nora was physically nearby. Duke didn’t think that Maggie would be able to help herself.
He made hand motions to direct Sean to keep his eyes forward, and Duke would scan the mountainside and rear. The smoke had him at a disadvantage, but his military training gave him an edge. He relied more on his ears than his eyes.
Nora tripped and Duke caught her before she fell to her knees. He steadied her and said, “We have to move faster.”
“I know,” she said.
Duke listened. The coughing came from the tree line right above them on the mountainside. Maggie was there, just out of sight, but he’d heard her.
“Duke-” Nora had heard her as well.
“Keep moving,” he commanded. He glanced at Sean and motioned for him to flank Nora’s left side. “Faster.” Maggie had uneven terrain, which gave them a second advantage. He couldn’t rule out that she had a weapon. He had frisked her, but not as extensively as he would have liked. And for all he knew, she could have had a hidden cache near the fire tower.
The road curved up ahead, signaling they were halfway to the plane. Helicopters in the distance told Duke that fire suppression was in full force. A far distant siren gave him additional hope. The smoke didn’t seem to be thickening any more, and visibility was about twenty, twenty-five feet. He hoped it was better in the field where Sean had landed, or they’d be calling for a helicopter.
A glimpse of movement in the woods above them. Maggie was traveling parallel, and Duke suspected she was either trying to make it to the plane before them, or running to cut them off.
Duke said to Nora, “Come on, sweetheart, pick up the pace. We have company.”
Though Nora was limping and in pain, he didn’t have any choice. He had to push her. They needed to reach the curve first.
A sharp sting hit Duke on the side of his jaw and he stumbled and fell to his knees. He could see nothing but black and stars for several seconds. He started to shake it off, called, “Nora-”
She’d stopped when he fell. “Duke, you’re bleeding!” She started toward him.
“No!” he cried as he heard a screech from the trees and saw Maggie running down the mountainside, gravity aiding her momentum as she lunged toward Nora.
Duke jumped up, Sean right behind him, as Maggie slammed her body into Nora’s. Nora had only a moment of realization before she fell to the ground.
The women rolled across the road, Maggie holding Nora by the shoulders, forcing her to come with her.
Maggie was aiming them for the cliff. She planned to kill herself, and take Nora with her.
Duke sprinted, reached for Nora’s shirt and caught the collar, pulling her back. Sean dove like he was sliding headlong into first base and maneuvered his body between the women and the edge of the cliff.
“Sean!” Duke shouted. He was precariously close to the edge, but he controlled his slide and his body thwarted Maggie’s plan. Her head hit Sean’s legs. Duke tried to pull Nora away from the deranged killer, but Maggie held on to her body tightly.
Nora screamed and Duke saw the knife in Maggie’s hand. She brought up her arm, her face full of unstable rage, and Duke saw blood dripping from the blade.
She’d stabbed Nora.
Duke aimed his Colt at Maggie’s hand and without hesitation, fired
Her hand was no longer there, only a bloody pulp from three well-placed bullets.
Maggie was on her knees, screaming in pain, inches from the edge of the precipice. Nora was beneath her. Too close to the abyss. Too close to death.
Sean scrambled to grab Nora under the arms and pull her to safety, while Maggie caught hold of her waist with her uninjured hand. On purpose, Maggie put her own legs over the edge, holding on to Nora’s lower body. Nora cried out. “Duke!”
“I’m right here!” He maneuvered for a shot, but it wasn’t clear. He was sweating, unable to get a lock on Maggie.
Nora pleaded with Maggie. “Let me go!” She tried to kick the woman away, but Maggie held on tight. Her grip on Nora was the only thing preventing her from free-falling hundreds of feet.
“Never! You’re dead, Nora, dead!” Maggie screamed.
Duke shouted, “Sean!”
“I have her! Do it!”
Duke aimed and fired a bullet between Maggie’s eyes. Time seemed to freeze. The shock on her face, the realization that she was dead right as the bullet hit. Her body fell, her weight dragging Nora farther over the edge, the dry earth crumbling, jeopardizing both Sean and Nora.
Maggie disappeared from view and Duke heard the sick thump of her body hitting a tree. Nora’s legs had disappeared over the edge. Sean had her by one biceps.
“Duke! She’s slipping!”
Duke crawled over and grabbed Nora’s other arm. “Now!” he told Sean. They pulled Nora up and onto safe ground.
