Logically, Niki would realize she needed shelter just as much as they did. She might already be at the house, waiting for them. The electricity might not be off; she might have turned off the lights herself, so she’d have the advantage of surprise. He couldn’t afford to assume she was either out in the cold, or inside the house; he had to expect anything, everything, and make no assumptions that could prove out wrong and catch him unprepared. Until Niki was accounted for, he couldn’t let his guard down.
The night continued to be punctuated by the sharp retorts of limbs and trees snapping. The sound wasn’t constant, but neither did it end. None of the trees closest to the road had fallen, not yet, but they would, and soon. For now the worst of the fall was deeper in the woods, where trees had been left untended for an eternity. At least the ones bordering the road had occasionally been trimmed.
“I don’t suppose there’s cut wood for the fireplace stacked by the back door,” he said, trying to distract Lolly, trying to encourage her to imagine the comfort that waited ahead.
“No wood,” she said, panting with the effort to keep going. He winced, kissing the dream of a fire good-bye, then she continued, “We converted to gas years ago.”
Even better. “Hallelujah. Gas stove, too?”
“Yes.”
“Water heater?”
“Uh-huh.”
That was a relief, a huge one. They’d have some means of getting warm, and could spend the night in relative comfort. “Not much farther to go, Lolly, and we’ll have a roof over our heads, heat, even some food.”
“What if she’s there?” Lolly asked, terror in her voice. Obviously her thoughts had been running along the same lines as his.
Gabriel shrugged. He was outwardly calm, inwardly concerned. “If Niki’s there, I’ll handle it. I promise.”
She nodded in agreement, but didn’t seem to be entirely convinced. Who could blame her? Their situation wasn’t a good one, between the weather, the dark, and the nut-job who could come bursting without warning from out of the forest, or out of any closet or from under any bed.
Above them, a big engine abruptly roared to life.
Gabriel lifted his head at the sound. “Well, we know where Niki is,” he murmured.
Lolly drew closer to him. “Yeah.” She sounded nervous and wary.
Was Niki really stupid enough, or strung out enough, to try to drive down this hill? She wouldn’t be starting the Blazer just to get warm, when all she had to do was go in the house. Why give her position away like that?
The sound of the engine changed, and gears shifted. Headlamps came to life, cutting through the darkness, catching in its beams the almost ethereal mist and making it glow.
Niki smiled. The Blazer was coated with ice and just getting the door open had been a bitch, but she’d managed it. She was alone, she was out of bullets, but Lorelei Helton and her big guy with his stick didn’t stand a chance against her Blazer. She’d run them down like the dogs they were.
“For Darwin,” she said, getting teary at the memory of the miles they’d covered in this Blazer. Maybe he hadn’t been perfect; maybe he had cheated on her a few times. But through it all he’d been hers, and now he was gone. Darwin, gone. She couldn’t believe it.
She gunned the engine and headed toward the hill and the center of the narrow drive. The rear end of the Blazer immediately started sliding around and she fought with the wheel for control, which she gained, and lost, and gained again. At least she was headed in the right direction. She was barely out of the yard when the headlights picked out her targets, there on the side of the road. The two murderers stood side by side, close together, stupidly looking up the hill, looking at her. They didn’t realize what she had planned. They probably thought she was running away, that she was a coward who would give up and let them win, a coward who wouldn’t make them pay for what they’d done.
Then the big guy seemed to realize what she planned to do, because he bodily lifted Lorelei and leapt into the tree line with her. A bloody haze of rage rose in Niki’s vision. No fucking way was she going to miss them now, like a few trees could stop her. They had to pay. They had to pay for killing Darwin; Lorelei had to pay for making a fool of her by going out a second-story window; she had to pay for leading Darwin on until he couldn’t think about anything except getting in her pants. She’d catch them and ram them up against a tree, pinning their bodies there, and she’d laugh while they died in agony. She wanted that. She wanted it as much as she wanted her next hit. She’d have her hit soon, in just a few minutes, as soon as she’d taken care of this little chore.
The slope of the driveway increased, going down to the first sharp curve. Niki barely glanced at the pavement; her attention was on the spot where the big guy had gone into the woods. She spun the wheel to the left, and the entire Blazer began sliding sideways to the right. Swearing, she turned back to the right, trying to straighten the vehicle. The old Blazer responded, then the rear end swung around and damn if she wasn’t sliding to the left now. Furiously she fought the vehicle. How in hell was she supposed to do what she wanted if the damn truck wouldn’t go straight? What good was four-wheel drive if it didn’t work on ice?
She jerked the wheel to the left, and both right wheels of the Blazer came off the ground. “Shit!” she yelped, suddenly realizing how close she was getting to the bottom, and the steep drop-off on the other side of the driveway. “Shit!” The Blazer settled back onto all four wheels; the big tires tried to grab traction but spun uselessly on the ice. The Blazer slid backward, then slowly began a sickening spin, around and around, gaining speed as it whirled toward the looming drop-off. She had the totally inane thought that it was almost like riding the teacups at Disneyland.