Angel Fire

Chapter Sixteen

Cameron thought they were gaining ground, but she didn’t know for sure, not until she felt the ashes of their most recent campfire.

“Still warm,” she said. “I’m guessing not much more than an hour, less than two.”

“So we might catch them today?” Tori asked.

“If we don’t have any setbacks, we might,” she said. She pointed to the small stream. “Fill up if you need to.”

“Hey, guys,” Andrea said. “I think I found the reason for the gunshots we heard.”

Cameron and Tori walked over to her, watching as she kicked at a small pile of bones.

“What is it?” Tori asked.

“Squirrel, most likely,” Cameron said.

Andrea nodded. “Looks like they had fresh meat for dinner.”

Tori shook her head. “No way would Sam eat that.”

“Two squirrels. We heard two shots.”

“If you’re hungry, you’ll eat just about anything,” Cameron said. “I speak from experience.” She heard the low rumble of a helicopter and looked at her watch. “Right on time.”

“How close will they get?” Tori asked.

“Not much closer. Just enough to make him think they’re searching for him.”

“You really think he’s heading toward the highway?”

Cameron knelt down near the stream and filled her water bottle. “Eventually. He’s been traveling parallel with it. He could turn north at any time and hit the highway within half a day, I’d think.”

Tori splashed water on her face, then on her hair and slicked it back. “I can’t wait to get a shower,” she said.

“You and me both,” Andrea said. She looked at Cameron. “How did you stand going weeks without a bath?”

“Weeks?” Tori asked. “Really?”

Cameron nodded. “I spent three months in the desert with little provisions. Water was for drinking only.” She stood up. “Ready to head out?”

“Yeah. Let’s catch this bastard,” Tori said.

* * *

“Helicopters again,” Sam said. “They still don’t sound very close though.”

Angel’s gaze went to the sky. “No. They must be checking grid by grid.”

“I must not hold much weight as a hostage,” she said. “I’d like to think there’d be a hundred helicopters out looking for me.”

He gave a quick laugh. “Sorry to bust your bubble, kid, but right now, I’d guess they’re more interested in me than you.”

“Because you have three million dollars?”

“Well, that, and they have a morgue full of bodies.”

Oh, yeah. Sam had to remind herself sometimes what he’d done. Since that first day, he’d treated her more like a hiking companion than a hostage. And she, in turn, had started to think of him as something other than a killer and kidnapper. That was a bit disturbing.

“What will you do if they get closer? The helicopters, I mean.”

“We’ll take cover.”

“Yeah, but what if they have heat-seeking imaging technology?”

He shook his head. “You’ve watched too many movies, Sam.”

“Come on, Angel. You were military. Even in Dallas, we have the capability.”

“Sounds like they’re using a search and rescue helicopter. It’s not military though, which is surprising.”

“How do you know it’s not?”

“I just do.”

Sam trudged after him. He seemed to be in a bit more of a hurry today. And while her sense of direction wasn’t great, she felt like they’d turned. Of course, which way, she couldn’t tell. She looked up, finding the sun. Maybe they were heading to the north or northwest now. She opened her mouth to ask, then closed it. He didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood today. Maybe the helicopters had him more spooked than he let on. He appeared to be all business now. That frightened her a little.

Okay…a lot.