Page 7 of Being Bold (Tactical Operations & Protection (TOP) Security #1)

A sob escaped her as she pushed her legs harder, hurdling through the snow that tried to slow her down with each step. She needed to reach the tree line if she had any hope of escaping. It was only twenty feet away.

The next bullet grazed her head, and she stumbled, crumpling forward into the snow. The initial bite of the bullet faded as shock suffused her body. Something warm seeped into her left ear while she lay there, stunned.

“It’s always more entertaining when they fight.” Mr. Dao’s commentary floated to her from a distance.

She couldn’t tell if they were getting closer or not. Dizziness made it hard to focus.

“But you weren’t supposed to shoot her, Felix. What if someone heard that?” The question was clearly rhetorical as he snarled, “Time to get the hell out of the cold.”

“What if she’s not dead?”

“The spatter of blood would suggest otherwise. And if she’s not, the elements will finish the job.”

Selene stayed very still, determined to make them think she was already gone.

“Should I shoot her again to be sure?”

No, you should not, Felix! Her flight response triggered, and she nearly leapt to her feet.

“No! You’ve already ruined my plan.” The scorn in Mr. Dao’s voice slowed the adrenaline pumping in her veins. “The best we can hope for is they think she ran afoul of a hunter. There will be no possibility at all of it looking like an accident if she’s riddled with bullet holes.”

Felix grumbled something about hunting weapons in response that she didn’t catch, but what she did hear was the crunch of snow under their shoes as they walked away.

Thank you, baby Jesus!

Her face had gone numb, pressed against the frosty ground. Whatever had dripped into her ear made its way down her neck, but it was no longer warm. She refused to shiver. No matter how cold she felt, she wasn’t going to move until their car drove away.

Several too-long minutes later, she heard the roar of the Range Rover’s engine. She could’ve wept with relief, but any tears would’ve frozen. The chill had seeped past her bones into the very marrow. If she made it through this, she was going to take the longest, hottest shower ever.

Another couple of minutes and the crunch of tires on snow receded into the distance. She waited a few more minutes to be safe before pushing to her feet. The movement made her wince as pain pierced her head, but she couldn’t let herself worry about what that might mean.

Avoiding the direction Mr. Dao traveled, Selene forced one foot in front of the other as she made her way to the tree line.

The falling snow seemed to multiply, coating her eyelashes.

She blinked against the moisture and pulled herself forward with her poles.

With every step, the wind bit at her bare hands, but she kept moving. As if salvation lay in those woods.

The snowfall slowed when she made it under the cover of the pines, but so did her pace. She was so cold. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. What chance did she really have to survive this?

But what about Yumi?

Thinking of her friend sent a spike of fear through her spine.

If she lived, she could save her. Warn her somehow that Mr. Dao would be coming after her.

Selene still had no clue why he wanted her dead.

What had she stumbled into? What was that model for?

How could it be important enough to kill her over?

Questions plagued her as she trudged through the woods.

The crisp, earthy smells of winter filled her nose as she ducked and pushed branches out of her way.

The blanket of snow made her crash through the foliage, deafening, scaring any creature brave enough to be out in this weather.

When the ground started to slope upward, she dug in her poles and crampons, determined to see what lay over the rise.

Maybe there’d be a house. Or a campsite. Or at the very least, a road.

Because she had to live. To warn her friend.

If she could get somewhere with a phone . . . for a moment, she paused, flushed with hope, patting her pockets for her cell phone. But no, of course they hadn’t given it back to her. They hadn’t brought her work bag either. She didn’t even have her wallet.

A bitter thought twisted her gut. They couldn’t make it too easy to identify the body.

If— no, when , she corrected herself—she lived through this, she would figure out a way to save Yumi.

But that wasn’t all she’d do. A darkness she’d never felt before stirred to life in her heart, demanding she make Mr. Dao pay.

Because if she’d gleaned one thing, it was that she wasn’t the first person he’d done this to.

He wouldn’t get away with murder. She wouldn’t let him.

By the time she topped the rise, her leg muscles were on fire.

She paused, taking in the idyllic scene below.

Moonlight glinted off snow-covered slopes, which bottomed out to a clearing cut by a wide, currently frozen creek.

It was long, winding, and narrow, but the land leveled enough to host a rustic cabin before reaching the opposite slope.

She didn’t see any smoke coming from the chimney or any lights within, but maybe there’d be a phone.

Or at the very least, a dry place to rest.

Renewed energy surged through her veins.

Riding that wave, she half slid, half hopped down the slope to the dark little cabin.

When she made it to the log building, she dropped her poles, unlatched her snowshoes, and climbed the two steps to the front door.

She reached for the handle and prayed it wouldn’t be locked.

As she turned it, the wind rushed in, blowing the door out of her hold. It slammed against the cabin wall with a loud knock. Inside, she saw a man, backlit by moonlight streaming in from the kitchen window.

Oh! Thank God someone’s here.

“Help me,” the words rushed from her half-frozen lips.

The wind kept blowing, wrapping her hair around her head wound. The man didn’t respond, but she wasn’t deterred. Not when he was her last speck of hope, glimmering like a beacon of warmth after the icy hell she’d endured.

Relief wanted to make her weak, but she thought of Yumi again. Stepping inside, Selene lifted her hand to touch the stinging in her head. Pain coursed down her neck, followed by a wave of dizziness that swept over her and sent her crashing to the floor.