Perfect Partners

Thornquist Gear boots and down jackets, he thought. He was in no danger of freezing yet, thanks to them.
    Except for his right hand
. It wouldn’t be long before his fingers were numb. He had to finish this quickly.
    “Joel. On your right. Look right.” Morgan’s warning roared through the blowing snow.
    Joel obeyed instantly. He swung the revolver and his gaze simultaneously to the right just as the deadly white shroud lifted once more.
    Copeland was less than two yards away, flailing about as he struggled to orient himself to Morgan’s voice. He stumbled and fired wildly into the woods.
    Joel pushed himself to his feet and launched himself at Copeland, knocking him off balance.
    They went down heavily into the bank of snow at the edge of the road that overlooked the river. The revolver feel from Joel’s numbed fingers. He landed on top of Copeland’s huge frame.
    Copeland convulsed as he tried to bring his gun up to aim at Joel.
    Joel slammed a fist into Copeland’s thick midsection and then grabbed the wrist of his gun hand. He held on with both hands and twisted desperately.
    Copeland screamed with rage and pain. The gun fell into the snow. Joel tried to leap back out of the way of a huge fist. His booted foot skidded in the snow, and he lost his balance.
    Copeland’s blow found its target. The strength behind it was incredible. Joel’s entire left arm went numb. He glanced down and saw the gun disappearing into the snow. He grabbed it with cold fingers.
    Copeland was already on his feet, charging like a bull elephant. Joel sidestepped him at the last instant.
    “Don’t make me pull the trigger, you son of a bitch,” Joel yelled as Copeland staggered and turned for another charge.
    “You won’t pull it. You haven’t got the guts to pull it. I followed you all this way, and I’m going to kill you. Should have killed you fifteen years ago.”
    Copeland’s savage grin was visible through the falling snow. The sound of his heavy wheezing was louder than the wind.
    “I said stop,” Joel repeated. “I meant it.” It was like talking to a wild animal intent on charging. The man was beyond reason. Copeland had death in his eyes as he closed in for the kill.
    Joel leveled the gun, pointing it at Copeland’s midsection. In another two seconds he would have no choice. Copeland’s eyes promised death.
    Just as Copeland started to charge again, a wild burst of wind blew a blinding eddy of snow around the two men. Copeland roared. Joel realized the man was still charging despite the lack of visibility—but he was no longer moving toward Joel. He was heading toward the gorge.
    Copeland never saw the low, metal guardrail. He struck it with his knee, tripped, and fell forward over the edge.
    There was a scream and then a shocking silence as the big man fell down the side of the gorge into the river below.
    Joel stood looking over the guardrail for a long moment. He realized he could see the river clearly. The fury of the storm was starting to lessen. Then he remembered his numb fingers. He slowly put on his glove.
    Morgan came up beside him. He looked down at the still figure lying face down in the water at the edge of the river. “We’ll have to push his car out of the way before we can go on to the cabin. But there’s no rush now. They’re all safe.”
    Joel felt something that had been coiled very tightly within him start to relax. He thought of Letty waiting at the cabin. “Yes,” he said. “They’re safe.”
    “Are you okay?” Morgan asked.
    “I’m okay. Let’s put the chains on and get going.”
    It took nearly an hour to drive the rest of the way to the cabin. By the time they arrived, the intensity of the storm had diminished. In the wake of the howling wind, a deep stillness cloaked the forest.
    Joel parked the Jeep in front of the house and climbed out. He felt drained and exhausted. He realized that the only thing he really wanted in the whole world in that moment was Letty. The door on the other side of the Jeep opened and Morgan emerged.
    “Hell of a trip,” Morgan said, stretching.
    A woman’s keening cry of anguish ripped through the white silence.
    Joel and Morgan lunged toward the front door of the house.

20

    S tephanie screamed. “Too fast. It’s all happening too fast,” she gasped. And then she cried out again.
    “It’s okay, Steph. You’re doing just great,” Letty told her from the foot of the bed. She glanced at Diana, who was holding Stephanie’s hand and