Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

least we appear to have lost them for now.” As if in answer to his words, the engine sputtered and coughed several times before dying.

Alex took the knife from her and cut her free.

“Let’s get out of here while we still can,” Rachel said.

Alex shoved the knife and lighter into his pocket and grabbed the flashlight. Once he was by her side, they raced into the woods for their lives.

Alex grabbed her hand and they took cover in the nearby trees. “If we can stay out of sight, we might stand a chance.”

“What should we do about Deacon?” Rachel asked. “He really needs help, Alex.”

The men had taken their weapons and phones. They had no way to contact Jase or anyone else to get aid to Deacon. “We can’t go back and risk leading them to him again. Let’s just hope Jase was able to get airborne and will reach us soon.”

Rachel grabbed his arm. He glanced at her and she pointed to the right. “I hear them,” she whispered.

Alex froze where he stood. His arm circled her waist, tugging her close. He could hear McNamara yelling at his men.

“They can’t be far. The SUV’s right there. Search the woods. Find them!”

“Alex, we can’t get captured again. They’ll kill us.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, and they headed deeper into the woods at a fast pace, while behind them, Alex heard the men enter the treed area.

Rachel stopped suddenly and he turned back to her. “Do you remember the summer we discovered that one cave up here?” she asked. It took him a minute to recall what she was talking about.

“I do. It’s not far from here, if I remember correctly.”

She nodded. “It is. If we can make it there, we can get out of sight. We’ll disguise the entrance so that they won’t know where we’ve gone.”

It was a good plan and it just might work. When they’d discovered the cave, they’d spent the day combing through its tunnels and had never reached the end. It would make the perfect hideout. Would they find Liam there?

They were almost right against the mountainside now. Alex gathered his bearings. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out the direction of the cave.

“Which way?” he asked, hoping she knew.

She looked around. “Over there.” She pointed to the right and then glanced behind. He could hear the men coming. They’d be right on top of them soon.

“They’re almost here.” He took her hand and they ran the rest of the way.

Finding the entrance after so many years wasn’t easy. It took a few minutes but he finally located it.

“Here, take the flashlight and go inside. I’ll do my best to cover the entrance before they get here.”

She took the light from him. “You won’t have much time. Hurry, Alex.”

Rachel went inside and he gathered armfuls of nearby brush and brought it over. He stepped inside the cave and piled the brush in behind him.

Please let it be good enough.

Rachel flashed the light down one of the corridors. “Let’s get as far away from the entrance as we can just in case they spot the opening and check inside.”

They headed down the corridor together. “Do you remember where this one goes?” he asked, and watched her smile at the memory.

“I do. There’s that underground pool a little ways from here. Remember, we spent that same summer coming up here to swim. Liam never did figure out where we disappeared to.”

He remembered that summer as clear as if it were yesterday. It was when he and Rachel had first started dating and they’d wanted to spend time alone. Liam had grumbled, feeling neglected by his best friend and sister.

“I remember Liam was so mad at us,” he said, and chuckled quietly. As he recalled, there was no way out beyond the pool and he told her this. “We need to go another way. It wouldn’t do to get trapped in here.”

They backtracked slightly and headed down another path.

“I was close enough to hear the exchange between McNamara and one of his men. He said they hadn’t found it yet. They’re looking for something other than Liam.”

It certainly made sense. “I’m guessing this has something to do with what Liam took from them. That’s why they need to find him.”

“That’d be my guess, too.” She shook her head.

They’d been walking for a while when Rachel stopped and listened. “Did you hear that?”

He did. It sounded like wind rustling close by. “Maybe there’s another way out that we never found.” They hurried toward the noise.

“I sure hope so. We need something to break our way.”

Alex stopped in front of a small opening in the side of the mountain, barely large enough for them to squeeze through.

“We should be okay.” Rachel looked up at him. “From what I can tell, we should be on the south side of the mountain. Some distance from where we last saw them.”

He sure hoped so. Alex eased through the opening and looked around. Nothing stirred beyond the wind. “It’s safe.”

Rachel followed him out. “Looks like we’ve lost them for now, but they could have other men searching the woods. Alex, this thing is way over our heads.”

He understood her frustration. He wasn’t sure what the men were after, but he had a feeling it was deadly.

“We need to get to a phone and try to reach my team. Let them know the woods are crawling with men. They could be flying straight into an ambush.”

TEN

Rachel’s unsettled thoughts were torn between making sense of what they’d been through so far and untangling her feelings for Alex.

“Rachel?” She realized Alex had been trying to get her attention for a while.

“I beg your pardon?”

Something unreadable crossed his face. It made her wonder what he was thinking. “I said what if Liam actually is hiding at the lodge? We could be leading them straight to him. We need to reach the lodge before they do.”

She hadn’t considered it when she’d told them