Chapter 6 - The Wreckage
The firefight was short, chaotic, and terrifying.
Jonah used the rear of his truck as cover, firing measured shots that kept the two attackers pinned down behind the hood of their SUV. But the heavy snow was working against them—the cold was slowing Jonah's reflexes, and his ammunition was limited to two spare magazines.
"They don't want a negotiation!" Jonah shouted over the roar of the wind. "They need this to look like a fatal winter accident!"
"Who sent them?!" Evelyn screamed, huddled against the rear axle, her designer coat soaked in snow and road grease.
"Someone who stands to inherit your share of Mercer Dynamics if you don't show up to the board meeting!" Jonah replied.
He ducked as a round pinged off the steel rim of the tire inches above his head. He looked down at Evelyn. Her eyes were wide with terror, all her corporate composure completely shattered. She was no longer the billionaire CEO who ruled boardrooms; she was just a frightened woman shivering in the snow.
"We have to move down the slope," Jonah said, pointing toward the steep, wooded ravine just beyond the guardrail. "If we stay on the road, they’ll flank us."
"We'll freeze out there!"
"We'll die here in thirty seconds!" Jonah countered. "On my mark, you vault over the rail and slide down into the trees! Go!"
Jonah popped out from behind the truck, firing four rapid shots that forced the gunmen to duck behind their doors. Evelyn scrambled up, threw her legs over the aluminum guardrail, and tumbled blindly into the darkness of the snow-covered ravine.
Jonah turned to follow her, but as he lunged over the rail, a bullet clipped his left shoulder. The impact spun him around in the air, and he crashed heavily onto the steep, icy incline, tumbling head over heels down the mountain slope alongside Evelyn.
They slid nearly fifty feet down through deep snowdrifts before slamming into the trunk of a massive pine tree.
Evelyn gasped for air, coughing snow out of her mouth as she pushed herself up. "Jonah!"
Jonah was lying on his back ten feet away, his breathing labored. Red blood was already blooming across the dark fabric of his left shoulder, vivid against the white snow.
"I'm... I'm good," Jonah grunted, pushing himself to his knees with a groan of pure agony. He clutched his shoulder, teeth grit tightly against the pain. "Keep moving... into the tree line..."
"You're shot!" Evelyn cried, reaching out to help him.
"It's a graze," he lied, though the deep burning sensation in his shoulder told him otherwise. "Move, Evelyn! Now!"
They stumbled deep into the dense pine forest, the thick canopy above blocking out the worst of the wind, though the temperature was dropping rapidly as night settled over the mountains. The sound of shouting voices from the highway above grew fainter, replaced by the eerie, silent freeze of the wilderness.
After ten minutes of trudging through knee-deep snow, Jonah’s legs buckled, and he collapsed against a stone outcrop beneath a thick grove of fir trees.
Evelyn dropped to her knees beside him. "Jonah! Stay awake! Look at me!"
Jonah’s face was pale, sweat freezing on his forehead despite the bitter cold. He looked up at her, his vision swimming slightly.
"You're bleeding through your coat," Evelyn said, her hands shaking as she unbuttoned his jacket to inspect the wound. The bullet had torn through the meat of his shoulder, leaving a ragged, bleeding trench.
Without hesitation, Evelyn reached up and tore a wide strip of fabric from the hem of her expensive silk blouse, wrapping it tightly around his shoulder to stem the blood flow.
Jonah let out a ragged breath as she pulled the knot tight. "Not bad... for a CEO."
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Evelyn looked at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Shut up, Reed. Don't you dare die out here."
"I can't," Jonah whispered, forcing a faint, painful smile. "I have a seven-thirty meeting with your father... and a little girl waiting for Chapter Four."
