She turned back to Nick. “Here.” She handed him her extra gun.

“I won’t take your gun.”

“I have another, Nick. I’m not leaving if you don’t take it.” She took his hand and wrapped it around the grip. He held it tight.

She slipped her map into a plastic cover to prevent the drizzle from soaking it and showed Booker her route. “I’m heading east through the gulch. It curves south here. It doesn’t end for miles, close to Big Sky, but I know a shortcut at the bend that will get us to-” she pointed “-here.” She looked from Lance to Nick. “I’m going to stick to the canyon as much as possible, but to hide our path we might have to trek up one of the slopes. I have my radio, but I’m setting it to sixty-four. Okay? That’s all-silent, no chatter. The best thing you can do is keep yourselves alive.”

Miranda looked around and pointed fifty feet up the slope. “Lance, see those boulders up there?”

He followed her finger. “Yes.”

“Can you get Nick up there?

“I think so.”

“You have to. You’re both sitting ducks out here. Get up there and hide. Radio Charlie and tell him the plan. If you see Larsen, call my frequency and tell me how much time I have.” She adjusted her radio. “If he sees you… shoot to kill.”

It wasn’t the best plan, but they were running out of time.

She squeezed Nick’s hand. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

She glanced at her watch, rubbing mist from its face: 4:35. It had been only fifteen minutes since she’d first seen the cabin. It seemed much longer.

They had three hours until sundown. They wouldn’t make it out before then, even if they ran the whole way.

“Ashley, we have to go.”

“No, no. I can’t. Let me stay with them.”

“He’s going to be looking for you.” In addition, there was barely enough room up slope behind the boulder to hide two men.

Miranda had faced her fear in the cabin and won. If she could conquer her claustrophobia, she could certainly lead Ashley to safety. But only if the girl would cooperate.

“Let’s go,” she said.

“I can’t,” Ashley wailed, tears running down her cheeks.

“Yes, you can. Don’t let him win.”

Nick said, “You’re stronger than you think, Ashley.”

Something in his tone made Miranda look at him. Though his eyes were closed, she saw on his face that he was worried. And more. A quiet understanding. He knew. He’d lain next to Ashley and witnessed her rape. Miranda hated that he’d been through that.

But for the first time in her life, she didn’t dwell on what happened all those years ago. She’d escaped the Butcher then, and she would elude him now.

“We need to go,” she said. “Lance, don’t forget to call Charlie as soon as you’re hidden up slope.”

“I will.”

Ashley whimpered, her body heaving with dry sobs. But she seemed resigned to going with Miranda as she slowly got to her feet, her arms still wrapped tightly around herself.

Miranda turned one last time to Nick as she strapped on her backpack. “I expect to see you alive when I get to the end of this canyon.”