Read Hunting Eve for Free Online Page A

could be frostbitten. It will be hard for you to run then, Eve.”
    He had moved a few yards away and was going toward a stand of trees to the north.
    Don’t move. No sound.
    “And you can’t try to light a fire to dry out. Because I’ll see it or smell it. I may go back to the house for the rest of the night, or I might keep stalking you. You won’t know, will you? You might as well give up and come back to the house. You’d have a better chance of surviving.”
    The hell she would. He wouldn’t kill her immediately, but it was definitely on his agenda.
    “Though I am enjoying our little game. It brings back old times with Kevin. I loved those weeks in the woods. I never felt closer to him. I feel that way now. Do you feel close to him, Eve? Do you feel him hovering over you? Waiting?”
    She made sure she didn’t think about Kevin. She blocked out everything but evading Doane. That was a full-time task. She’d been trying to locate a branch of the rock road he’d driven when he’d taken her to make the phone call to Joe, but she hadn’t succeeded. She’d probably have to go back to the house and start from there. But that would be like stepping into the lion’s mouth. Not yet. Not until she had a better plan on how to either avoid Doane or find the opportunity to take him out.
    “The sun won’t rise for a long time. You’ll have to contend with the wind and darkness for hours yet…” His voice was fading away and she could no longer see him through the trees.
    Too soon to get down. She’d stay here for a while in case he came back. She sat back on the branch and took off her wet right shoe and sock. He was right. Her feet were already cold, and she had to keep the blood moving. She began to rub her foot and ankle roughly. After five minutes she did the same with her left foot. Good, the blood was tingling. Once she was settled for the night, she’d massage them again.
    Chance making a fire?
    No, a fire was an emergency measure. She would just make do as she had done earlier tonight.
    And keep busy trying to make that damn branch into a viable weapon.
    She settled back against the trunk of the tree. Give him another forty minutes, then get down from the tree and make her way back to the tree where she’d hidden the small duffel that contained her store of treasures. Treasures, indeed, she thought ruefully. The blanket alone was worth its weight in gold.
    More, it could save her life. She’d been right to go after the duffel.
    Hate you. Burn you.
    She instantly rejected the memory. Kevin might be close to Doane but not to her. She was having trouble keeping Doane and Kevin apart in her mind. Perhaps that was also Doane’s problem. Maybe it had been Doane projecting those thoughts to her.
    Hate you. Burn you.
    She shivered; the words seemed to reach out and touch her.
    Time to get down and start moving. She could not let the thought of Kevin haunt her or get in her way. She carefully climbed down from the tree. She paused for a moment to lean against the trunk as she looked around the forest.
    She rubbed her neck. God, she was tired and hungry.
    Berries. Try to find some berries or something. Joe had told her about some of the edible ones on some of their walks through the woods at the lake. She had to keep her strength up. It wasn’t as if she could build a trap for a rabbit as he could do. It definitely wasn’t her forte.
    Well, she might be able to do it, but berries would be easier.
    If she could even see the bushes in the dark. She might have to wait until dawn. Or until she was sure Doane had gone back to the house. But she couldn’t be sure of anything, as tonight had proved.
    Get moving.
    Carefully. Warily.
    Hate you. Burn you.
    Oh, yes … warily.
    The Abyss
    “I’LL GET HER, Kevin. Be patient.”
    Doane stood on the cliff edge and looked down into the abyss where Eve had tossed his son’s reconstruction.
    Vicious bitch. He couldn’t control the sudden anger that tore through him. He