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us if he finds out,”
Nina said.
    Kim hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “You
better make it back in one piece,” she said, then hurried through
the woods toward Heintooga Ridge Road.
    Nina watched her go, fear threatening to
swamp her. Unlike Kim, she didn’t have anyone besides her
grandfather. There was no one waiting at home for her. That, more
than anything, was the reason she’d urged her best friend to leave.
She leapt over the fallen tree and banked right.
    The light was fading fast, drowning the
forest in shadows. All she had to do was stay alive long enough to
lose them in the darkness. Nina ran harder than she’d ever run in
her life. Already the men’s voices were growing distant. The stitch
in her side continued to stab her organs. She wouldn’t be able to
keep this up for much longer.
    One of the poachers fired another shot. The
sound echoed through the mountains, making it difficult to tell
where it came from, but it seemed farther away. Nina slowed, even
though she didn’t want to. Her body was refusing to keep up the
brutal pace. Besides, it was either that or trip and break her
neck.
    She kept moving, stopping every few minutes
to listen. It was hard to hear past the intense pounding of her
heart and the roaring of her blood. A branch cracked. It sounded
like a cannon blast to her strung-out nerves. She froze. She didn’t
dare take out her flashlight for fear she’d be spotted. Instead,
Nina scanned her surroundings. Nothing moved.
    It’s probably nothing , she told
herself, but didn’t really believe it.
     
    ***
     
    “Did you hit her?” Hank squinted into the
trees.
    The red-haired man shook his head. “Didn’t
spot any blood, so I don’t think so.”
    Hank stared at Markus in disgust. “I swear
sometimes you couldn’t hit the side of a barn, even if it was
raised in front of you.”
    “I did find something.” Markus pointed at a
spot in the woods. “You need to see this.”
    Hank stomped after him, swearing under his
breath. “What is it?”
    Markus looked at the ground, studying a spot
near his feet. “I think it’s a bear track, but it can’t be.”
    Hank shoved him aside. “Let me see.”
    He glanced at the ground, then did a
double-take. What in the hell was it? Hank crouched down and dipped
his hand in the track. It was at least five inches deep and the
ground wasn’t even muddy. He could distinctly make out the holes
where the massive claws dug into the ground. The track had to be
bigger than his head, which meant the bear was…
    “What do you think it is?” Markus asked.
    “A bear,” Hank said.
    Markus snorted. “There ain’t no bear out here
that’s the size of that track. It would have to be huge. Nearly six
feet at the shoulder.”
    Hank curled his lip in disgust. “If a bear
didn’t make the track, what did?”
    Markus stared at the track and shook his
head. “Don’t know.” His wary gaze scanned the trees. “Maybe it’s
one of those people who run around pretending to be Big Foot.”
    Hank scowled. “Does that look like a Big Foot
track to you?”
    Markus shrugged. “Ain’t never seen one in
person.”
    “Well it ain’t! It’s a bear, I’m tellin’
you.” Hank looked at the woods with renewed interest. If they could
catch this bear, he’d easily bring in enough on the black market
for him to save his house from foreclosure and have a little left
over to retire on. He wouldn’t have to put up with his boss
demanding that he work extra hours, only to have those same hours
slashed the following week. His gaze landed on their destroyed
trapping equipment and he swore. “That bitch cost us a lot of money
tonight. Not to mention a chance at bear big enough for us to
retire off of.” He looked at Markus. “At least tell me that you got
a good look at her. I don’t want tonight to be a total loss.”
    Markus grinned, his front tooth missing due
to an encounter with the wrong end of a beer bottle. “I sure
did.”
    Hank smiled back. “Good