Behind him, two deputies held Sophia pinned against the floor.

“Daniel, run!” she screamed.

Caleb raised a heavy black pistol and pointed it directly through the window at my face.

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” Caleb said, his voice trembling over the sound of the rain. “I had no choice.”

His finger began to tighten on the trigger.

I threw myself flat into the freezing mud.

The gun roared, a flash of hot orange fire slicing through the pouring rain.

The bullet shattered a heavy pine branch directly above my head, showering my back with wet bark and pine needles.

“Caleb, stop!” Sophia screamed from inside the cabin, her voice suddenly cut off by a heavy, muffled grunt.

I scrambled on my hands and knees, crawling frantically into the thick, dark undergrowth of the woods.

Behind me, another shot echoed through the trees, the bullet tearing through the leaves just inches from my shoulder.

“Get after him!” Caleb yelled, his voice cracking with a mixture of terror and desperation.

“Don’t let him reach the main road!”

I didn’t look back to see if they were following.