Zero Visibility. Sharon Dunn

through the snow, Merci followed Lorelei. It seemed a little odd that the guy had pulled out in front of them instead of stopping behind, and the men had a greasy unwashed quality that was off-putting. But what did she care? She needed to get beyond her own prejudices. God had sent help; that was what mattered. Besides, these men were their only hope of getting back on the road. She slipped into the backseat while Lorelei occupied the front passenger seat. The car was toasty warm.

      Lorelei took her gloves off and laced her fingers together. “This was a stroke of luck.”

      To Merci it was an answer to prayer, but she didn’t know Lorelei well enough to know if she would understand. They had only had a few classes together and lived in the same dorm.

      From the backseat, Merci turned around to see what was going on. One of the men had popped the hood, which blocked most of her view. She couldn’t see where the tall man in the leather jacket was. From this angle, it was hard to tell, but it looked as if the trunk was open, too. He’d figure out soon enough that there wasn’t a shovel in there. Guilt washed through her. It wasn’t right for her to just sit here. She needed to get out and help.

      Lorelei had put her earbuds in and closed her eyes. No need to disturb her.

      Merci pushed open the door and stepped outside. As she walked to the back of the car, she heard the car door open. Lorelei must be following her.

      Merci saw that the man in the orange coat had unzipped her suitcase and was rifling through it. Lorelei let out a loud gasp behind her.

      “Stop stealing our stuff,” Merci screamed at the men.

      Did they intend to rob them and leave them here to die? What kind of people would do something like that?

      The man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun. “Just back off.”

      Merci froze in her tracks, focusing on the barrel of the gun. Intense fear made it impossible for her to scream.

      The other man pushed open the door of the backseat, stepped out and absorbed the situation. “No way man, it wasn’t supposed to go down like this,” said the tall man in the leather jacket.

      “Yes, put the gun away.” Merci’s voice trembled uncontrollably. She felt as if someone was shaking her spine from the inside.

      “We’ll give you whatever you want,” said Lorelei. “Just don’t hurt us.”

      The short man placed his finger inside the trigger guard.

      In the pensive silence, snow fell softly on Merci’s head in sharp contrast to the tornado of fear raging inside her. Would her next breath be her last?

      * * *

      With his snowmobile idling and partially hidden from view by trees, Nathan McCormick flipped up the visor on his helmet and watched the two parked cars. A man in a leather jacket had lifted the hood and then got into the car. A man in an orange coat had popped the trunk and was looking for something. It was unusual to see anyone on this road next to the mountain acreage he and his brother Daniel had inherited. There was no reason for traffic anymore. His dad had closed down the small ski hill three seasons ago to take care of his ailing mother, and the kids’ camp only ran in the summer. Then a year ago, his mother had died and his father only six months after that. He’d come back to the family cabin one last time to say goodbye and pack up before putting the place on the market.

      He wondered why the cars had stopped. It looked like engine trouble. One of the cars was positioned as if it might be stuck. Maybe he should go down and see if they needed an extra hand. He watched a moment longer. A woman in a purple coat got out of the car in front followed by another woman.

      He angled the snowmobile downhill and revved the engine preparing to go down to help. The man standing by the trunk pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman in the purple coat. Nathan’s heartbeat kicked up a notch. He’d stumbled onto a robbery.

      Without hesitation, Nathan flipped down the visor on his helmet and zoomed down the mountain. Those women weren’t going to be harmed, not on his watch. Adrenaline shot through him like quicksilver as he increased his speed.

      As he drew closer, Nathan saw the second man in a leather jacket get out of the car and a moment later pull a gun, as well. The two women huddled together, stepping back away from the men. The thieves looked up and saw him coming. One fired a shot. He swerved the snowmobile away from the line of fire. The women collapsed in the snow in an effort to protect themselves from flying bullets.

      Nathan headed toward the man in the orange coat as though he was going to plow him over. At the last second, he stood up and angled the snowmobile sideways, spraying snow on the man and hitting him with the runners. The man in the orange coat reeled backward. The gun flew out of his hand and fell into the snow. Nathan was between the two women and the stunned would-be robber, who was digging through the snow for his gun. The other man had retreated behind the second car. He was probably waiting to see if Nathan was armed.

      Nathan flipped up his visor and yelled to the women, “Get on, get on right now.”

      The first woman, the one wearing mostly purple, scrambled to her feet. She grabbed the wrist of the blonde woman, who glanced side to side but didn’t move. The woman in purple pulled her friend toward the snowmobile. She got on the snowmobile, and her friend got on behind her.

      The second gunman came out from behind the car just as they sped up the hill. Nathan could hear the gunfire behind him. Leaning down, he steered toward the protection of some trees, while driving the snowmobile around the edge of the forest. The snow fell in big wet clumps, and the wind picked up.

      The first woman had wrapped her arms around him and was holding on for dear life. He only hoped the other woman was secure on the seat, as well. The gunmen couldn’t go very fast pursuing them on foot. The route he took on the snowmobile to the family cabin was over the mountain, not on the road, so they wouldn’t be able to follow along in the car. Chances were the men would take whatever was of value in the women’s car and head straight out to the highway.

      They traveled in ever increasing cold, wind and snow for about twenty minutes. He felt a gentle pounding on his shoulder and brought the snowmobile to a stop, but let it idle.

      He flipped up his visor. “Yes.”

      “Where are you taking us?” Fear saturated the woman’s voice.

      She was probably wondering if she had just gotten out of one dangerous situation only to land in another.

      “Sorry, I was kind of focused on getting you away from the gunfire. We’ll go to my cabin. It’ll be safe there. We’ll call the police. I have a truck. I can take you into town to the police station to file a report. Maybe they can catch these guys before they get too far.”

      Her response came after a long pause. “Okay.”

      She didn’t sound totally convinced, but what choice did she have? Going back to the cars was unwise, and they couldn’t stay on the side of the mountain with the wind and snow blowing at them.

      “It’s going to be okay,” he said, hoping to lessen her anxiety.

      By the time they reached the cabin a few minutes later, the storm had become full blown. Tiny sword-like snowflakes came at him sideways. Air seemed to freeze in his lungs.

      He brought the snowmobile to a stop, took off his helmet and leaned very close to the woman in purple to shout into her ear. “You and your friend go on inside. The door is unlocked. I’ve got to put the snowmobile away.” He pointed toward the cabin twenty feet away and almost not visible through the blowing snow. “Get warmed up.”

      After watching them safely enter, he put the snowmobile in the three-sided shed then stumbled toward the house, reaching out for the rough pine stairs.

      He pushed open the door. The two women huddled by the dying fire, bent over and shivering. Both were wearing dressy winter coats, fine for a church service, but nothing that would keep them warm in this kind of weather. They needed to thaw out from the ride on the snowmobile