Chapter 30

Twisting side to side, Samantha looked up and down the road, but didn't see another car coming either way. Damn it. She would have to walk. After all, it was only two miles to the nearest town. The sound of her heels on the asphalt sounded like gunshots as she headed toward the silhouette of the towering mountains looming in front of her. Her eyes, now adjusted to the dark, scanned the dim area. No buildings nearby, no lights at all. She shivered. The air, cooling off now since the sun had gone down, would only get colder. She longed for her heavy jacket she'd placed in one of her missing suitcases.

No stores in sight. So isolated. No barn or shed for shelter. No hotels, or motels, no open-all-night 7-Elevens, no gas stations, no shopping malls, no people, and no traffic to flag someone for help. How do people live out here?

She twisted her foot on a small rock on the road, kicking it aside, and heard a crack. She put her now heelless shoe onto the pavement, glanced down, and perused