PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
Steve Fury raised his gaze from the snow-covered track ahead of him, to stare at the mountains on the skyline.
Their jagged, icy peaks looked harsh and cruel. This area, far north of Denver, Colorado, was as freezing as it was unforgiving.
He shivered in the icy cold, taking in the emptiness of the landscape surrounding him. It felt all the lonelier since this was the first time he was hiking solo. Usually, he went with his business partner, but things had been strained between them for the past while.
They co-owned an online store that sold outdoor sports gear, and were always looking to test out their own products. Today, he was trying a new pair of hiking boots that promised comfort, fit, and grip in freezing weather. That was certainly the case today. Temperatures had plummeted, and a heavy snowfall last night had obscured parts of the track completely.
He could barely see the way ahead, and right now, he acknowledged sadly that this situation applied to his working life as well.
His shop was struggling. Trade was always low this time of year, and he had to respond to a deluge of 'special offers' from competitors.
He was further hampered by the fact that his partner had already been exploring ways to cash in on their venture. The way things were going, he might well end up the only one working at their business soon, he reflected grimly. He and his business partner were watching each other like two stags at a watering hole. They'd been best friends since they were kids, but now they were talking about taking each other to the cleaners.
He shook his head, and started picking his way over the icy rocks.
If Steve hadn't been reasonably familiar with the route, he would probably not have gone ahead so far, he acknowledged. He really was feeling his way, using the landmarks, going by instinct and memory, out here in the increasingly remote wilderness.
Glancing up at the snow-covered peaks again, he shivered in the chill wind. It was time to head back for the day, he decided, and return to the battlefield that was his business life these days.
He didn't even have his cell phone with him. It was in his pack, and that was in the car. He wasn't sure the cell signal could reach out here, in these desolate hills. So he'd have to go somewhere warm, find a signal, and catch up on the calls and emails and orders.
If he remembered correctly, the track made a left turn just past the trees. Once he was clear of them, it looped back toward the local town where he’d parked his car.
He could see the forested, sheltered area ahead. He headed for it, trudging over the snow.
And then, out of nowhere, the track disappeared from under him.
He didn't slip; he didn't fall. It felt as if he just stepped forward into nothingness. Like stepping into an open elevator shaft. The ground ahead of him just wasn't there.
He gasped in shock as the track vanished from under his boots. He was falling, in a sort of slow motion nightmare.
The snowy white world flashed past him, his flailing arms seeking purchase, but slipping off the icy rocks.
And then he hit the ground.
As he did so, he felt a bolt of pain shoot through his thigh.
He groaned, unable to move. In this deep crevasse, something was pinning him painfully. Staring down, his eyes widened in horror as he saw he was skewered by a length of rusty steel rebar. It was firmly embedded in the ground, and he had fallen directly onto it.
The sharpened tip had stabbed all the way through his thigh.
He was pinned to the ground. He couldn't move; he couldn't get out.
He cried out in panic as he saw the rapid, crimson spread of blood over the rocky ground.
His mind was spinning in confusion. He still had no idea how this could have happened. How had the trail just disappeared, channeling him into this steep ravine that had been somehow hidden from view?
But there was no time to piece together the impossible. He was bleeding to death. Without a doubt, this horrific wound would be fatal.
Already, he was starting to feel weak, his head spinning as he fumbled uselessly in his pocket for his phone, averting his eyes from the terrible sight of his leg.
He'd left it in the car, he realized. Shock had obliterated that memory and he'd wasted valuable seconds looking for a phone that wasn't there. All he could do now was call for help and hope that, somehow, someone might hear.
"Help!" he yelled, hearing the tremble in his own voice, feeling cold with fear at how suddenly this routine hike had turned deadly.
He knew shouting was most likely a waste of time. He hadn't seen another hiker since he'd started out. It was too cold, too snowy. People who weren't running from their problems, like him, had stayed indoors.
His vision was starting to blur, he realized, with a surge of fright.
He stared up the rocky precipice to the place where the snow met the sky, wondering if it would be the last thing he saw.
And then, he saw someone looking down.
Hope surged inside him. Somehow, someone had heard.
A big, bulky man was peering over the edge, his large, thick body cutting the skyline and darkening the view. He was wrapped in furs. A hunter, for sure.
"Help me! I've fallen onto a spike! I need a medevac out of here urgently!"
He waited for the guy to call back to him, hoping to hell this man had a phone and that there was signal here.
But the man did nothing. There was no sign of understanding. He just looked down at Steve with a blank expression on his face.
"I need an ambulance!" Steve yelled, gasping in pain. "Help me!" he repeated, his voice cracking with terror and shock as he tried to shout louder. "Please! Medical emergency! Help!"
The big man didn't respond. He just kept looking down.
With a chill, Steve realized he wasn’t going to help. He was simply going to watch.
“Why?” he wanted to ask.
He tried to ask the agonized question, but he no longer had the strength. He felt so cold, so numb, he was barely aware of the pain in his leg anymore. The world was fading out, becoming hazy and gray.
The last thing he saw was the big man's face. It had a big, bushy beard, and large, dark eyes as cold as the snow.
The last thing he heard was the sound of his voice. It was deep and hollow, like a cave.
Steve tried to understand what he was saying, but his mind was too far gone.
The frozen world was drifting away from him like a mist. The pain was ebbing from his body.
He heard the big man's voice echo inside his head, over and over. The words didn't make sense, and then they faded away completely as darkness rushed in.
