Out of Darkness Read Online Free PDF

sleeve of her shirt, but she yanked her arm away with shocking strength and careened into D's side. D brought the bat down, grazing her temple, and she stumbled. Mike dove towards her. The gun clattered free of where he had shoved it into his pocket and skidded across the ground. A ferocious bang sounded as the gun discharged, which froze Mike and D in place.
    D let out a string of curses. Mike looked down at himself, afraid he'd been shot though he felt no pain.
    "She's getting away!" D shouted. He took off down the hall after her. After a moment, Mike followed. Sofia made her way down the hall, through the living room and out the door, which had unfortunately been kept unlocked for easy access to the outside.  Sofia had avoided the driveway leading to the main road, instead diving into the cover of the weeds and trees that had overtook the once fields. The sun was setting, and in the twilight, her white shirt fluttered between the trees. Mike overtook D across the patch of cleared land  For a skinny guy, D was a terrible runner, and soon Mike had overtaken him. D's face was red, hands on his knees, he gasped, "Asthma."
    Mike didn't have the breath to curse. He caught sight of Sofia again, scrambling up an incline into deeper woods. Mike strode after, his breath wheezing in his chest. He didn't like running. Mike had a body for slow motion bar brawls, solid and large enough to take a hit or five before knocking a guy on his back with one motion of his large, powerful fist. 
    Inside the canopy of trees it was dark, with only hints of the twilight peeking through the leaves above. When Mike made it up the incline, Sofia was only about eighty feet ahead of him, and slowing, lucky that. If she'd been wearing dark colors, he doubted he'd have been able to see her at all. The incline had ascended to a narrow strip of trees and rocks bordering a sharp drop into what looked like an overgrown valley that Mike guessed had once been a dried creek bed. Patches of rocky ground were visible through the thick vegetation. Mike also had to slow also to keep himself from falling on the uncertain ground, but even with the adrenaline and the mud softening the ground beneath her, the lack of shoes made the rocky terrain more difficult and soon he had over taken her pace.
    Sofia must have heard him coming up from behind because she gave a half scream, half whine and managed a last push of speed.  Mike took in a deep breath and ran faster. He grabbed at her arm, his fingers whispering over her flesh as the rocky dirt beneath her feet shifted and gave. Her arms wheeled, grabbing at anything, but falling rocks had caused her to topple forward. Mike grabbed at her, cursing. Then the ground beneath him began to move, and Mike backed away as the side of the hill rushed downwards in a mini-avalanche of mud and rocks.
    Sofia screamed once and then was silent. When the rockfall had finished, Mike leaned carefully over the edge. Sofia was there, about fifteen feet down, unmoving against a tree where she had fallen. "Well," Mike said, wiping the sleeve of his shirt over his forehead. He stared a bit at the body, seeing if she would get up and try to run again. His t-shirt was soaked through with sweat and while the air had cooled somewhat, the air was thick and humid, promising more rain.
    Without climbing down the steep incline, Mike had no way to determine whether she was alive. The question was, should he risk his neck scaling down this treacherous hill-face to see if the girl was dead? And what would he do if she wasn't? Drag her back up? No, he didn't have to be D to know that dragging around the injured, possibly dead woman he'd run into a ditch wasn't a good idea. Call an ambulance then? As if anyone would buy he'd just been walking in the woods when he stumbled across an unconscious kidnap victim, even if she never woke up, told her story and then identified him from his voice.
    Then, as a sign from above, it started to drizzle, the large