Trapped (Here Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

Roosevelt Arch, a thick, stone brick archway over the northernmost entrance to Yellowstone. Inscribed at the top was: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.
    Neither of us spoke as we rolled closer to it. I couldn’t breathe until I saw there was no ranger posted at the entrance. Nick cut out the headlights just before we reached it. “Just in case someone’s watching,” he said.
    I heard Vera stir behind us, but I ignored her as my eyes swept the familiar, snowy landscape. You could still see some of Gardiner across the fields to the left. For the next quarter mile or so, I allowed my eyes to rove the flat, snowy fields around us. The scrubby brush that lined the road glittered magically. Across a swatch of brilliant white, a rabbit skittered, leaving a footprint trail. Nick steered us past a brown sign that said the park’s name, and I remembered something bad.
    “In a half mile or so,” I murmured, “there’s this little wood cabin. In the daytime, at least, there’s always a park officer there.”
    He nodded slowly. “I’ll take care of it.”
    A few minutes later, I held my breath as we approached the official entryway: the road forked at a little cabin, which was, thank God, empty. A mechanical arm raised to let us through, and Nick winked.
    I held my breath as he turned the headlights back on and drove us toward some little hills.I wasn’t sure how long we drove; my eyes were drawn to the stars, which more so than ever seemed both breathtaking and horrifying.
    I wondered what we were doing here. I figured Nick planned to hide us here and work on changing Vera’s mind. If her mind could be changed. With several miles of Yellowstone behind us, the fog was thicker. It seemed to hiss and swirl around us as it drifted into the sky. I caught a glimpse of the sign for Mammoth Hot Springs just before we passed it.
    Vera sat up, looking around. “Why are we at a park?”
    “We're stopping here for the night,” Nick answered tiredly. “There are tents on this roof—we’ll pitch them, and you can get some much needed sleep.”
    “Twenty-one hours, twenty-six minutes, twenty-eight seconds,” she said a moment later. Followed by a surrendering, “Whatever.”
    A primal panic raged in my chest. Was she serious? Twenty-one hours, twenty something minutes! I glanced at the clock: 11:19 PM. So that meant….tomorrow around 8 PM. What would happen then!?
    I looked at Nick, who looked apologetic but said nothing to reassure me.
    “Let's find a camp spot near the springs,” he said.
    He parked in a grove of Douglas Firs hugging the water where the steam was especially thick, and Vera was out her door in a breath, a giant duffel on her back. A second later the roof vibrated like a Vera-sized torpedo had hit it. I shuddered at the memory of the DoD helicopters, and Nick squeezed my hand as he lifted his gaze to the roof.
    “She’s just showing off.”
    Before I could reply, the roof shook again, and Vera was opening the truck’s toolbox, layered hair falling in her face as she jerked out a dark, round thing that might have been a sleeping bag and stuffed it underneath one of her slender arms. She slammed the door and strode into the fog, tendrils of it curling after her.
    I looked down at Nick's hand, curled loosely around mine. I traced his fingers with mine, and I felt like I should say something, but my brain no longer seemed to work. I felt kind of numb inside; detached. Like I was flying on autopilot.
    Nick tugged my hand over the console and pressed it gently in both of his. Then that warm gaze was peering right through me. His mouth shifted in a thoughtful twist, and he pressed my hand a little harder. “I assume you find all of this overwhelming.”
    I met his eyes and nodded, because at that second, I felt close to tears.
    His eyes looked sad as he leaned to kiss my hand. “We'll talk in a few minutes,” he said. “I won't leave you in the dark.”
    Before I could ask, “Why not now,” Nick