“What part?”
Not familiar with the road, Travis described it as best he could while grabbing his go bag and a long coil of rope. “There’s no time to wait. I’m going down to get her.”
Silence greeted him. A quick glance at the screen showed no bars once more. Praying she’d heard his scattered directions before he’d been cut off, Travis tucked the phone in his pocket, tossed the go bag over his shoulder, and hurried back to the scene. His former EMT days would allow him to give first aid until the paramedics arrived.
After tying one end of the rope to a thick tree trunk at the edge of the road, he tugged a length of it under his rear and started rappelling down the side, staying in the path the car had cut on its way down.
When he reached the vehicle, he assessed the scene and his stomach dropped. The area in front of the vehicle and on either side was level. The area behind the tree that had stopped the car was not. In fact, there was no area behind the tree except a sheer drop. His pulse pounded a fraction harder.
He gripped the driver’s door and tugged. “Heather, can you hear me? Heather!”
The tree creaked and Travis froze, his adrenaline ramping up another notch. He gave the door another tug. When it screeched open, he froze, staring at the business end of a black pistol. “Heather. Whoa.” He held up a hand. “It’s me. Travis. Don’t shoot.”
Heather blinked up at him. A gasp escaped her parted lips, and she lowered the weapon, placing it on the passenger seat. “Travis? How . . . what . . . Travis?”
“I’ll explain in a minute. We need to get you out of here. Are you hurt?”
“Um . . . no. I don’t think so.” She rubbed her chest and winced. “Stunned and with a heck of a seat belt bruise. A little whiplash, maybe, but surprisingly intact.”
“Well, if you want to stay that way, ease yourself out of the driver’s seat.”
She paused. “What’s behind me? Because the rearview mirror isn’t telling me much.”
“A tree.”
“And?”
“Let’s just get you out of here, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay, let’s do that.”
Heather had already released her seatbelt and grasped his outstretched hand.
A sharp crack sounded from the top of the hill. Something whizzed past his ear, sending him ducking for cover in the narrow strip of ground between the open car door and the sheer drop-off. Heather, still in the car but with her legs out the door, locked her eyes on his, her fingers squeezing tight enough to cut off blood flow. “Was that . . . ?”
“It was. Come on.”
The tree gave another groan and the car shifted. Her grip tightened and he pulled. The trunk gave one more massive crack just as Heather slid into his arms. He rolled, shoving her next to him and covering her head with his gloved hand. “Lie flat!” He pressed her cheek into the dirt as the car door passed over them with not a millimeter to spare. Travis froze, his heart thundering in his chest, while the vehicle bounced down the cliff. As it crashed its way downward, Travis scrambled to his knees, his hand still clasping hers. He placed his lips next to her ear. “Are you okay to run?”
Another crack of a rifle. Another bullet passing too close for comfort.
“I guess I’m going to have to be,” she said, her breath wispy and faint, tinged with fear.
Travis bolted to his feet, pulling her with him. “Go.”
CHAPTER
FIVE
Pain lanced through her ribs, but Heather pressed on, praying she didn’t have more serious injuries than bruises. Right now, adrenaline fueled her flight across the open ground, but she’d feel more aches and pains later. Travis’s hand gripped hers, his fingers clamped tight. “Where are the cops?” she gasped.
“I don’t know. It’s a hard area to find. Keep going.”
He didn’t sound winded, and she thought she might keel over. “I hate running.”
“Just go.”
She held on and let him guide her to the tree line, expecting any second now to feel a bullet plow into her body.
But they made it into the protection of the trees with no more shots fired. Travis pulled up, and Heather bent double, holding her aching side.
“I lost my phone,” he said, patting his pocket. “Great.”
“And mine”—she panted—“went down with the car. So did my gun.” More panting. She sounded bad and vowed to hit the gym more when her life returned to normal. Please let it return to normal.
“We’ll find a phone somewhere. They’ll have to get the gun when they pull up the car.”
“Where do you think we’re going to find a phone around here?” She caught her breath, then straightened, wincing as the action pulled her abused muscles.
“We’ll head back to my truck and go straight to the sheriff’s office in town.”
She nodded. “Which way’s your truck?”
“Up. But we’ve got to find a way to get up there without getting shot.”
“Then that’s not going to work. I don’t think I could climb anyway.”
“If I remember correctly from studying the map of this area, there’s a road that leads down from Tipton Road. We just have to find it.”
“In the dark?”
“Unfortunately.”
The first raindrop splashed on her cheek and ran down to drip off her chin. “Travis?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s cold. Like almost freezing.”
“I’m aware, thanks.”
“My point is, it’s starting to rain. We need to find some shelter and wait it out, because if we get soaked, it’s going to be extremely uncomfortable.” Not to mention the possibility of hypothermia.
“Okay. Let’s keep going. As long as we’re moving, we’re not freezing, right?”
She groaned. “Yes, we need to keep moving.”
“Maybe we can find a convenience store or something.”
She tromped after him, glad the rain was only a slight drizzle for the moment. “Convenience stores are usually on the main roads. You know . . . for convenience sake.”
“You’re awfully witty right now.”
“It’s a defense mechanism.” What she’d really like to do was puddle onto the ground and have a good cry. But she wouldn’t. She placed one foot after the other. “So, help me keep my mind off of all of this.” Like that was going to happen, but it was worth the try. “How did you find me?”
“Caden did.”
“How?”
“It took a few days, but he finally located your car in the hospital parking lot. Security footage helped get the plate off the Uber, and the car rental place has GPS trackers on their vehicles. Once he knew you had a rental, the rest was easy.”
“Oh.” She rubbed an aching temple. “I didn’t think about a GPS tracker on the rental. Of course, it makes sense, but—” She stepped over a rotted log and stumbled.
He reached back and snagged her arm, pulling her against him. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” The automatic response slipped from her lips without thought.
“Sure you are.” His lips quirked into a small smile, and she was tempted to lean her aching head against his chest and stay there forever. Safe. Warm. Wrapped in his strong arms. Yeah, she could be all right with that. Instead, she pulled back and let him take the lead once more.