I could tell when Ian’s instincts told him we were getting too close to danger, and he was right. But I knew where I was going. We had passed a fallen oak a few minutes ago, and I wanted to get back to it. It was as good a place as we were going to find to hide and let them pass. But getting there before they did was going to be close. I pushed myself for more speed, knowing Ian would keep up.
Ian saw the big fallen tree and knew my plan. He took the lead, pulling me along with him. We’d barely gotten behind it, pulling shrubbery around us, when Ian pushed me up against the tree. People were talking.
“We’re gaining on them. The woman is slowing him down,” one of the bad guys said.
“Remember, bring in the man alive,” another replied. “The woman is dispensable.”
Ian pulled me closer, his big body engulfing mine. He was pressed up against me, literally from head to toe. But he was stiff against me, and not in a good way.
“All we have to do is wait for them to tire and then take them. Let’s go.”
Ian and I stayed where we were as the men took off. There was nothing in front of them but thinner trees—nowhere for us to hide. We stayed silent for another couple of minutes before Ian stepped away from me.
As soon as we’d disentangled ourselves from all the branches, he relaxed a little. “It’s not going to take them long to figure out we doubled back.”
I nodded. “We need to get down to the river. It runs parallel to the road we were on. There will be a lot more places to hide. A lot more mature trees.”
We moved silently in that direction, putting as much distance as possible between us and them.
But after a few minutes, I couldn’t help asking, “Is there a reason people are trying to kill you, or is this a normal day for you?”
“I broke into one of their buildings. Got some data I’m sure they don’t want me to have.” He shrugged. “Not to mention Mosaic doesn’t hesitate to kill people whether they have a good reason or not.”
“Where’s my handy tray when I need it?”
He grimaced. “I’d take that weapon or any other right about now.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who’s without a weapon very often. My brothers are like that too.”
“Normally that would be true, but there was a metal detector in the Hemingway building, so Landon and I had to go in unarmed.”
I increased my speed to keep up with him, ignoring the ache starting in my feet. “Does Landon have someone chasing him too?”
“He didn’t when we last spoke. We were separated. But our comm system is short-range, so I can’t reach him now.”
That was why he’d made that strange statement about riding back to Oak Creek with me using my full name. He’d been letting Landon know what was going on.
We both checked our phones, but there was no signal. There wouldn’t be until we were a couple miles from Oak Creek, which was probably fifteen miles north of here.
“Following the river will take us to Oak Creek, but if you want to circle back to the car, we should probably head in the other direction.”
He shook his head. “No, the car is a known location. We can’t go back there. Can you make it?”
It wouldn’t be pretty, but I could. “We’re going to need to move quickly because not only are your killer friends going to circle back around once they realize we’re not ahead of them, but there’s a storm coming this afternoon.”
He looked up. There were clouds in the sky, but they weren’t bad yet. “How can you tell?”
“I’ve lived here all my life. I can taste it when rain is coming.”
He slowed down to look at me. “Really?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, not really. I had a hair appointment scheduled for this afternoon but cancelled it this morning when the weather channel reported a storm system was coming in. Storms and blowouts don’t mix.”
“I’m not going to pretend to understand what that means.”
We picked up the pace. “But storms will work in our favor because I’m not lying when I say I have experience out in these woods. Even in weather that would make other people cry.”
“Then lead the way,” he said. “Let’s make use of your expertise. And your missed blowout.”
Two hours later, the rain started.
But long before that, I was cursing my choice of shoes. When I’d tricked Finn into telling me where Ian was, I’d decided to put on new, cute little flats with my jeans.
I would give anything right now for my hiking boots or a pair of tennis shoes. Hiking through the wilderness in flats was not fun. Doing it in the rain was downright miserable. I knew I had blisters. I didn’t bother to look.
We moved steadily along the river bank toward home. Normally fifteen miles wouldn’t be daunting. I could cover it in a day’s hike if I wasn’t wearing cute little flats.
But I’d rather have blisters than a bullet in the head, so I kept walking. I kept walking when the pain should have made me stop. I kept walking when I was pretty sure that some of the liquid I could feel was blood, not rain. I kept walking.
I kept going until Ian reached out and grabbed my hand. I spun, startled. “What, do you see them? Are they here?”
I’d been so focused on putting one step in front of the other as quickly as possible that I had no idea if the bad guys had caught up to us or not.
“We need to stop. You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay. It’s just some blisters.”
“Fine, then we need to stop. I’m hurt.”
“You are?”
He nodded. “That first bullet grazed my shoulder.”
I’d had no idea. He hadn’t made a single complaint in the hours we’d been walking. I looked at him more carefully, my aching feet forgotten. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. It’s a burn from that first bullet that shattered the windshield. But I think it would do us both some good to get out of this weather.”
That sounded like heaven, but I wasn’t sure if it was the best plan. Better to be uncomfortable than dead. “I think the rain is supposed to last all night. We’re still another seven or eight miles from Oak Creek.”
“Yeah, I keep trying my phone, but there’s no signal.”
I rubbed the wet hair away from my face. This was my fault. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken us this way. If I had gone on the highway—”
“Hey.” He reached out and grabbed both of my arms. “You’ve gotten us this far. You got us away from the people who were chasing us. You’ve been in pain for at least the past two hours, and you haven’t said a word.”
“You knew?” I whispered.
He leaned his forehead against mine, a show of camaraderie. “I expected you to call a halt long before now.”
I nodded. “It’s going to be dark soon, and this isn’t going to get any easier after dark.”
He stepped back, and I wished he were close again. “Then let’s stop and find shelter, at least until the storm passes. Maybe until the morning. I haven’t seen any sign of the Mosaic guys after us. I’m pretty sure they turned back toward their vehicles when the storm started. They’re probably waiting for us to do the same.”