So the woods it was.
He moved back to the other side of the truck.They were only just off the road, and it didn’t look like there was a ditch.He would slip out and make a run for it, cross the road and into the cover of the woods.They had driven straight into the gas station and not turned, so home was obviously back to his left.That’s the direction he would take once he was in the woods.
He couldn’t risk being seen if he checked the other window to see if any of them were on their way back to the truck, so he just gathered every bit of courage he had and opened the truck door only as wide as he needed to slip out.Then he careful set the door back, not actually closing it as that was likely to make noise, and then he took off as fast as he could, grateful that his sneakers were virtually silent against the ground.
He made it across the road and into the woods, his heart like a jackhammer in his ears.Once he was several trees deep into the woods, he turned left and really started running.He didn’t think he’d gone nearly far enough when he heard the commotion from his kidnappers—lots of shouting and swearing—and that was enough to help him find another gear and he ran even faster, moving farther into the woods away from the road.
He ran as hard as he could.
Charma loved his mom’s meatballs, but tonight he was having to force them down.Nik had eaten his bowlful of the pasta and meat and gone back to watching his game, but Charma couldn’t make himself eat more than tiny bites at a time that he chewed for ages before he swallowed the food down.It felt like there was a mountain of lead in his belly trying to climb up his throat.His mom was right, though, he needed to eat.He was starting to feel lightheaded, and while some of that might have been worry, he knew at least some of it was also hunger.
It took him close to an hour, but he finally managed to finish his little bowl of food.He took it to the sink and washed it up, drying it and putting it away.It felt like everything was a hundred miles away, or like he was seeing the world through gauze.Nothing was quite real.
The sound of his phone ringing was piercingly loud, and it had him jumping in surprise.
It was Mom again.She had to have news or she wouldn’t be calling.
“What?”
“They found the truck.”
“The truck but not him?”That wasn’t good.If Darcy had been moved to a new vehicle, they’d have lost their only lead.
“Yeah.You know how we’d sent a couple trucks of our own after theirs once we got the tip?Well, they came across it, heading back at a snail’s pace along the shoulder.”
“What?”
“Your man wasn’t with them, and they seemed to be searching the woods.”
“Darcy got away!”Hope surged through him.
“That’s what it looks like.They called with the update and to let me know they’re going to turn around and be neighborly—ask if they are okay, do they need help, that kind of thing.That’ll let them scope the situation out better and once they know what’s what, our people will start looking for Darcy in the woods themselves.”
Charma worried his lower lip between his teeth.This was a step in the right direction, but there were all sorts of variables where Darcy didn’t get rescued or got hurt.“What if these guys are armed?They aren’t going to want anyone else to get to Darcy.”
“There’s a den of wolf shifters whose territory they’re in who are not happy to hear there are kidnappers going through their territory.I let them know the situation before I called you and they are going to find your Darcy.Anyone tries to get nasty will find out just how deadly a wolf shifter can be.”
That made him feel better, but he was still worried.“If the kidnappers have guns, though…”
“You think they’ll have a chance against an enraged pack if they hurt one of the pack’s own?Trust me.Darcy is going to be found, and he’s going to be safe.It’s just a matter of time.So try not to worry and I will call you the minute I know our people have Darcy.”
“Thanks, Mom.”Charma was pretty sure he wasn’t going to feel any better until he was holding Darcy, but he did have a little more faith now that that would happen.
“Love you, son,” she told him before hanging up.
He took a deep breath and threw himself down on the couch, his legs suddenly too weak for pacing.
“Good news?”Nik asked.
“I think so.It looks like the kidnappers are looking for Darcy so he must have gotten away.So we just need to find him first.”
“Oh, we will.You know we know people who can track and hunt.They’ll find him.”
“From your lips to the goddess’s ears.”
“You know it.”Nik offered him a fist, and Charma knocked it with his own.“Game’s over, you wanna watch a movie or something?”
“Sure, whatever you want.”It would be good to have some noise and something to look at where he didn’t have to think.And he was definitely not going to think about how watching a movie or something with Darcy always ended up in them making out.
