She could bide her time and wait for the right time before escaping.
And then what?Get lost in the woods?She’d be eaten alive by mosquitoes or worse.There were worse predators in Texas than those blood suckers.Her body involuntarily shivered at the thought of being alone in the woods to fend for herself.She’d grown up in Austin, a city—and a crowded one at that.Her biggest threats there were people and spiders.
Here, she could run into all sorts of predators, but were they worse than the bastards who’d abducted her?Out there, she had a fighting chance.
If they had her father, would she be putting him in more danger if she escaped?No.These people wanted something from her or him.Logic said they might use her to get to him since she knew nothing of value, unless someone needed rehabilitation counseling.Ivy’s master's degree in rehabilitation counseling enabled her to support individuals with disabilities in achieving independence.She’d gone down that road after her brother had been born with Down syndrome.Her mother’s advanced age had put her in a high-risk category for her second pregnancy.
Footsteps near her head brought her thoughts back into focus.
One of the men who’d abducted her wore cowboy boots.The other wore work boots.Cowboy Boots was the nicer of the two, which wasn’t saying much.Both were neanderthals, capable of brutality.
“What the hell are you doing?”Cowboy Boots asked.His attention turned away from Work Boots and her.
Could she slip away without being noticed?That was probably a pipe dream.
She had to do something.
An idea popped.It was probably crazy, and she would most likely end up getting caught and punished.What if she stayed put and played dead a little while longer instead?
Cowboy Boots stomped toward the front of the SUV.Work Boots followed.Overthinking wouldn’t keep her safe.She had to act, regardless of whether she was panicked or not.
Ivy took in a slow breath and then brought her arms to her chest, crossed them, and rolled underneath the SUV.She kept going until she came out on the other side, half expecting meaty hands to grab at her or her clothing again.She would fight and keep fighting until she had no fight left inside her.
Much to her shock, nothing happened.
Cowboy Boots and Work Boots didn’t appear to notice.Voice raised, Cowboy Boots was bitching someone out.The driver?
She had no intention of sticking around to find out.
Popping up on her hands and knees hurt.Muscles that had been kicked and grabbed screamed at her with every movement as she crawled toward the nearest teepee.It wasn’t more than twenty-five feet away and would offer concealment.
Ivy cleared the teepee.A moment of hesitation had her stopping to scan the wigwams for any sign her father was being held there against his will.Other than Cowboy Boots yelling at the driver, the campsite was quiet.
There was a thicket on the other side of the third teepee.Ivy popped to her feet and ran in a zigzag pattern.By the time she reached the third structure, the jig was up.
“How did you let her get away, Royce?”
“What?”A moment of silence was quickly followed by, “I’m sorry, Clay.She was right here a minute ago.I swear.”Royce spoke slowly with a thick southern drawl.He sounded like the type of person who took orders.
From Clay’s more forceful tone, he was in charge of this trio.There was no doubt in Ivy’s mind.
“Spread out and go find her,” Clay said after muttering a few choice words.
Ivy’s smirk was short-lived.She had no weapon to defend herself with.Quickly, she scanned the ground for a sharp rock or stick.Something she could use in case one of them caught up with her.
Or maybe she could create a distraction.
She dropped down onto all fours and ran her hands through the underbrush.Her fingers closed on a rock the size of her fist.She stood up and threw the rock as far away as she could in the opposite direction the guys’ voices came from and far enough away from her to create a diversion.
“Over here,” Royce said, his voice the same as a kid’s who’d just won the big prize at the State Fair ring toss booth.
Good.
Capitalizing on the moment, Ivy turned tail and ran as fast as she could through the thicket.Branches slapped at already sore arms and legs as she plowed through knee-high scrub brush.Running might be an overstatement.She half-hopped, half-ran as she put as much distance between her and the campsite as she could.
Right up until someone stepped out from behind a tree trunk, and she slammed into a brick wall of a chest.
Beau releaseda grunt as pain radiated from his shoulder.A wild-eyed woman, who looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, had just slammed into him at a full run.Momentum knocked her backward.He reached out in time to stop her from falling on her backside.
