“Stay,” he said, and the dog looked up at him.
Sat.
Really?
Sully had already started to army crawl from the clearing, some twenty feet from the end, and now gathered his feet under him.
A shot cracked again, and Sully went flat, his hand over his head.
For a second, he didn’t move, and Dawson’s heart nearly left his chest. Then Sully poked his head up, and Dawson took off, limping, running, ducking. He got a hand on Sully’s coat and half dragged, half helped him scramble to the edge of the forest.
Another shot followed them in, shredding pine needles.
“How many was that?” Sully said, breathing hard, now rewrapping the bloody scarf around his leg.
Dawson stared out across the field, searching. “How many shots? I don’t know—”
“Five. I think five,” rasped Keely. “A Glock 19 holds fifteen rounds. Mack fired one, so that’s nine left.”
Dawson stared at her.Really?
Sully grunted, pulling the scarf tighter.
He’d save it for later. “You good?”
“Yeah. Bleeding is already slowing.” He let out a noise, however, and Dawson recognized it as a bone-deep growl of pain, maybe frustration. So, not a scratch, but not his femoral artery either.
He blew out a breath, nodding. Then he looked at Keely. “Who is this guy? And why is he trying to kill you?”
“Us,” Sully said.
“Maybe. But you were holding Keely and turned a second before the shot. It would have hit her.”
A beat, then Sully nodded. “Right. Okay. Let’s move.” Sully used a tree to pull himself up. Dawson handed him the rifle, then turned to Keely.
“My turn.”
She wiped her hand across her face. “No. I can walk.”
“Right.” He put out his arm, crooked it, and she sighed and tucked her arm through his. He pulled it against him, steadying her.
Sully took a step and then drew in a breath and released a grunt. “Not much farther.”
This day was getting funner by the minute. “Race ya,” Dawson said.
Sully’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s go.”
They started off, Sully struggling behind him, probably scanning for the shooter. Weirdly, Moose’s voice came back to him.“Maybe there’s stuff.”
Right. Like God never giving him a break?Seriously.
And only then did Dawson realize.
Caspian was gone.
4
KEELY OFFICIALLYhated Alaska.
