She pulled out the knife and kicked him between the legs.
He growled and dropped. Then she was running, shoving outside into the darkened evening and sprinting through the trees.
Branches snapped beneath her feet.
She didn’t know where she was going, maybe to a road or toward the park. Maybe to the middle of nowhere. A part of her didn’t want to run too far in case Colt worked out where she was, only to find her gone. But she also had to put distance between herself and Gordon.
Her foot hit a tree root, and she fell, hitting the dirt with a thud.
She groaned, the pounding in her head from earlier intensifying as she pushed up, forcing her arms to function.
Something rustled behind her.
A buzzing started between her ears.
Run. She had to run!
She scrambled up. Sprinting through the forest, desperate for a way out. A person who could help her. A hiding spot.Anything.
The trees thinned ahead, and she recognized where she was—the edge of the park where the granite cliffs were located, used for rock climbing and bouldering.
Not good. This was not good.
She spun around, scanning the forest.
Bang!
A bullet hit the dirt near her feet. She cried out and ran to the right before diving behind a tree. Then she breathed. Forced the air in and out of her lungs even though the oxygen felt too thin. Trying to silence her fear, which felt like it was going to explode out of her.
She closed her eyes and gripped the knife, listening for any movement, ready to lunge if he got close.
She wasn’t sure how much time passed, but there was only silence. Complete silence. The kind where you only heard the wind through the trees.
Had he given up? Gone the other way?
God, please say he had.
A footstep crunched immediately to her right.
She turned and swung the knife.
Blood roaredbetween Colt’s ears as he sat in the passenger seat of Noah’s car. Technically, he and Noah shouldn’t even be going to the location. It was the sheriff’s job. But nothing and no one could have kept him away. This involved his wife and his father. Heneededto be there. He needed to make sure she was safe, and that his father paid for his crimes.
He checked his watch. Five minutes until the thirty was up. They had the money, but that wouldn’t save Indie. Probably the opposite. The second Gordon got what he wanted, he’d have no use for her. She’d become a loose end.
“If he’s hurt her—”
“Then we’llbothmurder him,” Noah said under his breath, deadly anger in his voice.
Colt swallowed, the fury spiraling through every limb. Making it hard to move. To breathe.
When they reached the outskirts of the forest, Noah didn’t pull into their usual parking spot. Instead, he cut into the trees and drove as far as he could toward the toolshed.
That’s when he saw it…a car. Jesse had received a call to say that a Toyota Camry had been stolen from the hospital parking lot. That was it.
“She’s here.”
Colt shot a glance behind him, seeing Jesse and his deputy Claudia in the passenger seat.
