Willow was on her knees, clambering over the console as Rufus finally fought through and leapt out the rear window to race across the road.
The sudden shift in momentum rocked the car to the left.The front end started to tip.
Fuck!
Willow’s shrill cry ripped through the air as Tripp let go of her right forearm to grab the back of her shirt and wrenched her toward him with all his might.Fabric tore but he dragged her through the window with enough force to send them both reeling backward.
He hit the ground on his back with a grunt, Willow landing on top of him.Lifted his head in time to watch the car teeter for a heartbeat or two, then tip sharply to the side and roll over the edge.
It plunged out of view, hit the side of the cliff with a loud crunch, and then there was nothing but an eerie quiet until it slammed into the bottom with a sickening thud seconds later.
He sat up, hauling Willow into his lap and crushing her to him, eyes closed, both of them breathing hard.She started to shake.A full-body tremor that quickly turned into an earthquake.
God, that had been close.Way too close.He’d almost lost her.
Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tighter.Splayed one hand across the back of her head and pulled her damp face into his neck, his other arm locked securely around her back.
“It’s okay.You’re okay.”His voice was rough, his heart still racing as the fear and adrenaline finally began to ebb.Shit.Just...holy shit.
Willow gripped the front of his shirt with both fists, her breathing choppy and erratic as she battled her body’s reaction to nearly plunging to her death.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, fighting back the jagged bolt of fear that ripped through him.He’d come within a second of losing her.Of both of them being dragged to their deaths at the bottom of that cliff.
She was crying quietly, the heartbreaking little hitches of her shoulders as she struggled for control slicing at him like blades.
He kept holding her, giving her all the comfort he could as he murmured to her in a low voice.Reassuring her that it was over.That she was safe.
Gradually her shaking eased.Her breathing evened out.
As though suddenly too exhausted to sit up, Willow slumped against him with a shudder and a low groan.Then, suddenly she stiffened and jerked her head up to look over his shoulder.“Where’s Rufus?Did you see where he went?Rufus!”she called.
“I’ll find him.”He caught the side of her face in his hand and turned it toward him to wipe at the tear tracks on her pale face.“Are you hurt anywhere?”
She shook her head and went back to looking for Rufus.
There were so many things he wanted to say.So many things he would go back and change if he could.But she was still in shock.Everything he needed to tell her could wait for now, and he had to find her dog.
“Come on, let’s get you in the truck.”He shifted her off him for a moment, got to one knee, then scooped her up as he stood, holding her against his chest.His legs felt a little unsteady.“What happened?”
“I don’t know.There was a drone following me on the trail earlier.Then when I got to this last curve, the white pickup came at me out of nowhere.It tried to ram me head-on the first time, but I swerved.It whipped past me, turned around to chase me, and pushed me to the edge.”
A deep, burning rage filled him.“Did you see the driver?”He would destroy the motherfucker.
“Not really, everything happened so fast, and I was in a panic to get away.Just that it was a man, wearing a cap.”
“What about the plate?”
“No.”
“It’s okay.We’ll find out who it was.”He strode for the truck.
Shots rang out when he was halfway to it.Bullets kicked up dirt and gravel mere feet from them.
Tripp dropped Willow onto her feet.“Run!”Grabbing her hand, they raced for the relative cover of the forest.
