Shit.
CHAPTER 5
Pain throbbed throughJosie’s ankle.She lay still on the damp earth, rolling her lips between her teeth to stop herself from hurtling to her feet and making a run for it.Someone was close.Warning percolated in her head.One movement, one sound, could bring her attacker’s attention to the bottom of the ravine.
She wet her lips.Water seeped through her pants from the dead and damp foliage, making the sweat-wicking material she wore like a prickly second skin.Sucking a deep breath in through her nose did nothing to calm her frantic pulse.
If her attacker was close, they’d surely hear her heart about to beat from her chest.A crow cawed.The rush of wings flapping and leaves shuddering came next.No more snapping of twigs or heavy footprints against the crinkly leaves.
If they’d ventured in another direction, she just might be able to get help.Rolling to her side, she pushed into a sitting position.The forest spun, threatening to take her back down to its bed.She blinked rapidly and brought her hand to her ankle.It hurt, but there was no swelling or bone protrusion.Walkable.
She got to her feet and her ankle screamed.Leaning forward so she could stay low and bear some of her weight on her hands, she bear-crawled to the top of the ravine.If her phone had fallen down the incline she was screwed.No way she could make it back down and sift through mud and debris to find it.She reached the top and dropped to the ground.Her chest pumped with every breath.Fear tightened the cords in her neck.
Focus, girl, and find your flipping phone.
Beep,beep
A text!The sound had come from nearby.She stayed on her hands and knees, shoving leaves aside as she searched.The metallic gold of her phone case caught her eye, and she swept the device into her hand.
Thank god.She shuffled so her back rested against a tree and she faced the ravine, hoping she was out of sight.Her fingers trembled as she tapped the screen.She wasn’t too far from the road.As soon as she’d arranged for someone to pick her up, she’d start walking the way she’d come.
She glanced at the text message—her mom.Definitely not someone she could talk to right now.Her mom would just freak out.Josie hit McKenna’s contact.She lived closer than Dez, and Dez would be at her shop this early.The phone rang in her ear several times and then McKenna’s voicemail rang out.Shoot.
“Hey, it’s me,” Josie said quietly.“I had an accident.I’m okay.But I’m near Voyer Lake in case...in case you don’t hear from me.”She hung up and dialed Dez next.
The line rang and rang.She disconnected before the voicemail message came on.She’d have to make it to the road and flag someone down.
Or she could call Quin.
Temptation gnawed at her.No.He might not have any intention of coming back, despite what his note had said.If he’d skipped town again, she didn’t want him to think she was calling because she cared.Keeping her phone in her hand, she huffed out a breath and stood.Pain pulsed through her ankle.She needed to get her damn shoe off and elevate the thing with some ice, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Holding on to the tree trunk, she balanced on her good foot and then hobbled from tree to tree.At this rate it’d take all day to get to the road.The wind rustled, and a chill touched the back of her neck where sweat had collected.
A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.
Great.
Her phone rang in her hand.She jumped and winced at the sound then slapped the device to her chest.That was a surefire way to alert the attacker to her location if they hadn’t given up already.It was probably McKenna.Silencing the ringer, she looked at the screen.
Quin’s name lit the glass.
Her stomach folded into knots.She swallowed the thick saliva in her mouth.It’d been a long time since his name flashed on her phone.Eons.But she wasn’t in the position to think about that.Swiping the green icon, she pressed the device to her ear.
“Hello?”she said quietly.
“Hey, you still wanna do lunch?I was thinking I could pick up sushi.It’s going to rain and...you okay?You sound kind of winded.”
She stumbled as she reached the trail and grunted.“Uh.Not great,” she murmured softly.“Someone ran me off the road while I was running.I hurt my ankle.”
Quin cursed.“Where are you?”
She gave him the location.
“What do you mean near the ravine?Why are you so far from the road?”
She jerked her gaze around the wooded area.A cold sensation chomped on her tailbone.The attacker could be close, listening.Or she could be out of her mind with paranoia.
The memory of the truck trying to mow her down blipped in her mind’s eye.Nope, definitely not paranoid.
