Mackenzie screamed, a feigned look of surrender on her face, her hands up. An impressive performance.
“Where’s your partner?” the guy said, scanning behind her.
“Kevin killed him, but I got away,” she called over the rain. She was convincing when she rattled off the story they’d concocted. “I ... I was trying to get to Gideon’s Jeep. I have to get out of here. Please help me.”
The man’s eyes narrowed and he moved closer, gun trained on Mackenzie. She stepped backward, and he countered, which put him closer to the dripping shrubs on the side of the thicket where Gideon crouched, a stout branch in his fist.
The redhead grinned. “Sorry to disappoint, but you’re not going to make it out of here. I get a nice finder’s fee for taking you out. Better payout if I got two of you, but I’m tired of getting soaked, waiting around here until the dam blows up.” He was moving into point-blank shooting range when Gideon emerged from the thicket and slammed the branch on the back of his head with a satisfying thwack. The man dropped to the mud.
Gideon chuckled and tossed the branch aside. “Finally, one phase of this plan goes off without a hitch.” He patted down the fallen man’s pockets, took a pack of gum, his cell phone, and the weapon, which he stuck in his waistband, along with an extra clip.
Mackenzie snagged a plastic bag from under the tree where the man had been smoking. “Things are looking up. Care for half a cheese sandwich, extra pickles?”
His stomach rumbled. “Exactly the way I like my cheese sandwiches, but we’ll eat on the go.”
They paused long enough for one more sweep to make sure there were no other eyes on the bridge, but he could detect no one. He took her hand, and surprisingly she let him.
“Ready?”
She seemed to understand. There was a possibility that a concealed individual would shoot them the moment their feet hit the paved surface.
She laced her fingers with his and gave him a confident smile, a bright light in the gloom. “Race you.”
She let go and took off ahead of him. Two separate running targets would be harder to handle than if they’d stayed together. He couldn’t believe how fast she ran, even though the ground was slippery. His body clunked along like a clogged-up engine as he struggled after her.
A few feet apart, they sprinted onto the bridge and moved as quickly as they could to his vehicle. Their pace felt like slow motion as they each fought off their fatigue, injuries, and dehydration. The Jeep was slick with rain, parked in the exact same position he’d left it.
He checked behind them again while Mackenzie looked inside. “Keys still there?” he called.
“Nope,” she said with a groan. “I’ll have to hotwire it.”
“No need. I never go anywhere without a spare set.” He pulled the keys from his backpack, unlocked the passenger side, and flung open the door for her before he went around to the driver’s seat.
“Chivalry,” she said, sliding inside. “Perfect.”
It felt amazing to be out of the downpour, even better when the engine fired up.
Before they took off, he examined the phone he’d taken,which was locked with a security code. “Shame it’s probably got a tracker on it,” he said, before rolling down the window and lofting it over the side into the bubbling water.
“This town is murder on phones,” Mackenzie said, checking her own. “And there’s still no signal.” She snapped his photo.
He blinked. “That better not be going up on your Instagram.”
“Just capturing the moment so I can remind myself later.”
“Remind yourself what?” He reversed and guided the Jeep onto the steep trail they’d used earlier, heading away from town.
“Um ...” She shrugged and looked away. “How you helped me and stuff. You are quite a man.”
Quite a man? He had no idea what to say in response.
Mackenzie became very busy keeping watch out the side mirrors. “No one in pursuit yet.”
“The farther we get away from town, the better.”
“But Kevin knows we were heading for the airstrip.”
“And he’ll squeal like a pig as soon as he gets the chance, but hopefully we’ve got enough of a head start.”
