I didn’t know who this man was, but he wasn’t giving me up, so I remained quiet and still.
“Finish searching the riverbank, then you three get up here and help us check the woods. This asshole’s got to be around here somewhere.”
“Alright.” Forge looked back at me and said in that low voice again, “Stay here. Don’t move or they’re going to find you.”
I stood exactly where he left me and watched as he went over and picked up one body, carrying it to the river, and lowered the dead man into the water. He shoved the body with his boot, sending it out into deeper water where the current pulled it downstream. He came back and this time grunted as he hefted the second man. Forge gave him the same watery grave as the first. I should probably remember this for later. Owen would want to know, and those bodies might find their way to my slab anyway.
“Let’s go,” he muttered, then motioned for me to walk in front of him.
“Where are we going?” I asked, rubbing my hands over my arms. Even in the summer time it got chilly at night here and I’d been sweating and was now cooling off.
“Away from here. Unless you want to wait around for them to find you?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I started walking in the direction he pointed. I was doing my best to pick my way through the rocks so I didn’t trip, or make too much noise.
“Up there,” he said from behind me and his hand appeared in front of my face to point at a small dirt path that led up the embankment. We were going in the opposite direction as the bridge, so I didn’t mention Owen. I still didn’t know whether Forge was a friend or enemy and I wasn’t about to lead him to Owen. Not when the others still thought they were looking for the sheriff. I just hoped they were searching somewhere away from the bridge. They’d mentioned the woods, so I was pretty sure they hadn’t found him. It was a small relief.
I started climbing the path—it was a lot steeper here than over by the bridge—sliding a little as we neared the top. A large hand landed on my ass and gave me a shove. “Hey!” I hissed.
“Not trying to cop a feel, Lady. Jesus. I just don’t want you tumbling back down. Looks like that already happened judging by the blood all over your face. Unless Greene or Deekes did that?”
“I hit a rock,” I admitted under my breath. We were close enough together we could hear one another but our voices weren’t carrying.
“Head south,” he told me as I scrambled up onto flat ground.
I paused, looking around, trying to gain my bearings. South didn’t mean much to me in broad daylight, let alone at night.
His heavy sigh was full of disappointment. “To your left.”
My cheeks flamed as I turned and started to move away from the road and all the vehicles parked there. Though, I wasn’t sure why his disappointment in my navigational skills mattered. I was pretty sure I was in shock. But I kept moving. What else could I do?
If this Forge was going to help me, then I’d follow every direction he gave me. Whatever it took to make it out of thissituation. Then I could let the others know where to find Owen. Maybe we’d both survive.
“You found him.”
Forge and I both froze at the voice. Then he clapped a hand on my shoulder again as a flashlight lit us up.
“Oh shit… It’s a woman?”
My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw six men coming our way. I could feel the way Forge stiffened as he gripped my shoulder.
“Yeah. Found her down where the river and trees meet,” Forge told the man in the lead.
“Where the fuck are Greene and Deekes?”
“Not sure. Must be searching around here somewhere. Figured I’d better bring her up here to you, Dunn.” Forge dropped his hand from my shoulder.
“Where the fuck’s the cop at?” Dunn asked.
“Didn’t see a cop.”
“Deekes said he shot a cop when they first pulled up,” Dunn argued.
“You’ll have to ask him about that,” Forge said, shrugging his large shoulders as he stepped up next to me. “This is all I found.”
Now that I could see him in the light, I could see just how big he was. He wasn’t just tall, his thighs were as thick as my waist, and his arms were bulging with muscles. I was glad I hadn’t been able to see him well before because he was intimidating. I might have jumped into the river to escape him.
“Fuck. Now we need to find that bastard.” Dunn rubbed a hand over his short hair.
