Iona stared at her phone’s screen, adjusting the map this way, then that. “There’s a dirt road up ahead on your right. A quarter of a mile from there, you’ll take a fast left.”
“And end up where?”
“A dense forest.”
Grant smiled. “And maybe find a place to hide.”
“Exactly.”
“Elias, keep this woman. She’s sharp.”
“That’s the plan.”
A brief pause greeted his statement, then Grant said, “Wait. What did you say?”
“I’m keeping her.”
Grant and Rayne exchanged glances. “Do you know what that means?” Rayne asked.
He gazed deep into Iona’s beautiful eyes. “You bet I do. Get your gaze back on the road, Bowen.”
“Right.” Grant’s head whipped around for him to stare out the front windshield.
“Are you navigating, Rayne, or am I?” Iona asked.
“I’ve got it. Five hundred feet, then turn right, Grant.”
“Copy that.” When it was time, Grant slammed on the brakes, expertly guided the truck through a slide onto the dirt road, and plunged ahead, putting more and more distance between them and their pursuers.
“Get ready for the left turn,” Rayne said, her gaze locked on the screen of her phone. “Four hundred feet, three hundred, two, one, now.”
Grant whipped the wheel to the left this time and zoomed onto the tree-lined road.
As the suspension took a beating, Elias gritted his teeth and revised his description of the road. Not a road, a cow path. Potholes deep enough to blow a tire littered the roadway and ratcheted up the pain in his shoulder. Man, he’d give anythingto get out of this truck and walk the rest of the way back to the cabin. Didn’t care that he’d be walking for 30 miles.
“Hold on,” Grant called out. “Fast turn.”
Elias braced himself. Just in time, too, because his teammate slammed on the brakes and backed into the forest. After he shut off the lights, they waited.
Minutes later, three pickup trucks slowly motored by their position with their windows down and the passengers searching both sides of the road with flashlights.
Ten minutes passed before Grant looked over his shoulder at Elias. “I think we can go now.”
He gave his teammate a chin lift. “Let’s do it.” Elias was ready to get back to the cabin and put ice on his shoulder.
Grant cranked the engine and headed back the way they’d come. He drove the rest of the way to the cabin without incident, although the operatives remained on alert.
The closer they were to the cabin, the more relaxed Elias felt. As they slowed to park, Elias realized he had let his guard down too soon.
Six motorcycles were parked at the front of the cabin, a metal and machine barrier Elias and the others would have to cross to enter their temporary home. “Go around to the back. I’d rather not walk into an ambush.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Grant drove around the side of the cabin to the back and parked. He glanced over his shoulder at Elias and Iona. “We’ll go in first.”
“I can handle myself,” Elias snapped.
“Yeah, you can. You’ll handle yourself better after you’re healed. You’re lethal when the situation calls for it, injured or not, but you’re a step slow right now. Let us go in first, all right? When one of us is injured, you and Iona can be the decoy.”
Although he hated giving in to weakness, his teammate was right. Elias was a step slow, and if he reacted too slowly, Ionamight be the one to pay the price. That was unacceptable. He manned up and gave a slight nod.
