Then he leaned close to Rowan. “Run!”
Wasting no more time, they took off again.
Rowan had no idea how Wes was navigating through the dark.
She could barely keep herself upright.
But Wes never hesitated.
He changed direction without slowing, guiding them deeper through the mountains like he knew exactly where he was going.
At this point, Rowan didn’t care where they were. She only cared that she stayed with him.
Her legs burned. Her shoulder stung where her shirt had torn when she scraped it on a branch. Air wouldn’t completely fill her lungs.
Keep moving.
That was all her mind seemed capable of now.
Somewhere behind them, something cracked. It wasn’t an animal’s footstep. She was sure of it.
It was the gunman. Was he just waiting to fire at them again?
Rowan’s pulse jumped, but she forced herself not to look back.
Wes slowed abruptly, and Rowan nearly collided with him before catching herself.
He crouched near the edge of the slope, his attention fixed below them.
Rowan followed his gaze.
Far beneath the trees, a vehicle drove along a narrow stretch of road, its headlights cutting through the darkness.
Hope surged hard enough to hurt.
Then fear followed right behind it.
Was it Micah?
Or someone else?
CHAPTER 23
Wes feltRowan grab his arm as the headlights cut through the trees below them. “Is that Micah?”
“I don’t know yet.” He kept his voice low and steady. “We need to wait.”
The vehicle slowed near the end of the fire road and stopped.
A door opened. “Wes?”
Relief flooded him. It was Sheriff Sutherland!
Wes took her hand, and they hurried down the slope toward the truck.
The sheriff was already standing outside his truck with one hand near his weapon. He scanned the woods above them before glancing back at them. “Either of you injured?”
“No.” Wes opened the rear door. “Shots were fired from the ridge. Shooter took out the back windows and one of the tires on my truck back near the overlook spur.”
