“That’s us.” Bones shook the guy’s hand with a smile. “I won’t bother asking how you know our girl.”
“Probably for the best.” The mystery man got back into the driver’s seat.
Coulter and the others piled in, and soon, they were off. They made it to the end of the first gravel road when Digger’s phone began to ring.
“It’s Shadow,” he announced with a low rumble. “Hey, babe,” he answered. “You’re on speaker with the rest of the team.”
“You on the road yet?”
“Just now. What’s up?”
“I have a bead on Crawford’s car.”
“It’s not Crawford,” Coulter spoke up. “Vas took care of the bastard for us.”
“Well that was unexpected.”
“Tell me about it.” He huffed out a breath.
“Okay, well you’re going to have to speed up if you want to catch them before they reach the house.”
They all listened as the brilliant woman relayed the directions they needed to follow. Their driver pushed the gas pedal down even more. Within a few short minutes, another SUV came into sight.
“There! That has to be them, right?” Coulter prayed. To the man behind the wheel, he asked, “Can you get closer?”
“I can, but I’m guessing you’d rather not spook them.”
“He’s right,” Digger agreed. “Better to let them get to the house and get parked so this thing doesn’t turn into a high-speed chase.”
“Which would put Alex in even more danger than she already is,” Coulter mused. “Okay, so we keep following them from a safe distance.”
Please, be okay. God, please let her be okay.
The silent prayers played through his mind over andover again. They were close. So close he could almost feel her back in the safety of his arms.
If you let her make it through this, I promise I’ll never let her go again.
“Whoa. What the hell?” Mike let up on the gas.
From his spot in the center of the vehicle’s middle bench seat, Coulter refocused and followed the other man’s line of sight. His heart flew into his throat as his stomach dropped.
The SUV they were following—the one they were all but certain Alex was in—had just started to swerve. First left, then all the way back to the right.
“Did they blow a tire?”
“Nope.” Mike shook his head as his gaze remained locked on the car up ahead. “All four tires are full and intact.”
It swerved again, this time in a hard, sharp turn to the left. Coulter watched in utter horror as it immediately overcorrected toward the right.
“They’re going to wreck.”
The words were no more out of his mouth when the SUV hit the shoulder and rolled.
Once. Twice. The damn thing flipped over and over again.
“No!” he yelled as the others voiced their own version of denial and shock.
The crumpled vehicle finally came to a stop, landing upside-down with its bent wheels spinning.
