I watched from the ditch beside County Twelve as another patrol truck rolled past.
Slow.
Careful.
Looking.
My heart pounded so hard it hurt.
I pressed myself deeper into the weeds.
Mud soaked through my jeans.
Cold water seeped into my boots.
I didn’t care.
They weren’t going to find me.
They couldn’t.
Not yet.
Not before I got Sadie.
The note had been a mistake.
I knew that now.
The second I left it on Beast’s truck, everything changed.
More deputies came.
More trucks.
More people.
The whole town had turned against me.
Because of Beast.
Because he had convinced everyone I was dangerous.
He had made Sadie afraid of me.
He had made her believe I was the bad guy.
But I wasn’t.
I was the one trying to save her.
I was the one who knew her.
I was the one who had loved her before Beast ever came back to Eagle River.
A truck turned onto the road above me.
I held my breath.
