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Bree wasn’t facing Marilyn, and probably couldn’t have seen her face even if she was this far back in the shelter, but she could hear her friend’s smile.
“Just the saying my vows part. Maybe running for my life will knock something loose and I’ll be able to get them written.”
She meant to say more, but the next thing Bree knew, Tanner was shaking her awake. Bree hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep.
“It’s time to go.”
Noah was back. He was breathing heavy and drinking water from the canteen.
“I’ve got us a window open with them, led one of them in the opposite direction. We need to take advantage of it.”
Marilyn woke up Sam and started talking softly to him. A moment later the little boy walked over to Noah.
Marilyn picked up the sleeping Eva in her arms. “We’re ready. She’ll wake up, but she’ll keep quiet.”
“That storm coming in is going to be worse than we thought,” Noah told Tanner. “And it’s going to hit soon.”
“Good. We’ll use it to our advantage.”
“Go back toward the waterfall,” Noah said. “It gives you multiple exit options. Once you’re there, let out a scream or something to get them headed that way.”
The two brothers hugged briefly, and Bree hugged Marilyn.
“Be careful,” Tanner said. “They may not all come after us.”
“We all better be back in time to be standing at that wedding, or Mom and Cassandra both are gonna kill us.”
“Trust me, I know,” Tanner muttered.
Less than a minute later they were all out of the shelter heading in different directions. Noah had Sam on his back and Marilyn was carrying Eva.
For them, stealth was more important than speed, at least right now.
Tanner grabbed Bree’s hand, moving as quickly and silently as possible through the forest. He stopped every once in a while to listen, once completely changing directions, but it wasn’t long before they made it to a small waterfall. They filled their canteen and caught their breath.
“This is it,” Tanner said. “You ready to lead them in this direction? There’s no turning back after this.”
Was she ready? Was anybody ever actually ready to bring people with weapons hunting them in their direction?
She nodded. She knew the plan.
“Make it count. We want to make sure they hear.”
Tanner kissed her, then stepped back.
Bree screamed.
Chapter Sixteen
Tanner never wanted to hear that sound from Bree again. She screamed his name like she was terrified out of her mind.
Which she may be, although she certainly hadn’t shown any sign of breaking.
He kissed her again to stop the scream, then grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
They started pushing themselves almost unbearably hard. He could hear Bree’s breaths behind him, sawing in and out, but she didn’t complain, and he didn’t stop. But after a couple of miles, they finally slowed.
These first few miles were critical. They had to get enough distance not to be caught, but not go so fast that the hunters figured out they were the decoys, not whom they really wanted.
