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Had she really thought he wouldn’t? He grasped her arm. “Run as fast as you can to the church, understand?”

“Yes.” Without hesitation, she ran across the road and to the open field surrounding the church on the other side. He stayed behind her, half expecting her to stumble and fall.

She didn’t so much as pause until she reached the side of the church. And even then, she kept going until she was behind the structure, hidden from view of the road.

He slowed to a stop as she braced herself against the side of the building. She pushed damp hair out of her eyes. “You saw the SUV?”

“Yeah. They’re persistent, I’ll say that much.” If he were alone, he’d have stayed in the woods, but he didn’t think Fiona would tolerate spending the night outside. Not when her clothes, other than his sweatshirt, were still damp. And making a fire was not an option.

He moved toward the church door. He’d tried it earlier and found it locked. Then the SUV had shown up. He’d tried to see the license plate, or even the number of people in the car, but that proved impossible. The license plate had been obscured in some way. And the windows of the SUV must have been tinted.

The men inside were not amateurs. And that was not good.

What in the world had Fiona gotten involved in?

There wasn’t time to sort that out now. He didn’t want to break the door lock to get inside. That would have been a dead giveaway if the men in the SUV came back to search for them. There wasn’t a deadbolt, which was a point in his favor.

He retrieved his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a credit card, and went to work. He was doing his best to disengage the lock when he felt Fiona come up beside him.

“You’re breaking in?” She sounded horrified.

He barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “We not going to steal anything. We just need to be out of the elements.”

She didn’t say anything more as he fiddled with the lock. When it finally gave away, he breathed a sigh of relief as he opened the door and held it for Fiona. “Get inside.”

She crossed the threshold, entering the dark interior of the building. After sliding the card back into his wallet, he followed, closing and relocking the door behind them. He grasped her elbow, guiding her through. “Be careful. We’re not turning on any lights.”

“Okay.” She moved cautiously through what appeared to be a kitchen area until they came out along one side of the pulpit located in the church proper. The pulpit overlooked rows of pews lined up on each side of the room. The main doorway was on the opposite side of the building, which was where the people attending services would enter.

Not a huge space, but one that worked well enough he supposed. Fiona crossed to the front pew and sat down. “How long will we stay here?”

“For a while.” He glanced around, instinctively knowing they couldn’t stay there in the main area. Anyone looking through the windows would see them. “Lie down on the pew to rest. I need to check the place out.”

She didn’t argue, her exhaustion evident on her features. Satisfied that she was somewhat hidden from view, he moved back into the kitchen area. Considering there was a kitchen, he figured there must have been a bathroom, too, along with another gathering place nearby.

As expected, the bathroom was down a short hallway on the other side of the pulpit. After checking that out, he poked around until he found a doorway leading to the basement.

Using his phone flashlight app, hoping the light couldn’t be seen from outside, he descended the staircase. The wood creaked beneath his weight. At the bottom, he stepped into a large room with tables and chairs, just as he’d surmised. There were doors on either side of the main room revealing additional spaces. He headed to the right one first and found a small office area. That space held some potential. On the other side of the room, the door opened into a utility space housing the furnace, washer, and dryer. He doused the light with his hand when he noticed a small basement window. It was barely big enough for a man his size to crawl through, so he didn’t view that as a viable escape route.

The office was their best bet. The linoleum floor wouldn’t be as comfortable as the padded pew, but it couldn’t be helped.

Leaving basement, he quickly headed back upstairs. “Fiona?”

Her head popped up from the pew. “I’m here.”

“Come downstairs.” He gestured for her to follow. “To the office.”

She stood and made her way toward him. “Why are we going to the office?”

“It’s the best place to hide.” He grasped her hand, helping her navigate the darkness. He didn’t want to use the flashlight app until necessary. “Watch your step.”

When they were on the stairs, he closed the basement door before tapping the screen to enable the light. From there, it was easy enough to reach the bottom.

“There’s a door to the right.” He flashed the light on it. “That’s the office.”

Fiona walked toward it, looking around curiously. The office was very small and did not have one of those tiny basement windows. Having only one way in or out wasn’t optimal, but he liked having the old-fashioned large metal desk as a barrier between them and the door. From that position, he estimated he could take out the bad guys before they reached Fiona.

“I thought you were going to call for a rideshare?” Fiona sounded upset. “You’re making it sound like we’re going to spend the night.”