by Janie Crouch
It had to be Jared, or Noah was right—Jared’s friends who would do anything for him. She knew firsthand they were as bad as Jared.
She needed to get across this river and to her children right fucking now.
They’d been traveling at an incline for a while and the distance to the other side of the river was much closer now. The path rounded a curve and Noah stopped, his curse blistering the air around them.
It didn’t take Marilyn long to figure out the problem. The bridge was out.
“Did it collapse?” she asked.
He lowered himself to the ground so he could grab the length of the bridge and start hoisting it up until he could see the ends that should’ve been attached to the other side.
“This catenary rope bridge has been here for as long as I remember. Thing is scary as hell to cross the first time, but it has always been secure. Lasted through blizzards, monsoons, all sorts of crazy weather.” He held up the edge of the rope. “See how even this burn is at the end of each piece? Someone took a blowtorch to it.”
“So definitely didn’t collapse on its own.”
His jaw got tighter. “The next bridge is about a mile down. Let’s keep going.”
Marilyn looked over at the other two women. They nodded but she could see they were exhausted. It was mid-afternoon and they’d been walking at a rapid pace all day. They’d only stopped for a couple of minutes to eat the very little food they had left at lunch—which hadn’t been enough to provide much energy. Marilyn was tired and hungry, and she was twenty years younger than them.
But they were worried about the kids too, even if they didn’t know about the problems with the rafts, so they’d walked without complaint all day.
One thing about surviving abusive situations, it taught you how to gut-up and push on, even when uncomfortable.
Marilyn kept looking at the other side of the ravine as they briskly walked toward the next bridge, hoping she’d catch sight of the kids. That despite the evidence suggesting there was deliberate trouble, they’d be there waiting for her to find a way to get over to them. She could hear their little voices yelling for her as she crossed, waiting to tell her about all their adventures.
Noah was looking across the ravine too, but farther in the distance. Whatever he saw didn’t make him happy.
They made it to the second bridge twenty minutes later. Panic began to crawl all over her body.
This bridge was out, too.
Noah didn’t curse this time, which made her even more nervous, and she realized that he’d been expecting the bridge to be out.
Noah began taking heavier items out of his backpack. “We’re going to have to change plans. You all need to go back upriver a couple of miles, then turn at the fork. There’s a well-marked path that will lead you to old man Henrikson’s house.”
“No,” Marilyn said. She wasn’t letting him go without her.
Noah continued without stopping, “Tell him about the rafting accident and that I said there’s trouble out here and he needs to get help.”
“We can keep going with you,” Barb said. “We’ll try not to slow you down.”
He gave the older woman a gentle smile. “You three have been absolute troupers, but it’s time for me to move on my own. There’s a storm coming in the next few hours. And I have reason to think the kids and Tanner and Bree might be in some trouble.”
The two women looked at each other, then nodded.
“Be careful. We’ll start walking back up the trail,” Francis said. “I’m ready to get off my feet.”
Barb reached over and squeezed Marilyn’s hand, a silent show of support for whatever she decided to do, then the two of them began walking.
Marilyn turned to Noah. “I’m going with you.”
He shook his head. “You need to go with Francis and Barb. The kind of trouble on the other side of the river might not be pretty.”
“It’s my children in the middle of that trouble, Noah. Francis and Barb are smart and resourceful. They’ll find their way to Mr. Henrikson’s cabin safely on their own.”
He shook his head. “It’s not them I’m worried about, gorgeous. I don’t know what’s happening over there,” he jerked a thumb in the direction of the water rushing by them twenty feet below, “but I need to get there and help Tanner.”
“And I’ll help, too.” If there was a fight, she would be ready.
He put his hands on her shoulders. “I know you want to help, but the situation hasn’t changed. I’ll move faster on my own. The best way you can help your kids is by letting me get to them as quickly as I can.”
How was she supposed to argue with that? She nodded as Noah turned and ran up the path away from her, leaving her alone.
18
Noah had passed tired hours ago and had worked his way well into exhaustion. He ignored it as much as possible, but too many miles run and too few calories going into his system had wiped his reserves.
But still, he pushed.
Tanner was out there and could take care of himself against whoever was hunting him, but having two small children in tow definitely limited a lot of his options. Noah didn’t know what the end game was of the people who were hunting Tanner and the kids, but the reflections he’d caught of rifle scopes pointed in Tanner’s direction this afternoon had not reassured him.
When the third bridge had also been destroyed, Noah knew the situation was dire. He’d been forced to go farther downriver until he found a place narrow enough to cross through the water. He’d lost even more time doing that and now it was getting dark.
Tracking Tanner wasn’t easy, especially in the dimming light, but tracking the people following Tanner wasn’t nearly as hard. They weren’t trying to keep their movements any sort of secret since they weren’t expecting anyone to be coming up behind them.
Noah found the place where they veered away from the bridge. Tanner must have realized he was being followed and chose to head in a direction that would give him and the kids more cover.
Noah steadily tracked them for hours as night fell around him. It took him much longer than it should’ve to realize someone was tracking him, too. He’d been so busy looking out for the danger he knew was in front of him, that he hadn’t been watching his six the way he should’ve been.
He circled back around in a wide arc to get around the person. Whoever it was wasn’t making any effort to hide his tracks. It didn’t take Noah long to come back up behind his pursuer, about to take him down.
He cursed under his breath as he realized he’d read the situation completely wrong. He was more fucking tired than he thought if he’d been unaware this entire time of his follower.
“What are you doing here, gorgeous?”
Marilyn stopped, tensed, and spun around to face him. “I’m going to make sure my children are safe.”
“How did you even catch up with me?”
She shrugged one small shoulder. “I told you I ran cross country in high school. I’m not super-fast, but I can endure distances. And you weren’t quite so gazelle-like today. My guess is you’ve burnt your body out over the last day and a half.”
She wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t change the facts. “You should’ve gone with Francis and Barb. This is dangerous.”
“Even more reason for me to be here. These are my kids and we both know Jared is behind this. Whether his plan was to grab them or me, it doesn’t matter. I’m not letting you walk into his trap alone. You’re trying to help my family. I’ll be the one guarding your back while you do that.” She put her hands on her hips. “So you can take me with you, or I can keep following you. But either way, I’m not getting left behind while you go in there alone.”
She was worried about him. Ready to march into battle to protect him. This woman… She blew his damned mind.
He pulled her in for a brief, hard kiss, then let her go.
“You’re a pain in the ass sometimes, gorgeous. But I like it. Let’s go fight, little warrior.”
&
nbsp; Noah didn’t have to slow down at all for Marilyn; she stayed right behind him every step of the way. Within two hours they were getting close. It was the silence in the woods around him that let him know that there was an unknown and unnatural predator nearby. The small sound of radio static crackle in the distance confirmed it.
He was going to have to leave her behind again. She probably wasn’t going to like it; hell, he didn’t like it, either. Didn’t want to take a chance on leaving her unprotected. But he needed to scout out the situation alone.
They came to an outcropping of rocks near a small drop-off by a waterfall—the safest place he was going to find. At least here she was surrounded on two sides. He grabbed a large stick and gave it to her.
“What’s this?”
He kept his voice low. “It’s the best weapon we have. I need you to stay here, gorgeous—”
“But…”
“Jared and/or his buddies are nearby. I need to scout and ascertain the exact situation. This is not about me being overly protective of you. This is about me using the skills the U.S. Government spent a good deal of money making sure I received. You’re going to have to trust me.”
“I do trust you.” She grabbed his arm. “But promise someday soon, you’ll teach me how to track so I don’t have to be left behind again.”
“Done and done. I’ll see you soon. If anyone else but me comes near, swing that branch at their head as hard as you can and scream your lungs out. Remember everything we’ve worked on.”
She nodded.
He didn’t want to leave her but forced himself to turn and go. He was keeping her safer by leaving her here.
Fuck. He hoped.
He ran silently for a couple of minutes then stopped, closing his eyes, allowing the sounds around him to filter into his consciousness. He heard the unnatural break of twigs and opened his eyes, moving in that direction. A few seconds later, another crackle of a walkie-talkie.
Got you.
Soundless, he moved closer.
“How many times are you going to let that damn thing give off noise?”
Noah immediately recognized Jared’s lawyer, Oscar Stobbart’s voice. Zac hadn’t been able to get any recordings of them inside the townhouse, but he’d gotten some from other places, so Noah recognized his voice.
“As many times as I have to until you all agree they might’ve moved on,” a second man said.
“They had two small children, no supplies, no food, no light. It made much more sense for them to stop once it got dark. So, we keep searching around here, Paul.”
That would be Paul Wyn, another part of Ellis’s posse.
“Well, I’ve searched my quadrant twice and nobody’s there,” Wyn hissed. “No sign of anyone. I think they moved on.”
“If it wasn’t for you and your damn cigarettes, we would’ve had them back near the trail.”
“Fuck off. I wanted to have a cigarette break. And how do you know they found them?”
“Well,” Stobbart sneered, “they turned in a different direction and started covering up their tracks at that clearing where they obviously found your butts.”
Noah wasn’t surprised that Tanner had gotten away from them. And Stobbart was right, it did make more sense that Tanner had found a place to hide to give the kids and Bree a place to rest. They’d be exhausted by now.
What didn’t make sense was why Stobbart and Wyn were having this huge conversation right here, out loud. It gave too much of their location away if they thought Tanner was nearby.
It was a trap.
“And anyway,” Wyn continued, “that bitch isn’t even with them. We’re not going to be able to bring her back to Jared if she isn’t around.”
Noah ignored the rage eating through him at the confirmation that these assholes were here to take Marilyn. Right now, the most important thing was getting her and the kids to safety, which meant finding Tanner.
Wyn and Stobbart continued talking as he widely circled around them. They thought Tanner was nearby and were trying to draw him out. Hopefully, his brother wouldn’t fall for it.
Stobbart kept on talking. “We work on the kids now and get them to Jared. It won’t take much to get Marilyn to fall in line once they’re gone.”
“But what about the adults?” Wyn said. “Jared doesn’t want the kids hurt, but I’ve got the taste for a little hunting.”
Shit. Noah wanted to take these two out where they stood shooting off their mouths. He could do it easily. But he was willing to bet there was someone waiting silently on the outer rim of this conversation, waiting for Tanner to take the bait.
“The man is a cop,” Stobbart hissed. “It was one thing when we were just going to take out some woman, but it’s another thing to bring Colorado’s entire police force down on us.”
Wyn snickered. “You worry too much. Always have. It’s the wilderness. Accidents happen in the wilderness all the time. Even to cops.”
Noah circled around further.
There. Noah spotted the third man hiding, waiting to see if Tanner would try to take out Wyn and Stobbart. It was Marius Nixon, another one of Ellis’s pals that Zac had seen in the townhouse. Noah silently backed away without being seen.
Was Tanner around here? He had to find his brother before he did anything that got himself killed. Listening to their talk and making their threats… Tanner would want to eliminate that threat if he could while the two of them were together. They had guns. The only weapon Tanner would feel he had was the element of surprise.
Or so he would think.
Noah moved from tree to tree. Relief pooled in his gut as he spotted Tanner. But he was right, his brother was about to make a move. Noah ran quickly, but silently toward his brother.
“Right now, we stick to the plan,” Stobbart said. “We can’t get Marilyn, but we can get the kids.”
“Fine,” Wyn said. “But if the cop or the woman poses a threat, I won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done.”
Fuck. Tanner was standing, about to charge into Wyn and Stobbart. He’d be an easy target for the third guy. Noah leapt into the air, tackling Tanner like their high school football days, and threw them both into a tree.
“What was that?” Wyn said.
Noah pressed his fingers up against Tanner’s windpipe, completely cutting off his ability to make any sound. “Quiet, Hot Lips, it’s me.”
Tanner stopped all struggle, and Noah immediately released his hold on his brother’s throat.
“We need to take them,” Tanner whispered. “They’re planning—”
Noah gave a sharp shake of his head. “Set-up,” he said in the lowest of voices.
Now they waited. Noah could tell Tanner didn’t like it, but he kept quiet and didn’t move as they lay huddled behind the tree.
Finally, the third voice, Marius Nixon, broke his hiding and spoke.
“It didn’t work,” Nixon said. “They must really not be anywhere around here. Otherwise the cop would’ve made a play. Trying to take you guys out would’ve been the smartest thing to do.”
Noah could feel Tanner tense at the sound of the third man.
“It was worth a try. Let’s split back up and make another round,” Stobbart said. “I still hold that they wouldn’t have kept going with the kids. Too hard.”
They all faded back into the darkness, but Noah kept motionless with Tanner. Even long after it was quiet and the forest had resumed its natural noises, Noah didn’t move.
There was still someone out there. A fourth man. Someone more patient and with more wilderness experience than Wyn or Stobbart or even Marius Nixon, who’d been lying in wait. Tanner started to move, but Noah stopped him with a shake of the head.
They waited. Noah could thank his time in the Army for teaching him this life-saving patience and for giving him these instincts. Only after he was certain no one else was anywhere near them did he finally motion for Tanner that it was safe to move.
“Being extra cautious?” Tanner whispere
d.
“There’s a fourth, who was hanging behind just in case. I don’t know where he was, but he was out there.”
Tanner muttered something about Noah being fucking spooky. He could call it whatever he wanted, but Noah had learned to trust his instincts about things like this.
“I’m pretty sure you just saved my life, so thanks.”
Noah squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s move. I’ve got to pick something up before we go to wherever you stashed Bree and the kids.”
“Pick something up?” Tanner whispered. “Like a pizza?”
“Infinitely more frustrating than pizza, trust me.” She shouldn’t have followed him, even if she wanted to protect him and help the kids.
He moved them in the direction of where he’d left Marilyn.
“Did you track us?” Tanner asked.
“Yeah. Damn near impossible to hide two kids and an inexperienced hiker, although you did a good job.”
They walked silently until they reached the large outcropping of rocks near the waterfall. Noah stepped to the side as Marilyn flew out at them, aiming for their heads like he’d told her.
Noah spun, getting behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her from clobbering Tanner. “Whoa there, tiger.”
She lowered the stick, then looked between the two men. “Tanner? Where are the kids?”
Tanner turned to Noah. “This is the pizza?”
“She followed me. We sent Francis and Barb home when we saw the bridge was out. Marilyn was supposed to go with them, but somebody is not great at following directions.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t give a damn about your directions when my kids’ lives are at stake. Are they okay? We saw them fall out of the raft, but Noah assured me that the flares meant you guys were unharmed.”
“We were. We are.”
Marilyn’s relief caused her to sag against him. Noah could hardly fill in details for Tanner about how he’d found them before she was demanding to know more. “Where are the kids? Are they hurt? Scared? I just want to get to them.”
“They’re hidden with Bree. Sleeping. They’re not hurt and have been absolute troupers today. They’re hidden pretty well right now, but I don’t want to leave them any longer than necessary.”
