by Angie Martin
“Don’t scream.” Logan’s whisper cut through the silence and set her on edge. “We have to go.”
He removed his hand from her mouth and she drew in a jagged breath. Despite the seriousness of his voice, her body froze with fear.
“Now, Sara.”
She didn’t hesitate. The desperation in his command told her everything she needed to know. He handed her a pair of jeans and shoes, and she quickly slipped them on while he waited.
When she stood up, he grabbed her arm. “Stay behind me.”
Sara’s body stiffened against his, her hands on his back for protection. His hand reached behind him and held onto her arm, guiding her to walk with him. With every step she worked to control every frightened breath that left her lips, scared that whoever Logan sheltered her from could hear her.
Logan stopped and told her to step to the side, behind the door. His fingers never left her skin as he poked his head out the door. Faraway voices filtered through the crack between the wood and the wall, and he eased the door closed.
“We have to go through the window,” he whispered, as he locked the door from the inside.
“How?” Sara asked.
He knelt down to his mattress, lifted it, and picked something up. He handed her the item.
She ran her fingers over the cylindrical, heavy metal while he dragged the mattress in front of the door. “A crowbar?” In all her time looking for a weapon or means of escape, she never dreamed he kept the one thing she needed so near.
He had her stay behind the door and he took the mattress from her bed and added it to the makeshift barricade. He took the crowbar from her hands, picked his bag up from the floor, and told her to stay in front of him. As they walked to the window, with his body shielding her from the door, adrenaline coursed through her limbs to the point that they ached. He pushed her to the side when they reached the window, and her fear increased tenfold.
The crowbar slipped between the board and the wall and with a strong pull, the board let loose on one side. He had her hold the board while he worked on the other side. Together, they set the board down with care. He gave her the crowbar again, slid the window open, and pushed out the screen.
Encouraging her to go first, he helped her up, and she crawled through the window and into the night rain. After he climbed outside, he took each strap of his bag and brought them over his arms, securing the bag on his back. He turned his head from one side to the other, scanning the terrain ahead. Sara handed the crowbar to him. Her tense neck snapped around when the noise came from her bedroom, the sound of men breaking through the door.
Logan circled his hand around her wrist, and she looked up at his stern face. “Run as fast as you can toward the barn and keep up,” he said.
As they raced in the direction of the barn through the pellets of rain, Sara focused on her breathing to avoid thinking of the danger behind them. She didn’t know if the men had broken through the door yet, or if they were right on their heels, and she didn’t care. She only thought about her breathing and keeping pace with Logan, a much faster runner than she.
Under the full moon, a man emerged from the side of the barn. Logan skidded to a stop and held out his arms to catch her. He pulled her behind a nearby tree. Trapped between the bark and his body, she leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She wanted to ask about the others, but something told her not to. She held as still as possible, scared to take even a breath.
One of his hands rubbed up and down her chilled, soaked arm. “It’s okay, Sara,” he whispered, as if he sensed her fear. “I’ve got you.”
A momentary calm rushed over her soul. She knew he would do everything he could to keep her safe, just as he had since he kidnapped her to save her life.
Logan backed away from her and she lifted her eyes to his. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
He slid his hand around hers, his other hand grasping the crowbar, and guided her into the thickening trees behind them. She again kept up the best she could, as they dodged trees and ducked under low-hanging branches. Moving deeper into the woods, the darkness camouflaged the oncoming obstacles and they slowed their pace.
Sara gripped Logan’s hand tighter. Her lifeline to safety, she stayed right behind him and matched his steps without complaint.
Chapter Thirty-one
Nothing else went through Logan’s mind except Sara’s safety. He took every step and made every turn knowing he could not fail in his job.
She didn’t know yet about the rest of his team and until they stopped in a safe place, he wouldn’t tell her. Lying awake with another restless night, he had heard the unusual noise coming from another part of the house and his instincts kicked his gut. After leaving the bedroom, the first body he stumbled over was Charlie at the end of the hall. A glimpse into the living room showed two more shadowed bodies, one on the floor and one on the couch, right where he had left Jack and Lester when he went to bed.
Creaks coming from the loft above him had spurred him into action before he could investigate further. He didn’t know why those that killed the others had yet to find him and Sara, but he took advantage of their mistake to get her out of the house.
As he emerged from the woods with Sara, he closed off all thoughts of his team so he could work out their next movements. It wouldn’t be long before the men on the property found their way out here, but Logan had led them to a dead end. In front of them, the edge of the small mountain had a long drop to a lower ledge, far enough down for both of them to break some bones if they tried to jump.
He had not been to this safe house in some time and did not have an escape route planned that didn’t include the cars in the barn. The rain only compounded the situation. Peering over the edge again, he saw headlights coming from the winding main road that they had driven on their way to the house. He just needed to find a way down there.
He told Sara to stay with him and they ran along the edge until he found a mostly hidden dirt trail that appeared to led down to the ledge below them. From there they could better figure out how to get to the main road.
“We’re going to have to separate,” he said, as he stopped walking.
Sara looked at him, her fear apparent. “You can’t leave me—”
“I’m not leaving you for long. I want you to take this trail down to the next ledge. Then run north for ten minutes and find a place to hide. If the path ends before ten minutes is up, turn east and run in that direction for the rest of the time.” He removed his watch, illuminated the face, showed her the compass on it, and handed it to her. “No more and no less than ten minutes. If I’m not there in forty-five minutes, find a way down to the main road, and follow it to the next town to get help. Don’t let any cars see you, but run along the side and keep behind the trees.”
“What are you doing?”
“I need to even out the playing field a bit or we’ll never get out of here.”
“What do you mean?”
He nodded his head in the direction of the woods. “We have at least two men on our heels. Wherever we go, they’ll go. Just do what I tell you. Ten minutes north.”
“Logan, I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.”
“But what are you—”
“I’m going to slow them down.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I—”
“Do you trust me?” he asked again, stressing each word.
She hesitated and her dark eyes found his. “I trust you.”
“Good. Now go.” He watched her take off down the trail. He hated leaving her on her own, but he couldn’t let her see what he needed to do.
As soon as she left his view, Logan removed his bag from his back, retrieved his knife, and secured it on the left side of his belt. He preferred using his gun, but he couldn’t draw attention to their location with the noise. He stashed his bag in between the branches of a tree near the edge of the woods and moved toward the sounds of the me
n searching the trees. He hoped he only had to take care of two of them.
Voices came at him from the right. He ducked behind a large tree and plastered his back against it. Peering over his shoulder and around the tree, two men stood several trees away from his position.
“We’ve searched the woods already and they aren’t here,” the first voice said.
“We have to be sure,” the second man said. “They could have come back here after we searched.”
“They’re long gone. We just have to tell him that—”
“I’m not telling anyone anything until we search these woods again. They told us to keep searching until we find them and we haven’t found them. Head out that way and I’ll take this half. That should make it quicker.”
Logan unsnapped the knife holster for easy access if he needed it. Closing his eyes, he focused his attention on the sound of footsteps. Shoes hit the wet leaves on the ground, and he determined the man approached from his left.
Within seconds, the man passed him by, without bothering to look to his sides. When he passed, Logan launched himself at the man. His left hand smothered the man’s mouth to silence him and his right arm wrapped around the man’s neck. He contracted the muscles in his arm. The man struggled, but not enough to get out of Logan’s grasp. Logan held on long after the man passed out to finish the job. He couldn’t risk the man coming to and revealing their location.
He lowered the man’s lifeless body onto the leaf-covered ground. He took the gun out of the man’s hands, turned the safety on, and tucked it into the waistband at his lower back. Now he had to find the other man before he noticed his partner’s absence and called in the rest of the troops to the area.
Keeping his footfalls light, he crept through the woods, with long pauses between each footstep. Ears alert for any sound, he heard nothing until he was a good distance away from the first body. He ceased moving at the sound of rustling leaves coming in his direction, and he wrapped his hand around the handle of his knife. A figure emerged from the shadows, and Logan reassessed his plan. The position of the other man eliminated another stealth attack.
Logan dashed to the side, behind another tree before the man could see him. His movements alerted the other man to his presence, but he had little other choice.
As expected, the man stopped walking. “Don?”
Anticipating the man to keep moving past the tree, Logan inched to the left to stay hidden. A branch cracked under his soles and within seconds the man stood at Logan’s side, gun aimed and finger on the trigger.
“Let’s go,” he said, walking backward. “Where’s the girl?”
“She’s gone,” Logan said, as he raised his hands up in front of his shoulders.
“You’re lying. Where is she?”
“We moved her this afternoon.”
“We know she wasn’t moved.”
Logan took uneven steps in a diagonal direction, trying to guide the other man’s backward steps and get him away from the tree where he could act. He needed a lot more room if he wanted to turn the situation around.
“You obviously have old information,” Logan said. “She was across the state line before sunset.”
The man followed Logan’s lead. “She’s here and we’ll find her. You were easy enough to get to. I’ve been looking forward to this. You killed my cousin a few days ago, Logan.”
That the man knew his name gave Logan pause, but only for a moment. “Ah, is that who that was? Tell me, was he the dumb one or the stupid one? Whoever he was, you can tell him hi for me in a few minutes.”
“That ain’t gonna happen. I’m the one with the gun here.”
Logan shrugged. “Details. Don also had a gun, but that didn’t seem to matter much.”
“You killed Don?” He stumbled over a hidden obstacle in his path.
Logan sprang into action. As the man tried to regain his balance, Logan knocked the gun out of his hand and snatched his throat. Pushing him back against a tree, he asked, “Who gave you our location?”
The man laughed, and Logan tightened his grip on his throat until all noise ceased. “You have two choices. Tell me or join your buddy over there.” He relaxed his hand to give the man a chance to talk.
With narrowed eyes, he said, “You’re getting nothing from me.”
Logan pressed his forearm against the man’s chest to keep him against the tree and reached for his knife. The blade flew up to the taut flesh around the man’s throat. “Who are you working with?”
The man seemed unruffled by the new threat. “What does it matter? Won’t be long before Langston has you and the girl.”
“Give me a name.”
“When he does get you, I’ll have my turn with you. Maybe with the girl, too, although for much different reasons.”
The knife melted into the man’s skin, just enough to demonstrate his intention. “A name. Now.”
“Your dead wife.”
Logan faltered and the knife almost fell out of his hand.
“Too bad it wasn’t you in that car instead of her. Waste of a nice piece of—”
He buried the blade in the man’s neck. Warm blood spurted onto his face and clothes, as he sliced through the carotid artery. The man’s body tumbled to the ground as soon as he withdrew the embedded knife. With every muscle in his body tensed, he focused his energy into kicking the dead man several times before tiring.
He crouched on the ground and lowered his head with the tip of the knife handle against his forehead. Anger and pain mixed in his veins and shook his arms. He wanted to rush to the safe house and kill every man in it and around it, but he held himself back. Somewhere on that trail, Sara waited for him. He couldn’t save Karen, but he could still save Sara. Through her, he could find the vengeance he sought. He could find peace.
Logan swiped the blade of the knife on his shirt and sheathed it. He tugged his shirt over his head, turned it inside out, and cleaned as much blood off his face and neck as he could. He dropped his shirt on the corpse. He didn’t want to leave his shirt somewhere that would tip them off to where he and Sara had gone.
He made his way back to his bag at the edge of the woods, where the rain fell more freely outside the cover of the tall trees. Cupping his hands, he collected as much rainwater as he could and splashed it over his already soaked face to wash the rest of the blood off his skin. He dug around in his bag until he found a clean shirt. After he put it on, he secured his bag on his back and headed to the trail where he last saw Sara.
Skating down the slick, steep mud trail, he caught his balance several times. His mind wandered to Sara and he hoped she had been able to make it to safety without hurting herself. At the bottom of the trail, he turned north and started his run while keeping time. Trees covered most of the part of the path, and Logan found it easier to keep steady and not fall.
Approximately nine minutes, he converted his run into a brisk walk. Sara may have stopped short or run too far, and he did not want to accidentally pass her. He also had to keep his eyes peeled so he could spot her before she did him. He didn’t want her thinking one of the men from the safe house had found her.
A noise startled him, and he slowed down and crept along the tree line. Out in the open and at a strong disadvantage, he hoped it was Sara and not another one of the men.
“Logan?” Sara’s hushed whisper came from between two trees.
Tension flowed from his shoulders and back, as he moved toward her. “It’s me, Sara,” he said.
She ran out from behind a tree and dropped a large rock from her hands. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she hopped up on her tiptoes when she reached him. Her arms flew around his neck and her body pressed against him. Face buried in his shoulder, Logan couldn’t understand any of her garbled words. Instead of asking her to repeat everything, he tightened his hold on her and let her have a moment to decompress.
When her hold on him loosened, Logan pulled back and took her arms. He locked eyes with her and asked, “Are you okay?�
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She pressed her quivering lips together and nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I wish I didn’t have to leave you alone like that.” He looked over her head and scanned the landscape. “We need to find a place to sleep tonight.”
“What about going down to the main road?”
“We can’t chance that they would drive by. They might expect us to take that route.”
He took her hand and coaxed her to follow him into the trees. Not far in, he found a fallen tree with enough brush over it to act as a shelter. Leaning against the rock, the nature-made cave provided the perfect amount of cover from the elements and their enemies so they could rest.
“This will work,” he said. When she hesitated, he gently rubbed her back. “You’re freezing and we have little choice. They won’t find us in here, but if they do, we’ll hear them coming.”
Sara ducked under the branches and nestled herself inside the shelter. Logan took his bag off his shoulders and followed. He noticed her arms wrapped around her legs, as she rocked back and forth to try and get warm. He leaned his back against the rock and opened his bag.
“Take off your shoes and socks,” he told her. “They’re soaked.”
He waited until she complied, and then did the same. He pulled out two fresh pairs of socks from his bag and handed her one. “I know they’re not your size, but we have to make do.”
“I’m not complaining,” she said. Once they were on her feet, she tucked her legs back up against her body.
He took the confiscated gun out from his waistband and put it into his bag, then removed his own gun and the blanket. After loading his gun, he set it on the ground, then grabbed the blanket and fanned it out. “Come here,” he said, gesturing for her to move closer to him. “It will be easier to stay warm together.
She looked at him for a moment before scooting a little closer to him.
“I’m not going to bite,” he said.
She smiled and moved under his arm. With her body close to his, he covered them with the blanket. She snuggled up against him, pressing her cheek into his shoulder and gripping his shirt. Her chest heaved with every breath, and desire for her stirred in the pit of his stomach.
