Fugitive Trail

by Elizabeth Goddard

With a grim look, he shook his head.

  “So much for our expedition. I doubt they’ll let us search for him again.”

  Lord, why is this happening?

  She’d been a good and upright citizen. She’d done the best job she could while she was a detective and now here as a deputy. Why did evil hunt her down? She couldn’t help the tears that burned down her cheeks. Though her eyes were closed, she knew when Bryce sat on the bed. He gathered her in his arms.

  “We have to stop meeting like this. You holding me because something’s wrong.” She said the words into his chest, but held on as if for dear life.

  A throat cleared.

  The sheriff again. “I keep interrupting you two, it seems.”

  Bryce released her. Sheriff Locke crossed his arms. “It’s good to see you, Sierra.”

  Barbara stepped in behind him.

  “Wait. I thought you were watching Samson?”

  She smiled. “I am.” She stepped aside and Samson barked as he bounded into the room. He rushed forward and practically jumped on the bed.

  Sierra hugged his big fat head and he licked her face. What would the nurse say? “I thought he couldn’t come in because he’s not a therapy dog.”

  “I’m the sheriff’s wife, and I say he’s a therapy dog. I can see that you needed therapy. Bringing him was the right thing.”

  Warmth flooded her heart. All these people who cared. Dad poked his head in the room too. “Finally you’re awake.”

  “Good to see you too, Dad. When can I get out of here?”

  FIFTEEN

  Six days had passed since they’d seen any sign of Raul. Bryce feared letting himself relax. Was this the quiet before the storm? Or had Raul used up the last of his determination to torture and eventually kill Sierra? Having failed, was it possible he’d decided to move on?

  Bryce hoped, but again, he would stay alert.

  Sierra had been released from the hospital the day after her surgery. He tried hard not to think of that moment when the dynamite had blown and rocks came down on them. He kept the details of that experience to himself. Sierra didn’t need to know that she could have bled out before help had arrived, even before he was in a position to tourniquet her arm. The bullet had gone through the humerus and lacerated a vein. If it had hit an artery, she probably would have died. But help had arrived and whisked her away. Doctors repaired the vein and had given her blood to replace what she’d lost.

  That was just another of too many close calls for comfort.

  And now... Nothing from the villain in their life.

  In spite of his wariness, Bryce had enjoyed the predictable uneventful last few days. As for Sierra’s position as a deputy, she’d been put on a paid leave. With her injury it was best she wait a few weeks until the doctor okayed her to officially return to work.

  But even if she’d been completely fit, Sierra wasn’t going to return as a deputy until Raul was caught or proven to be far from this region of the world—that per Sheriff Locke, who said he would put her on desk duty if Raul was still at large by the time she was fully recovered. Sierra preferred working at the toy store if she couldn’t get out there in the county.

  So every day Bryce hung out at the toy store. Every day it was the same. Coffee and breakfast with Sierra and John, and then Jane arrived and they stocked toys and helped customers.

  But today was different.

  Sierra leaned against the wall outside at the back of the building and talked Bryce through training games with Samson. The sun shined down on the world and it seemed that no evil could break through. He knew better, of course, but they needed this moment of smiles and the feeling that all was well with the world.

  Samson jumped around and played like a puppy, without seeming aware of how huge he was. He accidentally knocked Bryce on his rear. “Did you do that on purpose?”

  Sierra’s laugh was filled with joy. Only for this moment in time, and Bryce would treasure it. Samson held Bryce to the ground and he couldn’t get up. He allowed himself a laugh too. “Okay, would you call your dog off? Come on, Samson. Come on, boy.”

  “Here.” Sierra used the German command. Samson seemed to know this was more a game than actual training and he licked Bryce across the face and dropped drool for good measure.

  Sierra offered her good hand as if to help him up. He grinned and considered pulling her down with him, but he didn’t want to hurt her arm. He hopped up on his own and ended up standing close.

  He stared down into her gorgeous blue eyes. It took all his willpower to keep from pulling her against him and kissing her thoroughly—after wiping off the drool, of course. He chuckled inside. He could live with weaving his fingers through her long golden hair, but Bryce held back.

  If this was any other situation, Bryce would have already left.

  John opened the door. “Sierra. I need your help.”

  “Sure, Dad. I’ll be right there.” She smiled and left Bryce outside with Samson.

  “Come on, boy. Let’s go inside too.” Bryce needed to wipe the drool off anyway.

  What am I going to do?

  Bryce couldn’t stay in Crescent Springs forever. He simply couldn’t afford to keep renting a room in the hotel without dipping into his retirement. At some point too, he’d have to start building his business back up. He’d already turned down quite a few investigation jobs. Still he wasn’t too worried. He had connections and believed he could drum up business again. He’d find a way to make it work, if that was what Sierra needed him to do.

  Nothing was more important than protecting Sierra.

  But it seemed as if Raul had disappeared. Law enforcement had scoured the area with no results, and eventually the number of searchers had decreased. Now it was a matter of citizens calling an eight-hundred number if they spotted Raul. The state had even used one drone. Just one. Sheriff Locke was trying to raise funds to buy one for the county, but politics interfered. Always politics.

  So in the meantime, he was left with waiting and watching.

  He and Sierra had both believed that Raul’s incarceration was the only way she would ever be safe. But now what? Would they grow complacent and then he would strike?

  Was that what he was waiting on?

  Or maybe he’d moved on after his attempt to draw them into the mine and blow them to bits had failed. Maybe he’d decided his efforts were futile.

  Still, a fugitive was out there. A dangerous fugitive who’d targeted Sierra.

  Bryce sighed.

  He’d move here if he could, but he doubted Sierra would allow him to stay and protect her indefinitely.

  He pinched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he knew what to do next. At the sink he grabbed a glass of water as if this were his place too. Sierra and John moved from the store back into the apartment in what bordered on a heated discussion.

  “No, Dad. You don’t need to do it. I’ll do it. I can do it. I’m not an invalid.”

  “Well, at least have Bryce drive you then.”

  He downed the water, then said, “I heard my name. How can I be of service?”

  “We need some supplies. Stuff we can only get in Montrose,” Sierra explained. “It’s about an hour’s drive.”

  “She just doesn’t want me to drive because she doesn’t trust me.”

  “It’s a treacherous road, Dad. I don’t want to drive it either. Not in the winter. Are you up for driving the Million Dollar Highway, Bryce?”

  Highway 550, aka the Million Dollar Highway. The only way to get to Montrose from Crescent Springs. It required one hundred percent concentration in the summer, but even more so during the winter.

  “Of course. I might as well be of some use.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” she said. “It’s better that we aren’t getting shot at or stalked or attacked.”

  Sierra
took a few steps closer and smiled up at him. “Don’t try to deny it, you’re bored out of your mind here at my little store in Crescent Springs.”

  “Me? Never.”

  And she was happier than he’d ever seen her in Boulder. Carefree, despite the knowledge that Raul was still out there. But he looked closer behind all the warm fuzzies and saw that the wariness remained. She couldn’t so easily shake the fear.

  He tugged his keys from his pocket.

  John tossed him his own keys. “Take the truck so you’ll have room for everything on the list.”

  Bryce grabbed his coat.

  Sierra dropped her hand to Samson’s big forehead and rubbed his fur. “You’ll be fine here, Samson. You’re such a good boy. I promise, as soon as my arm is good to go, it’ll be you and me playing again.”

  “Hey, I thought we had a good time.” He gave a fake look of disappointment.

  She glanced up at Bryce and sent him a teasing smile. “Too good a time. I was jealous.” She winked—her beautiful eyes bright and hair shining...

  He shook off the thoughts.

  “You ready?” she asked.

  “As I’ll ever be.” He peered out the window. The beautiful day they’d experienced had disappeared and a dark, gray snow cloud had moved in quickly.

  Outside the store, they trudged down the sidewalk to find her father’s truck. He opened the door, started the engine and cranked up the heat. Then he took one side and Sierra took the other and they scraped the snow from the windshield.

  Once inside the truck he steered them through the small town and headed out on the Million Dollar Highway. Sierra seemed oddly quiet considering her earlier cheerful mood. Almost as if she had something on her mind and wasn’t ready to talk about it.

  He was glad, actually, because he needed to focus solely on the road now. There was no guardrail. Nothing but a huge drop.

  “Why were those supplies so important again? Scratch that. Don’t tell me.”

  “Okay I won’t. But I do need to talk to you about something.”

  Couldn’t this wait for another time? But he kept that thought to himself. He’d wanted her to speak her mind earlier and now she was ready. But why did it have to be now when he needed to concentrate on these switchbacks? He wouldn’t be surprised if they closed the road at some point today. He hoped that wouldn’t happen at a point when the two of them would have to wait it out.

  “So what’s on your mind?”

  He steered slowly around the curve in the road to stare down at a big RV coming toward him. Was there enough room for both of them on this narrow two-lane road?

  “Raul hasn’t targeted me in a week now. I think he realizes it’s taking too much of his time and energy and he’s risking getting caught the longer he stays. The bottom line... You can’t stay and protect me forever, Bryce. Even if I was paying you, I couldn’t afford you forever. Just like you can’t afford to work for nothing—not for much longer anyway. I think we both know that it’s time for you to go home.”

  Bryce hugged the edge of the cliff as he slowly passed the RV in the opposite lane, the sheer stress of the situation combined with her words caused an ache in his chest. He couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief once they’d successfully driven beyond that too-big vehicle—too big for this road, in his opinion.

  “What? You don’t have anything to say?” she asked.

  “I’m thinking.” He wasn’t sure what he thought, except that he was surprised at the hurt that surfaced. She really wanted him to go?

  A vehicle in the rearview mirror moving too fast for comfort drew his attention. “I’m not going to have time to respond. You need to hang on.”

  “Hang on. What? Why?”

  “There’s no way that SUV behind us is planning to pass. There’s no passing here. I think...”

  The white SUV didn’t swerve into the left lane but continued pressing in behind them, faster and closer.

  Bryce braced himself for impact even as he accelerated.

  “Bryce!”

  * * *

  Heart pounding, she squeezed the armrests as though they could protect her.

  The vehicle behind them bumped them slightly but Bryce continued to speed up so the impact was minimal. But he couldn’t go much faster without their truck tumbling over the side. This road had no guardrail, but she doubted even a guardrail would protect them. They would go right through at this speed.

  “What are we going to do?” Her voice was high-pitched with fear.

  She risked a glance at Bryce. Tight lines carved his face as he concentrated on the road. She didn’t know if he could get them out of this alive. If he could save them.

  What could she do to help? Maybe keep quiet so he could focus. She looked around to see if she could spot anything they could use to their advantage. The road had been plowed but it had started snowing again after a beautiful blue-sky morning. Snow wasn’t so bad but she felt the slight slipping every time the truck hit icy patches. Hitting one too fast could get them killed.

  Lord, please help us!

  “Brace yourself. He’s gaining on us again.”

  “What? Well, can’t you do something?” She regretted spewing out the words going through her mind.

  “What would you like me to do? I take this too fast and we can’t make the turns.”

  “I know, I know. Sorry. So what’s your strategy then?”

  “Stay alive.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Okay, Sierra. Just stop talking.

  “All I have to do is stay on the road beyond this next treacherous section and then our chances of escaping will increase.”

  She stared ahead at the huge straight-down drop into a rocky abyss.

  “Here he comes again.”

  “That could cause us to nosedive over the ledge.”

  The vehicle slammed them from behind and Sierra’s body jerked forward, the seat belt keeping her in place.

  Bryce swerved around a corner fast, yanking the wheel to bring them back across the barely visible double yellow line into his own lane just in time to miss an oncoming vehicle. Loud honking ensued then fell away.

  The vehicle was still coming. Still behind them. The driver was crazy and was risking his own life as well. Didn’t he realize that? Did he believe he had it all under control or that he was invincible?

  Or did he not care that he might die as long as he got to kill her in the process?

  Sierra pressed her feet into the floorboard as though she was pressing the brakes and could slow the car—somehow it helped her psychologically. Her heart in her throat, Sierra was sure her life would pass before her eyes at any moment.

  She’d thought she would die that night she’d looked into Raul’s eyes as he’d pinned her to her bed and breathed his foul words of death, describing every evil thing he would do to her before he slowly killed her. She’d wanted to fight back but had been powerless. Instead she’d squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. Projected her mind anywhere but there at that moment, beneath the monster murderer.

  Terror like she’d never known had paralyzed her.

  What kind of cop was she anyway?

  And now, she could almost feel that same terror bearing down on the both of them.

  “I see it. I see what you’re trying to make!” Up ahead, she could see mountain and trees on both sides so if they were run off the road, they could hit a tree instead of diving to their death. Still not a great option, but better than the road they’d have to pass through first, hugging the mountain on one side and dropping off hundreds of feet on the other.

  “Unfortunately he sees it too. You might want to close your eyes, Sierra. Maybe even say your prayers.”

  “Oh, Bryce. Don’t say that. Don’t think like that.” Though she was definitely already saying her prayers. But they were not prayers that one mig
ht say as their life ended. Instead, they were prayers of victory and desperation.

  Save us God!

  The impact thrust them forward and the truck slid across a sheet of ice.

  Bryce shouted as he tried to gain control. “Come on!”

  She risked a peek from her closed eyes. They were spinning—the ice had them and wasn’t going to let go until it was much too late.

  Nausea swirled in her stomach. Sierra screamed. Her heart stumbled around as though trying to find the right rhythm—the right response before they plunged to the bottom of the ridge. Time seemed to slow—she glanced at the movie playing before her.

  The red mountain.

  The snow.

  The trees.

  The beautiful and treacherous rocky drop.

  Bryce had lost control and wouldn’t get it back.

  If she was going to die, she wouldn’t close her eyes this time.

  She spotted the vehicle that had sent them on the death spin sitting stopped in the middle of the road.

  She caught a flash of him.

  A glimpse of his face.

  Felt the rage and fear he wanted to inflict on her.

  The truck suddenly stopped, coming to rest against the rocky shelf that climbed above them instead of diving off the ledge and dropping a hundred feet or more. Her heart still pounding, she gasped for breath.

  The nausea subsided.

  “We’re not going to die today, Bryce.” Her words were breathy, but there was iron beneath them. “Get out,” she said.

  “Huh?” Bryce glanced her way, his face twisted in confusion.

  “Get out of the truck.”

  SIXTEEN

  Bryce did as he was told. She was thinking clearly and was right. If they remained in the truck they would be trapped. Now was their chance to escape. He threw open the door and clamored out. Pulled her across the seat to get out on his side, since she couldn’t open her door—it was pinned against the rocky ridge looming over them.

  “Come on.” Together they ran around to the other side of the truck.

  She pulled out her weapon, and so did he. Bryce noticed her pained expression as she tried to use both arms.