Chapter 23
“That was your boyfriend,” Anderson says as he ends the call and shoves the phone back into his pocket. “He’s worried about you.” He grins at me through the rearview mirror. “Sweet, really.”
In the sweats he had me pull on beneath my hospital gown, I sit in the back of his car, a metal grate separating us. My good arm is handcuffed to a bar inside, and there’s a gag in my mouth that I can’t remove, considering my injured arm is secured to my waist so I can’t move it.
“Really sucks that he won’t get the chance to cash in on you. Guy’s been cyber-stalking your courtroom battles since I’ve known him. Though, it wasn’t until you showed up that I realized you were Jameson’s widow.” He barks out a laugh. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
He’d shown up five minutes after Shawn left. After telling me Shawn was worried about my safety and needed me moved for the time being, he’d helped me get into sweats, slipped shoes on my feet, and walked me right out of the hospital like nothing was wrong.
It wasn’t until he pulled over on the side of the road twenty minutes ago that I knew something was off. I’d tried to fight back, but he’d slammed the butt of his pistol against my head, dazing me enough that I had nothing left in me as he gagged my mouth and handcuffed my free arm.
“Oh, don’t look so angry. This isn’t personal.
Truthfully, I’d hoped you would back off as soon as I threatened you in that hotel room.
It’s not my fault you can’t follow directions.
Similar to your husband. You know, he was offered a big payday to turn over what he knew about Creed, and he refused. ”
Because he had honor. Something you clearly don’t have. Just like Shawn.
My chest constricts, pain washing over me.
What will happen to Shawn now?
“Thought he was being clever, flying into a different airport for his meeting with Creed.” He laughs. “But we intercepted. He saw us and tried to play it off, but a little additive in the fuel lines, and I knew he wouldn’t get the chance to leak our names to his boss.”
My vision swims as I picture how terrified Paul must have been. When his plane started to go down, did he know why?
“I sure hope you don’t melt when it rains,” he quips as we pull off the road and stop just outside a locked gate.
Outside, lightning splits the sky.
There’s no rain yet, but the overcast sky makes it look like nighttime even though we’re still a couple of hours from sundown.
Anderson pulls on a thick jacket, then opens the back door and uncuffs me. As he pulls me out, I slam my knee into his groin and take off running. I only make it a few steps, though, before he hits me with the full force of his bodyweight, and I hit the ground.
Pain shoots through me, agony that feels worse than the bullet did.
I try to scream, but a strangled groan comes out, thanks to the gag in my mouth. “You’re making this so much worse on yourself,” he growls as he rips me to my feet. As I go up, I grip a rock and slowly pull it into the sling holding my arm.
It’s not big, and I certainly can’t move that arm, but it’s all I’ve got.
Cold settles in my bones, the air around me far too chilly to be out here in nothing but a hospital gown and sweat pants. Unfortunately, I doubt Anderson cares much about me catching a cold.
Not when he’s going to kill me anyway.
“Move.”
When I don’t, he draws his gun and presses the cool steel of his barrel against my forehead. “I’d really rather not kill you right here, Beckett. I’ve got something better in mind. But if you don’t follow instructions, I will put a bullet in you. And this time, I won’t miss.”
Tears stream down my cheeks, but I know that I need to buy time.
Shawn will find me. Right?
God, please let him find me. Please, God, don’t let me die here. “So do not fear, for I am with you.” Isaiah 41:10 pops into my mind as a calm washes over me.
“Do not fear, for I am with you,” I repeat to myself.
Over and over again.
Taking a deep breath, I turn and start walking.
Every step is agony, but if I can just keep going, keep moving, then my escape will come.
It has to because dying out here and never getting the chance to tell Lauren what really happened to her dad, or tell Shawn that I’ve fallen head over heels for him, is too sad a reality to consider.
So, I walk.
Through the trees.
My feet heavy from the mud.
My shoulder burns with pain now that the medicine they’d given me has worn off, and I’ve likely split the injury right open again. If the warmth on my shoulder is any indication.
Another bolt of lightning splits the sky, and rain hammers down on top of us in large, heavy drops. The storm rages furiously, but the pace Anderson has set is unrelenting. I can’t even ask him where he’s taking me, thanks to the gag still in my mouth.
But I do know that, the farther we get into these trees, the less likely it is I’ll be found…dead or alive.
Cold stings at my face as my tears mix with the rain.
Lightning flashes again, a heartbeat before a deafening crack fills my ears, so loud it momentarily mutes the storm.
Anderson screams, and I whirl around right as a massive tree comes down—right on top of him.
Hope. I don’t hesitate—I take off running, sprinting as fast as my injuries will allow. Every step is like fire in my veins, but if it’s that or death, I’ll take the pain.
A bullet whizzes past my ear and hits the tree beside me. Bark explodes, but I keep moving.
“Get back here!” Anderson bellows.
I weave in and out of the trees, my breathing coming out in ragged puffs of air as the temperature continues to drop. Behind me, the storm washes away my footsteps, but I know that he’s not trailing me too far back.
Going back the way I came is not an option, so I continue forward, hoping to stumble onto a road or a ranger station. Something. Someone who can help me.
The mud catches my shoe, and I fall forward, barely managing to catch myself with my good arm. Kneeling in the mud, I rip the gag free from my mouth.
Another gunshot echoes somewhere behind me.
“God, please,” I whisper in the storm as I kneel in the mud, body trembling, exhaustion plaguing my bones. Reaching across with my good arm, I gently touch the area of my shoulder that burns.
My fingers come back with blood.
It washes away in the rain.
Get up! The words are deafening in my mind.
Strength pulses through me, and I push to my feet, running as fast as I can, this time with only one shoe. I change directions, hoping to throw Anderson off my trail as I push through thick brush. Something scrapes my cheek, but the pain is a drop in the bucket that is the current agony in my arm.
And I know that, once the adrenaline wears off, it’ll be so much worse.
Ahead, I see a thick grouping of trees. Out of breath, I race toward them, then look for somewhere to hide. A hollowed-out trunk lies on its side, so I crawl on my hands and knees, barely managing to sneak inside before Anderson rushes past me.
I hold my breath when he pauses feet from me, then turns in a slow circle.
“I’m going to find you!” he yells.
Blood drips from a cut in his forehead, and when lightning illuminates the sky, I see that his eyes are wild, his expression murderous.
He won’t hesitate when he finds me.
Whatever he had planned is done now.
Because the moment Anderson has me in his sights, I’m dead.