Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
D ana’s body jostled gently, rousing her from sleep. Her head pounded as though someone were operating on her brain without an anesthetic. She squinted against the light filtering in through her eyelids, willing the darkness to take hold of her again. It didn’t.
Had she been tased again? She fought to grab hold of memories, but they slipped through as if her mind were made of Swiss cheese. She inhaled a slow breath, burning her nasal passage. A rush of recollection hit her—just like the floor had earlier.
Shit, the bastard had given her a bloody nose and likely a concussion. Both of which would surely be the least of her worries after they arrived wherever he was taking her. She swallowed and focused on slowing her breath so she could assess her surroundings.
The low humming told her she was in a car, and musty fabric laid beneath her cheek. Her hands were behind her back. She moved her wrists to confirm they were still wrapped with tape.
Hysteria took hold of her psyche. The need to jump up and attack the driver was almost too great. But she’d have a really hard time doing much without the use of her hands. She had to think and figure a way out of this mess.
Maybe they were returning her to Zain. Maybe all of this was some stupid scheme to get what they wanted from him and they had no real intention of killing either of them. Maybe—
She bit back a scoff.
Nope, these people meant business. They’d kill her the second the vehicle stopped.
She cracked open her eyes. Brilliant sun beamed through her lashes. She let her eyes acclimate before opening them the rest of the way.
Pain exploded across her forehead. Everything above her shoulders was in agony. A groan hovered at the back of her throat. She lay on the back seat of a car, her head directly behind the front passenger seat.
As she shifted her gaze to the driver, hate infused every fiber of her being. The brooding bastard stared out the windshield, two hands loosely on the wheel. A gun sat on his lap, the black metal handle just visible. His body was slumped, and the ashen shade of his profile made a little flurry of happiness strike her .
At least she’d done a shitload of damage. Dude needed a doctor ASAP, and if she had anything to do with it, she’d make sure he never saw one.
A call came over the speaker. He swiveled his head back to glance at her, and she quickly closed her eyes. Fear swirled inside her chest. She fought to keep her breathing even and her face relaxed. When she peeked at him again, he was facing the road.
He punched the button on the steering wheel. “Yeah.”
She relaxed her muscles a fraction. He probably wouldn’t answer the call on Bluetooth if he suspected she was conscious.
“Where are you?” The chilly female voice sliced through the interior of the vehicle.
“Ten minutes or so from Weeks Falls.” He spoke laboriously and unevenly.
A sense of foreboding crept over her skin. The water in that area was unpredictable. A great place for a lone hiker to “slip” and die. Alarm fell over her shoulders with the weight of wet fleece.
“What’s wrong with you?” the woman snapped. “You sound sick.”
“Not sick,” he groaned. “She fucking stabbed me. Lost a lot of blood.”
Seconds stretched. “Well, it’s a good thing I sent you backup. Keep the woman hidden until my team takes care of Zain. My guys are trained to make this look like an accident. ”
“I could’ve fucking finished this myself. I’m a professional.”
“Maybe,” she said dryly. “But Zain’s a Green Beret, for god’s sake. I need to make sure this is done impeccably. Neither of them can survive.”
“Is this going to affect my paycheck?”
“Of course not. Look at them as reinforcements. They’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
He sighed, long and arduous. “I’ll pull over and wait a few until they get there.” He slowed the vehicle, and it bumped over a gravel road down a sharp decline.
“Good. And Drake? No one better live.”
“Got it, got it.” He punched the button, hanging up. “Bitch.”
Dana’s chest pumped erratically. The need to get up and run was so overpowering she couldn’t keep her hands from trying the binding at her back.
“I knew you were awake,” said Drake, her soon-to-be killer, his tone ominous.
She wet her lips but didn’t respond. He adjusted the rearview and locked his eyes on hers. A breath caught in her throat.
Droplets of sweat dotted his skin. The whites of his eyes were dull and almost as gray as his skin. Despite his rapidly declining health, a spark flashed across his face, lighting his eyes for an instant.
He might be weak, but he had a personal stake in her demise. The vehicle slowed further, rocking over uneven terrain. “We’re gonna sit tight a few minutes until some friends come.”
“Whoopie,” she sang with disdain.
He grunted. “I gotta piss.” He got out and slammed the door. The car shook with the force, rattling Dana even more.
Okay, think. She had a couple of minutes tops before he came back. Using her shoulder to keep her balance, she swung her feet forward so they lay flat on the floor. Grunting and straining, she dragged herself into a sitting position.
Glancing out the window to her left, she caught her creepy friend walking through the grass toward a set of bushes. Rather than reach for his pants, he lifted his shirt, likely to inspect the wound.
Now was her chance.
She inched to her right and reached the door. Panic beat a steady, wild drum against her breastbone. Straining her hands toward the door, she fumbled her fingers along the smooth plastic until she caught the door handle. He’d hear her open the door. She’d have twenty seconds max before he made it back.
Question was, how fast could she run with her hands behind her back? Likely about as fast as she could fight in the same position.
Sucking air through her nostrils, she held her breath and pulled on the lever. The door hinges moaned as she stumbled from the car. Her knees buckled beneath her weight, but she threw herself forward, breaking into a run.
“Fuck!”
Drake’s frustrated cry set fire to her heels. A shot rang out.
Dana cried out as the bullet smacked into bark. She ducked, but splinters showered her face. She darted into the woods. Branch after branch swiped her face, neck, and arms. She dodged and swayed, missing the largest ones. Her assailant’s maddened footsteps crunched over gravel.
Dana wove between trees and bushes, ducking low to conceal herself. Her legs burned and wobbled, her muscles struggling to counteract the imbalance her tied arms created.
Her breath was frantic, barely audible. Her feet and shoulders screamed, her calves were on fire—but she didn’t slow down.
Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she spotted his hunched form, but he was far behind. He might not catch up, but he could damn well blow her head off.
Her toe caught a tree root, and she went down. Her knees connected with the hard, knotty veins clawing up from the earth. A grunt barked from her chest upon impact. Pain exploded through her core as she struggled not to fall on her face. The last thing she needed was to lose consciousness again.
Branches cracked in the distance behind her. Not close, but not as far as she’d like either. Staying on her knees, she shuffled behind the tree that’d taken her down. With her back pressed against the solid strength of its trunk, she closed her eyes and listened.
Slowing her breath, she focused on the noises around her. Birds fluttered and cawed in the treetops overhead. Water rushed somewhere close by—likely the waterfall. A car whizzed on the highway in the distance.
Another snap of a twig and the unnaturally fast rustling of leaves.
Tears stung her throat, and she clamped her lips tightly together to stop any noises that might escape. Opening her eyes again, she assessed her surroundings. There were trees as far as she could see, but about ten feet away, they dipped toward a ravine.
She had to keep moving before he found her. Drake would lose stamina soon. All she had to do was outlast him and pray Zain found her.
This outcome wasn’t impossible. Not when Zain was involved. If—
A ringtone broke through the calm air. Dana jumped and dug her spine deeper against the trunk. Bark dug into her sore scalp.
“Yeah?”
Dana focused on his voice, trying desperately to gauge his location.
“Good. Scratch the meeting point. I need you in the woods near Weeks Falls. Bitch is on foot.”
No!
Zain, where are you?
***
Zain’s expectations for Taschen’s driving fell short. “My mom drives faster than you.”
“Man,” Taschen grumbled, “I want to get there more than you do, but I also don’t want to get pulled over and have this take even longer. I’m already doing twenty over the speed limit.”
All right, he had a point about the cops. But moving at the speed of light probably wouldn’t be fast enough for Zain. He also wanted to point out that there was no way in hell Taschen wanted to get there more than he did, but the argument would be a waste of energy.
Instead, he pulled out his phone.
His brother answered after two rings. “Hey, Brick told me you’re on your way.”
“Yeah, about fifteen minutes out. I take it they’re still not there?”
Rami grunted. “Nope. I’m beginning to think this was a setup.”
“Well it wasn’t. Ghost spotted them en route on I-90. They can’t be far.”
“Should’ve been here by now, though.”
A vise clamped around Zain’s stomach. He didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility they’d been given the wrong location. Didn’t want to believe they could have already killed Dana before sending men to take care of him. “Keep me posted.”
He hung up and pinched his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. Dana couldn’t be far. The fact that she was so close and he couldn’t see or touch her was next-level torture.
As he flicked his gaze out the window, something in the side mirror caught his attention. A large black SUV sent sizzles of awareness through him.
Anyone could drive a fancy SUV. But in the middle of a workday, and heading in the same direction...
“You see that?” he asked Taschen softly, almost afraid the people in the SUV would hear him.
“What? They’re not tailgating.”
“No, but check out the vehicle.”
Taschen drummed his thumb on the steering wheel. “I’ll let them pass. See if you can get a look.” The car slowed a fraction.
A couple of minutes later, the SUV changed lanes and accelerated. Zain looked as it passed. The vehicle had fully tinted windows, so he could see only the outlines of two male figures in the front. “Hard to say if they’ve got anything to do with Maxine.”
“I agree. It’s possible but anyone could—They’re turning off.”
Zain cocked an eyebrow as he watched the SUV slow and take a dirt road off the highway. Following the gravel path, it snaked into the trees. “Well that’s fucking fishy.”
“No shit.”
Zain sat forward in his seat. “Follow ’em.”
“Obviously.” He took the same road but paused at the top of a hill. The thicket of forest that sandwiched the road concealed them from whoever was at the bottom.
“What’re you doing?” Zain said, failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
“Not getting us killed. You can thank me later.” He unbuckled his seatbelt. “I say we park here and go for a stroll. We can skirt through the brush and check things out unnoticed.”
Good idea. Not that he’d admit it. Micha, sensing they were about to get out, danced in the trunk. “Is she going to give us away?”
“Nah, man. That dog’s badass. Only time she’s gonna bark is when we want her to.” Taschen slid from the vehicle, and Zain followed suit.
While Taschen opened the liftgate, Zain retrieved his AR-15 from the back seat. Strapping it over his chest, he inhaled a stabilizing breath. If these guys worked for Maxine, he’d not only find answers, he’d also find Dana—and he wouldn’t stop until he did.
The vehicle beeped as the back door closed. Taschen rounded the SUV with Micha in the lead. The dog snuffled along the ground, her tail straight and in work mode.
Zain patted her back. “Good girl.”
“Cut through this way.” Taschen nodded toward the trees.
Zain stepped over fallen branches and ducked inside the forest. Pushing away low-lying foliage, he moved in a steady decline along the road the SUV had driven down. Less than three minutes later, they were at the bottom, where a small gravel lot sat. Zain halted in the cover of the trees, and Taschen stopped next to him.
The SUV was parked next to a black sedan. The same fucking car that’d taken Dana. Energy buzzed through Zain’s body. He aimed his weapon and stepped forward.
Taschen’s hand on his shoulder held him back. “Hang on a second. We need to figure out which way they went.”
Zain took a steadying breath and shook off Taschen’s hold. He couldn’t stand the sensation of anything weighing him down or holding him back. Dana could be anywhere, and if he didn’t stop these bastards, they’d kill her any second. But Taschen’s level thinking made sense.
A lead weight sat in Zain’s stomach as he scanned the area. The sunlight shone on a large sign indicating directions for sightseeing. “There.” He nodded at the sign. Taschen and Micha kept pace as he jogged across the gravel, his gaze swiveling side to side, anticipating an ambush .
It didn’t come.
He studied the sign. “The waterfall’s to the left. I’ve got a feeling that’s a convenient place to throw a body, don’t you think?”
Taschen grimaced. “Yeah, I bet that’s their plan. Got your earpiece?”
“It’s in.”
“Let’s hope we’re heading in the right direction. We’ll split up. You go west toward the falls, and I’ll head northwest to cover more ground.”
“If you spot one of the bastards, just shoot.”
Taschen snorted. “No shit.” He dragged his hand over Micha’s ears. “Let’s find Dana, girl, okay?”
Micha panted.
“Let me know if you find anything.”
“Roger that.” Taschen headed into the trees, making a straight line through the branches.
Zain followed. Satisfaction amplified his heart rate, making his eardrums jump. The cool, comforting weight of the rifle in his hand let him finally release an unrestrained breath as he entered the forest.
He paused, inspecting the scene before he took another step. Taschen’s back disappeared ten yards out. No movement to Zain’s right or left. He clamped his hands tighter on his weapon and kept his gaze sharp, on the lookout for Maxine’s guys.
Part of him wanted to scream to Dana. To let her know he was here, that she wasn’t fucking alone and she didn’t have to worry. Thinking about the amount of fear she must be experiencing right now almost brought him to the ground.
But if they were on the hunt for her, she was still alive. Still capable. And as long as his heart still beat in his chest, he’d fucking find her... because dear god, his heart beat for her.
Crack , crack!
The sharp blast of gunfire ripped through the sky. Birds squawked and critters abandoned their nests.
Every cell in his body turned to stone.