Chapter Thirty-Four
Josh had no idea how long he was out. Little visions of the accident came back to him.
The truck. Speeding.
The van. Stopped. Then hit.
Although Josh was dizzy and disoriented, and everything was fuzzy and black, he recalled the van had rocked back and forth, tree branches hitting it.
The steep slope had made the transport pick up speed, not slow down.
The guards were flung around. They hadn’t been buckled in as well as Josh.
The driver was also flailing, but he was wearing a seat belt.
After smashing into a rock, the van bounced off and then rolled. The roof was crushed in so much it hit Josh in the head. He tried to crouch in his seat. Collapsed roofs were one way people could break their necks in an accident.
With a final thud, the van had settled into place, roof side up, which had made things a little easier. When his vision had returned, he thought he heard voices in the distance. Someone would find them. There had to be something that would alert dispatch that one of their vans had an accident.
It was almost like the driver of the truck knew the PIT—or precision immobilization techniques—taught to police officers to help stop a vehicle by hitting it so it turned. When done right, a car would stall and stop.
Police. Damn. Everything hit Josh at once. This wasn’t an accident from a drunk driver. This was planned. Someone was after him. Could it be Tony and Ian working for the senator, like Maya thought?
The guards were lying outside the vehicle, not moving. Not good. The driver seemed to be in better shape. He was at least stirring and moaning a little bit. So maybe not good shape, but alive.
Testing that he could wiggle his fingers and toes, Josh spat the paper clip into his hands and then worked it into the shape he’d need to pick the lock.
It didn’t take him long and the first cuff came loose.
From there he was quickly able to undo his other cuff, take off the belly chain, and pick the locks on his ankle shackles.
The guards had been thrown out the side door that had somehow popped open, giving Josh a way to crawl out since the van was smushed. Going around to the driver, he felt for a pulse. There was a decent one.
“Good. You’re still alive,” Josh said. He looked for the radio and discovered that it had been busted when the van rolled. Maybe the guards had shoulder radios. He hadn’t checked them yet. Josh ran over to them, feeling sore but happy that he hadn’t broken anything.
The first guard was face down. Josh didn’t want to move him in case he had a neck injury, but the guy wasn’t breathing.
There was no pulse either. Taking a chance and wanting to start CPR, Josh rolled him over and then realized there was a large blood pool underneath him.
Pieces of glass were all over his body. He’d probably bled out.
“Shit,” Josh said, going over to the other guard. He at least had a pulse. There was also a cell phone clutched in his hand. It appeared he’d tried to dial 911. That was a good sign. But the guy was now passed out. Not a good sign.
Josh took the phone and realized it needed a fingerprint to open it.
He used the guard’s hand and got into the phone.
There was one bar of service, so he sent a text to 911.
Better than nothing. There were no obvious injuries and the guard was taking shallow breaths.
Hopefully an ambulance would arrive soon.
With the right medical care, he might survive.
If he could hike back up to the road, Josh could wave down emergency responders. He hated to leave everyone, but there was nothing more he could do now other than to get help and make sure the men were found.
Starting the hike to the road, Josh heard voices again.
He couldn’t quite make out what the people were saying. Taking cover behind a boulder, he spotted two people—a man and woman—coming down the mountainside. Were they the passengers from the vehicle that hit them?
Staying behind the giant rock, he crouched down, debating. Were they coming to help or were they making sure everyone was dead?
They came closer to his hiding spot. Josh guessed they had decided on the same route he was taking uphill. He stepped back, being careful not to step on any twigs that might snap and make noise. Were they after him?
He continued to fall back into the thick trees and shrubs, glad for the nearby river that fed much of this vegetation with the groundwater.
There were other spots in the forest that he wouldn’t have this much cover.
Worried that his striped jail clothing might give him away, he was also glad he didn’t have on the stereotypical bright orange scrubs.
That would be like waving a flag out in the woods.
There was a reason hunters wore bright orange vests.
The couple passed him, close enough for Josh to see their faces.
They weren’t dressed for the mountains, especially as the temperatures dropped when the sun set.
The man had on a T-shirt and Josh spotted the tattoo.
It was a Dark Angels skull with wings and blood drops.
This did tie into Sydney’s case. They were looking for him.
They were also carrying a sawed-off shotgun.
Josh needed to get away from them. He wasn’t armed, but he had an advantage.
He knew these mountains a lot better than they did.
After moving from Chicago, it took him a while, but now he felt more at home here than anywhere else.
Plus, hiking and exploring the wilderness with Maya had only added to his knowledge.
He had to get somewhere he could call for help and warn the first responders they might be in danger.
He also had a pretty good idea now who was doing the dirty work.
But if that was the case, was the senator involved?
Tony? Ian? Or had Sydney started working with a gang with her drug business?
But one of their own was already in prison, so there had to be more to this than just Sydney dealing drugs.
There were too many questions to answer, but Josh did know one thing—they wouldn’t stop until they found him and Elena Pierce.
They were both liabilities because they knew too much.
And another thought hit him—what if they retaliated against Maya?
Sure, she had Juniper, but there would be a point where it didn’t matter.
If the gang members had guns, Maya and Juniper could quickly become their next victims. He’d given her the evidence and pulled her into this.
Damn it. If something happened to Maya, he’d never forgive himself.
Maybe he could get to the road and warn whoever responded first.
As Josh started to navigate his way toward the river and another route to the road where he would come out farther up from the crash site, he heard a gunshot.
His heart dropped. He’d been hoping this wouldn’t be the case, but the Dark Angels weren’t leaving any survivors or witnesses. Josh went to plan B.
Normally he’d turn himself in and get help, but right now, he might be better on the run. Just like he’d never thought he’d ride in a jail transport, he also never thought he’d be a fugitive.
* * *
Elena stifled a scream. She couldn’t give away her position or even let these people know she was there. Not after what she’d witnessed.
Closing her eyes, she tried to erase the vision of the man taking the gun, a shotgun, she thought, and shooting the guard that had moved. The other two men weren’t moving, but they’d shot them as well.
She had to get out of here. Trying to figure out her next move now that she knew she wasn’t safe here either, Elena spotted some movement back along the stream she’d thought would take her to safety. How wrong she’d been.
Who was that? Another person out hunting for prison guards?
Taking cover behind a large bush, she watched and waited. The person came out of the heavy vegetation and sprinted away from everything. A prisoner. She was sure of it. No one in their right mind would wear scrubs with stripes like that.
Great. She had finally found help and it was a crashed prison transport van. The man turned and glanced over his shoulder. Was that…? Could it be? Josh Colten?
Elena hadn’t seen many pictures of him, but she had found a few when Amber said he might have evidence. Had he been arrested for killing Amber?
She started to follow him, despite her instincts telling her that this could be a mistake. He’d killed Amber, so wouldn’t he have been working with the people who shot the guards? Instead, he seemed like he was leaving too.
Going against her better judgment, Elena decided to follow him.
If nothing else, he knew this forest and he would know how to get help.
Or to disappear. But if he wanted to disappear, he’d need to change out of those jail scrubs.
They screamed prisoner and the white stripes made it easy to trail him.
Maybe he could answer some questions. Maybe he knew what was going on and why this case was so explosive, other than powerful people being involved. Following him seemed crazy, but also like her best option. The road would lead to people with long guns shooting prison guards.
But Elena knew she couldn’t trust Josh. She stopped and grabbed the knife she’d taken from the cabin.
The blade was clean after she’d rinsed it in the stream.
It was as if it had never hurt anyone. There was a reason she was in the courtroom and not a cop—she hated blood.
It only reminded her of the night her mother died.
Clutching the knife, Elena continued to follow Josh.
He had longer legs than her and covered more ground. Adrenaline helped fuel her and the desire for answers.
But she hoped she wouldn’t have to pursue him all night. She didn’t know how much more she had in her.