Chapter 44
The gunshot echoed in Max’s ears.
For a split second, everything froze.
Then Kenny staggered.
A cry tore from him as his arm jerked back. His gun hit the ground with a dull thud. He clutched his shoulder, his face twisting in pain as he dropped to one knee.
“I didn’t want to do that, Kenny,” Sheriff Sutherland muttered, already moving forward, his weapon still trained on the man. “You didn’t leave me any choice.”
Kenny sneered, and his gaze went to his gun on the ground.
“Stay down!” Sheriff Sutherland yelled. “You touch that gun, and I’ll shoot again.”
“Sheriff Sutherland . . .” Max started.
“Go,” the sheriff said. “Find her. I’ll be right behind you.”
Max hurried past the truck, past Kenny, past everything that wasn’t Hadley.
He sprinted down the road, his breath burning in his lungs and his focus locked ahead.
His aunt and uncle’s house came into view through the trees.
Please . . .
He didn’t let himself finish the thought.
Max hit the porch steps at a run and shoved the door open. “Hadley!”
No answer.
Then he heard movement.
He turned.
His aunt and uncle sat at the kitchen table, bound to their chairs.
Relief slammed into him so fast it almost knocked the air from his lungs.
“I’m here.” He crossed the room. “I’ve got you.”
“Max,” Aunt Billie breathed. “Oh, thank the Lord . . .”
He worked fast, fingers moving over the knots as he untied them. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Uncle Herb said. “Just . . . shaken.”
Max pulled out his pocketknife, cut the last binding loose, and helped them pull free.
As he did, Billie grabbed his arm. “That girl—Kendra—chased Hadley from the house. She needs your help.”
Max’s chest tightened. “When?”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Aunt Billie said. “It was after we heard the shot. Hadley tried to stop her. They fought. Then Kendra chased Hadley outside.”
Max’s gaze snapped toward the door.
“She ran toward the woods,” Uncle Herb added.
Max took a step toward the door. But he hesitated as he caught a better look at his uncle.
He was pale and sweating.
“Your blood sugar . . .” Max realized.
“It’s dropped,” Aunt Billie said. “I told Kendra, but she didn’t care.”
Max rushed to the kitchen cabinets. He knew where Uncle Herb kept his glucose tablets.
He found the one his uncle needed, grabbed it, and hurried back.
“Here,” he said, helping to slip it into Uncle Herb’s mouth. “Easy.”
Uncle Herb’s hands shook as he chewed the tablet, and Max stayed there just long enough to make sure he was steadying. Every second felt like too much.
“Go,” Aunt Billie said, her voice firmer now. “Max, go. Kendra isn’t right, and Hadley needs you.”
Max looked between them, torn for the briefest moment. “I can’t just leave you—”
“We’ll be fine.” Uncle Herb’s voice sounded stronger now, though still strained. “Your friend needs you more.”
Max hesitated one more second. Then he nodded. “I’ll send someone back. Lock the door behind me.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He turned and ran.
The cold hit Max the moment he stepped outside, but he barely felt it. His gaze swept the ground, searching, hunting.
He saw the tracks in the snow.
There were two sets.
One was lighter, uneven. Probably Hadley’s.
The other was steady and pursuing. Kendra.
Max followed them, his stride lengthening as he headed toward the tree line. The forest loomed ahead, dark and dense, swallowing the last of the light.
He didn’t slow.
Branches scraped at him as he pushed through, his boots crunching over snow and hidden debris. His breath came hard now, but he forced himself to stay focused.
The tracks were clear at first. Fresh. Easy to follow.
Then they began to fade.
The snow thinned beneath the trees, broken by patches of earth and leaves. Shadows deepened, swallowing detail, making everything harder to read.
Max slowed just enough to scan the ground.
Come on . . .
He moved a few steps farther.
Nothing.
The tracks disappeared completely into the dark forest ahead.
Max lifted his gaze, his chest rising and falling as the silence pressed in around him.
Somewhere out there, Hadley was running for her life.
And he’d just lost the trail.
Hadley pushed through the darkness, her breath tearing from her lungs as branches snagged at her sleeves and scratched across her skin. Snow crunched beneath her feet, uneven and deceptive. The clumps hid roots and rocks that threatened to take her down with every step.
Behind her, she heard footsteps.
They were close. Too close.
Kendra wasn’t losing ground.
Hadley forced herself to keep moving, even as her body protested. Her head still throbbed, each pulse a reminder of the blow she’d taken. The lingering effects of whatever Kendra had drugged her with clung to her thoughts, dulling the edges.
Focus. You have to stay focused.
She repeated the words in her mind, clinging to them as she pushed forward. If she let the fog take over, if she slowed down even for a second, she wouldn’t make it.
She had to believe she could do this.
Her lungs burned, and her chest tightened with every breath. But she kept running. The darkness swallowed everything beyond a few feet in front of her, leaving her with no sense of direction.
She didn’t know where she was going, only that she had to get away.
A branch whipped across her face, and she flinched. As she did, her right foot caught on something solid beneath the snow.
She went down—hard.
Pain shot through her as her body hit the ground, knocking the breath from her lungs. Panic surged, hot and overwhelming.
Hadley scrambled, her hands slipping against the frozen ground as she pushed herself up. Her heart pounded wildly, her breath coming in sharp gasps as she forced herself back to her feet.
Her ankle twisted beneath her weight.
Pain flared.
She sucked in a breath, biting back a cry.
Not now. She couldn’t afford this. She had to keep moving no matter how much it hurt.
Hadley took a step. Then another.
She limped, her steps uneven and slower than before. But she forced her body forward despite the ache.
There was no time to stop, no time to think.
Behind her, Kendra’s voice cut through the darkness. “You’re not getting away!”
The words echoed, closer than Hadley wanted them to be.
“You really thought you could run?” Kendra taunted. “You don’t even know where you are!”
Hadley didn’t respond or look back.
She just kept moving, her focus narrowing to the ground in front of her, to the next step, and the next, and the next.
“You’re going to regret this,” Kendra continued. “You’re going to regret ever coming to this town!”
Hadley clenched her jaw and pushed forward.
Max.
The thought of him came suddenly, cutting through the fear.
She didn’t know everything about him. Didn’t know the full story of what had happened in his past. Didn’t know exactly why he’d gone to prison.
But she knew this: Whatever he’d done . . . it hadn’t been out of cruelty.
It hadn’t been selfish. Max didn’t have it in him.
If he’d hurt someone, it had been for a reason. A good one. A noble one. An honorable one.
Regret twisted through her chest.
She’d doubted him.
And now . . . now she might not get the chance to tell him she believed in him.
Lord . . . she prayed silently. Please . . . just give me enough time.
Her breath caught as her ankle protested again, but she forced herself forward.
Enough time to make it out of this.
Enough time to tell Max I believe in him.
The forest stretched around her, and shadows closed in as Kendra’s footsteps drew closer. But Hadley wasn’t going to give up.