Chapter Fifteen
Every noise made by an animal, the break of a twig or even the leaves shifting in the wind sounded like desperate danger to Bree. She had long since placed herself in the mouth of their little overhang, determined to be a buffer between menace and these kids.
Whoever was hunting them might find them here, but they damn well weren’t going to touch Eva and Sam without Bree getting a few good bashes in.
She refused to even think about Tanner not coming back, even when minute after minute marched closer to dawn and he still didn’t return.
Tanner was a hero; it was what he did by trade.
But she didn’t want him to be a hero tonight.
She wanted him to come back and hide with her and find a way out of this by sneaking off in the dark, rather than facing the enemy head-on.
A silent tear ran down her cheek before she could stop it. Tanner’s propensity for facing the enemy head-on was one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him. But now she just wanted him back safe in her arms.
With every second she willed him closer until finally he was there right in front of her, crawling into the cave.
The branch shook in her hand and she swallowed a sob.
“I’m okay, freckles.” His lips were on hers in a brief, hard kiss, then he scooted closer in next to her.
Two more people climbed in behind him. Bree couldn’t believe it when she saw Marilyn and Noah.
Marilyn barely paid any attention to her, just crawled frantically past her to see the kids. The soft sobs coming from the woman were nothing less than heartbreaking. Quiet kissing noises filled the small space.
“Mommy?” Eva’s sleepy voice said.
“Shh. I’m here. Go back to sleep.”
“We played hide-and-seek. Soldier style.”
“You can tell me all about it soon,” Marilyn whispered.
In the darkness, Bree could barely make out Marilyn cuddling both kids to her.
“How did you find us?” Bree asked Noah.
“I had planned on tracking you, but Tanner did a pretty good job hiding those tracks. So I ended up tracking the guys hunting you. They weren’t being nearly as careful.”
“It’s Jared Ellis’s buddies,” Tanner said. “I overheard them. They’re after the kids.”
“We need to get out of here, as soon as possible,” Noah whispered. “Split up. They’re not sure where you are right now, but they’ll find you eventually.”
“I’ll lead them in the wrong direction. Give them just enough clues to have something to follow, then lose them when the storm hits,” Tanner said. “You take Marilyn, Bree and the kids and get them to safety.”
“You sure that’s the best play?” Noah asked.
“I think it might be our only play. I can’t justify leaving a trail of dead bodies when we don’t know for sure what their purpose is and they haven’t made any overt attempts on our life.”
Tanner turned to Marilyn. “Their endgame is to bring you and the kids to Jared, right? Not to kill anyone?”
“He doesn’t want to kill me. Even the last time when he put me in the hospital, I don’t think he intended to kill me. And the kids have always been more of a means to an end to control me. Otherwise Jared mostly ignored them. But you guys... I don’t know if they’ll hurt you.”
Noah turned to Tanner. “Why don’t I lead the bad guys into the wilderness, and you take the merry gang back to town.”
Tanner shook his head. “Because if they do come after you guys, I want you to use your skills and take them out. I’m handy with a gun, but I don’t have the hand-to-hand combat skills you do. I’m not sure I’ll be able to protect them the way you would. Better for me to be the decoy.”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” Bree interjected. “You’re going to need more than one person if you’re trying to fool them into thinking there’re still four of us traveling through the wilderness.”
“She’s right, you know,” Noah said. “They won’t buy the ruse for long with you by yourself.”
“I don’t like it,” Tanner finally said.
It was probably a good thing he couldn’t see her roll her eyes in the dark. “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.”
Noah gave a low chuckle. “Consider it practice for marriage.”
Silence from Tanner.
“I don’t like it,” he finally said again. “I don’t know that I can protect you.”
“I don’t need you to protect me anymore. You’ve been teaching me how to do that for myself since I’ve known you.” She squeezed his hand. “We protect each other.”
It was a testament to how far they’d come, how much Tanner now really looked at her as a partner in all areas of life—even the scary parts—that he finally muttered a soft agreement.
Noah slid toward the overhang entrance. “I’m going to go find a clear path for us.
Try to get a bead on where they are searching now.
I’ll lead them farther out if I can. I’ll be back in one hour.
Be ready to move. That’s when they’re most likely to stop for a rest and we’re going to use it to our advantage. ”
Without another word he was gone. Tanner looped his arm around Bree’s shoulders and pulled her against him until his lips were at her temple. “You stubborn thing. I’m planning on all sorts of payback on our wedding night.”
“It’s a deal.”
“Try to get a little rest before Noah comes back. We’re going to have to move hard once he does.”
She didn’t think there was any way she would be able to sleep, but she scooted back toward Marilyn, who was hugging both her kids to her.
“Bree,” Marilyn whispered. “I’m so sorry I brought this into your life.”
“Don’t even start with me. I’m thankful every day you are in my life. No one is to blame for Jared and his cronies except Jared and his cronies. So don’t talk like that. Let’s escape, get Jared thrown back in jail and get my wedding over with.”
“You do know you just listed marrying the man you love as part of a series of traumatic events.”
Bree wasn’t facing Marilyn, and probably couldn’t have seen her face even if she was this far back in the shelter, but she could hear her friend’s smile.
“Just the saying my vows part. Maybe running for my life will knock something loose and I’ll be able to get them written.”
She meant to say more, but the next thing Bree knew, Tanner was shaking her awake. Bree hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep.
“It’s time to go.”
Noah was back. He was breathing heavy and drinking water from the canteen.
“I’ve got us a window open with them, led one of them in the opposite direction. We need to take advantage of it.”
Marilyn woke up Sam and started talking softly to him. A moment later the little boy walked over to Noah.
Marilyn picked up the sleeping Eva in her arms. “We’re ready. She’ll wake up, but she’ll keep quiet.”
“That storm coming in is going to be worse than we thought,” Noah told Tanner. “And it’s going to hit soon.”
“Good. We’ll use it to our advantage.”
“Go back toward the waterfall,” Noah said. “It gives you multiple exit options. Once you’re there, let out a scream or something to get them headed that way.”
The two brothers hugged briefly, and Bree hugged Marilyn.
“Be careful,” Tanner said. “They may not all come after us.”
“We all better be back in time to be standing at that wedding, or Mom and Cassandra both are gonna kill us.”
“Trust me, I know,” Tanner muttered.
Less than a minute later they were all out of the shelter heading in different directions. Noah had Sam on his back and Marilyn was carrying Eva.
For them, stealth was more important than speed, at least right now.
Tanner grabbed Bree’s hand, moving as quickly and silently as possible through the forest. He stopped every once in a while to listen, once completely changing directions, but it wasn’t long before they made it to a small waterfall. They filled their canteen and caught their breath.
“This is it,” Tanner said. “You ready to lead them in this direction? There’s no turning back after this.”
Was she ready? Was anybody ever actually ready to bring people with weapons hunting them in their direction?
She nodded. She knew the plan.
“Make it count. We want to make sure they hear.”
Tanner kissed her, then stepped back.
Bree screamed.