Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ethan ran, staying low to avoid being seen.
Nothing in his Boy Scout years had prepared him for this.
After ten minutes, he stopped to listen but heard nothing. It seemed he’d lost the man who’d been following him, the one whose ATV Ethan had disabled. If others were looking for him, he didn’t know. He’d only seen the one through the woods.
He shifted, walking toward where Mei Lin had gone. If he took a roundabout route, maybe he’d be able to find her—or find whatever help Asher had thought they’d meet up with.
If not, maybe he’d meet up with someone else who could help. He guessed it was hunting season. That could be good news or bad. Ethan’s black jacket might keep him hidden from his enemies, but it would be just his luck to evade Lu Feng only to be mistaken for a bear.
He checked his phone, something he’d done every few feet since he’d quit hearing that enemy behind him. No bars.
He raised his cell overhead, turned a slow circle, and watched the screen. He’d never wanted a cell tower so much in his life.
He peered around, spotted slightly higher ground, and headed toward it. Halfway up, a single bar appeared.
He found Gavin’s number and pressed the phone to his ear. It searched but never connected.
Ethan tapped a text instead, thumbs clumsy with cold.
Mei Lin headed to the marker Asher gave. We separated. Send help.
He hit Send and watched the rainbow circle spin.
Father, carry it through. Get someone to her before they find her.
The rainbow was still spinning when a branch snapped.
Ethan dropped behind a bush and shoved the phone in his pocket. Trying to move silently over the moist ground, he crept down the far side of the hill toward thicker cover.
He made it ten yards.
And then, a man stepped out from behind a tree trunk, pistol aimed. He didn’t say a word—he didn’t need to.
Ethan froze.
Two more men came in from the sides, one Chinese who was as tall as Ethan, one Caucasian—stocky with curly brown hair. The Chinese man barked orders Ethan didn’t understand. Even so, he lifted his hands, and the man searched him, finding the empty pistol and the phone, both of which he pocketed.
The Caucasian guy yanked Ethan’s arms behind him and bound his hands with plastic that bit into his wrists.
Nobody hurt him as they hauled him up and pushed him through the thick underbrush.
They hadn’t killed him, which meant they must not have captured Mei Lin.
Protect her, Lord. He’d been praying constantly since they’d seen those men at the house, the prayers repeating in the back of his mind. Keep her safe. I trust You to hold her.
The men marched Ethan through the trees back the way he’d come.
Up a hill, down the other side, past a thick stump covered in moss, then across the path that still showed the ruts where four-wheelers had run.
They plunged into the forest on the other side, aimed toward a gray wall that turned into a giant boulder.
A man waited in its shadow.
Wearing a dark wool coat, leather gloves, and shoes that were probably as useless on this squishy land as Ethan’s sneakers were, he wasn’t dressed for the woods. He was Chinese, compact, with gray salting his temples, regarding Ethan through narrowed black eyes.
Ethan had seen his photo. This was the man who’d locked his wife in a cage for six years.
“Dr. Wright. I am happy we found you.” Lu Feng’s English was thickly accented but clear enough.
Ethan had no words for him, at least none he should say aloud.
“I was surprised when you came for your wife. I was more surprised when you showed up at my hospital. I assume that’s where she hid the evidence?”
Again, Ethan didn’t bother answering.
“I thought you would forget about her. Instead, you have led us on a chase to…this place.” He glanced around as if the place where he found himself were ludicrous. “Your wife will not go far without you.”
“She’s smarter than you think.”
“Ah, I know she is smart. I did not give her enough credit before.” Lu Feng’s words carried no malice, just fact. “But she thinks she is…” He seemed to search for a word. “She believes she is important, that she can save people. A woman like that does not leave a husband to die.”
A hero.
That was the word Lu Feng couldn’t think of, and he was right.
Ethan’s wife was a hero.
“She will not leave you,” Lu said. “She will stay close, try to rescue you. And we will kill her.”
“You’re wrong.” Please, be wrong.
For once, sweetheart, don’t be brave.
Lu Feng looked so certain.
Please. Ethan squeezed his eyes shut. Please.