Chapter 48
Jenna watched as Sutter took off in a run.
He’d had the opportunity to shoot her, and he hadn’t.
Caleb had taken down the driver.
That just left Vito.
Vito . . .
As the man glanced at his hired help and realized they were useless, he muttered something under his breath.
If she was going to make a move, it had to be now.
She drove both hands into Vito’s chest, throwing all her weight behind the action.
He staggered back toward the car, his eyes wide with surprise. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
“You’ve got no one left to defend you,” she muttered. “I think you’re the one who doesn’t know what he’s doing!”
He sneered at her again and took another step back, hitting the car.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
Luke rushed to her side. He handed the gun he’d confiscated from Sutter to Caleb. Caleb kept the weapon trained on Vito just in case he had any surprises up his sleeve.
“I’ve got you.” Luke pulled her against him, his hand splaying across her back like he needed to feel that she was solid. She gripped his forearm hard.
Freya hit Jenna’s other side in the same instant, shoving her head under Jenna’s hand, her entire body wagging, a high whine breaking out of her.
“Good girl.” Jenna’s hand fisted in the dog’s ash-gray coat for one second. “Good girl.”
Then Luke put Jenna behind him. “Jenna, there’s a gap in the fire up the ridge. It should be safe there—for now. Go.”
“But—”
“I’ll be right behind you.” He caught Freya’s collar and pushed her toward Jenna. “Freya, with her. Go on.”
She hesitated another moment before nodding. Then she took Freya and ran toward safety, praying as she did that Luke and Caleb would be okay.
Once she reached the trees, she looked back.
Vito still stood against the car, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. How was he going to get out of this one?
She had no idea.
Caleb stood with the driver, and Sutter had disappeared into the woods.
Vito was on his own.
“You need to come with us,” Luke yelled to him. “Before the fire takes you.”
Vito laughed. “I won’t be doing that.”
“I don’t know how you plan on getting out of this then,” Luke said. “You’re trapped. And I’m guessing you don’t even have the keys to drive yourself away.”
Based on the way Vito’s face went pale, Luke was right.
Vito’s composure cracked. Terror surfaced underneath it—the same fear he’d spent a lifetime collecting off other people.
Jenna watched as the flames moved closer to the road—to Vito.
“You need to—” Luke started.
Before Luke could finish, the fire took the car. Glass burst somewhere inside it. A tire went off like a gunshot, then another. A wave of heat rolled out across the road.
Jenna pulled Freya down and watched in horror as fire scorched everything in its path.
Fire completely surrounded Vito. There was no way Luke could reach the man.
Flames consumed him, and he fell to the ground.
A scream caught in Jenna’s throat. She hadn’t expected it to end this way.
Vito always found a way out. He always avoided consequences.
But not now.
He’d done this to himself.
“We have to go!” Caleb yelled.
He grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled him back. The driver stayed close, seeming to know he was trapped and wouldn’t get away, even if he tried to run.
He was right.
They still weren’t in the clear.
Because the only way home ran straight through the part of the woods still burning.
Luke didn’t have time to think.
He only had time to move.
One wrong decision could kill all of them.
The fire was relentless—and almost felt unescapable.
But he couldn’t let himself believe that.
He had to get everyone out. Failure wasn’t an option.
His chest still tightened when he remembered the sight of the fire consuming the man by the car. He’d tried to warn him. Tried to get him to come with them and face justice.
But the man had refused. There had been nothing else Luke could do.
Luke gripped Jenna’s hand with his own as they rushed through the woods. Caleb was in front of them, Freya at his side. The driver followed, knowing better than to try to run away.
Fire continued to consume the forest on both sides of them. The flames climbed the ridge to their left. It crept the low ground to their right.
Ahead, one clear corridor remained. Sixty yards, maybe less. Then the two arms of the fire would meet and there’d be nothing—unless they got through this area in time.
A figure appeared in the smoke ahead of them.
Luke’s heart seized. For half a second his mind put Cora there . . . or Liam or Jonah.
He knew he wouldn’t be them. His family had his kids. But . . .
Then the smoke cleared for a moment, and the figure came into focus.
Travis Henderson. What was Travis doing out here?