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Caleb could have sworn Wyatt pinked with pleasure at the contact, a rare display of emotion from his usually stoic brother. But maybe it was a trick of the light, the setting sun painting the world in shades of gold and pink.
“This is for you.” Caleb handed Grace the activated PLB.
She turned it over in her hand. “What is it?”
“Personal locator beacon.”
For an instant, he thought she would protest, but she remained silent.
“So I can find you if you get lost.” He closed her fingers around it and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Keep it with you. Make me happy?”
“Sure.” She smiled and tucked it into her jeans pocket.
“Dolly?” Caleb held open the Volvo’s rear passenger door. “Time to go, girl.” He waited a beat, expecting to hear the familiar jingle of her collar as she bounded toward him. But there was only the low moan of the wind.
Where was she? Damn dog had been here less than five seconds ago. He whistled and in reply, a tortured animal scream tore through the air like a knife.
Caleb jerked around, his heart skittering, his mind reeling with the sudden, sickening realization. It had come from the forest.
Dolly.
Ahead of him, the trees stirred, restless, as if moved by an unseen malevolent force.
Grace crossed to the leaf strewn grass. She looked back over her shoulder at him, her complexion waxy, her eyes troubled. “It’s him.”
And then, without warning, she took off, running toward the edge of the forest with a speed and urgency that bordered on crazy.
“Fuck.” Caleb sprinted after her, his heart hammering in his chest like a war drum.
“Right behind you. I’ll take the north road and establish a blocking position.” Wyatt called out, already moving like a dark wraith to the rear of the grounds, his body melding with the shadows as if he were a part of them.
Caleb heard his brother, but his entire being was focused on the woman he cared for more than he’d ever thought possible. He plunged after her into the creaking woods, pine needles and branches whipping his face, oblivious to everything but the primal need to get to her. Thundering through the underbrush, fueled by volcanic fury, Caleb zeroed in on a second fading animal scream. Dolly. The sound ripped through him like a jagged blade, forcing him to hurl himself deeper into the woods.
Damn, Grace was fast. He’d lost sight of her, relying on snapped branches, flattened grass to show him her path.
He tried not to think. To just run.
His girls were alone and unprotected, at the mercy of a madman who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. The thought was a vise around his heart, squeezing the air from his lungs.
I’m coming, Grace.
He would not lose her now, not after everything they had been through, not when he had imagined a future that included her by his side. Caleb pushed himself harder, faster, his legs pumping like pistons, his lungs heaving with the effort.
He would bring them both back safe.
And heaven help anyone who stood in his way.
33
Grace plunged headlong into the deepening dusk of the forest, her heart hammering against her ribcage with such force it felt as if it might burst through her chest at any moment. Each breath was a struggle, the air too thick to draw into her lungs, the acrid taste of fear coating her tongue like a bitter poison.
Somewhere in the darkness ahead, Dolly was injured and alone, and Grace knew with a sickening certainty Alex and his men were responsible. The knowledge settled in her gut like a leaden weight. How could she have been so foolish to think she could outrun Richard, that she could have the chance at a normal life or love with someone else?
Hot tears blurred her vision, obscuring the way ahead, as she fought her way through the dense undergrowth, heedless of the branches that snatched at her clothing and scratched at her skin.
Love. Was that the reason her heart raced whenever Caleb was near, why she found it hard to breathe when he was in the same room? Was that why she thought of little else but him, even amid this nightmare?
Not now. She shook her head, desperately trying to clear her thoughts as she dodged a low-hanging branch and crashed into a small clearing. She staggered to a halt, her chest heaving as she fought to slow her breathing, to regain some sense of direction in the gathering gloom.
