Page 153 of Shadowing You

“He slowed them down, I think. If he hadn’t jumped…” Mei Lin couldn’t think about it. If Ethan hadn’t jumped, they’d have both been caught. But now, they were separated. She didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

“We’ll get him.” The woman shifted to meet Mei Lin’s eyes. “I promise, we’ll get him. Come on.”

Mei Lin followed her through the woods to a ridge that rose about three meters above where she stood—a dark smudge of gray in the forest. They skirted it and stopped on the far side.

A bush—nothing more than a clump of bare branches this time of year—shimmied, and a man stepped out from the base of the hill. He was as tall as Ethan, dressed in browns and blacks that blended into the landscape. He had short blond hair and wore a serious expression. “I’m Callan Templeton. We spoke yesterday.”

“I am Mei Lin.” Mei Lin looked at the blonde. “You are Alyssa?”

“Yeah. You okay?”

She tried to nod, but fresh tears dripped from her eyes. “Ethan… The snowmobile was dying, and they were catching up. He wanted me to get away. I heard gunshots. I think he was shooting at them, slowing them down. Or they were shooting him.” Her words were coming too fast and too squeaky. “I shouldn’t have left him.”

“If you hadn’t, you’d both be dead,” Callan said. “You’re the target, not him.”

Her mind snagged on one word. “You think he’s dead?”

“Sorry, no.” He squeezed her shoulder. “We have no reason to believe that. But if they’d caught both of you, you would be.”

“I’ll go wait for them.” Alyssa gave Mei Lin a tight smile, then jogged deeper into the forest.

“Where is she going?”

“We have people coming. She’s going to look for cell service so she can direct them here. Asher’s directions were pretty thin.”

“And then we’ll find Ethan?”

“And then you and Alyssa will go somewhere safe, and we’ll find Ethan.”

“I will not leave until he is found.”

“He jumped off that snowmobile to save you. You should⁠—”

“I will not.” There was no chance she was leaving these woods without her husband.

Callan studied her for a long moment, then sighed. “Yeah, you’re definitely a Wright woman.”

“This is good? It means I stay?”

He shook his head, and she caught the hint of a smile. “I don’t have time to argue with you. You’ll have to do what you’re told.”

“I will. But…but what if they catch him?” She worked to keep her volume low even as terror clawed its way up her throat. “They will kill him.”

Callan shook his head, though uncertainty flickered in his eyes. “I don’t think they will.”

He didn’t think so, but he didn’t know.

They might kill Ethan.

After everything they’d gone through, God wouldn’t let Ethan die now. Would He?

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.