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Hunted.
Chapter Thirteen
Bree grabbed the kids’ hands as Tanner led them deep into the thick shelter of the trees.
“I need to go check something out, okay? You guys stay here.” He gave both kids a smile and a wink, which encouraged them a little bit, then turned to her. “I’m just going to see what I can find out. Info gathering only.”
Obviously, his feeling that he was being paranoid had passed, and it had something to do with those cigarette butts. Someone had been there recently.
She nodded. “We’ll be right here getting a little rest in case we need to do more walking.”
The kids groaned at the thought of more walking.
“Whatever’s left to eat in the backpack, go ahead and do it,” Tanner said.
He didn’t elaborate, but Bree could read between the lines: get calories into their system in case we need to run.
She nodded. “We’ll be fine. You be careful.”
With a nod he was gone.
“Bree Cheese, what’s happening?” Eva asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I think we might be playing a big game of hide-and-seek.”
The kids obviously didn’t believe her, but they didn’t argue. They got out the last two protein bars and began splitting them, wrapping a chunk for Tanner.
With their bellies the slightest bit full, both kids’ eyes began to droop. Bree couldn’t blame them. They’d already walked at least five miles today. And given what they’d been through in the last twenty-four hours, they probably needed as much rest as they could get.
Bree didn’t have that luxury. She kept her eyes open and her ears attuned for any sound of danger. Not that she knew what danger would sound like, or what she would do if an enemy—man or animal—attacked.
When she got back to Risk Peak, she was going to put some concerted effort into researching wilderness survival.
She grimaced. After she wrote her wedding vows. First, she had to put her researching abilities into that. Or...maybe whatever was happening right now would drag out to a month and they’d have to cancel the wedding. She and Tanner really could just go in front of the judge. It would solve all her problems.
All her problems except for whatever potential nicotine-riddled danger was out there. Plus, Sam and Eva would be miserable without their mom for that long. And she was sure Marilyn was already beside herself with worry. So she couldn’t wish for that.
Tanner came back into their little hiding spot as silently as he’d left, nearly giving Bree a heart attack.
“Damn, you’re spooky quiet,” she said when she could get a word out. At least the kids were still asleep.
He didn’t smile. “We’re in trouble.”
“For sure?”
He nodded and sat down, grabbing the water and the protein bar. “There are three people waiting for us up ahead. It’s definitely a trap. They were waiting for us to pick up the main path again, and then we would’ve been sitting ducks for whatever they had planned.”
“Who? Why?”
“I don’t know. Someone from my past or yours? We’ve certainly found out over the last year that we’re not without enemies.” He pointed to the kids. “Or somebody attached to Ellis? Maybe he even found a way around his ankle monitor. Ronnie wouldn’t have been able to get in touch with us if that happened. I couldn’t get close enough to see their faces. All I know is that they were triangulated for a capture another mile and a half down, and we were about to walk right into them.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“We head deeper into the woods. I’ve been around this wilderness all my life, so that’s an advantage. They’re expecting us to show up on the main path in the next hour or two. It will take them a while to figure out we’re not coming back that way, after all. That’s the second advantage.”
He sounded sure of himself. That reassured her. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
He touched her arm. “But we’ve also got disadvantages. Two kids who can be pushed physically only so far. No weapons. I could try to take them out myself, but that’s risky, and would leave you relatively defenseless if I wasn’t successful.”
