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But most important, they needed to provide Noah and Marilyn a chance to get back to safety.
They continued to move as the sun came up. They didn’t speak, not knowing how far away the trackers might be. Tanner left very deliberate clues at first—ones they would have to be blind to miss.
They went deeper and deeper into the wilderness. If the men hunting them were as familiar with this area as he was, that would’ve been an instant clue that something was awry. It would be stupid to lead the children deeper into the wilderness with no supplies and a storm coming. At what point would that thought cross their minds? Would Noah have enough time to get Marilyn and the kids to safety?
Now that it was daylight, he and Bree had to move much more carefully, staying in the cover of the trees. If they went too much out in the open, they might be spotted with binoculars, or even worse, a rifle scope.
Like Marilyn had said, Jared wanted her and the kids alive, but anyone else might be considered expendable.
By midafternoon their energy was starting to fail. They ate some berries and drank water everywhere they could, but the calories they were getting into their bodies were nowhere near their output. That would begin to take a toll quickly.
Bree was amazing—not that he’d had much doubt she would be. She didn’t complain, not even once. Not when he looked back and she was pale or sweating. She just kept pushing even when it got harder and harder.
The hunters were gaining on them. They had nourishment and equipment he and Bree didn’t have.
Tanner wasn’t exactly sure when they’d spotted him and Bree, but there was no doubt they had. The good news was they were still following, so that meant they must think the kids were still with them. The bad news was...everything else. No food or weapons, and moving farther from help with each step.
Noah would be back with the assistance they needed. Tanner just had to buy him more time.
A quiet cry fell from Bree’s lips as she stumbled on the uneven ground and crashed hard onto her knees, barely catching herself before her face hit the ground. Tanner couldn’t even move fast enough to stop her.
He let out a low curse. “We’ve got to stop. This is game over if one of us breaks a leg,” he whispered.
“Where are they? They are still following us, right?”
“Yes, but it’s harder for me to tell exactly where they are. The sun isn’t shining so brightly, so I’m not catching any reflections off their scopes like I was yesterday. But then again, they’re not exactly trying to hide, so I catch a glimpse of one of them every once in a while. Last time was over an hour ago.”
He kept his voice low because over an hour ago was an eternity when you were talking about hunting someone in the forest. They could be much closer now.
“So we need to keep going.” Exhaustion skirted across her face. She struggled to push herself back up into a standing position, but her movements were jerky and uncoordinated.
Damn it, she was more tired than she’d let on.
He sat down beside her and pulled her down next to him.
“I thought we needed to go? That they are gaining on us.” But she didn’t try to get back up.
He scooted down next to her and tucked them both up against the tree.
“No, rest for a while. At some point we need to turn back toward civilization.”
She closed her eyes. “Have we given them enough time?”
The fact that she was asking that rather than demanding they continue to push forward told Tanner what he needed to know. Bree was getting awful darn close to her breaking point.
Mentally and emotionally she could keep pushing herself. She’d proved that over and over since he’d met her. But the body could go only as far as it could go.
“Quit looking at me like that,” she said without opening her eyes.
“Looking at you like what? And how can you tell anything anyway if your eyes are closed?”
“I can tell just by the way you’re breathing.”
His eyebrow rose. “All right, smarty, exactly how am I looking at you, then?”
“Like you know I want to go on, but my body isn’t going to make it.”
Damned if that wasn’t exactly what he was thinking.
