bait and ran after Tanner and Bree, they’d move a lot quicker.
They hadn’t gone far when they heard Bree’s bloodcurdling scream of Tanner’s name. Marilyn couldn’t help but turn back and look.
“It’s okay,” Noah said. “She did that on purpose. They’re trying to draw Jared’s guys away from us.”
“Are you sure?”
There was hesitation just for a second in his eyes. They both knew the plan, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine a number of situations—all of them really bad—that might cause Bree to scream like that.
“Either way, we’ve got to keep going.”
She couldn’t imagine what it cost Noah to leave his brother in certain danger like this. For them. For her.
She loved him.
In the middle of the wilderness, being chased by sociopaths, was a hell of a place to figure that out, but it didn’t matter. She loved him.
He gave her a nod. That nod. The nod that meant everything would be okay. That they were in this together. That they had each other’s backs.
When had that become their secret form of communication? Just a nod from him meant more to her than an entire conversation might’ve meant from someone else.
She nodded back, hoping it conveyed everything she was trying to make him understand.
I trust you. I’ll run as long and as hard as you need me to because you know exactly what I’m capable of. I understand the sacrifice you’re making to get us out.
Hopefully, it did because he gave her the tiniest smile then turned and started moving again.
She knew when they’d gotten out of the general vicinity of Jared’s friends because their speed dramatically increased.
It wasn’t long before her arms were becoming too tired to hold Eva’s weight. “Hey, pumpkin, I need to switch you to my back and give you a piggyback ride. Let’s be very quiet.”
Eva nodded and all of a sudden, her earlier words about playing soldier-style hide-and-seek made sense. Bree and Tanner must’ve needed her to be quiet earlier and had made it into a game. Marilyn was even more thankful for her friends and how they’d made a potentially traumatic situation much less so for her kids.
Noah glanced over his shoulder at them every once in a while but didn’t slow down. Good. He knew getting the kids to safety was more important to her than her own discomfort.
Although she could admit her discomfort was significant. The farther they went, the more her muscles screamed. And then it started to rain.
Rain wasn’t the right word for it. This was a torrential downpour.
Still, they kept going.
Storm. That had been Noah’s codename in the Special Forces. He certainly looked right at home in the raging weather now.
For hours they kept going, switching between walking and carrying the kids as needed. The sun came up, and Noah found them various edible snacks along the way that provided a little energy.
Eva offered her strawberry to Noah since he was carrying her. Marilyn thought her heart might melt.
Noah didn’t take it.
The kids walked when they could. When they began to lag, she and Noah hoisted them up as long as they could. There wasn’t much chit-chat. They were all too exhausted and hungry—just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
But, like her, her kids knew how to survive. And that’s exactly what they did right up to the point where old man Henrikson’s house came into view.
“Are we stopping at that house, Mom?” Sam asked. He’d walked the last couple of miles holding her hand while Noah carried Eva.
“I think so, buddy.” She looked over at Noah.
“Yep,” he said. “We’ve made it.”
They were safe. But what about Bree and Tanner?
20
It felt like half the town of Risk Peak was waiting for them at old man Henrikson’s cabin. When Barb and Francis had arrived yesterday and told him about the raft and the bridge being out, he’d immediately called in the cavalry.
Noah’s sister Cassandra ran out crying as soon as she saw them. She took Eva from his arms and ushered them all inside, immediately providing water, hot soup, bread, and towels to get them dried off.
Every cop Tanner worked with was crowded into the cabin, as well as some paramedics and some of the town’s best trackers.
Marilyn met Noah’s eyes. She knew he needed to talk to these people about what was going on, but he didn’t necessarily want to do it in front of the kids. Without a word, Marilyn and Cassandra ushered the kids back into one of the small bedrooms with