A Broken Bone (Widow's Island #6) - Melinda Leigh Page 0,26

Ian, but Trevor was in the way. Logan had no doubt Ian would pull the trigger. He’d already killed once.

“Put your hands up!” Ian yelled. He released Trevor’s ear and grabbed his shoulder, crouching behind the younger boy.

Next to him, Tessa had her weapon leveled at Ian. “Drop the gun!”

“Fuck you!” Ian yelled back.

“You can’t get away, Ian,” Tessa called out. “More deputies are coming.”

“Bullshit!” Ian said. “There are only three of you on the island. It’ll take hours for more to get here.”

Ian was right.

“What do you want, Ian?” Tessa asked.

“We’re leaving.” Ian nodded toward Mark. “Get the door.”

Mark hesitated.

“Do it now!” Ian yelled. “Or I’ll blow a hole in Trevor. I can’t stand the little whiner, always sniveling and crying. If I shoot him, I’ll make you go with me instead. You pretend to be tough, but it’s all an act. You’re no better than him.”

Tears poured down Trevor’s face. Mark walked toward the kitchen door and opened it.

Ian stopped next to the doorway. A rechargeable flashlight was plugged in on the wall. “Give that flashlight to Trevor.”

Mark reached for it, his face colorless. Trevor took the flashlight with shaking hands. Ian walked backward, dragging Trevor with him, right out the door. The younger boy’s eyes were wide open with fear. His gaze locked on Logan’s, silently pleading for help. Ian kept walking backward, glancing at the ground behind him every few seconds.

They disappeared into the woods.

Trevor had looked terrified. Logan couldn’t let Ian hurt him.

Logan and Tessa ran outside.

“We have to follow them,” Tessa said, her face grim. “We can’t let him take Trevor.”

“You follow.” Logan started for the woods. “I’ll run and get ahead of them.” Logan ran and hiked in the forest every day. He could move faster than Ian and Trevor.

“We need to figure out where he’s going.” Tessa pointed to the trees. “What’s on the other side of these woods?”

Logan pulled out his phone and opened his map app. “The harbor.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Tessa nodded. “There are only two ways off the island: boat or plane. The next ferry doesn’t leave until five a.m., and Ian has to know we’ll call the ferry operators.”

“If I were in his shoes, I’d steal a boat,” Logan said.

“We can’t let him get to the harbor. There’s nothing to stop Ian from killing Trevor and dumping his body overboard.” Tessa pulled out her phone. “I’m calling the harbormaster and putting him on alert.”

“I’ll head them off.” Logan turned to the trees.

“Go!” Tessa said. “I’ll stay on their trail in case Ian decides to double back. We’ll sandwich them between us.”

Logan went into the woods, striking a line parallel to the direction that Ian had taken. Every few minutes, Logan stopped and listened. He could hear Ian and Trevor crashing through the underbrush. Clearly, neither of the boys were outdoorsmen. They sounded like a pair of buffalo.

A game trail cut off to the left. Logan took it and broke into a run. The woods weren’t deep. He burst from the trees and put on the brakes. Just ahead, the earth disappeared. His boots stopped inches before the trail dropped off. With his arms spread wide for balance, Logan looked down. Just ahead of his boots, the earth sheared away in a rocky wall and dropped twenty feet straight down. Now what?

The crashing sound approached. Shit. No time to backtrack. Logan needed a place to hide.

Tessa picked her way through the darkness. She could hear the boys ahead of her, and occasionally, she caught a flash of the light Trevor carried. But she didn’t move faster than she could safely navigate. Above, light from a nearly full moon filtered through the trees. She slowed her pace as she passed through a dark patch. Then branches overhead thinned, and she picked up her pace again. She couldn’t risk using her own flashlight.

She was close. About fifty feet ahead, she spotted two shadows moving through the trees. She’d increased her pace until she’d nearly caught up.

They emerged from the trees. The boys stopped short. The ground dropped off at their feet. Ian spun, forcing Trevor in front of him again.

They were trapped.

“Stay away!” Ian yelled, waving the gun.

Tessa stopped. “You can’t get away.”

“Don’t come any closer!” Ian shouted. “I’ll kill him. I want to anyway. I can’t stand the constant crying.”

Tears poured from Trevor’s eyes. He shuddered and tried to suppress a sob, but it slipped out.

Ian shook his shoulder. “Shut the fuck up. You’re so