Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,63

“That jacket suits you.”

Before I can answer, he grabs my hand and runs so fast I nearly fall as I try to match his long strides. He leads me through a back room, down a flight of stairs, and into the cellar.

“Rich, we’re trapped down here!” I exclaim, terrified. “What the hell are you thinking?”

“Lock the door,” he tells me. “Brace it. We can’t have them breaking in before we’re ready.”

“Ready? Ready for what?”

“Just go!”

I scramble to the door and slam it shut. I think I can hear footsteps above us. I look around desperately for something to put against the door. There’s a shelf of preserves beside me. I heave it down with all my strength. It crashes to the floor.

“Jesus Christ!” Rich screams. “Why not announce to them we’re down here a little louder next time, huh?”

“Sorry,” I say, abashed. He’s right to get angry, though. It’s just—well, I’ve never had experience with these types of situations before!

I shove the shelf toward the door. Every inch it moves seems to sap half my strength. By the time it’s in place, there’s not a muscle left in my body that isn’t burning. I can definitely hear footsteps above us now. Mel’s barking continues, audible even through the floor.

I hear a resounding clang of metal striking metal behind me. I spin around. Rich is standing in front of a locked shed. I hadn’t noticed it before. I have no idea why it’s here.

Rich raises something over his head, and brings it down against the lock. Another metallic clang echoes through the room. A flash of light lets me see that Rich is attacking the lock with a fire axe.

My eyes dart over the cellar. I notice something hanging on the far wall. I run to it, grab it from its hook, and hand it to Rich. “Here.”

Rich turns. “What?” Then he sees the shape in my hands. “Bolt cutters. Where did you find these?”

“I can be handy in a tight spot.” I show him all my teeth.

“I’m beginning to learn that.” He takes the cutters from me, flexes them against the thinnest part of the lock, and presses down hard. The metal snaps with a twang.

Rich throws the doors of the shed open. Inside are two dirt bikes. I look at him incredulously. “Bikes? That’s your grand plan?”

“We’ll take the trails behind the house,” Rich says. He surprises me by slamming the fire axe into the tires of one of the bikes. “There’s no way they’ll be able to follow us in a car.”

“How did you know the bikes were here?”

“They belong to Amanda’s brothers.”

“Great,” I say, seeing one glaring flaw in his plan. “And how do you propose we get out of the cellar?”

Rich points over my shoulder. I glance back—and feel like a complete idiot. There’s another set of stairs leading to a pair of those horizontal basement doors. I can see the puddle of water beneath it from the rain.

Rich grins and sticks one of the keys into the bike. The engine roars to life. “Open those doors,” he tells me, “and get on.”

Chapter Twelve

I cling to Rich’s body as the bike flies over the uneven forest ground. Rich maneuvers over the trails like he’s been off-roading his whole life. Maybe he has. I still know very little about him.

I feel like I’ve been caught in some bad action movie. But the constant pounding of blood in my ears tells me this is real. The wind stinging my eyes tells me this is real. Rich’s hard body in front of me tells me this is real. And the fact that my heart leaps to my throat every time the bike lifts into the air tells me this is very, very real.

Rich slows down after half an hour. We’re deep in the woods, so the trees are keeping the worst of the rain off. “I don’t think they’re following us,” he says.

“That’s a relief,” I sigh.

“You can let go now, by the way.” He looks over his shoulder at me. “You’re squeezing so tight I can barely breathe.” His eyes flicker to mine. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I unknot my arms from around his waist, and find them stiff and cramped. I flex them a few times at the elbow to work some circulation back. “Now what?”

“Now, we continue on.”

***

Hours later, we’re riding along an empty stretch of highway. Rich had found a trail that led out of the forest and connected to the main roads. The