The Escape (US Marshals #1) - Lisa Harris Page 0,25

step. He shook Madison gently, then signaled for her to be quiet when she opened her eyes. Apparently, he’d been wrong about Barrick.

Ten

Madison scrambled to her feet at Jonas’s silent nudge, the heaviness of sleep gone in an instant. The rain had finally stopped, and the light coming in from the window told her that the sun had just begun its ascent above the horizon. But her only thought at the moment was that Barrick was out there.

Jonas moved to the window, then signaled for her to cover the area behind the door. She grabbed a thick log from beside the fire, then moved into position, pulse racing, her body geared up to fight. There might be two of them against one of him, but not having her weapon put her at a tactical disadvantage. On the other hand, they’d trained together, making it easier for her to know what Jonas was thinking. The intruder couldn’t know for certain that they were in here.

A second later, the handle jiggled. When the door didn’t open, someone tried to kick it in. The chair she’d jammed beneath the handle last night rattled but held. They kicked against the door again. This time, the entire frame shook. A third time, the chair cracked, and the door flew open. Jonas fired off a shot while she caught the bottom edge of the door with her boot, stopped its momentum, then kicked it closed. The man cried out in pain.

“It’s him.” Jonas grabbed a piece of the chair and shattered one of the windows, keeping his body behind the frame as he took aim and fired off three quick shots.

Barrick responded with three of his own shots from outside, two that managed to penetrate the door and slam into the back wall.

“Do you see him?” she asked.

“He’s retreated to the tree line.”

For now.

She stood still in the middle of the cabin. The storm was gone and now an eerie silence seemed to surround them.

“I’m pretty sure I hit him,” Jonas said.

“How bad?”

“I couldn’t tell, but we need to get out there and track him down.”

“We’re sitting ducks,” she said.

“I know. How many rounds do you think he has left?”

She searched her memory. “Probably nine.”

She glanced again at the window. If they left the cabin, he’d have a direct shot at them, but they couldn’t stay holed up there. Something on the porch caught Madison’s eye. “There’s blood here.”

“He was definitely hit,” he said. “He was also out of his handcuffs.” Jonas grabbed his backpack. “I’ll cover us while we run across the porch, right, toward the back of the house.”

She nodded, pulled open the door, and ran. The pop, pop, pop of Jonas’s pistol echoed through the morning air. Barrick fired back. She caught her breath at the back of the cabin as Jonas ran up to her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” Madison turned around in the soggy ground and studied him. “Jonas, wait, your arm.”

“What?” Blood ran down his arm, right below his shoulder. “It’s just a graze. I’m fine.”

She reached up to check it, but he stopped her.

“I’ll clean it up later. We need to go after him. Now.”

They stayed low as they ran across the grass toward the tree line behind the cabin, hyperaware of any movement. Madison studied the ground in front of them. With all the rain last night, it would be hard for him to hide his tracks. The injury from Jonas’s bullet was another disadvantage that would slow him down. What they would have to be careful about was another ambush.

“Jonas, I’ve got something.” A breath of relief shot out of Madison’s lungs as Jonas crouched down beside her. “After last night’s storm I wouldn’t expect to find fresh prints from a hiker on this trail, so this has to be him. Look here. He tried to miss this patch of mud, but he hit it with the heel of his boot.”

“You’re right. That’s got to be him.”

“He’s headed north out of here.” She studied the trail, making sure she didn’t miss anything. “So you think he gave up on us?”

“I certainly would at this point.”

“And this time I agree.”

They paused by a cluster of trees to catch their breath and Jonas offered her another power bar. She took it but couldn’t help but wish for a large espresso with an extra shot of caffeine to go with it. She needed it today, if only to warm her up. But that would have to wait. They had a fugitive to track