What You See (Sons of the Survivalist #3) - Cherise Sinclair Page 0,36

rescuing Kit and Aric. In the dark. There were way too many little animal trails. It’d be awfully easy to get lost. But, obviously, if the PZs were out here at any time, she couldn’t tie bright ribbons or something to the trees to mark her path. That’d be like waving a flag saying someone was sneaking around their compound.

Never mind. The nighttime navigation plans would have to wait. She’d figure something out.

Her dark green cargo pants pockets were stuffed with basic hiking survival essentials—thank you, Google—like matches, a space blanket, and bear spray. The spray would probably work against PZs, too, right?

Voices sounded in the distance, and when the trail branched, she left herself a small unobtrusive marker of sticks and kept moving. She veered around a big patch of spine-covered devil’s club. Ha, I know you now, demon plant.

Finally, something glinted off to her left. She pushed some branches aside to see. Yes, that was chain-link fencing sparkling in the sunlight.

Triumph bubbled up inside her, but breaking into a victory song might be…unwise.

There was a wide, cleared space between the fencing and the tree line. Probably so no one could approach the fence during the daylight hours without being spotted.

Merda, that was a very tall, heavy fence. A discouraging one. There was no way she—or Kit—could climb over that thing, especially with the rolls of razor wire strung along the top. Maybe wire cutters would work?

This was the west fence, the one closest to Dall Road, but the buildings where the children had been playing were on the east side. She’d have to hike all the way around to decide on the best place to sneak in—or out. She headed south.

Frustration built inside her. The animal trails didn’t always follow the fence line. And if she didn’t watch carefully, she was liable to end up lost. Just the thought dried up all the spit in her mouth.

Inside the compound, she saw fields and the long greenhouses. A raised wooden tower elevated on stilts sat at the corner of the west and south fence. She examined it warily, trying to stay out of sight.

After a minute, she retreated back into the forest and followed the south fence toward the east. This place was way too big.

Thankfully, she was off tonight and tomorrow. Aikido kept her in fair shape, but hiking in this rugged terrain called for different muscles. And those muscles were starting to complain.

Bull could probably run this trail without breaking a sweat.

Bad Frankie. We’re not going to think about that man.

But thinking about him was far too easy to do. Sex with him would be like the scream-worthy moment a roller-coaster dropped over the highest peak.

But a relationship? More like the slow, clattering climb up the roller-coaster tracks to the top, giving a person too much time to wonder about how bad things could get. And inevitably, the carnival ride would end with the cars coming to a jerky halt.

She avoided handsome men for good reasons, starting with them being shallow and self-centered—like her ex. Bull…didn’t seem to be like that. He was certainly smart. Charming. Friendly. Fun. Caring.

However, no matter how compelling he was, she wasn’t here for a man; she was here for Kit and Aric.

There—there was another wooden tower—the southeast corner. Yes! Staying hidden, she turned to follow it up the east side.

Are those the women’s and children’s buildings?

Too much underbrush was in the way. Skirting a patch of snow, she worked her way forward to where the undergrowth was thinner, and she could see across the bare area between the forest and the fence to the buildings inside. She could hear men talking and occasionally see a child between the buildings. The children made almost no noise at all.

Wait, was that Aric?

Without thinking, she parted the bushes so she could peek out.

There was a horrible loud bang. Then another. Something went thunk ahead of her, and bark splintered on a tree trunk. Cazzo, someone was shooting at her.

Another crack. Something tugged at her sleeve, scraped across her deltoid.

She dove back into the woods, running directly away from—

The ground disappeared out from under her. She fell, down and down, trying to grab branches, dirt, and nothing slowed her tumbling.

She landed hard, almost in a tiny stream bed and gritted her teeth to keep screams from escaping.

Hearing men shouting, she scrambled farther into the underbrush. Would they come after her?

Panting, she frantically checked her surroundings. Even if the bushes were springing back into place, she