Page 166 of Shadowing You

She crept forward. When she saw Ethan, she would know what to do.

The meadow was right there, through the trees, an open space separated from darkness and shadows, and she walked toward it.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Bo grabbed Ethan by the collar and hauled him backward. Ethan resisted, pretending to stumble. He stayed low, raking the ground with one hand until he touched the knife. His fingers closed around the handle, and he shoved it into the sleeve of his jacket. Only then did he allow Bo to pull him upright and march him through the forest.

Moments later, Bo forced him to his knees at the edge of a clearing.

Behind him, Lu shouted, his voice loud and carrying. He spoke Mandarin, but Ethan didn’t need to know the language. He knew what Lu was threatening. Come out or your husband dies, or some variation of that.

Somehow, they knew Mei Lin was here, but they didn’t know exactly where. It was a mystery he didn’t bother to solve.

In the trees, darkness had fallen, but the meadow held the last bit of light, displaying dead weeds and little else. The forest on the other side—probably not even fifty yards across—was barely more than a dark wall. There was no movement. No petite woman stepping into the gap.

Ethan was blowing out his relief when a boot caught him under the ribs and folded him sideways. He got an arm up, taking the second blow on the forearm.

Bo kicked again.

Ethan concentrated on breathing. It didn’t matter what happened to him, as long as Mei Lin didn’t show herself. He kept his eyes open, studying the forest beyond the meadow between blows.

Behind him, Lu said something in Mandarin, the tone harsh, and Bo paused to answer.

Ethan used the reprieve from the punishing kicks to breathe.

And then they started again. Didn’t matter. Mei Lin wasn’t there. All that mattered was that she wasn’t there.

But a sound carried over the meadow.

He didn’t know the words—they were for Lu, not him. But he knew the voice.

No. Please, Mei Lin, don’t.

Why would she reveal herself? What was she thinking?

Bo paused and turned toward the meadow.

Ethan turned his head on the rough ground, scanning the distant trees. He didn’t see her.

He saw shooters, though.

One was tucked behind a boulder to his left. One knelt in the brush past the rocks, and one stood at the tree line on the other side. There were others, all holding a rifle or a pistol, every one of them facing the general area where her voice had come from.

But she wasn’t there.

Ethan scanned again, his gaze catching on the man at the boulders.

An arm hooked across the man’s throat from behind, and he went down.

Nobody else noticed. They were all looking for Mei Lin.

Ethan let his head drop, hiding his surprise and relief.

He’d been right. He wasn’t alone.

Of course he wasn’t.

Someone was out there, taking the shooters out.