Page 70 of Abandoned

Before Will could say anything, Logan was out the front door. Will told the rest of the guys what was happening, and they all left, as did Will. He wasn’t sure he could drive with how much his hands were shaking, but he had to get to where she’d been taken from.

God, help. Keep her safe.

He reached the Walmart in record time. The lot was swarming with police officers. Will found Zara’s car, trunk open, bags half loaded from the cart. He hadn’t wanted to believe it was true. But she was really gone.

Chapter Twenty

Zara trudged through the woods. She’d had to climb through some thick brush to get to where she was, but hopefully, Ernie, who was significantly bigger than her, hadn’t been able to make it through.

She’d decided to head back in the direction of Walmart but had taken a very roundabout way to get there. She needed her car, but more importantly, she needed Ernie and Rainie to not find her again.

Moving toward the edge of the forest, she heard the low rumble of an engine, but it wasn’t the same as Rainie’s beater. No, that was a familiar sound. Logan’s motorcycle?

It was somebody’s motorcycle.

She darted out of the trees and jumped a ditch just as a black-and-blue motorcycle with a white fuel tank turned the corner. The rider’s black helmet had a thin blue line. It was Logan.

She jumped to the side of the road and waved her arms wildly above her head.

He drove straight to her and stopped beside her. He kicked down his stand, pulled off his helmet, and smiled. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She looked down at her arms and legs. Blood streaked down them. She hadn’t even realized the fall from the car had left her with such abrasions. “Well, now that I’ve stopped, that doesn’t feel real great, but at least I got away.”

He set his helmet down on his bike before getting off and pulling her into a hug, disregarding the blood that might get on him. “Glad you got away, partner. What happened? Who was it?”

She told him what happened.

“We should get you to Walmart. The police are there as well as Will.”

“Too bad we can’t go find Ernie and Rainie. But surely they aren’t stupid enough to go back to Walmart looking for me, right?”

“Probably not.” Logan reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a half helmet. “You okay riding?”

“Absolutely.” She took the helmet and strapped it on. “Let’s go.”

Logan straddled the bike, and Zara jumped on behind him and held on loosely to his waist.

They headed back toward Walmart. The store came into view with half a dozen police-car lights flashing.

As they approached an intersection, an old white boat of a Chevy drove past. Logan stopped at the stop sign.

She patted Logan’s arm. “That’s them!” She shouted so he could hear her above the roar of the motorcycle.

He turned. “What?” He lifted his visor.

“That’s them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“I’m calling it in.”

“We should follow them too.”

He turned and leaned back far enough to look at her. “You are crazy, but I agree.” A mischievous glint sparked in Logan’s eye.

“Too bad you don’t have a police light to put on top of your helmet.”