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“We can’t keep going at this pace.” He reached over and kissed her temple.

Now those green eyes opened. “But we can for another few hours. Give them the time they need to make sure they’re out safely. My body will do whatever I tell it to. And if I tell it it’s going hard for another few hours, that’s what it’s going to do.”

Tanner sighed. “I’m sure that’s true right up to the point where your body completely collapses. We don’t want to let it get to that point.”

But he knew they needed to get moving again.

And then it began to rain.

Storms in the Colorado wilderness weren’t to be messed with at any time, and this one was a doozy. Rain was pelting them by the time he helped her to her feet a minute later.

“Hopefully this will work in our favor,” he told her.

It would certainly make them less visible and might make the hunters stop altogether. They didn’t know Tanner knew who they were. He may not have enough to arrest them—what he’d seen and heard had been minimal, and circumstantial—but he damn well wouldn’t be taking his eyes off Jared Ellis or any of his posse for as long as needed. They would slip up, and Tanner would be there to take them down when they did.

But right now, they needed to survive this damn wilderness.

They began moving forward again at a slower pace this time, because no matter what Bree said, there was only so much her smaller body could handle.

They tried to keep out of the cold rain as much as possible, dashing from point to point under anything that would offer them shelter. But it still didn’t take long before they were completely soaked.

The only good news was that the farther they went, the less Tanner saw any sign of the hunters.

As lightning lit up the late-afternoon sky, he prayed it was because they’d done the smart thing and chosen to wait out the storm. Of course, the storm was probably going to last another ten hours, but he doubted the men knew that. By the time they did, Noah would definitely have made it back to Risk Peak.

As the wind picked up and began whipping through the trees, Tanner knew they were going to have to find shelter themselves.

A quick look at Bree confirmed it. Her teeth were chattering, lips starting to turn a little blue, despite their exertion. He needed to get her someplace where they could stop, allow themselves time to dry off and raise their body temperatures. He knew just the place and would bet anything the hunters weren’t aware of it.

They were almost back to the river. His original plan had been to cut back up the river, leading away from town. But not anymore. He and Bree had bought Noah and Marilyn and the kids plenty of time. If he knew his brother, he’d already gotten Marilyn and the kids to old man Henrikson’s house. That old goat was the only person Tanner knew who disliked people more than Noah did. But he had a damn impressive collection of shotguns. And his place would be the first they’d come across on their way into town. Noah would be borrowing a couple of those shotguns his way back out here. The rest of the cavalry would be right behind him.

“Is the storm getting louder?” Bree asked as they stopped to catch their breath by a clump of trees. Right now, Tanner was playing a game of choose your enemy. Hanging out under the trees was a bad idea because of the storm, but they provided them cover from the hunters. Getting away from the trees would be better to avoid the lightning but might make them visible to the people with guns.

“No, that’s the river. It’s about twenty yards ahead of us, then about ten or fifteen feet straight down over the ledge.”

“The same river you told me to run toward this morning with the kids if you didn’t make it back?”

“Yep, although you would’ve hit it about three miles downstream and that’s much closer to town.”

Her mouth tightened at the thought of having extra miles to walk, he was sure, but she didn’t say anything.

“Don’t worry, we’re not walking the whole way right now. It’s time to get out of the storm.”

Walking down by the riverbank would be easier but would put them in a weakened tactical position. If one of the hunters came up on the ridge, they’d have a clear shot at them even though the ridge wasn’t very high here. They’d have to be doubly careful.

“Okay, let’s—”

Tanner felt the burn in his upper arm at the same time the shot rang out. He and Bree were diving to the ground as a second shot exploded in the tree next to them. Those weren’t rifle shots or Tanner would be dead right now. They were from a handgun. That explained why Tanner was still alive—rifles were a hell of a lot more accurate—but it also meant somebody was much closer than he’d expected.

And it also just changed all the rules of the game. Anything Tanner did now would be considered self-defense.

But that fact wouldn’t help them if they were dead.

“Are you okay? Are you shot?” Bree began patting him all over his torso.

“Just a graze on my arm. I’m okay. But we’ve got to move right now.”

“Okay.”