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“You’re not—”
“Let him go, Don,” another officer cuts in, and he looks at him then at me, and steps aside.
Jogging down the road, I slow when I see a car against a tree, the airbags deployed. “Fuck, I knew you wouldn’t listen,” I hear behind me, and I pull my gun, Wes, Everett, and Mic all doing the same with theirs. “You better have carrying permits for those,” Cobi says, and I grit my teeth, shoving it back into my jeans.
“Where is she?”
“We’re looking. We just cleared this area two seconds ago. I have officers searching the woods, the car up the road, and the cabin farther up. Uncle Nico’s on his way. We’ll find her.” Fuck. I scan the dark, my gut twisting thinking of her out there somewhere, alone and scared. “It’s Hofstadter,” he says, and pain expands throughout my chest and my body jerks. “She’s also got a woman named Hadley with her.”
“Pardon?”
“Hadley, saw him put her in the trunk. I lost contact with her when she decided to keep following after him. That’s her car.” He lifts his chin to the wreck against the tree. “She’s gone. I’m expecting that when we find Harmony, we’ll find her.”
“Right.” I lift my chin and start toward the woods, done with talking.
“You’ll need a flashlight,” he tells me, shoving one toward me, and I take it.
“Tell your officers there are four other men in the woods looking and not to shoot us,” I order, and he lifts his chin.
“Let’s fan out,” Wes says quietly from my side, and my eyes go to him. “We’ll find her.”
Unable to speak, I lift my chin then watch Wes go to the left. Everret follows, and Mic takes off to the right. Staying straight, I keep my breathing natural, unholster my gun, and listen. That’s when I hear a shot ring out, and I take off.
Harmony
“Oh, God!” I cry out as pain explodes through my thigh. I fall forward to the ground, my hands catching me at the very last moment as my head comes up and swings around, looking for where the shot came from.
“Come on.” The woman tugs on my hand and I get up, feeling warm wetness slide down my leg and start to fill my boot. She tucks herself under my arm and wraps hers around the back of my waist, holding me up as I limp as quickly as I can.
“He’s close,” I whimper, tears filling my eyes—not from the pain in my leg, but from the fear that’s starting to overwhelm me. Hearing another shot, we both stumble and fall forward, my awkward weight bringing us both down quickly. I start to push up, but then he’s standing over us, his gun pointed right at me.
“Don’t!” the woman screams, as his finger starts to pull back on the trigger. My eyes close, every moment I’ve had with Harlen flashing behind my closed eyelids. Him asking me to celebrate my new job with him. Him standing in my kitchen holding Dizzy. Him making me laugh as we unpacked. Us standing under the night’s sky at a bonfire. Me tucked against him riding on his bike. Him claiming me as his. Us planning a future. And him putting a ring on my finger. A loan tear escapes my eye as the gun goes off.
Something wet hits me in the face, and I scream, hearing the woman shriek too. Then my eyes shoot open, and I watch Dr. Hofstadter’s eyes go blank as he stumbles to his knees before falling face forward onto the ground. Scrambling away from him, I see a large hole in the back of his head.
“I’m gonna be sick,” the woman whimpers, and I turn to look at her. I feel my body tense as something moves in the dark, and then my eyes widen when Harlen steps into view shining his flashlight on us.
“Honey,” I breathe, and his eyes come to me, scanning me from head to toe, his face going white when he sees my leg.
“You’re hit.”
“I’m okay.” My hands shake and I start to shiver. Coming to me, he drops to his knees at my side. “I’m okay,” I repeat, but he doesn’t hear me, or he ignores me, as he takes off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. Taking off his plaid shirt, he ties it high up on my thigh.
“Hadley,” he calls, and the woman pulls her wide fear-filled eyes off the back of Dr. Hofstadter’s head to look at him. “I need you to hold it together and go yell for help. As soon as you see someone, tell them we need an ambulance,” he instructs, and she nods. “Go, now.” She gets up and takes off, yelling as she goes.
“You found me,” I whisper, feeling tired, and Harlen’s eyes come to me.
