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“What’s going on?” I met him as a streak of lightning rocketed nearby.
“Nothing good,” he answered. “Come on.” He grabbed me by the arm and tugged me up the front porch.
I watched as he paced in front of the railing, scanning the brush beyond the oak trees.
“What’s going on? Do we need a jump? Is it our batteries?” I questioned.
My lungs seized when I saw him reach against the small of his back and pull out his gun.
“It’s not the batteries. Stay here,” he ordered. “Out of sight.” He jumped
off the porch, gun drawn, and ran across the lawn. I couldn’t stop him. He was headed straight for the woods.
Chapter Four
It was happening all over again. I huddled in the corner of the porch and watched, horrified, as AJ disappeared between the trees and branches. I thought I saw the outline of his black T-shirt, but then it was gone.
The wounds on my ankles and wrists, still fresh from the zip ties that bound me in the wooden crate, suddenly ached.
Hadn’t I just experienced this with AJ? The hopelessness of not being able to stop him from running into danger? The inability to keep him from trying to protect me first above anything else. We had escaped the precipice of death, only to face more uncertain darkness. And why? Because I was drawn to anything that shed light on who my parents were—even danger. I couldn’t resist.
I nervously crouched and waited.
What was happening? What did he see in the dense foliage? Why wouldn’t our cars start? Why did he always insist on leaving me behind? I would have felt better running with him.
How could I pull him back to me? What right did I have to even ask that, considering what I had just put him through?
I pushed forward on my knees and crawled to the edge of the porch so I could peek through the slats in the railing. Some of them were cracked and splintered. The more I looked around me, the more I realized how deceived I had been. When I had parked in front of the house I had seen what I wanted to see. But now, I realized it was obvious no one had lived here in a long time. The house wasn’t quaint. And it shouldn’t be on a magazine, unless it was the before shot of a fixer upper.
My eyes narrowed toward the edge of the yard. It was hard to see through the storm. The wind had picked up.
“AJ!” I yelled. I couldn’t hold in the panic that gripped me. “AJ!”
The gusts from the storm drowned out my voice. There was no way he could hear me in the thicket. If I left the shelter of the porch there was a chance we would miss each other. Me running into the woods while he ran back out. However, staying here didn’t feel like something I could do either.
I had to accept the part I played in this. AJ was in danger now because of me. If I hadn’t left his bed the way I did, he wouldn’t have followed me. None of this would be happening.
“Oh God, AJ.” I breathed heavily when I saw him emerge from the bushes. He trudged through the yard, shoving his gun behind his back.
“What was it?” I rose from my knees. “What did you see?”
He shook his head. The water dripped from his nose and the sharp angles of his jaw.
“There’s nothing out there. Nothing I could find.” He climbed the stairs to meet me at the top. “But there had to be someone waiting. I thought I saw the branches snap back in place over there like someone had run through.” He pointed to the spot. “I still think I did.”
“What do you mean?” My stomach lurched with nausea.
“The cars.” He closed his eyes. I saw just how tired he was. I knew that was my fault. He had chased me for three days. “They’re both dead, and that’s not a coincidence. But I’m not about to go digging under the hood during this tropical storm.”
“Did you say tropical storm?” My eyes bulged.
“Yes. Haven’t you seen the news? It’s about to be a hurricane.”
“But—” I lowered my head. I hadn’t focused on anything but myself. I had zeroed in on the information from Ethan Howard and nothing else.
“There’s a good chance that lake is going to flood out the road. I don’t think it’s safe for us to hike out of here tonight.”
I stared at him. “Are you saying we have to stay here? In this house?”
