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I’m running and I’m listening for the sound of a diesel motor. I’m searching for a signal. All I hear is silence, silence save for my heavy breathing and Ashley’s sniveling. She repeatedly asks the same question. “Are they coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
This answer only makes her cry more, and the sound of her whining is making me lose focus, so I say, “I don’t think so.”
When I can’t run anymore, I stop and rest my hands on my knees. I look at Ashley holding her shoes in her hands. “Who was that? Who was shooting at us?”
“Probably an ex-boyfriend.”
Her mouth falls open. “Seriously?”
“No. Not seriously.” I shrug. “How in the fuck am I supposed to know?”
“I thought you knew everybody around here.”
“Well, it would have helped if I’d seen his face.”
“Did you get the license plate?”
“No, I was too busy driving evasively and calling for help,” I say through narrowed eyes. I massage my wrist and very seriously contemplate leaving her in the woods to be someone else’s problem. “And you?”
She shakes her head slowly from side to side.
“Figures.”
“Do you think they’re coming back?”
“No.” I glance toward the road. “At least not at the moment.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if they truly wanted us dead, we would be.”
Chapter Nine
Ruth
We sit in the woods, crouched down, our backs resting against a fallen tree for a good thirty minutes. I figure this should have given Davis enough time to get on the road and try to track us down. That or to call Roy, who will have called in backup. The car is visible from the road, so I am not concerned as to whether they’ll find us. For now, we just have to stay put and wait.
Ashley, however, does not agree. She wants to go back for her phone, which she is sure will have service. Her eyes dart back and forth, nervously, no matter how many times I tell her we are safe. “Davey doesn’t know how to find us…”
My brow furrows. I wonder if she hit her head in the crash. She’s not the brightest to begin with, but now, not only does she sound dumb, she isn’t making any sense. “My brother knows these roads like the back of his hands.”
“I never told him our location.”
“He knew I was making a trip to Hillsford.”
Ashley swallows and shakes her head. “When I left he was asleep. I didn’t want to wake him.”
“So you lied to me?”
“I wouldn’t call it a lie…”
“You acted like I was doing him a favor by bringing you along. And he had no idea.”
Ashley starts to speak and then closes her mouth. She’s silent for a long time, until finally I say, “Whatever. He’ll figure it out.”
I don’t believe this, of course, because I could have gone anywhere. We could literally be anywhere right now.
