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Vanessa squinted in pain, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Wait, you two know each other?”
Seyla waved off the question. “Long story. Right now, we’ve got to get you out of here. Do you think you can walk?”
Vanessa raised her arms. “Help me get on my feet and let’s find out.”
After a few tries, Jax opted to lift her onto his back and carry her to the trailhead. Seyla followed behind.
While passing a massive maple tree, Seyla spied a white slip of paper flutter to the ground from her cousin’s pocket. “Ate Vanessa, you dropped this.” She bent to retrieve the paper. A popping sound cracked through the air. Something stung her cheek, wrenching a cry from her as her body curled in on itself and dropped to the ground.
“Stay low,” she heard Jax command.
It took a second for her to connect the sound she’d heard with its source—gunfire.
A person had shot at them?
Lifting her head, Seyla spotted Jax’s body draped over her cousin.
She craned her head to search the trees. The only sign left of the shooter was the creamy, exposed innards of the maple tree revealed by the large section of bark that had been ripped away. Right where she’d been standing.
Were they aiming at her?
Her hand sought out her opal necklace, gripping it.
Minutes dragged by before the silence gave way to a distant growl, followed by a second shot.
“Rock!” Seyla hollered, unable to spot the animal. “Come back! Rock!” The thought of someone shooting the sweet dog filled her with dread. If they’d shoot at people, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a dog. “Rock!” The word scratched through the air, tinged with panic.
She cast a glance at the place where Jax and Vanessa had hit the ground. Only Vanessa remained, doing a slow army-crawl toward her in the dirt and vegetation.
Seyla mimicked her, crawling to meet her. Once she got close enough, she whispered, “Where’s Jax?”
“He told me to stay low and sit tight once we get to those bushy vines over there. After that, he disappeared. Does he actually know what he’s doing?”
“I should hope so. According to Matt, he’s an ex-Navy SEAL who runs a military training place in Michigan.”
“Wow. Okay, I feel a little better about our odds now.” Several seconds passed by in silence. The air surrounding them vibrated with pent-up, nervous energy. “So, what’s the deal with you two?” Vanessa stage-whispered.
Seyla flinched. “What? Why?”
“I know tension between two—”
“Can we focus on not getting shot right now?” Seyla whispered back in a harsh tone.
“I’m just saying…you sounded frantic when it came to Rock. But Jax? Not so much.”
“Are you serious? You think I’m that heartless?” Seyla fixed Vanessa with an open-mouthed stare.
She got a shoulder shrug in response.
Seyla rolled her eyes. “Can we go now?”
The women scuttled to a bushy overgrowth of honeysuckle and wild blackberry vines within the woods. Sticks and thorns scraped at Seyla’s legs below the hem of her tan work shorts. Dirt stuck to her sweat-dampened skin. Her ears strained to hear sounds of distress or violence. Anything to indicate where Jax and Rock were and what was happening. But nothing answered besides the roaring stillness. No echoes. No chittering birds. Even the wind held its breath.
Once they reached the thick mass of vines, they crawled behind it, earning themselves more scratches from prickly thorns along its branches.
Frenzied barking cut through the silence. Its volume rose, then alternated with growls. Echoes competed with each other now, shooting through the forest, bouncing off the multi-layered shale rock cliffs in the distance, surrounding the women with its rounds of urgent warning.
“We have to help,” Seyla rasped, raising her body up using her arms to get a better view, “before someone gets shot!”
