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The women lay snuggled together, and Sarah had fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure what time it was when Annie’s grip tightened around her. “Shh,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
Sarah strained to listen, but it was hard to hear past the blood pounding in her ears. Then the snapping of twigs penetrated her terror. Someone was out there. Maybe more than one.
Had they been found? She didn’t want either of them to see her. Her terror had her huddling under a blanket like a child afraid of the dark. What was out there was worse than any night terror she’d experienced as a little girl.
Now she knew boogey men were real and that they could reach in and change life as she knew it. The men chasing them would slaughter them like deer and laugh while they did it.
Thirty-Four
Jon knew the minute the dog came bounding toward him that Sarah had to be out here somewhere. And if Sarah was in the forest, maybe Annie was too.
He knelt and rubbed the dog’s ears. “Good boy!” The golden wiggled all over and licked his face. His whine sounded urgent. “Where are they, boy?”
The dog turned and plunged into the darkness, and Jon struggled to keep up. The beam of his flashlight bobbed along, touching first the path and then the thick brush barring his way. The dog paused occasionally as if to allow him time to catch up. Several times Jon lost sight of the dog, and his euphoria began to fade. How long had he trekked these deer trails? An hour? Two hours?
Finally the dog lay down. His tongue lolled from his panting mouth. He was as hot and tired as Jon. Maybe more so. Jon glanced at his watch. Nearly three in the morning. He retrieved a bottle of water from his backpack and glanced around for something to hold the water for the dog. He pulled out a granola wrapper, and he layered it in his palm to try to hold enough fluid to give the dog. The golden eagerly lapped it up, and Jon gave him more and more until the bottle was gone.
His lids drooped, and Jon would have to sleep for an hourbefore hitting it again. His fatigue would make him miss signs he might otherwise see, and he was not a good tracker on his sharpest day. He pulled out a blanket and curled up with the dog.
When he opened his eyes again, dawn’s fingers had lightened the forest enough to make out the pine trees around him. He sat up and groaned as his still-healing shoulder protested his position on the hard ground. The dog sprang up with an eager bark. His tail swishing, he stared at Jon with expectant dark eyes, then gave the little grumble Jon had gotten used to hearing from him.
Jon reached into his backpack and got out two meat sticks. He unwrapped one and gave it to the dog, who gobbled it down. “Ready to find them?” He ate his own breakfast while he jogged behind the dog, who seemed to have found new energy.
The dog stopped and whined. His ears went back, and he crouched with his belly to the ground. Jon went on full alert and listened to the way the singing of the birds had stilled. Hunters nearby—or worse? He dove for a nearby bank of bushes and lay still. The dog crawled to join him, and Jon put his arm around the animal to keep it still and quiet. Whoever was out there had terrified the dog.
Twigs snapped, and he caught the smell of a cigarette on the breeze. A deep cough was followed by a curse, then a man said, “You need to give up those cancer sticks.”
“Mind your own business,” another man snarled.
Jon didn’t recognize the voices. He stayed motionless, and as the men passed by, he caught a glimpse of the guys dressed in camouflage and carrying high-powered rifles with scopes. Bigger firepower than they’d need for squirrels or pigeons that were the only game in season now.
“The women outfoxed us,” one of the men complained. “Thatranger is a smart one. We never should have let her hook up with her sister.”
His mouth went dry as he realized these guys were hunting Annie and Sarah. Jon didn’t have a big enough gun to take them on. The most he could hope to do was pick them off one by one. He wasn’t the sharpshooter Annie was, but he might be able to wing one in the leg, then dash away and wait for the other one to come after him. He’d just need the right setup.
Noiselessly, he pulled his gun out and edged a leaf out of the way with the barrel. He took aim at the back of the closest guy’s knee. His palms began to sweat, and his hands shook with the weight of how important it was to be accurate. He’d only have one chance at making this work.
His finger tightened on the trigger, but before he could squeeze off a shot, the dog burst out of the bushes from beside him and gave a ferocious volley of barks. Jon pulled the barrel of the gun back before the men could spot the metallic gleam of it.
Both men turned to face the dog, and the one with curly red hair sticking out below his hat laughed. “Gonna eat us, dog? Betcha can’t get in a good bite before I put you down.”
Jon recognized Joel West with the full beard. Was the redhead Eric Bell?
“Leave him alone. He’s just scared.” He crouched and held out his hand. “Come ’ere, pooch. Want something to eat?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a half-eaten jerky stick.
Stiff-legged, the dog backed away, but his barking petered off to a low whine. When the man held the food closer, the dog snagged it with gentle teeth and chomped it down.
Joel stood. “See, told you he was just scared. But if he’s here, the women have to be close. Where are they, boy? Can you showus?” The dog lay down and stared as the guy cursed and spit on the ground. “Stupid animal. Search for prints. Maybe we can follow the dog prints.”
Jon hadn’t been careful about tracks. His one thought had been to find Annie, and he’d blundered through the woods like a moose. The guys would find their way right to him with a short search. He turned his head and looked behind him. Thick brush lay that way and would make too much noise. The way to his right was just as bad.
He either had to go to the left or plow right out in front of them before they found him.
***
“The dog was here at some point. I think they covered their tracks as they left.” Max’s voice held no trace of the fatigue Annie felt even after sleeping a few hours.
Was the man a machine? And the guys with him had tracked them through the night. Annie thought a glimmer of daybreak hovered over the tops of the trees, but she wasn’t sure.
