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“Hold your breath and just run. Ready?”
She wasn’t. “Go. I’m right with you.”
He ran and hit the wall of flames. She did the same, feeling the intense heat, then Vince tossed the blanket and kept going, Raina doing her best to keep up, slogging through the soggy pasture. The mud sucked at her boots and she was thankful she had laced them tight.
Finally, they reached the tree line with no bullets fired their way, and he pulled her to a stop behind a large oak. “I think it worked,” she sputtered, gasping, a stitch in her side telling her she probably needed to up the intensity of her workouts.
Keeping himself shielded behind the trunk, he peered around the side. “I don’t see him.”
“You think he figures we’re still in there?”
“I don’t know. If he looks around, he’ll see the blanket.” He sighed. “I should have brought it with me.”
“That fire is pretty intense. We dropped it close to where we ran out. It’s probably incinerated. And my guess is, he’s not getting near the area for a while to check anyway.”
“True.”
She paused. “Think anyone’s seen it and called it in?”
He closed his eyes. “I don’t hear any sirens yet.” He grimaced. “Man, I hope they have good insurance on that barn.”
Raina nodded. But a barn could be rebuilt. “At least we got the horses out.”
Vince swiped a hand over his cheek. “So, what do you think? Wait for the fire department and cops to show up? Because they will eventually. Or hike until we come to another house with a phone?”
“A ph-phone sounds good. I know we need to tell them what happened, but ... I don’t want to waste any time getting to Colorado. Maybe you can call Holt—once we find the phone—and tell him what happened?”
“Yeah. Okay.” His eyes swept the area once more. “Let’s just hang out here for a few more minutes. I want to make sure the shooter is well and truly gone.”
Raina shivered as another gust of wind blew over her neck. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail and let the weight fall over her neck. It offered only a modicum of warmth, but she’d take what she could get right now.
“How are you feeling?” Vince asked.
That was a loaded question. “I’m not exactly sure how to answer that.”
“Try?”
“I’m cold—yet again—scared—yet again—and wondering if this will ever end. Wishing I had made different choices in my past.” She paused and decided to be straight-up honest. “Mostly I’m feeling fear. But not for me. I’m scared to deaththat Kevin is going to get to Michael before I can get there and point the finger at him.”
“He’s got a ton of protection around him,” Vince said. “He’ll be okay.”
She shook her head, not convinced. “You don’t know Kevin. He has influence and time and everything else.”
“He’s not God,” Vince said. “He’s a human. He makes mistakes. He’ll get caught.”
“Oh, he’s going to get caught. I’m not stopping until I find him this time.” She couldn’t. Not now that he knew about Michael. “When he seemed to drop off the planet fourteen years ago, I didn’t know what else to do, I just knew I had to take care of myself. Survive and heal. And make it to fight another day, so to speak.” She shot him a tight smile. “Looks like that day has come.”
They fell silent a moment, then Vince looked at her.
“He’s yours, isn’t he?”
“What?”
“Michael. He’s ... yours.”
She hesitated, swallowed, then nodded. “When did you figure it out?”
“I suspected almost from the very beginning. I know that you would be concerned about any child in danger, but the way you reacted when you saw him on the television and then you were so worried about Kevin getting to him, well ... it was more than just a concern. It just seemed like it was a mother’s worry.”
