Search Me(20)

“Right here.”

“I think they’re about to leave the short one behind to come after us.” He grabbed my hand and jerked me forward. “We gotta haul ass.”

We started running at top speed. It was like an extreme obstacle course where you had to dodge tree limbs, scale small rock formations, and climb steep hills and ridges. After about fifteen minutes, I began to run out of steam. My legs started feeling rubbery, and my lungs burned with every breath. While Maddox powered on full throttle, I started lagging behind. It didn’t take him long to miss me.

He whirled around. “Would you mind picking up the pace a bit? You do remember we have armed men on our asses, right?”

I scowled at him as I fought to catch my breath. “Excuse me Drill Sergeant,” I gasped, “but in case you haven’t noticed…my legs… aren’t as long as yours!” After a few long seconds of glaring at each other and wheezing oxygen in and out, I snapped, “Not to mention, I haven’t spent the last year doing military workouts like you have!”

He smirked. “Right, you’ve been doing ballet instead.”

Choosing to ignore his sarcastic attitude, I bent over and propped my elbows on my knees and finally regulated my breathing. “I think it’s safe to say we lost them awhile back.”

Maddox scanned the tree-lined embankment for any sign of Jensen and his thugs. Then he cocked his head to the right and took in the sounds of nature around us—the squirrels scurrying around in the grass coupled with the birds calling from their perches overhead. When he was satisfied that no one was crashing through the woods after us, he said, “I think you’re right.”

“What happens now? I mean, do we just keep running?”

“At least until we come to a house or a business or something.”

I bit my lip to keep from saying that I was pretty sure we were lost out in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention there was probably a pretty good chance we were going to come up on some toothless hillbillies playing the banjo.

I motioned to his bicep that was trickling blood. “Think we ought to clean that up now?”

“I guess.”

I grabbed a bottle of water out of my purse as Maddox rolled up what was left of his shirtsleeve. A deep gash cut along the skin where the bullet had nicked him. He took the bottle from me and started pouring water over the wound. Immediately he sucked in a breath and winced at the pain.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s gotta be done.” When he finished, he nodded towards his bag. “Get me out an extra T-shirt and my Bowie knife.”

“Um, what is a—”

He gave a frustrated grunt. “It’s the really big one in the leather sheath.”

“Got it.” I bent over and started rustling in his bag. I found the case and did a double take. “Whoa, that’s some knife,” I murmured, handing it and the shirt over to him. The enormous blade caught the fading sunlight and momentarily blinded my eyes. “What are you planning on doing?”

“I need a tourniquet or something to stop the blood.” He started slicing up the shirt into long pieces of fabric.

He handed one to me, and I stared at it dumbly. “What’s this for?”

“Once I clean up the wound, I’m going to need you to tie it off so the bleeding stops.” He poured water onto another strip and started removing all the blood.

I swallowed hard as I eyed the gaping cut. Nausea crept into my stomach, and I took a few deep breaths.

When I caught Maddox’s eye, his lips curled up in a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re still afraid of blood?”

“How do you even remember that?”

“Well, it’s hard to forget when someone almost passes out whenever she sees blood.”

At my hesitation, he rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll tie it up myself.” But when he reached for his arm, I stepped forward and knocked his hand away.

“I think you’re going to find, Maddox, that I’m not a little kid anymore.” I huffed, bringing the strip around his bicep. His intense gaze warmed my cheeks as I pulled the cloth tight. It might’ve been a little too tight because he gave a slight yelp. “Sorry,” I murmured.

He chuckled. “Oh no, you’re not.”

Shrugging, I started gathering up the materials and stuffing them back into his bag. I turned back to see Maddox rolling his shoulder and then grimacing in pain. I dug into my purse and took out the gigantic bottle of Advil I always carted around. While ballet looked all dainty and delicate, it could be excruciating on the body. After digging out four, I held my hand out to him. “You need to take these.”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh please. Stop trying to act all Chuck Norris commando. You’ve been shot for goodness sake. Besides, it’s Advil, not Mor**ine.”

Maddox eyed me before finally relenting and taking the pills. He guzzled down the last of our water. If we were going to be on the run for much longer, we would need to start looking for another stream to replenish the bottles.

“Come on. Let’s get going again,” he said.

I fell in step behind him. Fortunately, we walked rather than ran. Gnarled tree roots pressed into my shoes as I ducked in and out of the canopy of trees. The sun started sinking in the west, and dusk was settling over the woods. I started to get an uneasy feeling about being out here with creatures of the night like wolves and coyotes.