Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(90)

“Hold your damn horses. I’m lead, remember?” Hayes barked.

I didn’t say a word. If Hayes wanted to lead, he’d have to hurry the hell up.

We both went quiet as we moved through the trees, listening for any signs of movement. I pointed to a branch up ahead. I would’ve missed it if it weren’t for the beam of light breaking through the brush—a few strands of long hair, that mixture of brown and gold. My chest seized.

I should’ve taken it as comfort. Shiloh was alive and running. But for how long?

“We look for the path,” Hayes said quietly.

I saw it now. A broken branch here. Trampled brush there. We had a trail to follow.

A muttered curse had us both freezing. Hayes held up a hand, telling me to stay still. I listened harder.

“Goddamned bastard. My fuckin’ nose.”

My eyes narrowed as I pointed to my left. Hayes stepped off the makeshift path and moved towards the voice. I could just make out a figure through the trees. He was bent over, blood pouring out of his nose. He didn’t even notice our approach.

Hayes lifted his weapon mere feet away. “Carson County Sheriff, don’t move.”

August jolted upright. For a moment, he looked as if he might run, but then his shoulders slumped, and he held his arm up to his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “Bastard branch got my nose bleeding again.”

He spoke as if he weren’t caught red-handed as part of a kidnapping plot that would put him in prison for the rest of his life.

“August Ernst, you’re under arrest for criminal trespass and kidnapping.” Hayes began reading August his rights as the cuffs went on.

“Where is Shiloh?” I growled the words low, but they had August struggling to take a step back to get some distance from me. I let my feral edge show then. Let August see exactly who he was dealing with. I was more predator than man at the moment, and I didn’t give a damn.

“I-I-I lost ‘em, but they went that way.”

I picked up to a run, headed back to the makeshift trail. Hayes called after me, but I didn’t listen. I knew he had to secure August in the back of his vehicle before he could keep searching. I didn’t have that kind of time to waste. Shiloh was close. I could feel it. I just had to get to her.

I ran faster, listening for any unusual sounds and looking for any signs of human presence. It was a flash of color that caught my attention—gold caught in the sunlight.

I came to a dead stop, squinting through the trees. I barely made out a form. My heart cramped and seized as Shiloh came into view. So damn beautiful. So damn strong.

Then my world went sideways as Howard Kemper lifted a knife to her throat.





47





SHILOH





The blade pressed into the skin of my neck as Howard held me against him, my back to his front. “I told you not to move.”

“I’m gonna pass out.” It wasn’t a lie. Spots danced in my vision as I struggled to stay upright. “You’ll slice my neck without meaning to.”

Howard moved the knife lower, right over my chest. “Don’t think I can’t do damage here.”

I wasn’t an idiot; I knew he could. But at least this way, I could take a full breath. With each inhale, my lungs burned. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d broken a rib at some point. Or maybe that run through the woods had been more than my body could take.

Everything in me hurt, but my soul most of all. Because I didn’t know if I had much fight left in me. All I wanted was Ramsey. To feel his arms around me in the safety of our haven in this world. I swore I could feel it even now, that glimpse of our everything. I would’ve given anything to have just a single moment of it now. Of him.

Howard shook me, the blade biting into my chest. “Got nothing to say for yourself? There’ll be punishment for this. We’ll have to live in the woods for a while until the heat calms down.”

He said “we” as if I were a part of this grand plan, like we were on the run together. Nausea rolled through me as he pressed himself harder against my back. I could feel him hardening even now.

Howard chuckled. “Good thing you can do your wifely duties anywhere.”

Bile surged in my throat, and fear locked my muscles, but I found my fight again. I would never be Howard’s victim, not again, especially not in an even sicker way than before. I just had to find my next opening—and it would come.

“Where are we going?” The words were barely audible, spoken through gritted teeth. It took everything in me to hold back my screams of fury. I’d rather him end me than know what it was like to have his hands on my skin.

Howard urged me forward, moving the knife to my ribs. “We’ll find a cave. You’ll be able to rely on me. Unlike my son, I take pride in being able to live off the land. I’ll provide for you and our children.”

The bile was back, burning my throat and cutting off my air. I coughed, struggling to get a good breath.

“You won’t trick me into thinking you’re weak. I know you’ll just run again. You’ll have to stick close until you can prove yourself trustworthy.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from throwing some choice curses in his direction. Instead, I put one foot in front of the other, looking for my next opportunity to run. The trees here were thick, not making escape easy. I prayed for a river that I could jump into and be carried downstream without having to run, but there was no such luck.