Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(89)

Sara’s heart squeezed. She broke out in a cold sweat.

Footsteps again. Getting closer. Closer. She kept her eyes shut and tried to make her face blank. She was unconscious. Inert. Harmless.

He reached down, and Sara’s heart skipped. He wedged his hands under her shoulders and knees. With a low grunt, he heaved her up. She remained still, dead weight, even as her mind was racing a mile a minute. She had to do something.

In the distance, another noise.

A car? A truck? Please, God.

He halted. Did he hear it, too?

His grip tightened, and he moved faster, hauling her up the incline, which meant he was nearing the road.

Sara fisted her hands together and thrust them into his face.

“Fuck!”

She bucked and threw an elbow as she crashed to the ground, knocking her head against something that felt like a thousand needles.

“Fucking bitch.”

She brought her legs up, kicking at his knees and his groin, as he cursed her and reached for her again.

She nailed him between the legs, and he bent over, gasping. Sara logrolled away. Then the ground fell out from under her, and she careened down a hill.

? ? ?

Nolan plowed through the fence and fishtailed as he turned onto the road. He hit the gas, glancing around for a black Explorer, a white Tahoe, a green Volkswagen.

“Nolan, look!”

He slammed on the brakes as he spotted a glint of something behind a tree. A windshield.

“That’s the VW,” he told Talia. “We’re close.”

“Why is it parked there?”

“It’s not parked, it’s hidden.” Nolan sped up again, searching the road ahead for any more cars or people. Where the hell was Sara? His palms were slick on the steering wheel as he pictured her with Bryce.

He spotted a rusted pumpjack up ahead. Nolan scanned the pastures on either side of him and saw a trio of cows lazing under a tree.

“We’re getting close,” he said. “It’s around here.”

“How do you know?”

“The oil wells, the black-and-white cows. This is what Sara wanted to show us. There are caves near here.”

Up ahead on the road was a cloud of dust. A vehicle was speeding toward them.

“There!” Nolan pointed. “Look, that’s her.”

“Are you sure?”

He tried to make out the shape of the driver behind the wheel.

“Shit. No, it’s him.”

Nolan’s gut clenched. Where was Sara? The Explorer sped closer.

“Hang on.”

He stomped on the brake and yanked the wheel right, blocking the road. There was a screech of tires and then a deafening crunch of metal as the Explorer slammed into the back of his truck.

Nolan unlatched his seat belt and looked at Talia. “You okay?”

She nodded dazedly.

He shoved open the door, drawing his weapon as he jumped out. The Explorer’s airbag had deployed, and the driver’s-side door was open.

A blur of movement at the back of his truck caught his eye.

“Freeze! Police!” he boomed.

“On the ground!” Talia yelled.

Nolan heard scuffling on the other side of the Explorer. He darted around it as Gaines tried to make a dash for some trees.

Nolan raised his weapon. Gaines tripped into a ditch. Nolan bolted after him, landing on top of him and jamming a knee into his back. He shoved his forearm against the back of the man’s neck and aimed his gun at his spine.

“Hold him, I’ve got cuffs!” Talia yelled, leaping down into the ditch with a pair of handcuffs in hand.

Nolan yanked Gaines’s arms behind his back, and Talia slapped the bracelets on.

“Where is she?” Nolan demanded.

He didn’t respond. Nolan jumped to his feet, leaving the prisoner facedown in the ditch. He nodded at Talia, a few feet away now. She had her Glock in a two-handed grip, aimed straight at Gaines’s back.

“Keep a bead on him,” Nolan ordered.

He leaped out of the ditch and ran back to the Explorer. He raced around it, checking the windows, and jerked open the cargo door. His heart felt like it dropped out of his chest when he saw a woman curled up in a ball.

But it wasn’t Sara.

? ? ?

Grace peered around the tree where she’d been hiding. She struggled to her feet and took a few wobbly steps. Pain shot up her ankle, and she knew she’d injured it. She felt light-headed. Disoriented. She’d heard the car crash, then doors opening and closing. What was happening? She wanted to yell for help, but what if he came back and found her? She had to get out of here. She had to find help.

Grace hobbled forward. Something sharp cut into her foot. Her shoulder throbbed, and her ankle was ablaze with pain. But she kept moving forward, one painful step at a time, trying to stay hidden behind the trees.

Through the bushes, she saw a pile of honey-blond hair. Grace’s heart skittered. She stopped moving and stared through the branches. It was a person. A woman. She was covered with dirt and leaves, as though she’d rolled down a hill. Grace stepped back behind a bush, watching the lifeless body with a feeling of dread.

Then the woman moved.

? ? ?

Nolan jogged along the road, searching the landscape for any sign of her. All he saw were scrub trees and bushes and those damn cows. Where was she? And where was the backup he and Talia had called?