Running Target. Elizabeth Goddard

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t look that way to me. I’m sorry.”

      He picked her up, positioned her on his back to ride piggyback and ran for it. She should have thought of this position sooner. It would have been easier for him, though she had to admit, she hadn’t exactly hated being in his arms.

      “I hope you still have the advantage of seeing them,” she whispered.

      He didn’t respond. He’d have to speak too loudly. But his footfalls were no longer quiet. No longer stealthy.

      And that couldn’t be good.

       God, please help us get to safety. Please help the sheriff, the searchers, find us.

      Although...she had the strange feeling that Quinn didn’t want to be found.

      * * *

      He ran with everything in him. Pushed harder than he’d ever done before—even on foreign soil. This was Bree. He had to save her.

      And just how could Quinn have found himself in this situation with Bree? He pushed the thought away, knowing that the question would only distract him. Time enough for that later.

      He forced his thoughts to the mission at hand and concentrated on making it through that window. That hole that had opened up for them—two men on the left side marching toward them. One on the right side. Those men would be jogging if it weren’t for the tangle of vines and slick mossy roots and boulders in their path. Quinn was surprised they didn’t simply mow everything down with the machine guns.

      But he knew why—they might have tried to kill her on the river, but now they wanted to torture her for information and then kill her. Add to that, she’d taken out one of their men tonight, too. Unfortunately, she had also given their position away.

      The men probably weren’t aware that it was Quinn—the man they were after and the reason they had initially come up the river—helping Bree escape them. At least not yet.

      A twig snapped. Much too close.

      They were quickly moving in, and Quinn and Bree’s opportunity for escape was closing up like some portal from a science fiction movie.

      Bree held on tightly. If her arms were wrapped around him any tighter, squeezed any harder—her fingers jamming through his shirt and into his skin—he might struggle to breathe. He wouldn’t cry out in pain, though. He’d endured much worse than fingernail stab wounds from a slight and beautiful red-haired, green-eyed deputy.

      His heart beat even faster with the thought.

       Concentrate, man!

      He needed tunnel vision. He forced his thoughts into a laser focus. Thought about nothing but the mission. Nothing but pushing through that space between the glowing bad guys. Quinn let his military training take over, this escape reminiscent of what he’d already experienced.

      Except—wait. Too close. Their pursuers were too close. There was no way he could slip past them unheard. Stopping, he waited behind a huge boulder. Held his breath. He suspected that Bree instinctively understood. He thought she was holding her breath, too.

      The ring of three men grew tighter, their determination to capture Bree apparent, and like a specter, the fear of that outcome reached out to grab him and choke him. But as they continued to search, they closed their circle in the wrong direction, leaving Quinn and Bree outside. Free to move. Free to escape.

      At least for the moment.

      He would take advantage and press on, keep moving quickly to put as much distance between them as he could.

      Unfortunately, he’d have to go far and wide to lead the men in the wrong direction for when they tried to track him. He had to lead them away from his hidden camp in the thickest part of the woods. Then backtrack. Just the thought of it made him want to groan.

      One thing had become painfully clear—despite his best efforts, six months here and he had let himself get out of shape.

      “Quinn.” Bree’s soft voice whispered against his ear unexpectedly, wrapped around him in a way that made his heart skip a beat.

      He shook it off.

      Man, he’d missed her. He’d missed her every time he left.

      “Quinn.” Louder now. “You have to stop.”

      Not yet. He’d keep pushing forward until he dropped. He could keep going forever to save her.

      His muscles screamed. His lungs burned.

      The past was chasing him down. He couldn’t run far enough or fast enough.

      And now Bree was caught in the middle.

      She struggled against his back, trying to scramble down. Maybe she’d been hurt and he was being a brute not listening to her pleas to stop. He slowed, sucked in air like he couldn’t get enough. Eased her off his back.

      “Bree—” gasp, gasp “—are you—” gasp “—okay?”

      He bent over his thighs. Just. Couldn’t. Get enough air...

      “Are you trying to kill yourself?” she asked softly.

      “No.” He peered through the monocular again for heat signatures. He saw none he’d attribute to humans. Only wildlife.

      But that didn’t mean they weren’t closing in.

      He waited until his breathing calmed. “Just trying to...get you...to safety.”

      She pressed her palms against his cheeks. Close. Too close. “Thank you. I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you. But don’t give yourself a heart attack on my account.”

      He put his hand against hers on his cheek, then stepped back. He didn’t need her getting so close. “I’m not going to have a heart attack. Don’t worry. But getting you to safety is my responsibility now.”

      “I don’t know how or why, but you rescued me. Those men are after me and now they’re after you, too. I’m sorry for that.”

      “You’re wrong.”

       It’s my fault. All my fault...

      But now wasn’t the time to tell her.

      A branch cracked. He stilled. Could be trees clacking in the light breeze.

      Or someone closing in that he couldn’t see yet. If that was the case, then he’d rested too long.

      Though he didn’t want to lean in close enough to feel her warmth, he did it anyway. “Time to go.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “I can go a hundred miles.” But he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

      Without saying more, she climbed onto his back again. Trusting him? Nah. He had never given her a reason to trust him. In fact, if anything he’d СКАЧАТЬ