“I guess you were right.” Grizz took it all in.
Two men with rifles slung over their shoulders patrolled the edge of the property. One man served as lookout in a stand perched above the main windowless building. A few other structures dotted the compound, but it was the steel-doored factory-looking structure that sent his nerves humming. Whatever was going on in there wasn’t good.
“I—I have to get out of here. Something bad happened here. I—Josh—guns…”
She wriggled out of his arms and took off down the mountain. He needed to get to her before one of the men discovered their location.
The gunman turned and pointed the scope in the direction of Grizz.
Too late.
Time to run.
THREE
Dani sprinted—morelike slid—down the side of the mountain. Probably making enough racket for the gunmen to pinpoint their precise location. But she didn’t care.
Something bad had happened in these woods, and she’d seen it with her own eyes.
Everything within her told her to flee.Now.
Random images swirled around her but not enough to create a full picture. The sound of a gunshot echoed in her mind. Josh.Shot.
Instead of reliving that moment, her thoughts flashed back to his face that Tuesday morning when she’d followed Josh into the break room and begged him to go to Alaska with her. She’d been so sure of herself, confident that this story would pan out and she’d be back on top of her career. And she couldn’t handle the other cameraman that’d jumped at the chance to go on the trip. Ben had asked her out repeatedly, and she had a rule about dating coworkers. She trusted Josh not to hit on her the whole trip.
He’d reluctantly agreed to accompany her. They’d even talked about having some time for sightseeing.
How naïve she’d been.
Grizz caught her elbow. “Slow down, take your time. We need to look out for?—”
A bullet exploded into a tree trunk next to them, sending wood chips flying.
“Time to go, princess.” Grizz grabbed her arm and raced through the trees.
She struggled to keep up with his punishing pace as he cut through the brush where there was no trail in sight. Apparently, he wanted them to forge their own path—anything to get away from the gunmen. The man knew his way around the trees, zigzagging through the forest.
After they had run at marathon pace in silence for what seemed like an eternity, she slowed, unable to keep up anymore. She heard nothing behind them but was afraid to look. “Do you think we lost them?”
Grizz slowed his pace to match hers. “I don’t see them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t right behind us. And we’ve gone in the opposite direction of the ATV. We’ll need to backtrack at some point so we can make our way to the cabin. The trail is still washed out. Getting far away from the compound will be the safest option.”
“No.” She stopped, putting her fists on her hips. “We still need to find Josh.”
He glared at her, nostrils flaring. “Are you crazy? Men with guns are chasing us through the woods. I care about finding Josh, but?—”
“No buts.” She stood strong in the face of his anger, her burning desire to do right by Josh prevailing. “It’s my fault that he came out here in the first place. I won’t leave him behind.”
The tight crinkles around his eyes relaxed. “Fine. I think I know where we are, and there’s a cave we can hide in until we know the coast is clear. But we’re not equipped to do anything more than defend ourselves against these men. We need to get help, or we’ll be overpowered. I have a gun, but we may be outnumbered, and they seem to have some pretty sophisticated firepower.”
Dani nodded and trudged next to Grizz. He moved tree branches out of her way while they walked.
“Why is it your fault, Dani? Josh came out here of his own free will. You couldn’t have known this would happen.”
She huffed out a breath. “He didn’t want to come. I convinced him to make the trip from DC because he’s one of the few people at work that I trust. I had to get the story.”
He guided her by the elbow to change direction. How did he know where they were going? All the trees and rocks looked the same, as if they were walking in circles.
“Tell me more about this story you were working on. You said your boss gave you some sort of ultimatum?”
