or turn down your bed. When was the last time you walked uphill for more than ten minutes?”
She glared at him, the heat of battle rising up her neck, burning her cheeks. “What do you think I am? A spoiled debutante?”
“I think you’re unprepared for the hardships you’re going to find out there.”
How could she be putting all of her hopes of finding Scotty in this man when he couldn’t grasp a simple concept? He saw her as a pampered socialite, but he didn’t know she’d already hit bottom once, what she’d done to climb back out of that hole. But even all of that was nothing compared to what she was willing to endure for her son. “To find Scotty, I’d go to hell and back.”
He turned to stare at her and his eyes churned in a jungle storm of thunder and lightning that made her want to both reach for him and shrink away. “Do you think those goons tracking you are just playing at soldier?”
I don’t like to leave loose ends behind
, Boggs had said.
She jutted her chin. “Would you rather they get ahead? That they find Tommy first?”
Sabriel’s gaze snapped back to the road and his jaw ground a tight circle. “You have no idea what you’re asking.”
Guilt. God, she’d wallowed in that tapioca-pudding feeling enough to recognize its lumpy texture. Was it because of Anna? He hadn’t been there when she’d died in a freediving accident. Did he feel he was somehow to blame?
It’s okay
, she wanted to say.
I understand. I’ve been there
. But he would think she was weak, and he needed to think of her as strong.
“When was the last time you saw Tommy?” Nora asked. “Ten, eleven years ago?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “You have no idea what kind of mess you’re walking in to. Tommy can’t control one of Scotty’s asthma attacks. He’ll panic. Scotty could die.”
“Ah, hell,” Sabriel said, as if his bad day had suddenly gotten worse. His gaze worked the mirrors and his demeanor braced for impending attack.
Nora sat up and scoured the blurring landscape outside the Jeep. “What’s wrong?”
“The Colonel’s men.”
No! Not now. Not when she was so close to reaching those mountains and saving Scotty
. She whipped to look behind them. “I don’t see anything.”
The black Hummer crested a hill and roared up on them with surprising speed, dust mushrooming around it like an atomic cloud.
An arm popped out of the passenger’s window.
A shot ripped out, shattering her mirror. She yelped. Sabriel rammed her head into her lap. “Stay down.”
A bullet smashed through the rear window and blew out the front windshield where her head had been only moments ago.
No, no, no, no, no
. The denial ricocheted around her skull. This wasn’t part of the plan. No loose end.
Nonononono
. “They’re going to kill us.”
“Hang tight.”
Sabriel yanked on the parking brake and twisted the steering wheel. The Jeep spun.
“Noooooo! Are you crazy?” she sputtered. “I can’t die. Scotty—” The rest of her thought splintered in the reckless reel, whirling the world around.
Sabriel released the brake and sped up. Breathless, she tried to sit up. He shoved her head down again, but not before she caught a glimpse of the speedometer. Sixty. On a twisting, hilly dirt road. They were going to die. Bullets or a crash. Either way the outcome would leave her dead and Scotty at the Colonel’s mercy.
“Hold on,” Sabriel said.
To what? Her sanity? He was shredding that faster than a cat could a brand-new chair arm.
She screamed at the unexpected impact of Hummer grille against Jeep fender. The clash sent a shock wave reverberating all the way into her bones. Glass shattered. Metal crumpled. The
whump
of a bullet pelted the bumper. Another thwacked into the glove compartment, springing it open, dumping its contents on her head.
This wasn’t the way she’d planned to die. It wassupposed to happen when she was old and tired. In her sleep. Not compacted between two
She glared at him, the heat of battle rising up her neck, burning her cheeks. “What do you think I am? A spoiled debutante?”
“I think you’re unprepared for the hardships you’re going to find out there.”
How could she be putting all of her hopes of finding Scotty in this man when he couldn’t grasp a simple concept? He saw her as a pampered socialite, but he didn’t know she’d already hit bottom once, what she’d done to climb back out of that hole. But even all of that was nothing compared to what she was willing to endure for her son. “To find Scotty, I’d go to hell and back.”
He turned to stare at her and his eyes churned in a jungle storm of thunder and lightning that made her want to both reach for him and shrink away. “Do you think those goons tracking you are just playing at soldier?”
I don’t like to leave loose ends behind
, Boggs had said.
She jutted her chin. “Would you rather they get ahead? That they find Tommy first?”
Sabriel’s gaze snapped back to the road and his jaw ground a tight circle. “You have no idea what you’re asking.”
Guilt. God, she’d wallowed in that tapioca-pudding feeling enough to recognize its lumpy texture. Was it because of Anna? He hadn’t been there when she’d died in a freediving accident. Did he feel he was somehow to blame?
It’s okay
, she wanted to say.
I understand. I’ve been there
. But he would think she was weak, and he needed to think of her as strong.
“When was the last time you saw Tommy?” Nora asked. “Ten, eleven years ago?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “You have no idea what kind of mess you’re walking in to. Tommy can’t control one of Scotty’s asthma attacks. He’ll panic. Scotty could die.”
“Ah, hell,” Sabriel said, as if his bad day had suddenly gotten worse. His gaze worked the mirrors and his demeanor braced for impending attack.
Nora sat up and scoured the blurring landscape outside the Jeep. “What’s wrong?”
“The Colonel’s men.”
No! Not now. Not when she was so close to reaching those mountains and saving Scotty
. She whipped to look behind them. “I don’t see anything.”
The black Hummer crested a hill and roared up on them with surprising speed, dust mushrooming around it like an atomic cloud.
An arm popped out of the passenger’s window.
A shot ripped out, shattering her mirror. She yelped. Sabriel rammed her head into her lap. “Stay down.”
A bullet smashed through the rear window and blew out the front windshield where her head had been only moments ago.
No, no, no, no, no
. The denial ricocheted around her skull. This wasn’t part of the plan. No loose end.
Nonononono
. “They’re going to kill us.”
“Hang tight.”
Sabriel yanked on the parking brake and twisted the steering wheel. The Jeep spun.
“Noooooo! Are you crazy?” she sputtered. “I can’t die. Scotty—” The rest of her thought splintered in the reckless reel, whirling the world around.
Sabriel released the brake and sped up. Breathless, she tried to sit up. He shoved her head down again, but not before she caught a glimpse of the speedometer. Sixty. On a twisting, hilly dirt road. They were going to die. Bullets or a crash. Either way the outcome would leave her dead and Scotty at the Colonel’s mercy.
“Hold on,” Sabriel said.
To what? Her sanity? He was shredding that faster than a cat could a brand-new chair arm.
She screamed at the unexpected impact of Hummer grille against Jeep fender. The clash sent a shock wave reverberating all the way into her bones. Glass shattered. Metal crumpled. The
whump
of a bullet pelted the bumper. Another thwacked into the glove compartment, springing it open, dumping its contents on her head.
This wasn’t the way she’d planned to die. It wassupposed to happen when she was old and tired. In her sleep. Not compacted between two
Similar Books
