Page 88 of Ruthless Intent

I look for broken branches, half prints in the dirt, and listen for when the birds stop singing.

All clues which lead me in the same direction as her.

And then I see her. A pale flash a few yards ahead of me.

“Ashley, why are you wasting your time? You can’t get away from me.”

She glances back at me, and puts on a burst of speed, then disappears.

Screams echo through the trees a second later … and then silence.

I frown, tilting my head to listen.

Nothing.

When I reach the spot where she’s disappeared, it takes me a minute to spot her. My eyes lock onto the still form at the bottom of the steep hill.

Oh fuck, no.

The image of her lifeless body, the fire in her eyes absent, fills my mind, and my heart skips a beat.

I shake my head, disrupting the image.

If she’s dead, I’m going to end up back in prison.

I make my way down the hill carefully. Rushing isn’t going to solve anything, and if I slip and break something then neither of us are getting back to the house any time soon.

When I finally reach her, she still hasn’t moved. I crouch down beside her.

“Ashley?”

She doesn’t respond. She’s lying face down, her head toward me, her eyes closed. There’s an ugly bruise forming above her right eye.

“Ashley?” I press two fingers against the base of her throat, and ignore the surge of relief when her pulse beats strongly against them.

I don’t want her dead. That’s not a part of my plan.

I run my hands over her arms and legs. There are scratches, but it doesn’t feel like anything is broken. Carefully, I roll her over. There’s a small cut on her shoulder, but other than that she’s breathing steadily.

If I had to guess, I’d say she hit her head on the way down the hill and knocked herself out.

I stand up and look around. There’s no way I’m going to be able to carry her back up the hill, so I need to find another way. I check the pulse in her throat once more, then take a quick look around. It takes me a couple of minutes, but I finally find a small trail that leads back in the direction I need to go, and I make my way back to Ashley.

Her eyes are open when I reach her, and she has one hand pressed against her forehead.

When I move into view, she freezes.

“Leave me alone.” Her voice comes out raspy and low.

“Can you stand?”

“Why? So you can push me down again? Didn’t get to see me fall the first time, so need me to repeat it? Is that how you’re planning to get your kicks now?”

I guess the fall hasn’t broken her any more than forcing her to sleep in her brother's bedroom, or watching the recording of our interviews has.

“An interesting suggestion, but no.” I’m not going to admit that I’m glad she’s awake and fighting with me. “I thought you might like to go back to the house and get cleaned up.”

“No, I don’t want to go back to that house. Why the hell do you think I’m out here?”

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