Page 69 of Operation: Chosen

“I wasn’t sure where you were going.” He gestured to the little shed. “We’re twice as far from where we need to be now.”

She shook her head and pointed toward the horse fence about sixty yards away. “The highway is on the other side of that fence. If we can make it there, we’ll be out in the open, and there’s enough traffic that no one is going to shoot us in front of that many witnesses.”

Smart. He hadn’t thought of that. He nodded his agreement, then headed back to the corner of the shed to see how far away the men were. There was a long stretch of wide open grass they would have to cross before they could hide in the trees again. If they stayed inside the trees, they’d have to go way out of their way, meaning more danger.

Their pursuers weren’t far behind. If he and Ali didn’t run now, they’d lose their chance. Ali pointed at the little shed. “They would never believe we stopped and hid in here.”

He shook his head vehemently. “No. Your highway idea was good, but that is not. We’ll get caught for sure. They know where we were headed. When they don’t see us, they’ll double back and find us hiding in here.”

She ignored him and inched her fingers under the grungy window, then slowly slid it up. He cringed at what that had to have done to her nails. She was tougher than he’d thought. She turned to him. “You’ve only got one arm, you go first. If I hear them, I’ll shove you in and follow.”

He snorted. “I’d bet you’d love to shove my rear into the unknown.” He leaned in the window, then tucked and rolled. It wasn’t graceful or correctly done with his cast, but he made it into the building quickly.

Ali followed with a lot more grace, then quickly closed the window and sank to the floor with her back against the wall, completely hidden from view if the men peeked inside. Eric hated maneuvering onto the floor again, because getting up quickly was impossible without Ali’s help, but since he was mostly there after falling in the window, he crawled over and sat next to her.

“Now what?” he asked, reaching for her hand with his good one.

“I think now would be a good time for you to pray.” Her jaw was firm, her hold tight, and her stare held somewhere across the room.

He opened his mouth to question what had changed with her when he heard voices right outside the building. Now was not the time for asking questions out loud about her sudden come to Jesus. He bowed his head and silently said the most fervent prayer he could recall praying, all while squeezing her hand tightly.

While it felt like forever, the voices outside faded quickly. Ali glanced up at the window, keeping her voice low. “It won’t take long before they discover we didn’t run across the clearing. We should go now. But not toward them, obviously. We should head back toward the trees, just to the west, then around to the fence. Keep to the fence until we get all the way to the road.”

As long as the fence kept them in cover, he could agree to that. “Is your battery dead?” If it wasn’t, now was the time to send one last plea for help.

She leaned against him to pull her phone from her back pocket. Now would be the worst time in the world for another kiss, but the thought crossed his mind as her soft hair brushed against his cheek. Even with all she’d been through, she still looked amazing to him.

Ali clicked the side of her phone, and the screen stayed completely black. “Dead.” She winced. “I think I hate that word.”

He nodded, committing himself to helping her off the ground this time. He pushed against the rough wall and used it as leverage to slowly stand, then held out his arm for her. “We’ll get through this. I know it.” He didn’t, but nothing good could come of actually considering the odds.

Ali sighed and brushed off her palms on her jeans. “Okay, let’s get out of here. On the count of three, we open this door and run for cover.”

Eric nodded, prepared to actually open it ontwoand race ahead of her. If anyone waited out there, they’d be focused on him, not her. She might escape to the road if he could divert the men chasing them. As she opened her mouth to start the count, his mind raced. He could allow her to run to safety if he took off heading in the direction he’d gone at first, toward the gravel road they came in on.

“One, tw—” The door swung open, and Big E and Jayzon stood there looking far older than seventeen with pistols in their hands.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Ali froze in place as Big E glanced between the two of them slowly. She could see him thinking, calculating, but she wasn’t sure if he was going to help them or deliver them to Clayton. Then again, why would he help them? He’d said from the start he wanted no part of Wayside.

“Big E, you’ve got the chance this second to do the right thing. Let us go.” Eric held his hand up and slowly positioned himself in front of her.

“You want me to let you go? My brother told me to help find you and bring you back. When we follow orders, we stay out of trouble.”

Eric kept his voice steady and stayed still. “That’s life. You don’t have to follow his orders. Following the law is following orders.”

Jayzon lowered his gun slightly and looked at Big E, then behind him. His eyes and movements were far too twitchy, making Ali worry he might shoot someone accidentally.

“What good has following the law ever done for me? The police in my neighborhood know who I am. They know my brother. Once he joined, the cops treated me just like him. It was in the family, see? If I’m going to be treated like a criminal, I might as well be one.”

Convincing people wasn’t Eric’s strong suit, but it was hers. “Indie.” She remembered Connor saying that was Big E’s real name and possibly the one his mother called him.

His eyes widened slightly.

She loved the surprise advantage, but that wasn’t the goal. “Every life is about choices. All of us make bad ones. All of us do things we regret. I know I have. I’ve turned people against me on purpose for what I thought was my own gain. I didn’t realize until it was way too late to fix that what seemed like a sure path to success was really my own failure. Because it was a prison I made for myself.”

Big E turned his head away, and the gun muzzle dropped a few inches.

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