Page 26 of Line of Resistance

His chest clenched as the school came into view. “I’m pulling in now.”

A plow worked its way through the lot, clearing the space in neat lines, unhindered by any vehicles. “The parking lot’s empty. No one’s here.”

“Guess it’s card time.”

Nate pulled to the curb, switching the SUV into park before reaching over and snatching the soggy envelope. He tore into it and yanked out the sodden card stock inside, frowning down at the damp paper as he peeled it open. The single name signed inside was blurred from moisture, but still legible. “It’s from Matt.”

Heidi clicked her tongue. “He’s a lot dumber than I thought.”

“Find her.” Nate crumpled the card in his fist, chucking it across the front seat as he tried to calm the anger skittering across his skin. Matt was a fucking waste of a skin bag. He didn’t deserve Eloise for the time he was lucky enough to have her, and he sure as shit didn’t have the right to be sending her gifts and cards. If he was responsible for her current situation, then—

“Found her.”

Nate’s eyes snapped to the screen in the dash as Heidi logged a set of GPS coordinates into the map displayed there. He leaned forward, squinting at the spot outside the city limits. “Are you sure?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that because if you had it would offend me.” Heidi continued controlling the items on his screen, setting up directions he didn’t need. “Luckily, while being friends with us can come with its own set of hazards, it also comes with some perks. Intel vets anyone allowed into our inner circle, which means if something like this happens I can usually figure shit out pretty quickly.”

“I’m sure you got clearance and permission for all this, right?” He couldn’t resist teasing Heidi in the hope she might jab him back. Give him a little bit of a distraction as he pulled away from the curb and out onto the still slightly treacherous roadway.

But Heidi wasn’t bothered. “I can definitely come up with a permission slip if it ever comes down to it. The only issue I think we might run into is the last time her phone pinged on a tower was a few hours ago, so that leaves a lot of time for something else to happen. She’s in a spot with terrible coverage, so once you get there you probably won’t have perfect service. You might be on your own for a minute.”

“Got it.” He reached for the screen, finger hovering over the disconnect button. “Thank you for your help.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I care about Eloise just as much as everyone else.” She paused and somehow he knew what was coming next. “I mean, maybe not as much as you.” Heidi cackled into the phone, clearly delighted she’d finally called him out on his obvious fascination.

If that was what you could call it.

The longer it went on, the less it felt like fascination and the more it felt like…

Something bigger. Something he was having a hell of a time keeping under control.

“Heidi?” Nate focused on the road as his finger hovered over the screen, itching to end the call. “I love you, but you can fuck all the way off.”

CHAPTER NINE

ELOISE

THIS WAS RIDICULOUS.

Even this far out someone should have come past by now. It had been hours since she’d slid off the road, and a sinking feeling was now parked heavy in her gut. Not simply because she was stranded and in desperate need of help, but because there was the chance Bryson was in a similar situation. If something happened to his father, the little boy would be out here completely alone with no way to call for help. It was almost enough to make her consider braving the weather and finishing the rest of the trip on foot.

But only almost. It was one of many things her father drilled into her head as a kid.Stay put. The more you move, the less likely it is someone will find you.

So, like it or not, she was staying put and hoping someone would keep their end of the bargain and find her.

Unfortunately, the only thing capable of finding her so far was the same forking moose who caused her to be in this position in the first place. He’d come past at least four times in the past few hours, and she could almost swear the oversized twerp smirked as he passed.

Eloise hunkered down a little deeper into the cocoon she’d created in the back of her SUV as the cold started to make her nose run. She tucked it under the edge of the fleece blanket layered under the open flap of her sleeping bag, breathing her own breath for a minute until most of the chill was gone before poking it back out again to breathe fresh air. She checked her phone, quickly shutting it off after seeing there still was no cell service and another hour had passed. She’d tried firing off text messages to everyone she knew, hoping one of them would meet its destination. So far, every one displayed the red circle of death, indicating they’d failed to send, so she was stuck waiting in the dark, bored to tears.

But it could be worse. At least she was warm and had food.

Eloise lifted her eyes toward the sky and thanked her father for passing on his love of preparedness. It was one of many things she inherited from him and yet another trait most people didn’t understand, so she made sure to keep it hidden. But in this moment, she was grateful as hell for it. Especially when her stomach started to growl.

Eloise carefully worked one hand free of her blanket burrito to dig through the bag of supplies she always kept on hand. Never once had she really believed she would need them, but knowing they were in the back of her SUV gave her a sense of security. It also made it seem like her dad was still with her. And maybe he was. Maybe he was the whole reason she had a stack of MREs at the ready.

Eloise picked the least gross sounding one and tore into it, pulling out the self-heating pouch and the main dish. Once it was assembled and warming she set it aside to heat while mixing up a packet of electrolytes into a bottle of water. Staying hydrated was probably more important than anything right now, so she gulped half down while her food cooked. Once it was ready she snuggled back into the blanket/sleeping bag burrito, tore open the pouch and dug in. It wasn’t quite as terrible as she expected, and it filled her belly and warmed her up from the inside out.

She was almost to the bottom when a flash of light sent her sitting up straight. It almost seemed like it might be headlights. Like maybe she was finally saved.

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