Page 39 of Burn

We were off the road and out of sight it was like…

It was like they were tracking me.

“Send the girl out,” a man called and I jerked my eyes open. “If you cooperate, we might even let you live.”

Voodoo didn’t say anything. In fact, it was totally silent below. The door in the front rattled open.

I forgot how to breathe.

Chapter

Fourteen

GRACE

The creak of the door had me torn between staying exactly where I was and peeking at who was here. I wasn’t sure what I was laying there listening for—what did I hope to hear? Voodoo said he would take care of it. He was also armed…

Something fell below, it sounded like a bag got dumped. There was just a thud, followed by the bounce of something else.

“Tobin,” a man yelled from outside. “Is it clear?”

Whoever Tobin was didn’t answer. I blew dust away from me as sweat began to trickle down my face. It wasn’t hot out here but my shirt clung uncomfortably to me. My heart beat out a rhythm against the wood where I lay. I was surprised the sound didn’t carry.

A gunshot split through the silence and I let out a scream before I could stop myself. Shoving my hand against my mouth, I tried to stuff the sound back inside.

Nothing moved below. At least nothing I could hear. Lifting my gaze to where the ladder peeked over the edge of the loft, I waited. If someone heard me, that was where they would come up—right?

“Get back here,” a third man shouted. He wasn’t the one who said to send me out or the other who called for Tobin.

Was this another five man team?

“There’s only one of him,” a fourth man said, his voice heavily accented. There was a definite Eastern European edge to his voice. Czech maybe? Hungarian? I wasn’t sure. Not western Europe. Not quite Russian. Somewhere firmly in between.

“That’s why Tobin is missing and now Karl. The car is here, the girl must be here. If we can eliminate him, do it. But our orders are specific.” The third man was quite firm in his command.

“I don’t see her in the car.” Apparently the fourth man hadn’t left. They were right below. “Check the tracker?”

“Won’t work if we’re this close. It will just show her within the area. It’s better at a distance.”

Tracker.

They were trackingme.

The idea made my skin crawl.

“Down the full length, check each stall and above.” The third man sounded like he’d passed me and kept moving.

“You want to go up now?” the fourth man asked.

“I said check each stall.” The third man was not happy. “The stalls first, then up. But keep scanning… above just in case he tries to surprise us.”

“Who are these people?” The fourth man complained. He was also moving away from me. They were heading toward the Jeep and maybe passing it on their way to the other side of the barn.

Five men.

Tobin wasn’t answering—maybe that was the thump I heard?

The gunshot from outside—the second guy?

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