Page 58 of Out of Sight

You jump I jump, Claire.

But fucking shit if the water wasn’t freezing!

I lost all sense of thought and feeling for the first few seconds as the sudden burst of cold took my ability to breathe away. I gasped several times and just kept inhaling more water. Finally I managed to get my head above water long enough to get some air in my lungs and that was enough to get my brain working again, but I still struggled as the freezing water caused the burn on my thigh to feel like it was on fire again.

I saw a few pieces of broken debris floating along with me—probably remnants from that big storm last week—and tried to position my body in a way to make me float along the swift current toward one of the bigger pieces without moving my leg too much.

I managed to grab a thick log of wood and held on for dear life. The branch held the top half of my body afloat and kept my head above water, but it also got beaten to hell, long enough to catch on every freaking boulder in the river, slamming me around with it every several seconds.

I’d been fighting my way down the river for what had to be a few miles before I saw a disturbance at the river’s edge. That was probably where Claire made it out of the river, though the current took me another couple miles or so downriver before I could make it to shore myself.

By the time I emerged from the river I was freezing, bruised, and bloody. I was right when I thought that crossing it would be a bad idea; swimming it was even worse, obviously.

Worse still, I didn’t even know if I was following Claire’s trail or not. The universe wouldn’t really put me through all this just to let her get away, right? I had to put trust in myself that I was following the correct trail.

The precarious walk back upriver didn’t do anything to warm my body, but I found the trail from the water’s edge pretty quickly. I was less sure it was made by a human when I got a closer look, but what other option did I have? I’d just have to go with my gut and pray I was right.

I shifted into a steady jog, not knowing how far behind her I was. I’d need to keep my energy up if she had a huge head start on me.

Jogging in sopping wet clothes was much harder than dry ones. Jogging in dripping shoes was hard and annoying. I paused to catch my breath and remove my shoes. Barefoot might hurt, but at least I wasn’t going to break an ankle on top of the other injuries I was currently ignoring if I kept slipping over every wet rock and muddy puddle my shoes created.

I chucked them out into the woods, not caring where they landed. I just needed them out of the path in case Antonio miraculously followed me and found where Claire or I exited the river.

The sun was setting by the time I saw clear proof that I was following Claire: a wrapper from one of the granola bars I’d shoved in her jacket pocket. It seemed like days ago, but it was only hours.

Claire got up at six with me this morning to go for a run. She had a long workout, an intense screaming orgasm—now was not the right time to pat myself on the back for that one—endured the terror of seeing Antonio in town, survived a fuckingexplosion, swam through a roaring river, all on top of the stress and tension that came with being on the run.

She’d have to reach a breaking point soon and need a rest. I’d find her soon.

Wait.

Where did her footprints go?

I paused, looking around for the exact place her trail disappeared.

I retraced my steps, looking for where they went.There.They took a sudden left turn. I followed, the prints leading me behind a big boulder.

Smart girl.

I rounded the rock, prepared to defend myself and convince her I wasn’t the enemy.

But she was curled in a ball, sleeping soundly. She needed the rest, and hell, so did I. I slid my back down the rock until I was resting comfortably against it, scooting over so I was right next to Claire. I lifted her head as gently as I could and placed my leg under it. Not the comfiest pillow for her, but it was better than the ground. I’d also feel her wake up and be able to explain myself before she ran away in fear.

I stayed awake until the darkness was all consuming, maybe a couple hours. If Antonio was following our trail he would have already made his presence known, so I felt comfortable releasing my grip on the gun and letting my stiff muscles relax into the cool rock behind me.

Then I let sleep have me until morning.

twenty-two

Claire

Iwoke up snuggled against Will’s leg. One of his hands rested lightly on my back and the other cradled a pistol in his lap, safeguarding my sleep.

My back hurt, my body ached, and my throat was so dry it was killing me… But Will was here. He found me.

I was right to trust him.

I shifted, rolling to stretch out all my sore body parts. Will jolted awake at my movement, grabbing my arm.

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