Page 36 of Two Steps Ahead

“The wildlife started chatting with each other again.”

She cocked her head and, sure enough, could hear the night sounds of crickets and other small animals.

He turned to her, taking her hand. “Doing okay?”

She bobbed her head. She wasn’t great—exhaustion was starting to really beat down on her—but they were alive. That was the most important thing. “Where are we going?”

“We’ll follow the river for a while. If memory serves, that will lead us to one of the access roads. I want to get as far away from the house as possible since it sounded like they’ll have reinforcements coming in.”

Kayleigh’s mouth dried at the thought of an entire team of people scouring the area for them. Two had been bad enough.

She followed Weston as he took the lead, still stepping where he did in case it would help.

Once they made it to the river, she had to ask what was on her mind. “Do you think my dad is okay?”

He sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. He has measures in place so that his death doesn’t stop the merger.”

Kayleigh shouldn’t be surprised Leo had done that. Business had always been the most important thing to him. “Hopefully that’s enough to keep him safe.”

“I would’ve thought so but...”

Something in Weston’s voice dug at her. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

He stopped and turned to look at her. “There’s no concrete evidence, but I think whoever is after you is closer than we think.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Between the lake house, which no one knew about, the mugging and the fire, it’s too much of a coincidence.” He must have seen the panic on her face because he stepped closer and ran his hands down her arms. “Like I said, I don’t know for sure, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“You think someone in Dad’s inner circle is behind this.”

“Either that or giving away information to people they shouldn’t. Regardless, they’ve found you too easily each time. I don’t like it.”

Her mind whirled as she thought through all the staff members who could’ve possibly gone turncoat on her father.There were dozens who worked at the house. “We have to tell Dad.”

“He’s probably already figured it out, but I’ll call as soon as we get service. Let’s get going.”

Weston held out his hand and Kayleigh didn’t hesitate to take it. She needed the touch to ground herself as much as she did to know where she was going. Everything had become a lot more complicated.

The worry in her mind turned off after another couple of hours of rushing through the wilderness. It was taking all her focus just to keep her body going.

Weston helped or she wouldn’t have made it. He was a pro at finding the flattest path through the trees. He gave warnings about low branches or tripping roots. But it was still brutal.

Then the skies opened up with the storm that had been blowing nearer all night and poured. Fear skittered down her spine as the first sounds of thunder rolled through the air. She fought the panic. There wasn’t time for it.

She wished it was that easy to turn off.

Weston looked over, his hand squeezing hers gently. It reminded her that she wasn’t alone, wasn’t a trapped, helpless child.

Fifteen minutes later, they were both soaked. Wet, even on a mild spring Texas night, was still chilly.

“Can I get my jacket out of my backpack?” She’d thrown a few things in there with her camera since she thought they’d be leaving Leo’s house.

This wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

He stopped and she got the jacket out of the bag.

“What else do you have in there?” Weston asked as she finally pulled the jacket free.

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