Page 87 of Obscurity
“This way,” Olive whispered, heading toward the exit where she and Jason had entered.
But the voices came closer, and footsteps headed directly toward the area where they’d found the prisoners.
“Discovery in three, two . . .” Jason counted under his breath, knowing that whoever had entered would realize the cells were empty within seconds.
The emergency exit was still twenty feet away when shouts erupted behind them.
“They’re gone! All of them! Search the building! Now!”
Olive grabbed Chloe around the waist, half-carrying the younger woman as they stumbled toward the exit. Jason did the same with Carl, while Margaret pushed herself to move faster despite her own exhaustion. Becca hopped desperately on her good foot, using the wall for support.
They shoved the door open and rushed outside.
“Go, go, go,” Olive urged, helping Chloe outside while Jason practically carried Carl to ground level.
They’d made it fifty yards into the forest when the emergency door burst open behind them. Armed figures spilled outside and began sweeping the area.
“Keep moving,” Jason whispered, though Olive could see the impossibility of their situation written on his face.
They were in dense forest with four people who could barely walk, pursued by armed guards who knew the terrain better than they did. Carl had collapsed against a tree trunk, breathing heavily, while Chloe seemed to be losing consciousness despite Olive’s efforts to keep her upright.
“I can’t,” Becca gasped, her injured ankle finally giving out completely. “I can’t go any farther.”
Margaret sank to the ground beside her husband, her own strength finally exhausted. “We’re slowing you down. You need to go get help.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Olive said firmly.
But even as she said the words, she had no idea how they were going to get four injured people through miles of mountain forest while being hunted by people with million-dollar secrets to hide.
CHAPTER 65
The men were getting closer, accompanied by radio chatter as the search teams coordinated their pursuit. In the meantime, they stowed everyone behind a cluster of rocks.
It would work—but not for long.
“There has to be another way.” Jason studied their surroundings despite the hopelessness of their situation.
Olive pulled out her phone, hoping against hope for enough signal to call for help, but the screen showed nothing. They were cut off, completely on their own.
That was when she heard it—the distant sound of helicopter rotors cutting through the morning air.
“Help or hunting party?” Jason asked, his gaze grim and cautious.
“Only one way to find out.” Olive suspected, however, that anyone with access to helicopters in this remote area was probably not on their side.
As the aircraft grew closer and the armed men tightened their net around their position, Olive realized they were facing an impossible choice. Should they surrender and hope for mercy from people who’d already demonstrated their willingness to kill? Or should they continue fleeing through terrain thatfavored their pursuers while carrying four people who couldn’t keep up?
Either way, their chances of survival were dropping rapidly with each passing minute.
The helicopter’s rotors grew louder overhead, and Olive found herself hoping that Rex had somehow managed to send backup faster than anyone had thought possible.
Because if he hadn’t, they were all about to discover just how far their captors were willing to go to protect their operation.
The helicopter’s rotors grew deafeningly loud as it passed overhead.
Through the canopy, Olive caught a glimpse of expensive corporate markings rather than government insignia. This wasn’t a rescue crew.
It was leadership arriving to oversee whatever “cleanup” was about to happen.
