Page 82 of Runaway
Joshua's muffled shouts had faded. His eyelids slowly lowered until his body went limp. Just before he passed out, Benjamin released him, then held out a hand to Mark.
“Atty's rope?”
Mark tossed a rope his way. With surprisingly deft movements, Benjamin shoved a half-delirious Joshua onto his stomach, then tied Joshua's hands together. Still sluggish from almost passing out, Joshua didn't even protest. Just made weird, half-mewling sounds.
Mark put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, but turned to Benjamin. “You got him?”
“Hell yeah.”
“It'll be faster on the road. Follow my tracks back and I'll send someone to pick you up. Sound good?”
Benjamin nodded, then sent a hardsmackagainst Joshua's head. “Go. Get her taken care of. Joshua and I have some chatting to do about how we treat women around here.”
“The cat is retreating, I think.”
“I'll feed Joshua to him if I have to. We'll be fine.”
“Atty, stay. Follow me, Stell,” Mark commanded quietly. “We'll be back home in no time.”
30
Mark
“I-I can r-run.”
Stella stuttered the syllables as soon as we spilled out of the forest and onto the road. Two sets of tire tracks broke through the snow on the road, which gave me discernible relief. Justin had already made it back, and likely my dad with him. They must have been hauling through the canyon to get here so quickly.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded as her body wracked with another shiver. The blood on her face made her cold face paler than usual, and her hair had frozen in weird clumps along her head. Fatigue showed in all her movements.
I hesitated, then nodded. If she could do it, the sooner, the better.
“Let me know if it hurts too much? I'll happily carry you on my back, but this would be faster. Warmer for you, too.”
I kept a hand on her back as she slowly shuffled forward with a grimace, then waved it off when I asked. We moved in a slow walk/jog, but it was faster than I'd expected. About fifteen minutes later, twirling red and blue lights greeted us as we stumbled back to Adventura. Two bodies moved near the front door, and a third lingered in the cop car.
“Justin!” I called. “Dad!”
Seconds later, Justin jogged across the parking lot, Dad striding out with his long steps right behind him. Justin slowed in front of us, eyeing my bare arms and her frozen clumps of hair with incredulous eyes.
Dad was only a few steps away. “What happened?” he asked.
“Benjamin is back on the road.” I jerked my head back. “He has Joshua tied up. I told him I'd send you. Atticus is with him if the mountain lion hasn't gotten them.”
“Mountain lion?” Justin cried.
“It's a long story.”
Justin reached a hand out to Stella's shoulder, concern in his gaze. “Are you all right, Stell?”
She nodded, but it wasn't immediately clear from her violent shivering.
“What happened?” Dad asked again.
“I'll explain it all later. Dad, can you get Ben and Joshua? I don't want anything to happen to Ben or Atticus.”
He already fished for his keys in his pocket. “I'm on it. A few more deputies are on their way, just like you asked, but the canyon is ugly. Might take a bit to get them here through the snow. Get her inside. I'll take care of this out here.”
