Page 78 of Final Escape
“Do it.”His voice vibrated with anger.
She knew he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. And once she was down, he’d probably just put the gun to her head...though she already knew that the end of her life was just a matter of time. “You won’t leave any witnesses. So what does it matter?”
“Maybe you’re wrong.” He gave her arm a painful wrench. “Maybe you’ll walk away from this, free as a bird. Nowcall him.”
But if she didn’t, Noah still had a chance.
Ahead, to the side of the path, she caught a slight shake of branches. She took a deep breath. “Bear!” she screamed.“Over there!”
Vance’s grip loosened instinctively as he fumbled to bring his gun up. She sagged, dropping her full weight onto his hand to break his grip, then she spun and rammed a knee into his groin with every ounce of strength she possessed.
He doubled over with a cry of pain.
She bolted down the path, not daring to look back, praying that Noah had kept running...and ran into a solid wall of muscle standing in the path.
A scream rose to her lips.
“Carrie—it’s me. Logan.”
She drew in a sharp breath as her vision cleared and she saw the rifle in his hand. “W-we’ve got to find Noah. It’s Munson. He’ll be here any second, and—”
Another figure appeared in the darkness, then another, their silver badges glimmering briefly in the moonlight as they pushed on up the path.
Logan set his rifle aside and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. “It’s okay. Another officer has Noah, and those two will take care of Munson. His days of freedom are definitely over.”
She looked up into his eyes, still feeling almost dizzy with disbelief. “But how—how did you know?”
“When I wanted you to talk to the mother of the boy who drew the pictures, you evaded the answer twice. I figured it must be Noah, because you sidestepped the fact that his mother is gone...and he is the child who has gone through so much tragedy. When I heard the ambulances coming up this way, I got here as fast as I could. It all started to make sense.”
“Thank God,” she breathed.
“The EMTs were just loading Linda into the ambulance when I got there, and she told me the rest. Apparently she’s known for some time about what Noah saw, but was afraid that the cops wouldn’t believe her...or that Munson would try to silence both of them.”
Carrie dropped her forehead against his chest. “I probably set it all in motion when I worried about the pictures, though I meant well. I truly did.”
“How can you say that?”
“Ed Grover is a friend of the sheriff, and they’re both on the town council. I can just see him chatting about his troublesome new teacher and her ‘foolish’ concerns. Maybe Ed even took that folder of drawings from my desk and showed them around.”
“Then if Munson happened to see any of them, he would’ve known that there was a witness to Sheryl’s murder.”
“Right. And it was my fault.” She drew in a sharp breath. “And I made it even worse by making that call to the sheriff’s department before I went up to Noah’s home. I didn’t send help—I warned a killer, and sent him right to Noah’s door.”
“If so, you only helped uncover the truth. I’m sure a lot of questions will be answered once they start interrogating Munson.”
She shivered, suddenly feeling cold in the night air. “Poor Noah. Will Linda be all right?”
“The EMTs said that she’s one tough cookie. She lost a lot of blood, but her heart rate and oxygenation are stable now. If you hadn’t found her, she’d be dead. She’s one very lucky woman.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. I think she was in God’s hands, every step of the way.”
He gently lifted Carrie’s chin with his hand, and looked into her eyes, then dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. “I think all of us were. Realizing the boy had to be Noah and then hearing the sirens at that moment, I suddenly knew I couldn’t delay a single minute. If I had...maybe you wouldn’t be here. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed so hard in my life.”
He pulled her more snugly into his embrace and held her tight. “Let’s go and get you into a warm car. You must be exhausted.”
“Not exhausted, just relieved. And anxious, because I still hope to hear a lot of answers before all of this is over.”
* * *
