Page 43 of Tag
She aimed—
Not at me.
At Aponi.
“Aponi—DOWN!”
I yanked the wheel, throwing the truck sideways. The shot punched through the rear window where her head had been a split second earlier. Kaylie screamed, glass raining over her.
“Eyes on her!” I barked.
Aponi was already pivoting in her seat, gun up, firing through the shattered rear glass. Two shots sparked against the rock where Sable had been.
She was gone.
“Tag, we’ve gotta move,” Faron said, engine roaring behind us.
“Yeah,” I muttered, slamming the truck back into gear. “But not before I finish this.”
33
Aponi
The desert swallowed sound in strange ways.
One moment, all I heard was the growl of the engine, the rush of wind through the shattered windows.
The next, it was nothing.
Just the crunch of tires on grit and the thud of my heartbeat in my ears.
Tag’s focus had sharpened into something I hadn’t seen before—tight, predatory, like every move from here on was personal.
“Where’s the safe route?” I asked, watching the dark ridgelines ahead.
“There isn’t one.” His tone was calm, almost too calm. “Not while she’s out there.”
“Then we make one.”
I didn’t realize I’d said it like a challenge until his eyes flicked to me, brief but loaded.
He swung the truck hard right, cutting away from the riverbed and onto a slope that sent gravel sliding behind us. The move made no tactical sense—unless you were trying toflushsomeone out.
“She’s moving with us,” Tag muttered, scanning the shadows. “Keeping pace, high ground. That’s her comfort zone.”
“Then let’s drag her somewhere she hates.”
That earned the ghost of a smile. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “But mine involves making her run.”
From the back seat, Kaylie groaned. I reached over the seat, squeezing her shoulder. “Stay low. No matter what.”
A flash in the periphery—just a glint, like moonlight on glass. My gut went cold.
“Three o’clock!” I shouted.
Tag spun the wheel, accelerating straight toward the rise. A shadow detached from the rocks, sprinting low. Even without the scope, I knew it was her.
