Page 51 of Twin Threats In Austin
After several fruitless minutes of running, he stopped to catch his breath.
“We lost him,” she said through heaves after catching up to him. “Or it. Whatever we were chasing.”
“Might have been a deer for all we know.” Deer weren’t uncommon in these parts.
“Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. What if we were close?” she asked. And then she tensed as though she realized Asher could be hunting them. His rifle could be searching through the trees for a good shot.
Camden moved next to her to block a shot as she leaned against a tree trunk. There were too many holes in this plan to consider Rochelle to be safe right now. He couldn’t block her from every angle. “This is dangerous. Let’s head back to the Bronco.”
“Did you remember to bring the key?” she asked.
“It’s in my pocket,” he said.
“Good.” She held up a hand, a silent request for a few more seconds. When she could somewhat breathe normally again, she nodded. “I’m good now.”
Finding the way back was going to be trickier than he realized. How long had they been running? He vaguely remembered a zigzag pattern but had no idea how much they’d zigged versus zagged.
He checked the GPS on his smart watch.Hell. No signal.
They could head in the opposite direction and keep moving until they found the road. The very real possibility they were walking prey right now sent his blood pressure up. He kept his gun out, ready to go in case they ran into Asher. But it was likely the movement they’d been tracking was a deer. Or another large animal. Black bears were common in these parts.
“Stay close to me, okay?” he asked despite the fact Rochelle was capable of taking care of herself. She brought out a protective instinct inside him that had been dormant far too long.
Carefully, quietly, and methodically, he moved through the woods in search of the road. He must have checked his cell phone a half dozen times for bars in twenty minutes. Nothing. To Rochelle’s credit, she wasn’t distressed.
“Let’s try this way,” she said, taking the lead. If Asher came up from behind them, she’d be safe. But, damn, she was exposed out here no matter what Camden did.
Thankfully, they both had on protective gear. Still, there were armor-piercing bullets and plenty of real estate the gear couldn’t cover. Getting off a deadly shot wouldn’t be as hard as Camden needed it to be under these conditions.
Much to his surprise, Rochelle found the road in a matter of minutes. The Bronco was half a football field down the road. He kept toward the tree line as they walked toward it. Asher could be hiding on the other side of the Bronco, so he moved next to Rochelle and walked beside her. From this vantage point, he could nudge her into the trees if a shot rang out.
By the time they reached the Bronco, his stress levels were through the roof. There was no sign of Asher, so he reached for the key and clicked the button to unlock the doors. Rochelle climbed in the front seat and then he came around to the driver’s side.
After taking the seat and starting the engine, it occurred to him that he hadn’t remembered to lock the doors.
Turning to face Rochelle, he mouthed the wordsget outas he checked the back seat through the rearview mirror. There was no one hiding on the floorboard behind his seat, but that didn’t mean they weren’t led on a wild-goose chase so someone could hitch a ride without their knowledge or find the right moment to kill them both.
Rochelle did as requested, stepping away from the Bronco after abandoning her seat.
Camden came around to the back, and then tapped the button. The door slowly raised up. Keeping a safe distance, Camden led with his service weapon.
A swift kick knocked the gun out of his hands, causing it to go flying into the middle of the road. In the next second, a male figure dove at Camden as Rochelle seemed to catch on to what was happening. She came around the side of the vehicle a second too late.
Camden was on the road, wrestling for control. A large male had exploded from the back of the Bronco, diving at Camden. The two landed hard on the pavement. Was this Asher?
A blow to the ribs caused air to whoosh out of Camden’s lungs, but he was able to quickly counter with a knee to the man’s groin.
“Stop,” Rochelle demanded. “Police.”
Those words had little impact as Camden began to get the upper hand.
“Asher Foley, I’m telling you to stop right now,” Rochelle commanded.
Asher’s muscles tensed and then his body went limp like an exhale. “You know about him, so why are you still coming after me?”
“Kage?” Camden asked as he took advantage of the moment and seized control of the fight. He rolled on top of Kage and then pinned the man’s arms together with his thighs.
“I need to see some ID,” Rochelle demanded. “Tell me where I can find your wallet.”
