Page 57 of Sanctuary (The Wanderers 1)

Chapter 17

Layla was less than pleased as the hours passed. She’d seen the same car go by six times. Slowly. Searching. She wasn’t stupid. The occupants were looking for her. The question was, how the hell did they know she existed?

The more pressing question was what happened to Jeremy and Tarin? She grew increasingly anxious about her friends and coworkers as the night dragged on. She’d expected them to drive by and pick her up. It had seemed logical in her mind. They would have talked the strangers into leaving, then headed out to find her on foot. When they couldn’t find her, they would have gotten in their van and driven slowly down the road until she came out of hiding.

She’d never seen the van, which meant they’d never left the cabin. Why? She found it impossible to believe they’d left before she found the road. Not a chance. Just left her there and went home? No.

Her heart rate picked up for the millionth time when she considered the probability that the men who’d come to the cabin must have either killed her friends or incapacitated them in some way.

If the men believed they’d been lied to, they might not have hesitated to kill. But why? What would make them think a woman had run off through the tunnel?

The existence of a tunnel wouldn’t make anyone raise a brow. Most homes and cabins had tunnels. People had been digging them for nearly three decades. Escape routes were everywhere in this new world. The fact that the cabin had one wouldn’t have raised anyone’s suspicions. It didn’t mean Jeremy and Tarin had ever used it or seen it. They might have started farming this land decades after the tunnel had been built. In fact, that was most likely the exact case.

Layla wracked her brain but came up short every time. The car that kept driving up and down this stretch of road had to belong to the men who’d come upon the cabin. Maybe the occupants had followed them all the way from their previous stop and seen her get into the van?

Ludicrous. Plausible?

“Where are you guys?” she murmured.

She’d long since built a little lean-to where she was huddled out of sight and the elements. It was a warm night, so she wouldn’t get cold. She had a poncho if it rained, but it wouldn’t protect her if there was a huge storm. That didn’t seem likely judging from the clear sky and the scent in the air.

She didn’t dare make a single sound or move an inch every time she saw the headlights go by. It was never the van. Never her salvation.

She considered continuing to walk toward the compound but decided against it. It was one thing to trek in the night with three men who’d known what they were doing the night she’d met her guys. It was another thing entirely to move alone in the dark in unknown territory. Too risky. If nothing changed by morning, she’d start walking east when the sun came up.

She hugged her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes for a few minutes. The men were going to be so pissed. Probably even with her. Did they know she was missing yet? If Jeremy and Tarin were uninjured and still had their radios, they would have alerted the main compound. Someone would have told her guys what was happening.

On the other hand, if Tarin and Jeremy were either dead or tied up or something, someone from the main compound would have come looking for them by now. How long had it been?

Like clockwork, five minutes after that damn car passed her heading east, it came back by heading west again. Not surprising. She didn’t even glance up this time. All she could do was pray the men didn’t stop the car and start searching for her on foot.

Why had she been so obstinate, insisting she make this trip with her coworkers when she’d known the guys hadn’t approved? She couldn’t blame them. It had been dangerous and reckless.

No. That wasn’t exactly true. She’d taken every precaution. Ridden under the seat during every drive. Stayed out of sight. She had survival skills that rivaled most men’s. Even the fact that she’d had to run through a tunnel and hide in the woods wasn’t in itself particularly risky. She’d done it. She was fine.

But the guys were going to freak out anyway.

What if the roles were reversed and she was back at the compound hearing that one of them was missing in the middle of the night in the woods, presumably being tracked by militants? She’d be pacing the floors until she wore a hole in them.

No. That wasn’t true either. She’d be out here looking for her missing family member. Where the hell were they?

Think. Think think think. No matter how many times she went over the possible scenarios, she couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation for anything. Jeremy and Tarin hadn’t driven by. No one had come from the other direction either. Except for the same damn car who was hunting her.

She shuddered. What if the militants had come upon her rescue team down the road a bit and confronted them? Maybe shot out their tires or killed them or chased them off the road?

Stop thinking such absurd thoughts. You’re driving yourself bonkers. If there had been gunshots, she would have heard them.

Layla pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. She needed to conserve water. She had enough to walk all the way to the compound, but that trip might take more time than she’d calculated if she had to remain hidden pretty far off the road all day tomorrow.

How the hell is no one out here looking for me?she thought for the millionth time.

The sound of an approaching car coming from the east made her frown. She’d already heard that car go by a minute ago, right? She leaned forward to watch it. The same vehicle that had been tracking her for hours. Which meant…some other car had gone by in between.

Thank God.

Suddenly, the car pulled off to the side of the road and stopped the engine. There was no way the occupants had seen her. Not a chance. She was well hidden, and it was dark.

Nevertheless, she scrambled to her feet, yanked her gun out of the backpack, and heaved the pack onto her shoulders. As soundlessly as possible, heart beating loudly in her ears, she kicked the edge of the lean-to so that it fell flat, and backed deeper into the woods.

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