Page 49 of Marked For Revenge

“I don’t see Caleb,” Ava muttered, though, like Harley, she was frantically looking around to spot Quentin, Caleb.

Or the killer.

But Harley didn’t see anyone. Worse, the driver’s-side door of the truck was shut, and he was almost positive he’d heard a vehicle door open.

Harley inched the cruiser forward, but he didn’t bother to tell Ava to keep watch and be ready for an attack. She was. She had her gun gripped in her hand and had leaned in closer to the windshield.

He cut the sirens, hoping that would allow him to hear any sounds coming from outside. There was the spewing noise of a busted radiator on the Hummer, but that was it. Certainly, he couldn’t hear any of those moans or anyone calling out for help.

Harley continued moving closer and stopped level with the truck. He kept the flashing cruiser lights on, though, to alert anyone who might be driving this way.

“I can’t see through the truck’s windows because of the heavy tint,” Ava muttered.

Neither could he and he was thankful Ava hadn’t gone into the panic mode and rushed out to check on Caleb.

Harley turned to her. “I’m less than two feet from the driver’s door of the truck,” he stated. “Just stay put a second and let me have a look inside. Please,” he added when she opened her mouth, no doubt to argue. “I won’t even fully get out of the cruiser. I’ll just lower my window and reach over.”

After a few seconds, she nodded, though she didn’t look at all convinced this was a good idea. Still, like him, they had to know if Quentin or Caleb was all right.

Harley didn’t waste any time. He lowered his window and, while muttering a quick prayer, he reached over to the truck, hoping that it didn’t have an automatic locking system. If it did, Quentin had turned it off because Harley was able to open the door.

And he cursed.

Because it was empty.

Chapter Fifteen

The panic tore through Ava, threatening to bring her to her knees, but she fought it. Fought it hard because the panic wasn’t going to help her find her son.

“Caleb?” she called out.

There was no need for her to stay silent. After all, the cruiser lights were flashing through the twilight, and if the killer was still there, he or she would know that Harley and she had arrived. Added to that, this had likely been the killer’s plan all along; to use Caleb as bait and have them come here.

It had worked.

She refused to believe that Caleb or Quentin might already be dead. There’d be no reason for the killer to murder them right off the bat. Not when the two could be used to draw Harley and her out into the open.

“I don’t see either of them,” Ava observed as she frantically glanced around her for any sign of them.

If they’d been hurt in the crash, they wouldn’t have gotten far, but they were in an area of wide-open pastures and thick woods. Plenty of places for Quentin and Caleb to have run to escape a killer. Of course, that meant there were also plenty of places for the killer to lie in wait.

Harley leaned back inside the cruiser and, while he continued to keep watch, he tried to call Quentin. Ava listened for the sound of any ringing or vibrating, but she didn’t hear anything to indicate the call had gone through.

She tried Caleb’s number again and got the same thing. No response of any kind, and she seriously doubted that both Quentin’s and Caleb’s phone had become disabled in the crash.

“Theo should be about six to eight minutes out,” Harley muttered, maybe calculating if they could wait that long.

Heaven knew what the killer was doing to Caleb right now, but Ava tried to keep that out of her mind and focus.

“Close your door and move up a little further,” she advised. “Maybe they’re in the pasture on the other side of the truck”

Harley had already started to do just that and, as he inched past the truck and Hummer, Ava looked on both sides of the road. On the road as well, since there could be explosives there. She didn’t see anything.

Not until they were about ten feet past the Hummer.

“There,” Harley and she said at the same time.

It was a man lying in a crumpled heap in the pasture. That gave her another slam of adrenaline and fear, but again, she forced herself to focus, and she released a quick breath when she saw the man move. She couldn’t tell if it was Caleb or Quentin, but whoever it was, he appeared to be alive.