Ro woke disoriented. She was in Graham’s bed, and the sky was still dark, the first hint of gray dawn breaking through the cloak of night. Graham had his arm thrown over her, and Zach’s hand cupped her hip. The sheet was thrown back, and she’d been kept warm solely by the heat radiating from their bodies. Ro squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears from falling. She hated what she had to do, but she didn’t see any alternative. Graham was dead set against her leaving alone, and in his dedication to protect the people he’d taken responsibility for, he couldn’t spare the bodies, his included, to see that she made it home safely. She bit her lip, and steeled herself against the clawing ache that was shredding her heart. Whether she wanted to leave or not, she couldn’t bring herself to stay. She was going to prove to her family that they meant everything to her.
Decision made, Ro paused to make sure both men were sleeping soundly. When all she heard was even breathing, she inched out of their hold and off the end of the bed. Apparently last night’s activities, when added to the crazy events of the day, had rendered them dead to the world. Away from their warmth, the shiver that passed through her was a cold reminder of what she was about to do. She smiled sadly, knowing she’d be reliving the events of the last few days for the rest of her life. Shoving aside the urge to crawl back between them, Ro padded silently across Graham’s room and picked up her folded clothes off the chair in the corner. She clutched her shirt, picturing Zach stacking them neatly. She took a deep breath, and blinked back the tears. After another deep breath she forced the emotions down. She spotted Graham’s M1911 on the nightstand and remembered that he stashed a backup in the drawer. Liberating both guns, she checked to make certain the safeties were engaged. Spying Zach’s and Graham’s t-shirts on the floor, she picked those up, too. She wanted something to remind her that these men hadn’t been just a figment of her imagination. She dressed quickly in the main room of the cabin, stuffing the M1911 in the waistband of her jeans at the small of her back and the other in the pocket of her hoody. She hefted her backpack onto her shoulders from where it sat by the door, and slipped silently out of the cabin.
Ro’s first stop was the gun range where she raided the cabinets for MREs, Power Bars, and bottled water to replenish her supply. It felt wrong to take them, but she couldn’t believe Graham or Zach would begrudge her the supplies. No, they’d be too busy wanting to shake some sense into her for leaving. She crept across the interior of the compound to the bolt hole that she’d seen the men enter and exit when they didn’t want to unlock the main gate.
Unlike her last escape attempt, it wasn’t her ankle, but her heart that ached. She thought about their reaction to finding her gone. Graham would lose his friggin’ mind, and Zach would be so … disappointed in her.
Shoving the thoughts aside, she slid the bolt free, and the door swung open on well-oiled hinges. She stepped through the porthole and carefully closed the door, using a stick to prop it shut from the outside. She didn’t like the idea of leaving it unbolted, but from the outside, she had no choice. Ro pulled out her compass, oriented herself, and headed toward the northeast corner of the property. The hidden gate there would be her exit point, and she just needed to avoid whoever was on fire watch. Ro sent thoughts skyward and headed out.
Dodging the roaming patrol had actually been easier than Ro had expected. Finding the hidden gate and sliding under the laser beam that would trip the perimeter alarm hadn’t been much more difficult. She couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder for the first couple of hours, because she expected Graham and Zach to come rushing out of the woods after her. But that hadn’t happened. And the farther away Ro got from the ranch, the more she had to tamp down her mixed up emotions.