I nodded, reaching up to touch his face. “Promise me, Donovan.”
I felt his muscles tighten under my hand. I knew how seriously he took promises. He wouldn’t make one without the confidence that he’d be able to fulfill it. If he didn’t promise this to me now, there was no way I was going to leave him alone here.
He moved closer to me and pressed his lips to mine.
“I promise,” he whispered.
Then he grabbed my hand and dragged me deeper into the woods.
Chapter 27
Donovan
The moment she said she knew who it was, I realized I’d known all along.
Amanda Graham.
It was so obvious, right there in front of my face. Her father owned one of the largest, privately owned conglomerates in the country. Maybe even in the world. And his company handled everything from real estate to medical research to weapons manufacturing. Weapons. Explosives.
And Amanda ran his tech firm.
I should have known. It was so obvious, but I didn’t want to see it. Amanda was as much a part of our little threesome as me, as Kate. As Joshua.
And that’s what this was about. Why she’d waited ten years, I wasn’t sure. But this was revenge for Joshua.
I pulled Kate through the woods, trying to step as lightly as possible so we weren’t leaving too big of a trail. But Kate felt like deadweight on the end of my arm. I was so afraid she was making too much noise, that Amanda could hear us a mile away. When she came after us…I wasn’t sure I could get Kate somewhere safe before it came down to a one-on-one situation.
Why hadn’t I grabbed my sidearm when I left the house?
Not that I could have predicted that this would go down today. We’d spent, what, five quiet days here. You tend to get complacent after a while.
I was trying to remember the layout of Ash’s property here. I knew he owned the woods far back behind the house. Acres upon acres. But I couldn’t remember what was on either side of us.
There had to be a place to hide Kate.
My damn phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it. A little busy just now. But it buzzed again and again. More than one call. They must have figured something out back at the compound.
A little late, boys.
And then the sound I’d been waiting for came.
But it wasn’t just one person’s footsteps. There were many.
Fuck! She had dogs!
I turned and grabbed Kate by the upper arms, shoving her against a tree’s trunk hard enough to make her breath burst from her lungs.
“Listen to me,” I said, my lips tight against her ear, “she’s got dogs. And, my guess is, they’re trained to attack. I want you to get up in this tree and be as quiet as you possibly can.”
She nodded, thank God. No argument.
I took the phone out of my back pocket and shoved it into her hands. “When the coast is clear, get back to the house. Take the car, like I told you, and run. Then call Ash. His number’s programmed…tell him what’s going on. Tell him about Amanda.”
“Donovan—”
“I’ll find you when it’s over. But it’s your turn to make a promise. Do what I say and don’t hesitate.”
She stared at me a long moment, then she nodded.
“Good.”
I grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and ripped it, pulling a piece of it free. I was hoping that Amanda had prepped the dogs with her scent and not both of ours. That way, maybe, I could confuse them for a few minutes.
“Go, now.”
I turned her and gave her a boost before she was ready. She flew, sprawling among the lower branches. But she began to climb, looking down at me only once.
As soon as I was sure she was secure and she wasn’t about to come climbing back down, I turned and ran. I made as much noise as I could, counting on the dogs to hear me and come in my direction. I could hear them howl and knew they’d caught our scent. There was no turning back now.
I ran, praying that I wouldn’t stumble over a tree root. The ground was covered in vines and dead leaves and other debris. I couldn’t always see what exactly where I was planting my foot. There was nothing like this in Afghanistan. Nothing like this at boot camp.
I ran until my chest hurt and I thought I was never going to take another breath that didn’t feel like fire. Then I began to run in a zigzag, rubbing the torn piece of Kate’s shirt against bushes and tree trunks, anywhere I could reach quick and easy. Then I dropped it in a pile of leaves and ran at a dead heat.