“You don’t need to do this.” I held my hands out pleadingly, like they could stop a bullet through sheer desperation and an inch or two of bone alone. “We can figure out a way to repay you. I’ll drop out of my classes. Work more shifts. It might take some time but it’ll be totally legitimate. We both win.”
“Here’s how this goes,” he said conversationally, ignoring my words. The damn man wasn’t even winded. I, on the other hand, have lost all of my adrenaline rush and was panting like a dog. “Either you come with me willingly, and we’ll figure out a solution for your father’s debt that makes me happy.”
He paused. Over his shoulder the lights become brighter, sharper in the nightscape.
“Or?” My voice shook so badly I could barely recognize the word.
“Or,” he said, “I shoot you in the leg right here and radio for back up. Then, when my buddies show up, they’ll help me drag you to the car while we laugh about how you threatened to make up stories against me to cover for the fact that you and your father were running deals with multiple drug lords for the past year to try to repay a gambling debt. As I’ve got the night shift, we can continue this discussion once you’re behind bars. I don’t even need to bring you by the hospital if I promise the boys they won’t get in trouble for allowing me to skip that step.”
I once read somewhere that if you’re being threatened by a gun, you should run away in a zig-zagging motion and take as much cover as possible. It’s far more difficult to hit a moving target than one might expect. Sure, the sheriff probably had a lot of practice targeting innocent people, but there was no way in hell that I believed he would let me walk away from this.
I backed up a step. Then one to the side.
He must’ve realized what I was about to do because his eyes narrowed and his gun shifted downward. “I promise you’ll be sorry if y—”
The world exploded in mottled fur and snarling teeth.
There was no warning. No sound. Just a blur out of the corner of my eye. Three small wolves came flying out of the shadows and knocked the sheriff to the ground, one snapping at his legs, one howling and pressing on his chest, the third burying huge teeth into the forearm that held the gun. Blood spurted and sprayed. The sheriff’s scream was high-pitched and agonized.
I froze. Do I help the wolves? Do I—?
The loud one, the howling one, stopped mid-yowl and fixed its eyes on me. Its ears went back and his teeth glinted as he growled at me. A long, low, dark rumble.
I ran.
At first I ran upstream, too scared to run past the wolves and too scared to run back the way I’d come. Water hides scents, right? Twice I fell, twice I dragged myself back up and pressed onward. Death was at my back. Life was in front. I needed to keep going.
I didn’t get far before I heard the sounds of gunshots.
One. Two. Three.
Shit.
What if the sheriff was still able to come after me? What if he killed those wolves? I veered off toward the highway, and then jogged alongside, frantically waving my arms as panic threatened to take over. Tears and sweat mingled on my face to burn my gritty eyes, and my nose wouldn’t stop leaking. I took a halfhearted swipe with my sleeve and the dirty coat sleeve came away bright red.
Three cars passed me, honking. I waved harder. If I started screaming for help, would someone call the police to report an injured woman in distress at the side of the road? Shit, that’s what I would do, and that’s the last thing I needed. I slowed my pace and tried to straighten my destroyed clothes and wrecked hair into place, glancing over my shoulder for any sight of a two-or four-legged hunter.
Three times might be a charm, but it was the fourth car I waved at that slowed down and waited for me to catch up. The glimpse I caught of myself in the tinted window before it rolled down was… frightening, to say the least. My face was puffy, covered in scratches. Dirt, sticks and leaves were snarled in my hair, and everything from the elbows and knees down was soaking wet. And cold. I didn’t realize how cold I was until just now.
I looked as though I had fallen down the mountain.
Or chased by an evil man through the woods. Same difference.
“My dear, what happened?” The older gentleman looked a bit scared by my appearance, and I was incredibly grateful for the fact that he stopped at all. I was about to tell him exactly what had happened, when I realized I didn’t know who this was. For all I knew, this kindly old man was the father of the sheriff’s best friend.
That’s the thing about small towns. When they’re good people, it’s a good place. But throw in enough rotten apples and the entire bushel was ruined. It’s depressing how often remaining loyal to those someone considers their people often overrides doing the right thing. A sort of pack mentality, if you will.
“A freaking wolf came charging at me while I was going for a walk. I fell in a creek running for help.” Seemed easier to say there was one than three, because how would I have gotten away from three of them?
Alarmed, the man reached for his phone. “I should call the police. Warn them there might be some dangerous wolves on the loose.”
“No!” I cried out, panicked. He looked at me strangely, so I rushed to explain. “They already know about this. I called them right before you stopped. Which I appreciate, by the way. A lot of cars passed me by.” I pulled my phone out of my damp back pocket and waggled it between us, hoping he would take me at my word. My hand started trembling hard enough that I almost dropped it to the ground. “I would really appreciate it, though, if you could drive me back to… Seyville. My friend was the one that drove me over here but I can’t get ahold of her and I don’t want to wait until the cops or animal experts show up to get warm.”
I had a few casual friends scattered around the various clusters of small towns, but none in Seyville. The name only came to mind because of Dorothy’s cousin. Hopefully it would throw everyone off my trail long enough that I could find a bus line or more hitchhiking routes to get the hell out of here and into a place I could seek help.
“Works for me. I’m going a few towns past that. Get in, missy, you’re freezing.” I heard the click of the door lock and leaped into the backseat, the warm air settling over me like fog. My teeth began to chatter, and he motioned for me to take advantage of the warm blanket crumped up next to me. I did after buckling up, and then turned my phone off so I couldn’t be tracked through it.
“What’s in Seyville?” he asked.
“Staying with my friend’s cousin there. We’re on a road trip. That friend was the one who drove me in here to pick up an inhaler from the hospital since I lost mine a few days ago. She was supposed to drive me back way later tonight after grabbing dinner with an ex, but she isn’t picking up.”
I was improvising out of my ass, but it seemed like he had bought my rushed story. He seemed to get my urgency, because he drove off a lot faster than he’d been driving earlier. I glanced around quietly, trying to not seem on edge. Neat, clean car interior. No garbage. Pack of water bottles under the driver’s seat. Nothing else lying around that I could use as a weapon if need be. He put the pedal to the metal, clearly aware of how keen I was to get away from here.
“You look like that wolf got you a bit.” Wrinkles deepened around the brown eyes that met mine in the rearview mirror. They held no malice, only curiosity. “Especially your neck–what happened there?”
My hand rose to where the necklace had been. “My mother’s necklace,” I said before I could catch myself. Anyone who knew me knows that necklace was one of my most cherished objects. I was leaving a trail of clues so obvious a baby could follow it.
The time I had between getting to Seyville and getting back out was shrinking rapidly.
Well, in for penny, in for a pound. “I’ve been meaning to get the clasp fixed for months. It caught on a tree branch when I tripped and fell. Tore it right off my neck.” I touch the back my neck and looked at my fingertips.
Fresh blood. I could smell the metallic scent and it made my stomach do weird things.