I peeked beneath my lashes and found myself alone in the living room. I strained to listen for a sign as to where Hugh was in the house, and then I heard the creak. The floorboard in my bathroom.
I sprang up from my spot and hurried to the closet, silently opening it. I grabbed my raincoat and slid it on. Picking up my cell phone, I shoved it into my shirt as I headed out the back door. I opened it and heard the familiar creak on the stairs.
Hugh was coming.
I left the door open and splashed into water that rose to my thighs. Arms spread for balance, I slogged through the new lake surrounding my house.
“You can’t run from this,” Hugh called out.
I turned and watched in horror as Hugh jumped off the back porch, eating up the distance between us. His longer and stronger legs covered more ground than mine.
Still, I pushed through, wading through the water, trying my best to lose him.
I heard the splash and turned to find that Hugh had fallen, giving me an advantage. I didn’t waste my good luck.
I hurried through the woods, which I knew like the back of my hand, being careful of the downed limbs and trees.
I glanced over my shoulder again to find him gone.
I stopped as my gaze searched for him. Had he fallen and hit his head? Had he drowned?
My heart demanded that I go check when the voices in my head were yelling at me to run.
Finally, I spotted him. He’d fallen, his body strung over a tree branch. He’d been lucky that when he’d fallen, he hadn’t hit his head and landed submerged in the water.
The water level was up to his chin.
If I left him, he could drown. He could slip below the current, unconscious.
Fear and anger assaulted my senses. Fear I wouldn’t get away. Anger that I couldn’t bring myself to run.
I sloshed toward him. When I was within arm’ length, he sprang out of the water and squeezed me in the muscular bands of his forearms
“I knew you’d come back.” He chuckled as I struggled to break free.
The sound of a boat in the distance grew closer, and Hugh slapped his hand over my mouth to stifle my screams.
When the boat pulled into view, Hugh tensed, and hustled us behind one of the standing trees.
Three men, dressed all in black and holding semi-automatic guns were in the boat.
These guys weren’t my saviors, they weren’t my sisters, and they damn sure weren’t cops. They were getting out of the boat and breaking into my damn house.
I quit struggling, and held my breath as they trolled past.
Hugh lowered his hand. “Now, do you believe me?”
Gusting out a breath, I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“Good, then let’s run,” Hugh said, taking my hand and pulling me farther into the trees and standing brush, trying to put more distance between us and them.
Hugh shoved me in front of him, shielding me from the men searching my home. His hands were strong and sure every time he caught me as I slipped over a branch or debris. He righted me without a single word and urged me forward.
We hit the lake and finally slowed when we were out of sight of my house. When Hugh gestured to the ridge above the lake that led to the top of the waterfall, I kept moving to the other side of the lake instead.
“We need higher ground,” he growled, pulling me to a stop.
“We need my sisters, and they’ll be this way.” I gestured over my shoulder. “If you want higher ground, there’s nothing stopping you from going that way.”
“We. Need. Higher. Ground,” he growled a bit slower and deeper, as if I hadn’t heard him the first time.
“We need a hiding spot and backup,” I answered and spun to wade away.
I didn’t get far. He grabbed my hand and spun me around. “Why in the hell do you have to be so difficult? You saw Victor’s men. The rain won’t stop them from looking for you. Or finding you, for that matter.”
I yanked my arm free and pointed toward the path that Hugh had wanted to take. “That way leads to a road. They’ll spot us on that road. My way leads to a place that only my sisters know about. A place we’ll be safe.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you call your sisters? Because if you did, they’ll be walking into that.”
Hugh pointed an accusatory finger back in the direction of my house.
“I may have paid a house visit to one of my sisters via astral projection, and she’s the one who told me to go wait at the other place. She and my sisters will come for me. I guarantee it.”
A boat motor roared in the distance. my heart skipped a beat. He gestured in the direction I wanted to go and followed behind. “If you’re wrong about this, then we’re dead.”
“According to you, I’m dead either way, but I’ll always bet on family coming through for me before anyone else.”
Chapter Ten
HUGH
He followed behind her, repeatedly glancing over his shoulder in the direction of her house. The rain masked any noises the boat made as they moved farther away from her home.
A home that would have been their final resting place had she not run.
He should thank her for saving his life…again.
But he wouldn’t, not now. Not until she gave him what he’d been looking for.
Six months of talking and trying to convince Teddy to do the right thing had yielded more than just the ledger’s location. It had yielded a prize almost as comparable.
Honor.
It was official. Teddy was an idiot for risking whatever these two had going on. The picture he’d taken, which was sitting soggy in his wallet, had said more than words. She’d been blissfully unaware who she was creating a life with.
As the afternoon led into evening, Honor’s steps were slowing, and she was tripping more frequently. She was wan, and it was clear her energy was draining.
“I know you normally sleep during the day, but what time do you go to sleep?” he asked.
“Normally about now,” she said, without looking back.
“So, what was that back at your house?” he asked.
She stopped and spun around to face him. Water droplets continued in a steady stream down her face, dripping from her hair into her eyes and then down her cheeks.
Hugh crossed his arms in an attempt not to reach for her to wipe the water from her eyes. He scowled.
She rolled her eyes. “It was a test to see if you were going to kill me when I did go to sleep.”
His brows dipped. “I already told you I’m here to protect you.”
“Yeah, right,” she huffed. “Don’t kid yourself. You looked through every room in my house for that ledger while you thought I was sleeping. I’m not an idiot. I watched you.”
She turned and kept fighting against the current. With a shake of his head, he followed.
He should be ticked off that she’d watched him snooping through her things, but it didn’t matter. Instead, a smile slid onto his lips.
She was resourceful and spunky, making him like her even more.
The water seemed to have doubled and was over his waist. They walked to a point where the only way forward was to swim a short distance in order to reach the solid ground again. He had no idea where they were or where she was taking him, but she seemed determined.
The frigid water seemed to perk her up. Another ten minutes and they were headed up some sort of hill.