So far it had worked in their favor, but the woman was a hunter. Hayley feared Patsy would take a deep breath and start applying not only logical thinking to the problem of tracking them, but her hunting experience as well. And if Pats started looking for signs of where they had been, she would find their current hiding spot.
It was a good spot, but Hayley didn’t fool herself into thinking they had left no clues for someone carefully searching. Ty wasn’t bleeding at the moment, but his shirt sported still-damp bloodstains that may have transferred to the overgrowth they’d plowed through. And the two of them must have flattened their fair share of grasses and moss and bent all kinds of branches and twigs.
“How far are we from where we need to be?” Ty breathed the question directly in her ear, making her start.
She shifted to reply in the same method. “Not far from the trestle. But the moment we start to cross it we will be out in the open.”
“Fuck.” He slumped. Looking her in the eye, he said softly. “You have to leave me. I’ll only slow you down.”
She had thought it herself, of course. Yet to her surprise her knee-jerk reaction was a categorical, “No.”
“Look, I’m not good at heights at the best of times. Right now I doubt I have the strength to even crawl the trestle. Kurstin told me you two were gazelles on the thing. Cover me up as best you can and go find help. Send someone back for me.”
She hesitated, then nodded. She spent the next few minutes getting him comfortable on his back and carefully patting moss over the wound in his chest to hopefully keep any more dirt from getting in. Then she covered him in downed leaves and branches. As she started to cover his face, he said a quiet, “Wait.”
She stopped with the final camouflage hovering above him.
He looked her in the eye. “If something happens to me, tell Kurstin I’m sorry. Tell her I really did care for her…more than I have ever cared for anyone in my life. Please stress that I know I made the wrong damn decision when I chose my career over her.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“But if it does—“
“I will tell her. Exactly as you said it.”
“Thanks. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I screwed up your life as well.”
“You know what? I thought you did. But right this minute it doesn’t seem all that important.”
His mouth curved up on one side and the sheer rueful humor in the midst of all this madness gave Hayley an unexpected glimpse of what had drawn Kurstin to him. “Nothing like being chased through the woods by a bat-shit crazy homicidal bitch to straighten out your priorities,” he murmured dryly.
“I know, right?” She gestured with her full hands. “Ready?”
He gave a slight dip of his chin.
She started covering his face. His skin was dirty from clawing his way out of his grave, but it shone around his nose and mouth where she wanted to leave breathing holes. He had no doubt scrubbed at them to clear his air passages. Setting the camouflage aside, she dug beneath layers of dead vegetation to scoop up damp dirt. Carefully, she streaked it over the clean areas, then tried the flora covering again.
This time he blended in.
“I’m covering our tracks,” she whispered and set about restoring their hiding place. When it looked as undisturbed as she could make it, she climbed to her feet. “I’m going to leave while she’s still a decent distance away. Move as little as possible and I’ll get help to you the instant I can.”
A near-inaudible grunt was her only reply.
“Okay, then. Hang in there, Ty.” She turned and carefully made her way back to the trail. She looked around to mark the spot in her mind. Then she broke into a run, trying to move as quietly as possible.
But in her head she screamed Jon-Michael’s name with every stride she took.
Twenty-Two
Jon-Michael had to bite back the urge to crow as he strode out of Olivet Manufacturing’s boardroom. He didn’t even attempt to prevent the big grin spreading across his face as well. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that, with the exception of his dad and Richard’s favorite stooge, Jorge Jensen, the board had voted unanimously to adopt his proposal. Or that the legal department was even now preparing an offer to lease the part he’d developed. It was a big-damn-deal gold letter day.
His old man and Jensen might not have stuck around to congratulate him but everyone else wanted to. The minute he could break away from the back slaps, and Mildred‘s brisk handshake, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Hayley. It went straight to voice mail. Disappointment itched in his gut, but glancing at the time he saw it was just after five. Maybe Bluey called her in to work early. He’d go grab a club soda at the bar and if she wasn’t there, he’d hang with the regulars until she arrived.
Before he left, however, he leaned into Kurstin’s office. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself!” She hopped up from her desk and came around to give him a big hug. Pulling back, she grinned up at him. “I’m sorry I ran out on you. O’Hurley’s is on central time and I needed to catch them before they closed for the night.” Waving the subject aside with a whip of her hand, she squeezed him again. “Congratulations—you did it!”
“I did!” It wouldn’t surprise him to hear his big-ass grin bordered on maniacal. “Hayley and Mildred and everyone else who tried to talk me into presenting my proposal sooner were right. I let personal issues with Dad get in my way.” Laughing, he picked up his sister and swung her around. “But the board loved me!” With a final squeeze, he set her back on her feet. “Have you talked to Hayley since the meeting?”
“No. Too busy.”
“My call went straight to voicemail, but I thought I would drop by Bluey’s to celebrate with a club soda. Maybe she’ll be there.”
After an additional minute or two of rehashing the high points of his presentation, he headed out. He walked into the blues bar less than ten minutes later. His gaze went straight to Hayley’s usual workspace, but Bluey was behind the bar. Jon-Michael walked over. “Club soda on the rocks, barkeep! In fact, let’s go crazy and add a lime.”
Bluey looked up from the American Blues Scene magazine spread open on the bar. “You’re in a good mood.” He reached for a glass with one hand and the soda spigot with the other.
“Had a really good day at work. Hayley around?”
“You ever known her to be here this early, boy?”
Jon-Michael’s mood took a dip. “No, but I was hoping. I tried calling to tell her my news but she didn’t answer.” His cell phone rang and pulling it from his pocket, he saw it was Kurstin. “Excuse me, Harve. I have to get this.” He thumbed the phone icon. “What’s up?”
“I forgot Hayley got a call from Patsy when I talked to her before the meeting. She said they were gonna do some bow and arrow practice.”
“She should be back any minute to get ready for work then. Thanks, sis. I wondered where she’d gotten off to.”
There was dead air for a moment, then she said, “Bluey plays the best music.”
“Doesn’t he? Why don’t you join me.”