His eyes heated immediately as he jumped to his feet and adjusted himself. “I’ll be fast.”
As he hurried toward the foyer, she turned the fireplace off because it was getting too hot—Logan made her hot enough, thank you very much.
As Grace stretched out on the pile of blankets, she debated if she should strip now or let him undress her. Hmmm… She jolted upright, all her muscles tensing as she heard gunshots.
Pop. Pop.
Heart in her throat, she jumped to her feet. Logan!
She raced for the front of the house, stumbling in the foyer when she heard it again. Pop. Pop. Oh God, Logan!
Before she could move, the door flew open and Logan barreled through, a weapon in hand as he slammed the door and locked it. “We’ve gotta go.” He raced down the hallway, grabbing her by the hand. “Shoes and pants on now,” he ordered as he grabbed a backpack from the closet, then grabbed his own shoes.
Fear spurred her into action. Moving quickly, she tugged on a pair of yoga pants and hurriedly slid on her sneakers.
“Only one shooter that I can tell. He’s slashed my tires and he’s jammed the electronics because I can’t get a call out.” Logan’s words were clipped as they hurried back down the hall.
The window in one of the front rooms exploded. She bit back a scream as he motioned toward the living room. Her legs were moving but she felt as if she was operating on autopilot.
“We’re heading out the back door. We can disappear into the underbrush. We’re taking a chance but it’s better than being sitting ducks in here when I don’t know what kind of weapons he has.”
She simply nodded, shoving back the raw fear bubbling up inside her. Whatever Logan thought was best she was going to go with. She wasn’t trained for any of this, but she could certainly follow instructions. And run.
Her heart beat wildly in her chest as he slid his pistol out and carefully opened the back door.
Another gunshot sounded from somewhere near the front. She winced, sweat building at the base of her spine.
Logan, who seemed insanely calm about all this, held his hand up and pointed which direction they should go. He stepped out first, then, when it was clear, ordered her to go ahead of him so he could watch her back.
Throat tight, she did as he said, racing across the small backyard to a wide-open stretch of rocks and gravel beyond it. Since they’d walked the path around the property yesterday, she was somewhat familiar with the area but she hoped Logan knew where they were going.
Gravel shot up around them. She let out a scream.
“Keep running!” Logan shouted as he paused and turned, returned fire.
Her entire body shook at the blast of the gunfire. It was so much louder and scarier than in the movies, and absolutely terrifying. But she kept going, knowing that getting to cover was the only way to survive this.
Her legs strained as she raced for the entrance to the walking path. As she sucked in air, she vowed to take up running after this. Or to at least exercise more.
Pop. Pop. Logan shot again.
“I bought us a few minutes,” Logan said as he moved up behind her onto the rocky pathway.
They were surrounded by overgrown trees and foliage, thankfully giving them some concealment.
“Where are we going?” she whispered, avoiding the urge to turn around.
Logan had her back so she knew he would keep them safe. And if he fell… No way. She wouldn’t think like that. They had to get away. Both of them.
“There’s a neighborhood about two miles from here. We can make it on foot as long as we keep distance between us and the shooter. Once we get to the end of one of these walking paths, it connects to a main road. From there, we’ll be able to make it to the neighborhood.”
She nodded instead of responding verbally in an attempt to conserve energy as they continued sprinting over the underbrush. A branch slapped her in the face but she ignored it. Her lungs burned as she jumped over a protruding rock. She didn’t care. Her brain was telling her to run, run, run. Then hide.
And stay alive.
She had so many questions, like how the hell had someone found them?
But now was definitely not the time to ask. They just needed to get to safety. She’d left all her stuff back there and she knew he’d left most of his so she hoped he had extra ammo in his backpack. “Can you see him?” She jumped over another rock, her breathing harsh.
“Nope. Take a left up here,” he said quietly as they reached a fork in the dusty path.
She didn’t pause, simply veered left and continued running. They had enough concealment right now but she was terrified he would catch up with them.
Her breath sawed in and out, the brown and green foliage flying past her in a blur. She felt as if she was in a tunnel, the worst videogame ever, as her sneakers pounded against the rocky path. Her muscles ached and she couldn’t stop trembling but no way in hell was she stopping.
“We might have lost him,” Logan murmured as they continued running. “But keep going.”
She sure hoped so.
A shot rent the air and she stumbled.
Logan caught her by the shoulder. “He’s blindly shooting,” he said before she could panic.
She looked over her shoulder at him and he held a finger to his lips.
She nodded and turned around to face forward again, continuing onward. Every movement, every huff of breath felt overpronounced, as if the shooter would jump out of the brush at any moment because he’d heard their movements.
When she noticed the underbrush thinning ahead, her heart leapt. They must be near the main road Logan had mentioned. But just as quickly, more fear settled in her gut. If their cover was getting thinner, they were easier targets.
“Keep going,” Logan whispered.
On a burst of speed, she sprinted forward. She had no doubt that Logan had been keeping pace with her because the man was in incredible shape. He could probably run twice as fast as her but he was sticking with her to protect her.
As they reached the end of the path there was a wide-open stretch of asphalt just as he’d said.
She felt incredibly exposed and vulnerable in that moment. But logically she knew there was no way the shooter could have gotten ahead of them. Unless…he’d figured out a shortcut.
The fear was back, shoving up and threatening to choke her. She kept imagining him jumping from the bushes, gun in hand, and shooting them down.
Logan pointed to the right and they started running once again, side by side this time, their sneakers beating against the road with little thumps. He still had his gun in hand and was barely out of breath—unlike Grace, who felt like she was about to die at any moment. Her lungs burned and all her muscles strained.
Fear settled deep inside her and she imagined this nameless, faceless shooter taking aim at them, hitting them in the back while she and Logan were unable to stop a thing. When she saw a turnoff to a neighborhood up ahead, joy burst inside her like fireworks.
They were so close.
But instead of turning into the neighborhood’s main entrance, Logan took her arm and directed her off the main road and to the back wall that lined part of the neighborhood.
“We’re going to jump over the wall.” He turned around, scanning the road for any signs of the shooter.
“What if someone’s home?”
“I don’t care. We’re hiding now.” Bending down in front of her, he linked his fingers together.