Tracking Secrets

A truck squealed to a stop. Nick picked a path around the thickest grouping of trees, choosing the biggest ones in hopes they’d obscure the view of the men who started yelling at each other behind them. The man’s friends had arrived.

He couldn’t make out much of what they said except two words: “Get them.”

* * *

A gunshot rang out. Alexis ducked and put both hands over her head. A scream tore from her throat. The dog answered with a bark. The bullet snapped a branch, which spun and smacked the side of her neck.

She fought against confusion. For some reason men were shooting at them and she’d just helped give away their location. She hadn’t meant to scream, but she’d never been shot at before.

Nick grabbed her upper arm again and pulled her around another tree. He kept his fingers there, tugging, silently urging her to run faster, but her sandals didn’t have much grip. It was all she could do to keep up without falling on her face.

Alexis fought a surge of nausea as several men’s voices filtered through the trees. “Use the jammer,” one shouted. They were trying to make sure she and Nick couldn’t call for help.

“Shoot only on sight. We don’t need the whole valley showing up!” It sounded like the voice of the man who had confronted them at the house, but she couldn’t be sure. Why were these men so angry they’d stepped onto the property? It didn’t make sense.

Maybe they’d recognized Nick and had a score to settle with him. What kind of man had she aligned herself with? Maybe Nick had seen something she hadn’t. It seemed too late to point out to the men with guns that she wasn’t a threat to them.

Tires squealed and covered up whatever else the man yelling had to say. She couldn’t afford to slow down to dial 911 on her cell phone, but she had an uneasy feeling that it wouldn’t work anyway.

She stumbled over a rock, and Nick’s fingers slipped off her arm. She managed to fall forward in a sloppy run but regained her balance. Nick’s golden eyes met hers for half a second before he motioned with his head which direction they needed to go. He took off without waiting for her agreement.

That was the opposite direction of where she wanted to go. Instead of heading for the path near the river, he was taking her through the trees and, in a roundabout way, back toward the front of the house. Though if they could reach the road unseen, maybe they had a better chance of escape.

There were rarely cars on the outskirts of town, so she couldn’t count on waving someone down for help. The area was mountainous, and the only reasons anyone would come out here were that they owned property or were heading for the trail.

Nick gave the leash a quick tug, and the dog stayed right at his side. She followed them around a full-grown blue spruce with spider webs running over sections of the branches. He held up a finger. Her bare calves brushed up against a prickly branch, and she cringed but didn’t move.

Stepping past her, Nick peeked around the tree, and then pivoted back toward her. He grabbed her hand and shoved her farther into the prickly foliage. She resisted slightly, not so much because of the uncomfortable pine needles but more because of the potential of spiders.

For a second it looked as if Nick wanted to give her a high-five, but he swung his hand in an arc at his side. Raven flopped down as if she was bored, though she kept her eyes on Nick. Alexis was impressed at his use of the silent command, but the crunching sound of tires nearby flung the thoughts away.

She slipped her hand into her pocket and, using tiny movements, fished her phone out. The slash through the image of the cell tower on the screen confirmed her fear. No help would be coming. They were alone.

A motor roared. She turned her head slightly, hoping she wasn’t drawing attention to herself. A white pickup truck vaulted through the trees, breaking branches left and right. Her breath hitched at the sight of men carrying assault rifles. They flanked the truck in a V shape as they marched south toward the trail and the river.

She remained frozen, her back protesting from the strain of a typical office workday. She was very aware of Nick pressed against her, especially after she lost sight of the men with guns. His face was a nice oval shape with kind eyes and a full mouth. His hair was a light brown, flared up at the crown, either from running in the wind or hair gel. He was slightly taller than she was, so probably close to five foot ten, and he obviously stayed fit.

It felt like hours passed, but the sun’s blinding glare from the west never changed, so it had likely been mere minutes. The beams filtered through the tree branches, making it hard to see if the men were truly gone.

Her heart rate sped, and her stomach churned. Her breathing remained erratic, but Nick stood as still as a statue. Maybe he was used to running from guns.

“The scout is still at the house,” Nick whispered into her ear. His breath smelled like Junior Mints, a fact she tried to ignore. “There might be others waiting there, as well. Stay quiet and follow me.”

She wanted to ask what he meant by “the scout” but didn’t trust herself to open her mouth without being too loud. Her mom had always told her she didn’t know how to whisper properly. It’s why she’d always chosen to pass notes rather than confer in law proceedings.

He seemed to be waiting for a response. She nodded her agreement. He squeezed her wrist in reply and gave it a small tug. They darted around the next tree. Nick froze again. Her ears strained to hear signs of someone close by before moving on.

The pattern continued until Alexis felt certain they must be nearing the road. Instead they came to a fence. Nick audibly sighed. He took off his shoe and handed it to her in a wordless request to hold the barbed wire fence the way she had when they’d followed Raven’s dash for a squirrel.

This is what she got for not following her instincts. Theresa knew that she would temp anywhere except the pet-sitting company. But Alexis loved Theresa. The woman had become as close as any friend she’d had, despite technically being Alexis’s boss. And when Theresa had called, her voice had sounded deliriously happy.

“Please, Alexis. You know I’d never ask you to do this if I wasn’t in a bind. If you can’t, I’ll come back early, but the thing is...” Theresa’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “I’m seeing someone. And we’re already out of town on a weekend together. I know what you’re going to say, and don’t worry. We’re in separate rooms, but honey, I’ve known him all my life, and I think he could be the one.”

“Who?” Alexis had pressed.

“I can’t tell you yet. I promised him we’d keep it hush-hush. He doesn’t want us to have the pressure of being under a microscope. You know how small towns can be.”

She did know how small towns could be, but in the last year she’d heard no evidence of the rumor mill. Perhaps because she kept to herself since she’d moved back.

Nick stepped through the barbed wire fence first. Alexis looked over her shoulder. Nick must have chosen this section of the fence to cross since the trees were especially thick here. Raven didn’t seem so keen to slide underneath the fence this time.

“Hand her to me,” he whispered.

Alexis cringed. If the dog so much as licked her, it would have to fend for itself. She exhaled and put her arms around the dog’s torso. Her biceps and lower back strained with the effort. The dog had to be at least fifty pounds!

If she hadn’t been such a pushover she would’ve told Theresa no. Then Theresa would’ve been forced to skip her weekend to walk the dog, probably on the sidewalks of downtown instead of the trail, and none of this would’ve ever happened.

Nick reached over the fence and took Raven from her. She’d never seen the man around town, which was unusual. He was either new in town or they ran in completely different circles. It made her question again whether she should’ve trusted him enough to follow him, but she didn’t have much choice now. He had the dog.

He held the fence open for her, and she stepped through. Her outfit, now covered with black dog hair and smudges of nature, would never recover, but it was a small price to pay for getting back to safety. The list of charges she wanted to report against those men ran through her head on a loop.

Nick gathered the leash tightly and waved for her to follow him as he broke into a fast-paced jog. Her feet felt every rock and hard patch of uneven ground through the thin soles of her shoes. If she ever got home, she’d never wear the sandals again.

Five minutes later, the trees opened up into a pasture. The tall grass swayed with the breeze, and in the distance, a yellow house with white shutters looked welcoming. A red barn stood behind it. Two horses grazed nearby.

She marveled at the perfect picture of tranquility. It belonged on a postcard and made her long for her own pair of cowboy boots. “Do you know the owners?”

“The owner. Yes,” he answered.

They approached another fence, this one made from wooden rails. The large spaces made it easy to slip through. Even though the wood couldn’t protect her, the physical barrier made her heart slow ever so slightly. “I’ll feel a lot safer once we’re inside that house. I hope someone’s home.”

He pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed. “We need to find a signal now. I don’t think those jammers can cover that large a distance.” He ran a few steps. “Weak,” he muttered. His eyebrows rose. “Dial tone.” He pressed a few numbers and held it up to his ear. “We need help.”

Alexis put a hand on her racing heart and issued a silent prayer of thanks that he’d been able to reach the authorities. Their pace didn’t slow as Nick spoke feverishly about men with guns and rattled off an address Alexis didn’t recognize.

“Please hurry.” Nick swiveled the cell phone so the microphone rested on his shoulder. “They want me to stay on the line until they get here.”

He looked over her shoulder, and she followed his gaze. The property appeared to be roughly five acres until a line of trees obscured the rest. She imagined that just past it was the walking path and the river. “Is that them?”

The sound of cracking branches in the distance made her flinch.

“Follow me.” They sprinted until they reached the porch of the house. He lifted the phone to his ear. “It sounds like they’ve made it to the trail behind my property. I have to put the phone down now. Please hurry.”

His property? He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and opened the navy blue door. Past the darkened hallway, bright sunshine streamed through a wall of windows. A rifle suddenly blocked her view, taking her breath away.

Nick held one in each hand. “I hope you know how to shoot a gun.”

TWO (#u6501e5a0-ee7b-5af7-b163-f872c70171f5)