Out of reflex, Frisk’s hand opened.
Logan immediately twisted the weapon free and whipped it into the side of the asshole’s head. Frisk fell against the ground, stunned.
Staying low, Logan scrambled deeper into the darkness of the woods. When he was a good fifty yards away, he stopped and looked back.
Someone had turned on the sedan’s headlights, lighting up as much of the forest as they could. He could see Frisk stumbling toward the car, but wasn’t sure where the others were. What he really wanted to see was the area where he and Dev had been, but several trees blocked his sight line. He moved quietly to his right until the view opened up.
No body on the ground.
Logan checked the car again, searching for the remaining men. One was helping Frisk get inside the vehicle, but the other two were still nowhere to be seen.
A sound, low and soft.
An ever-so-subtle crunch.
A footstep, carefully placed on a pack of dried pine needles.
Logan waited for another one, but none came.
His eyes having adjusted as best they could to the darkness, he picked out a path that went in a large arc around the area where the car was parked, and over to the side where Dev would have gone. He needed to find his friend to make sure he was all right.
Between steps, he stopped to listen. Once he heard a twig snap, but it could have been caused by the wind in the trees. Another time he heard Frisk groan back at the car.
As he neared the top of the arc, he caught sight of a boulder just ahead. It would provide excellent cover, and perhaps there was even a crevasse or hole where Dev was hiding.
Logan came around the backside of the rock, farthest from the car. His instinct was to whisper Dev’s name, but he couldn’t chance it so he moved in closer. It wasn’t one boulder, but several piled together on the edge of a small depression. Keeping his newly acquired gun in front of him, he checked the spaces between the rocks but saw no one there.
He glanced up. The top of the pile was about twelve feet above him. If he could get up there, he’d be able to see where the others were. He scoped out the easiest route, then put a foot on the rock.
Almost instantly he knew it was a bad idea. Not because the rock was unstable or anything like that, but because of the gun muzzle that was suddenly resting against the base of his skull.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Logan was pretty sure he could twist out of the way and get control of the weapon without getting hit. But when it came to pistols anywhere near his head,
He raised his hands, his own gun pointing at the sky.
“Set it on the rock,” the person behind him whispered, the words almost like breaths. “Slowly.”
As he started to comply, the muzzle came away from his head, and he could hear the person take a quick step backward.
He placed his pistol on the rock.
“To your left.”
Improvising, he started to turn as he moved.
“No. Keep your eyes on the rocks.”
Not seeing a choice, he complied. His gun was now a sizable lunge away.
“Far enough,” the voice whispered. “Now sit.”
He hesitated, confused. He had expected to be immediately marched back to the sedan.
“Sit.”
This time he did so.
Silence descended. In the distance he thought he could hear another footstep.
After nearly a minute, he said, “What are we do-”
“Quiet.”
From his position, the only thing Logan could see was rock. He tried not to think about anything, focusing all his energy on being ready to react at a moment’s notice. Hopefully, whoever was behind him didn’t know that Dev was out there, too.
A distant, angry voice broke through the stillness, and was followed moments later by the sedan’s doors slamming shut. The car’s engine grew loud enough to be heard, then it faded into the distance as the vehicle drove away.
“Who are you?” the person behind him asked. Not a whisper this time.
Surprised, he turned without even thinking about it.
“Don’t!”
But it was too late. He’d seen her.
Diana Stockley was crouched next to a tree ten feet behind him. In her hand was a pistol. She looked nervous and scared, not the combination Logan wanted in a person pointing a gun at him.
“I promise I won’t try anything,” he said, continuing to hold up his empty palms. “Why don’t you put the gun down?”
“No. Who are you?”
“I told you at your bar. My name’s Logan. Logan Harper.”
“That’s a lie. Who are you, really?”
“That’s not a lie. I’d show you my driver’s license, but the others took my wallet.”
“Convenient.”
“If you were watching us, you know they did.”
She stared at him, tight-lipped, but allowed the barrel of the gun to point a few feet to Logan’s right.
“Tell them to leave her alone and not to come looking for her again,” she said. “Make sure you tell them she’s
“I don’t know who you think I am,” Logan said. “But the last thing I want to do is hurt Sara.”
The woman stared at him. “Don’t you dare say her name. You don’t have that right.”
“I’m only here because of Sara’s husband.”
She looked confused. “Her husband?”
“Alan,” Logan said. “And her daughter Emily, too.”
Diana didn’t move for a moment. Then she stood up, her pistol pointed directly at Logan’s head.
“Who
Thirty feet behind her, Logan saw movement between the trees.
Dev. It had to be.
Logan made fists with his hands and then opened them, stretching his fingers. He hoped Dev would see it as the hold sign he meant it to be.
“I told you. I’m Logan Harper. Alan’s lawyer, Callie Johnson, is a friend of mine. She asked me to help Alan find his wife. When I talked with him, I met Emily. I know she likes goldfish crackers and that sponge guy’s cartoon, and I’m sure she misses her mom.”
“You’re lying. I don’t know how you know that stuff, but you’re just trying to trick me into telling you where she is.”
As calmly as he could, he said, “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to talk to Sara. That’s all.”
“No. You want to turn her over to that woman, so she’ll tell them…” She stopped herself, as if she’d just realized something important.
