However, there was a killer out there.
She inhaled, sucking in some of the stinky cigarette smoke. Maybe it was her who was stuck in the past. She couldn’t ignore the facts of the last few hours. He’d saved their lives again by getting them into the safety of the tunnel. “Fine. We have to trust you. How the heck do we escape this tunnel, get across the state of Wyoming, and make it to your friends?”
Misha saw her distaste for the fumes, so he blew them away from her. “The middle of Wyoming has lot more places to hide train. I saw it all on my helicopter ride to Denver. Tracks go in valleys. Along rivers. Through trees. Once it gets dark, we will split up again and go in your truck to scout ahead. Maybe we will catch her in air. Maybe not.”
“You don’t sound too sure of yourself,” Asher volunteered.
“I do not, my friend. A helicopter can fly at night. We have no night-vision equipment. No way to get any. We have to push through while we can. There is no waiting out darkness.”
She looked outside the tunnel on her end, which faced east. The sun was low in the sky, casting the tops of distant clouds in soft, orange light. She felt marginally better about Misha the person, but he didn’t sound as if he believed his plan would work.
Once it got dark, the predator would see them, but they wouldn’t see her in return.
Miami, MO
Ezra and Butch made a big production about sneaking up to the truck in the field, each taking a side, weapons drawn. However, when they reached the front window, the blood splatter all over the interior assured him they’d been cautious for nothing.
“You got ’em, E-Z. You got him good.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, stomach reeling.
Haley took a peek inside before glancing somewhere else. If she was upset by what was left of mustache man, she didn’t let on. Instead, she hastened to the cargo bed of the truck. “Jackpot!”
He and Butch joined her.
“Let’s take what we can,” he suggested. “These guys obviously looted a store somewhere. This is probably all from Bass Pro.” The back bed of the pickup truck was filled with camping and survival gear. There were multiple tents. Sleeping bags. Cooking stoves. Tanks of propane.
“Butch, could I ask you a huge favor?” he said while they stood admiring the gear.
“Anything, boss.”
“Would you open the door and yank our guy out of the front seat? We’re going to drive this truck out of the field, down the levee, and back to my boat. It will save us the effort of carrying this stuff.”
“I’ll help,” Haley said without hesitation.
He gave her a sideways look.
“I know what you’re thinking. Why?” She smiled. “I know what it’s like to be in shock after violence.” Her eyes went to his hands, which he held over the lip of the truck’s bed. They trembled enough to be noticed.
“Damn,” he said, pulling them behind the side of the truck.
She and Butch made short work of the task. They opened the door, pulled the man out, then Butch used his strength to drag the guy several more yards out into the corn, so he was out of sight. When they were done, they used something from the bed to wipe down the rear window. They also put a camo jacket over the seat, to hide the blood. It was more than he’d asked, but the delay gave him needed time to calm himself and bring his blood pressure back down to normal.
While they worked, he used Haley’s phone to try Grace again. After what he’d done, he needed to hear her voice. However, it went to her voicemail. He was anxious to hear her, even in recorded form, which was why he noticed she’d changed the recording again. It said she was going west, not east. A huge change.
He calmed himself before speaking, so she wouldn’t worry about him. “Hi, honey. I got your voice message. I won’t go into Denver. We’re on the river, though, heading west. I’ll try to get to where you said. TKM has been after us. They almost killed me.” It came out without him consciously saying it. Inside, he must have needed to talk to her more than he admitted. Still, he tried to end without sounding worried. “I have to go. I love you.”
Once back at the boat, they didn’t hop in and go. Ezra advised them to take their time, since there was no one coming for them. They could finally stow things in a logical way.
He grabbed three sleeping bags. Transferred two tents. He considered bringing one of the propane stoves but didn’t think it would mix well with bullets. He also thought about taking all the extra rifles, but if anyone ever figured out the three of them were responsible for the attack, they wanted the authorities to know the dead men were armed and dangerous. They already had three good rifles and bulk ammo to share between them. Finally, after loading all the new gear on the boat, he realized he’d missed a critical piece of their leisurely boarding process.
“Um, people. This is all wrong.”
“It wasn’t me,” Butch replied sarcastically.
“Yes, it was,” Ezra insisted. “You let me load all our stuff while we have a perfectly good truck at our disposal.”
Butch gave him a blank look. “I’m not tracking you.”
“We ate
