Forever Hunted

by Kathleen Brooks

  Reagan was on her knees, tears streaming down her face. Carter didn’t think she noticed him. She was cupping one side of her face, but redness was already spreading out from behind her hand. Anger had Carter silently bending over and placing the sharpened stick on the ground. When he rose he had the club in both hands and was already pulling it back as if it were a baseball bat.

  “He’s right here.”

  Carter smirked when Mick turned at his voice. He didn’t wait. He swung right at Mick’s head. The branch hit hard and Carter felt the reverberation up his arms as the club took Mick down. Carter looked at him lying unmoving on the ground for a split second before he was on the ground in front of Reagan.

  “Are you okay? What did he do to you?” Carter asked as he gently pulled Reagan’s hand from her face and cringed. It was red and angry. He hoped Mick hadn’t broken her cheekbone.

  “I’m okay,” Reagan said after throwing her arms around his neck. Carter wrapped his arms around her and hauled her against him. When he stood, he brought her with him.

  “We need to go. We can’t be far from that town now, and we need to get you to a doctor.”

  Reagan didn’t want to bend over, but she did. Blood rushed to her head as she grabbed Mick’s rifle off the ground, forcing more tears from her eyes, but it was worth it. “Take off your belt and see if you can tie him to the tree, or at least tie his hands. We’ll send the police after him.”

  Reagan stood wobbling against the rifle as Carter went to work. Carter reached down and grabbed Mick by the arms before dragging him on his back to a large tree. He used some of the vine attached to Miss Mambo to tie him to the tree trunk. “Come on. If we hurry, we can have the police here before he wakes up.”

  Carter felt impatient. He needed to get Reagan out of there. He had to keep her safe. He promised Cy he would protect her with his life, and to do that, he needed her in a hospital and away from these woods and that man. Carter reached out and took her hand in his. He felt the diamond he’d given her twenty-four hours ago press against his palm, and the urgency increased as Reagan swayed slightly.

  He looked at the sky and noted it was midmorning. They had to have already run at least three miles, which meant they had around seven to ten more to go. Maybe less. Hopefully less. With that facial injury, running wouldn’t be high on Reagan’s list of things she would want to do.

  Carter squeezed Reagan’s hand as they began to quickly walk down the trail. He tried to stay focused on the path in front of them, but it was hard to keep from looking over his shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was to make Reagan worry. But there was no denying his own worry.

  23

  Cy was growing desperate. They had found where Reagan and Carter had spent the night, and they’d found hoofprints in the mud leading to the stream; hopefully, that meant they had found Miss Mambo. However, they also found a bullet lodged in a tree. And it was no old hunting shot from a previous deer season. It was fresh.

  Robyn had been working nonstop. Her tongue hung out of her mouth and her normally perky tail was starting to sag. She was now resting in Ahmed’s arms as the group stared at the broken vines around a tree trunk and a brown leather belt with a brass-plated nametag that read CARTER ASHTON on the ground.

  “Who was tied up?” Will asked as he bent to pick up his son’s belt.

  “And where are they now?” Cy asked the question they were all wondering.

  Robyn growled low in her throat as she tensed in Ahmed’s arms. “What is it, Spawn?” Ahmed cooed quietly to the red dog. He set her down and using her hunter-pointer instincts, Robyn faced the woods, lifted her front paw into a point, and froze.

  It was then Cy heard it. A rustling deep in the woods.

  “Someone’s coming,” Miles said tensely. “Nash.”

  Miles didn’t need to say more. Nash took off down the path and disappeared silently into the woods as Cy and Miles went the opposite direction before disappearing into the woods. They would surround whoever was coming, hopefully Mick, and then find Carter and Reagan.

  Ahmed and Cy already had their guns drawn and had taken defensive positions behind trees. Cy pointed to a large tree for Will to hide behind as they waited. They tensed as the rustling turned into footfalls and then those footfalls stopped at the tree where the vines had been broken.

  Cy looked to Ahmed, and when he nodded, they made their move. Robyn leapt from the brush, teeth bared, as Cy and Ahmed stepped out with guns leveled.

  “What are you doing here?” Cy asked with surprise.

  Matt and Annie stared at them with hands on hips as Miles and Nash stepped from the woods with their guns lowered.

  “We followed Mick. His trail comes out here. What are you doing . . . oh no.” Annie looked at the vines and then over to Will, who was still holding Carter’s belt in his hand. Her eyes scanned the ground and the tree as her body tensed. “There’s blood on the tree.”

  “I know,” Ahmed said quietly, his eyes darting to Will’s.

  “Blood? You didn’t tell me there was blood.”

  “For what it’s worth, I can tell you it’s not Reagan’s. It’s too high up.” Nash walked around the tree and pointed to the back. “Someone was tied in a sitting position. You can see where the vines rubbed on the bark until they broke.”

  “So either Mick or Carter is injured,” Will said. His square jaw, so similar to his son’s, was working hard as he ground his teeth together with worry.

  “What did we miss?”

  Cy turned when he heard Cade’s voice to see him and Marshall jogging down the path toward them. They had called out as soon as they had a visual on the large group huddled around a tree.

  “Yeah,” Marshall yelled. “What are you all doing here in the same place?”

  “This is where all our paths converged,” Ahmed told them as they stared at the tree and then at the ground around them.

  “Mick, Miss Mambo, Carter, and Reagan were all here?” Cade asked, kissing his wife who nodded the answer to his question.

  “The question is, were they were all here together, and who was tied to the tree?” Cy asked rhetorically.

  “I see horse hooves and three sets of footprints. Whether or not they were here together, they’re all headed the same direction,” Nash called out from farther down the path.

  “Which means we need to hurry. We can’t be far behind them now. Come on. Let’s get our kids back,” Cy said tightly as he took off jogging down the path. Robyn and Ahmed trotted behind him as the rest filled in. Cy was beginning to feel a familiar tightness in his chest. It was the same feeling he got when he was on a mission and knew his cover had been blown. Time was running out.

  * * *

  Gemma looked to her right at Porter and nodded. She looked to her left at Parker and nodded. Together they walked forward into the shadowed woods. They’d been walking all morning but had seen no sign of Reagan, Carter, Miss Mambo, or Mick.

  Miss Vilma had been able to find two more rifles locked in her women’s club for Porter and Parker before they took off into the woods, so at least Gemma felt protected. Dr. Ava was escorted a short distance behind her by Dale, whom Luke had ordered to stay with her to protect her in case they came across Mick. At the last stop they made in a clearing about two miles from town, Luke had pulled Ava aside and asked her if she’d rather turn back. Ava had assured him she was more than capable of hiking through the woods. Ava was just as determined as the rest of them to find Carter and Reagan. Knowing they had a doctor with them calmed Gemma a bit. Somewhere in the great big forest that stretched across the mountains were her daughter and Carter. And somehow she had to find them before they were hurt. Everyone knew time was of the essence.

  * * *

  Reagan laced her hand with Carter’s as they strode down the path. She kept looking behind her. Her heart would seize until she saw that Mick wasn’t behind them. Then it would resume beating again.

  “Carter, I can’t help but think we should take a different

route.”

  “Does it matter? He knows where we’re going. The faster we get there, the faster we can have the police capture him.”

  “I know. It’s just that I can’t help but feel he’s behind us.”

  Carter looked around them and then nodded. “We can cross here. Try to find another animal trail on the other side.”

  Carter had Miss Mambo’s lead in one hand and Reagan’s hand in the other as they began to slowly cross the stream. It was deeper now, hitting Reagan at her thighs. Gone was the worry about taking off shoes. Gone was the worry about having dry clothes. It was now all about survival and moving quickly.

  “Thanks,” Reagan said over the sound of moving water. “I feel better—”

  Bang!

  Miss Mambo reared up in the air, yanking her lead from Carter’s hand and racing from the water. Carter was knocked off balance and fell into the stream, taking Reagan with him. Before she landed in the water, she saw Mick with a pistol raised and shoved Carter’s head underwater a second before Mick fired at them again.

  Pulling Carter’s hand hard, she dragged him underwater with her as she swam downstream for all she was worth. She swam until her lungs burned and her vision became spotted. Only then did she dare to surface.

  “How did he get free?” Carter sputtered as he helped pull her to the shore from the water that was quickly turning to rapids. Swimming was no longer an option.

  “Who cares? He’s free now, and he’s after us.” As if to prove her point, Mick fired again. The bullet sank into the water near her feet as she scrambled out of the stream and up the embankment.

  In the distance, they heard Miss Mambo tearing through the woods downhill from them. Now all they had to do was follow.

  “Wait!” Reagan hissed as she went onto one knee behind a tree on the bank. “Let’s give him something to think about.”

  Reagan waited until Mick came running into view, and she fired off a shot. Mick fell backward, her shot hitting him in upper chest near his shoulder. Mick would be in pain, but it was questionable where she hit him—high by an inch and he’d be fine. Low by an inch and he could be bleeding out. Right now she’d give anything to have her own rifle.

  “Now let’s go.”

  Reagan stood and Carter spun her toward him and kissed her. The kiss was hard and fast. “I’m marrying you the second we get into that town. Now go.”

  Reagan winked as she ran past him. Her cheek throbbed and her ankle was sore, but at least the shooting pain from both injuries was gone. And she felt powerful. She was not defenseless. She was going to bring Mick to his knees, even if it mean she had to shoot them out.

  * * *

  “Reagan!” Gemma shouted as soon as she heard the gunshots in the distance. After living with her husband for more than thirty years, Gemma knew the distance of a gunshot. That one was at least a mile or two away, but now she knew where to go.

  Porter and Parker were already racing ahead of her. Gemma hurried after them as Luke pulled her back. “Let us handle this!”

  DeAndre and Ryan were converging from the right and left of Gemma, followed by groups of volunteers they had been leading when they had spread out through the woods.

  “Like hell! That’s my daughter!” Gemma shoved Luke’s hand off her arm and ran. Luke easily passed her, but he didn’t try to stop her again.

  “Gemma!” Gemma turned to see tears running down Kenna’s determined face. “Save my son!”

  Gemma nodded and took off running again. Kenna was coming, but she was farther back and unarmed.

  “Come on, Mrs. D. We’ll get there together,” Ava said, slowing her pace to run beside Gemma. Gemma wasn’t out of shape, but she wasn’t twenty anymore either. Pure motherly instincts to protect her child had her passing many of the volunteers as every fiber of her body drove her toward her daughter.

  Gemma said a quick prayer that they wouldn’t find Carter or Reagan shot a second before she heard the distinct sound of a rifle returning fire. Two guns. Gemma smiled. Her daughter was armed and that changed the whole situation.

  * * *

  Cy stumbled to a stop at the sound of the first gunshot. He looked to Miles and then to Ahmed. Without a word, they begin running toward the sound. Matt and Nash were already ahead of them. Robyn tugged at her leash as she practically dragged Ahmed forward. He reached down and pulled off the bright orange vest and unclipped the tracking leash. “Heel, Spawn!” he ordered as Robyn slowed to run right by his side.

  “Matt, Nash, flank,” Ahmed gave the command and neither young man stopped to ask what it meant. Matt went to the right, Nash to the left. Ahmed and Cy and the rest of them went straight down the center of the path.

  Minutes later, a rifle shot was heard. Cy grinned. That was a different gun. His daughter was fighting back. “Hang on, baby.”

  24

  Reagan gripped the rifle in her hand as she ran. She had to be selective with her shots since ammunition was limited to whatever was left in the magazine. Reagan caught a glimpse of Miss Mambo forcing her way down the deer trail ahead. Limbs were broken, grass was trampled, and then Miss Mambo was once again out of sight.

  Reagan felt she owed it to Suzanne to make sure Miss Mambo survived, and she swore right then that she and Carter would take care of Miss Mambo forever. That was, if they could get out of this alive. Reagan looked back over her shoulder briefly and saw Carter right behind her. His face was set in unwavering determination as they both breathed hard through their mouths as they ran.

  The trees began to spread out as the woods became less dense. Since they were no longer closed in, more sunlight began to fill the shadows of the forest. The path grew wider and Carter closed in to run side-by-side with her. Reagan slowed as she looked around. “We must be coming closer to the base of the mountain. I think there’s some kind of clearing ahead.”

  She took deep breaths as she pulled the sweat- and stream-soaked shirt from her body in hopes of cooling down. She was in shape, but running for her life through a hot and humid forest for two miles was not something you could train for in the gym.

  Carter slowed next to her and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. He raised his finger to his lips, and they both stopped to listen to the sounds of the woods. They could hear the clear sound of Mick racing toward them from a distance.

  Reagan looked around. It was strange how idyllic the location was. Butterflies flitted about, sun streamed through the trees, and leaves danced along in the summer breeze. It would have been romantic and peaceful if not for the madman chasing them. Instead, she looked past the beauty and searched the area. With thinning trees, they were no longer hidden as well. There wasn’t a place to hide in time that would allow for an escape.

  “Let’s see if we can find cover up ahead.” Reagan didn’t wait for Carter to agree. She took off, needing to see what was through the trees to better determine a place to take another shot at Mick. It was their best chance of getting out alive. Reagan pushed aside the fact she might have to kill someone. Her father had trained her to clear her mind—to do what needed to be done without hesitation. Reagan shoved her emotions deep inside her: the fear, the guilt, the overwhelming knowledge that she might take someone’s life, or worse, that she and Carter might lose theirs if she didn’t do that. Instead, she focused on the sound of the woods and every breath she took. She focused on her own energy and calmed her mind. Slowly a level of clarity unlike anything she’d ever experienced settled over her. Reagan knew what she had to do, and she was going to do it.

  She had so much adrenaline coursing through her body it hummed. Her heart pounded and her lungs burned, but she felt no pain. Her ankle could be broken and she wouldn’t have known it. And when she burst out of the trees and into the open, she let her body’s momentum carry her down the five-foot embankment and into the narrow offshoot of the stream they’d been following. The stream was shallow and dotted with large limestone rocks standing two or three feet tall scattered throughout it. The stream was surrounded on each side by five-foot embankments that cut a swath through the woods. Their options were to either run right or left and back into the woods, or to cross the stream. Thick trees stood tall and strong on either side that could provide enough cover for her to make a stand with her rifle. She’d already made her decision without pausing in her stride.

  Carter splashed through the stream behind her. Reagan’s thighs burned as she sprinted up and over the moss, grass, and stone-littered embankment. Relief and victory flooded her as she reached the top. They were going to make it.

  “Carter, we’re—“

  But then she heard Mick close behind them. “Stop or I’ll kill him!”

  Reagan leapt behind the nearest tree. Her back slammed against the rough bark as she quickly turned her head to look for Carter. But he wasn’t beside her. Reagan slowly leaned her head around the thick trunk and looked out. Carter was halfway up the embankment with his hands up. He couldn’t have been more than five feet behind her. They had been so close.

  Mick was across the stream standing on top of the embankment with a pistol he must have had hidden on him, leveled on Carter. Carter never turned around to face Mick. Instead, he kept his eyes glued on hers. “Go,” he mouthed, but Reagan wouldn’t leave him. There was no way she could do that. She needed to buy enough time to come up with a plan.

  “Come out, Reagan, or I’ll shoot him.” Mick yelled. Carter shook his head ordering her to stay hidden.

  “Run,” Carter mouthed again.

  Reagan shook her head and ducked behind the tree, pressing her rifle tightly to her chest. If she could get a shot off . . . She looked around the tree again and found that Mick was similarly using a large tree at the top of the embankment to shield most of his body. But his arm with the gun aimed at Carter was clearly visible.

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