by Lisa Daniels
“God, what the hell is happening?” Her eyes darted around her, and she prayed that no one materialized and killed her while her leg was too cramped to hold her weight. “God, what the hell? What the hell.” Her muttered words were barely louder than the small stream moving just beside her.
As soon as she was able to relax the muscle, Naomi pulled out her phone. There was still no signal, and she had no idea what to do next. Getting back to her car would be best, but there was no guarantee it would start up. After all, the only reason she got out of it was because it had stalled. Now there was a bullet hole in the side, and there was no telling if that had done harm to any necessary components.
Naomi had always meant to learn more about cars. It seemed ridiculous to rely on something like that and not be able to work on it. As it was, she could change the oil and a flat tire, but she had never made more time to learn about them. Not that it would have helped if she needed a part all the way out here. It was true that she had mostly stopped driving since she had started at the school, but Naomi did visit her parents at least every other month, so it wasn’t like the car was completely idle. She also kept up with the oil changes and made sure it had adequate fuel in the winter so that it didn’t freeze in the tank. The last time she had taken it in for a tune-up was nearly two years ago, but she had not driven it enough to reach the next mileage for a tune-up.
A jarring thought took her off guard: What if they shot my car, forcing me to stop? Her gaze moved around like a deer that knew something was wrong. It was an interesting thought, but the car had taken a few cranks the last couple of times she had driven it. It was more likely that the car had needed to go into the shop, but she had paid enough attention with everything else.
“Idiot. You should have paid attention and gotten that taken care of instead of planning a weekend around an asshole. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” Naomi was barely able to keep her voice low as she berated herself.
Letting out a long sigh, Naomi shook her head. “That’s not helping. Not quite sure what will at this point, but that certainly doesn’t help. Doesn’t even make me feel better.” She rubbed her temples and tried to collect her thoughts. She didn’t know where she was, let alone how to get back to her car. There had never been a reason to stop here because an hour in the car did not require a stop. Naomi knew nothing about the area except that there was a lot of forest and that they occasionally did burns to keep the thickets under control. And that was the extent of her knowledge.
Her mother had insisted that Naomi keep a map of the area in her car, and at the moment that map was sitting in the glove compartment doing no good whatsoever.
“Come on, Naomi. Stop thinking about what you don’t have, and focus on what you do have.”
A voice nearby caused her to ball up on the ground, her back pushing into the soft wall as hard as she could.
“I saw her go this way.”
“Get the dogs. We really don't have time for this, what with one of those things being in the area.”
“But the dogs are currently on its trail. If we take them to look for her—”
“It can wait, especially since it seems a lot slower and more docile than the rest. I mean, what are the odds that something like that is going to be able to find reasonable camouflage here? It stands out like a sore thumb. And it doesn’t have the speed that the more common ones have, so I think that we will be able to track it just fine.”
“Yeah, but you saw what it did to Harold. For something so cuddly looking, that thing is vicious.”
“Go do what you’ve been told. We need to neutralize this unexpected threat. I believe she was brought in as a decoy, and now that we are distracted, they will act. We can’t let them get away with it, but we don’t know what they are planning. That means we need to either catch the decoy or kill her. Judging by the way she ran, I doubt she has any idea what her role is. Poor little lamb being used by the bears.”
“Don’t you mean wolves?” Naomi listened to the silence, then the second voice mumbled, “I’m sorry. I’ll leave now.”
Naomi felt too terrified to laugh at the bizarre exchange, but her mind had latched on to one key thing. They were fighting some group, and they thought that she was somehow tied to that group. Obviously this was some kind of terrible business, and she had landed right in the middle of it. The rumors had gone around campus about a couple of meth rings around the town, and there was a bust not that long ago. Maybe that even happened near here, although Naomi had thought that bust had been quite a ways away. Reprimanding herself for not paying more attention to the things outside of school, Naomi started to calm down.
If they were going to get dogs, and they weren’t sure how much she knew, maybe it would be best just to give herself up, explain her situation and go about her way.
That idea was quickly discounted because whoever these people were, it was clear they shot first and asked questions if the person survived. Turning herself over would be just as likely to get her killed as trying to run away. As least if she was free, there was the hope that she could escape, and at the moment that was far better than just willingly going with people who had shot at her without any warning. While it was true they may have missed on purpose, they clearly were not messing around. Underestimating their ruthlessness would probably get her killed.
All I need to do is find a cabin or small town. I know there has to be something around here. Vacation homes, remote places for eccentric rich people. There is something. I just have to survive long enough to find it.
Her mind raced while her ears listened to the man walking around not too far from her current position. When she could no longer hear him, she immediately moved away from her spot and stepped into the water. It wasn’t much, barely covering the bottoms of her shoes, but it was better than running directly along the ground with dogs coming after her.
The progress was slow at first because she didn’t want the sound of splashing water to attract the attention of the man who had stuck around. As soon as she felt that she was out of earshot, Naomi began running, her focus on putting as much distance between her and the men who were looking for her.
After a while, the water grew deeper and wider, and she knew that she was heading back toward Deep River. At least that is something, she thought as her lungs screamed at her. Forced to slow down, Naomi ignored the fact that she could barely feel her feet as she jogged through as deep a part of the water as she dared. It slowed her down even more, but she hoped that it would make it more difficult for the dogs. If it hadn’t been so cold, she would have swum down the middle of it.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Naomi kept her focus on moving forward until she noticed a chimney sticking out over some trees. She felt a twinge of disappointment that there wasn’t any smoke, but if it came down to it, she was willing to break a window to get access to a phone. And any place this remote was pretty much guaranteed to have a phone so that the occupants could call out and connect to the Internet. She had a fleeting thought about how hard it must have been for people 100 years before, but most of Naomi’s mind tried to keep her body going forward. The small body of water had steeper banks on both sides, so she would have to continue running through the water for a ways.
Her teeth chattering, Naomi hoped that the bank on the right would break so that she could start making her way toward the chimney. On the plus side, she had not heard anything behind her to indicate that she was still being followed. The problem was that she wasn’t certain that she could keep going for much longer. She was exhausted, her lungs were hurting, her throat felt like it was on fire, and her stomach was starting to protest the cruel treatment over the last 24 hours. She had no idea how much further she could push herself.
The only real defense Naomi had against her physical fatigue was the fact that her mind could occupy her attention enough to make her ignore her body. It was constantly analyzing and evaluating her surroundings because that was how she had learned most of her life. It felt li
ke all she had to do was flip a switch and she would be able to make it. Once she was inside, Naomi would worry about taking care of her body—she already knew that she was going to be in really rough shape.
Minutes passed, but she finally reached a place where the bank had a shallow slope. Veering to the right, she hurried up, keeping the chimney in her line of sight. It was going to be necessary to guess the direction once she was in the trees, but as long as she had a few other points of reference, Naomi felt she would make it.
Hope was starting to spread through her when Naomi’s foot hit something. She could barely feel it, but it sent her rolling down a short embankment.
“Well, well, well, it looks like we can call off the hunt. The prey has come to us.”
Naomi couldn’t feel her feet, but there was a very sharp pain in her wrist. Keeping her eyes closed, she mentally begged them to just leave her there. Then she felt a boot roughly kick her thigh.
There was a derisive laugh from somewhere nearby. “Ah, I dare say the little decoy has no clue what she has gotten herself into. I would even bet the poor thing doesn’t speak English.”
Naomi had to force herself to keep from gritting her teeth at the man’s words. If that is the worst that happens, I will be fine. She knew it was stupidly optimistic, but at this point it was the best she had to give herself any hope of making it out alive.
“So what should we do with her? I’m not up for playing guard over something like that.”
“We’ll wait for Stan. He can make the decision. I don’t think he will want to keep her around either, so I best make the most of her while she’s still warm.”
To her horror, Naomi felt her body being lifted off the ground. Too terrified to do anything, she froze as she felt the man carry her away from his companion. The only thought she could manage showed her totally detached mental state: I’ve lost my glasses. She was too afraid to allow herself to consider what was about to happen.
Chapter 6
An Unexpected Turn
Naomi hung like a rag doll in the man’s muscular arms. When he finally stopped walking, she tensed up, ready to fight.
“What the hell are you doing here?” The voice was a sharp hiss close to her ear. Her body was shifted into a more comfortable position. “My God, you feel like you are freezing, and I don’t have anything I can give you here. Shit. This is—”
Naomi opened her eyes and saw the blurry profile of Silas’ face as he looked around the area. Too shocked to say or do anything, she didn’t move.
“There’s got to be something around here. Anything to wrap you up for the time being.”
Hesitantly, Naomi spoke, “There’s something up the hill somewhere. I could see it from the stream.” Her teeth chattered hard enough that it was difficult to tell what she was saying.
Silas looked down at her, “That’s private property, and belongs to a rather litigious group. I doubt they will look kindly on anyone breaking in to their retreat.”
“Are you working with them? Are you part of a drug ring? Is that why you have so many wealthy people in your family? Wait, are they actually your blood relatives?” Her voice got a little higher as the questions began to pile up.
“Oh my God, is this really the time for you to be asking questions about anything? If we don’t get you out of here, you are going to die. And in your current state, it isn’t even going to be those guys who kill you. Your body temperature is dropping, and the alcohol in your system is not helping.”
Naomi tried to push on his chest. “I do not want to be saved by a person who deals drugs. I knew you were too nice, too different. Put me down!” She nearly shouted as Silas moved her into a less comfortable position. “Get off of me!” Her voice echoed around them. Half expecting him to try to shut her up, Naomi began to wiggle so that she could scream again.
“Good thinking. That will make it more believable, and buy us a little more time.”
“What?” She stopped moving just long enough for Silas to get a better grip on her. He threw her over his shoulder and began to walk quickly away from the camp.
“Well, clearly I can’t get you out of here and pretend to keep being one of them, can I? Was really hoping to be able to use their unexpected disorganization to get more intel because it took us months to get to this point. Knew it was going to end soon, but we had hoped to have another week or two of this cover. Only Alaric and I were able to get in like this, but clearly that cover is going to be blown as soon as they realize I’m not actually one of them. God, that is going to be a difficult conversation, although…” Naomi had a feeling that Silas was more talking through his thoughts than talking to her. She had no idea what he meant or who the people were. Then again he hadn’t said that they weren’t part of a drug ring.
Her stomach lurched as Silas shifted a bit. “Oh, I feel sick.” Naomi tried to hold her stomach, which was not easy from her position on his shoulder. The blurry area around them only made her feel worse, so she closed her eyes tight.
“Oh, right, sorry. There is just no good way to carry you, is there? Oh!” He stopped walking and set her down. “Get on my back. That should help warm you up and keep you from being jostled more than necessary. I could give you my coat, too. Heaven knows, I don’t need the damn thing. You’ll find something of yours in the coat pocket.”
Naomi’s stomach lurched again as he placed her gently on the ground. He quickly removed his coat. “It isn’t going to help your legs, but I can work on them a little while carrying you. Should keep your core warm so maybe your temperature doesn’t drop any further.” He slipped the coat around her. “Breast pocket for your item.” Naomi watched as he crouched down in front of her, just like the night before, but this time she felt differently about the gesture. She had been too trusting the night before. Now she was in a terrible position, and she had no desire to just trust someone she barely knew.
Her hand went to the breast pocket and carefully tucked in were her glasses. He must have picked them up when he lifted me off the ground. One of the lenses was broken, but it was still better than not being able to see at all. She stuck them on her face, then turned and ran toward the water.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Silas had noticed her running away, and his voice reverberated around her. Naomi hoped that he would be too shocked to come after her. Maybe her running away would be what he needed to go back to the group, whatever it was he was doing there. He claimed to be undercover, but he was a student, not a cop. And he claimed Alaric was involved. If anything, it was probably a drug war or something, and she had ended up right in the middle of it.
Her heart racing and her legs feeling like they were about to give out, Naomi ran as fast as she could manage under her current circumstances. She thought she saw the creek she had been running through earlier and she hoped that she could return to it. If she was going to be killed, they were going to have to work for it. Trying to push out the feeling of betrayal that Silas was somehow involved, Naomi tried to focus only on getting away. No matter how fast she ran, though, or how often she veered in a different direction, she could hear Silas catching up to her. He was not shouting at her, which made her feel a little relief because it meant that he was not providing a way for the others to find them.
Some of the strange things that Silas had said the night before seemed to make a little more sense now. Without knowing what he did in his “free time” it would have been impossible to understand that he was thinking about today. Perhaps there was going to be a big drug war after the fall of one of the larger groups. There was always a power vacuum that would mean the different drug rings would be more active trying to fill the hole left by the one ring getting busted. She cursed herself for not following something so important, so near to where she lived, more closely. It was incredibly irresponsible. Of course, it was easy to think that those kinds of things were too far removed to matter. If she made it out alive, Naomi would never ignore the local news again.
Suddenly, the land se
emed to rapidly slope in front of her, and Naomi knew that the creek must be nearby. A slight glimmer of hope made her push herself a little harder. With a burst of speed, she headed toward it, planning to slide down to the water if needed.
Then she felt something yank her backwards. “What the hell are you doing? Are you still drunk or something? You are running right—”
Silas was interrupted by the sound of a gun going off. Naomi froze and her eyes started looking around, then they focused in on the sound of a voice. “I told you he wasn’t one of us.” A man stood not too far in front of her with a rifle, another man standing beside them. The pair must have heard her running and come up to look. That meant she was not heading toward the stream, but was instead running straight toward the men she wanted to escape. Then her mind picked up on what they said. She didn’t feel any pain, but apparently they weren’t paying attention to her at the moment. That means—
Slowly, her head automatically turned back toward Silas. His hands were covered in blood, and his black shirt appeared to be getting wet from the inside. Then she saw the hole, just barely, and then she could see the blood flowing out of it, causing it to look wet. His eyes looked up at hers, then he turned and looked at the two men standing on top of a nearby bank, the smug looks on their faces obvious.
There was a low rumble from somewhere in his chest, and before she could do anything, like duck, Silas pulled two guns out from behind his back. There was something very primal about the sound, almost inhuman. It terrified her almost as much as the blood flowing out of his wound. Her mind began to analyze her reaction as her eyes tried to follow everything going on in front of her.