Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Dana Mentink (e books free to read TXT) 📖

relax her face into a forced smile, as if she suspected nothing, but his eyebrows jumped and his eyes flickered with recognition.

Maybe she was reading into things and Carl didn’t realize she’d recognized him. “Hi,” she said nonchalantly, racking her brain for ideas on how to buy time. She needed to communicate, to let Henry know. “You guys find the drugs yet?”

Henry spun around, his brow furrowed in confusion. Carl’s hand moved to his gun. She was out of time and options.

“He’s the killer!” She was too little, too late. Carl’s arm lifted, his eyes steadily aimed at her.

“Bobby! Run for help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, praying she’d given Henry enough warning to duck for cover, as well.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Henry spun on one foot back in the direction of Carl. His brain struggled to connect the pieces. But a gun in the man’s hand, pointed at Nora, circumvented all thought. Henry’s hand balled into a fist. He twisted and slammed his knuckles into the man’s jaw with enough force Henry cried out in pain with the contact. He’d deal with potential broken fingers later.

The gun went off. Carl stumbled backward. Henry allowed himself a quick glance, confirming the bullet hadn’t hit Nora. “Nora, run!” Carl still had the gun in his hand. They weren’t out of danger yet, and Henry didn’t have anything to fight back with except the good fifty pounds he had on the man.

Carl’s back hit a tree trunk, but he righted himself to standing as he raised his arm to shoot again. Henry ducked low and dove. The top of his head hit the deputy squarely in the ribs. They slid sideways to the ground. Rocks and thorny stems pricked Henry’s legs and arms as he fought to flip Carl over onto his back before the man could fire again or hit him with the gun.

More gunshots rang out. Except, they were in the distance. The two men stilled, and Carl’s face transformed into a sneer. “Bobby’s not going to be calling anyone for help.”

A blurry wave of brown flashed in Henry’s peripheral vision before a sick cracking noise reached his ears. In front of him, Carl crumpled. Behind him, Nora stood, trembling as a thick branch fell from her hands. She reached for Henry, pulling him upright.

“I told you to run, Nora.”

“You don’t always get to be the boss of—”

Carl growled. They both turned to see him on all fours, the gun still in his hand, preparing to get back up.

“Now we should run.” Nora sprinted off in the opposite direction of the bank. Henry almost screamed at her to follow him, but he kept on her heels. Carl yelled and launched three bullets through the air, but they seemed like wild ones fired more out of rage than precision. Nora ducked behind a massive boulder right into a dead end. If she’d thought they could hunker down and hide, and he wouldn’t find them, she was sorely—

She darted sideways through a precariously thin space between a boulder and the rock wall. “Come on,” she whispered.

Henry pursed his lips and followed. At least it would be a hiding place. Except, as they sidestepped into the shadows and ignored the disturbingly large webs above their heads, the opening widened. A natural but thin, rocky path between boulders and the rock face wall seemed to lead to an intersection of creek and river. If they could make it there, it was possible they could run away on the banks of the creek.

Nora twisted, beckoning with her hand for him to move faster. “Hurry! Carl knows about this path.”

The momentary hope vanished in an instant. Carl was only five years younger than him but seemed lithe and fit. There was no way they could outrun him. Especially since Carl had a radio, a gun and apparently more gunmen waiting for his orders.

Nora tripped on a rock and fell, crying out. He rushed forward to help. Carl would know instantly where they were. Help me find a weapon, please. David’s slingshot and rocks instantly came to mind—the story of how he’d defeated Goliath—but Henry had never been a good pitcher. He’d never so much as played Little League. He was, however, prepared to take a bullet if that meant Nora could get to safety. He leaned over, grabbed her waist and helped her to a standing position.

The bushes ten feet ahead shifted.

Nora gasped. “Henry, what—?”

A hole in the rock face appeared where the bushes had parted. How was he supposed to protect her when there was danger coming at them from every side?

“Get in here. Now,” a female voice whispered.

Henry squinted to see the face of a woman, who resembled Nora, peeking out of the shadows. The same dark hair pulled back in a braid confirmed his suspicions.

“Maya?” Nora said weakly. “Is that really you?”

The sound of shifting rock propelled him into action. Carl would barrel right around the corner in seconds at this rate. Henry would rather take his chances with Nora’s sister than the gunman, but both possibilities seemed fraught with danger. Nora, however, seemed too stunned to move. Henry placed his hands on her waist once more, lifting her up and over the next boulder. That seemed to stir her awake, and she launched into the rock face opening as Henry followed closely behind.

Maya released the bushes, which, upon closer examination, were attached to a net on the backside with long strands of wild grasses running through them for better coverage. She dropped a green canvas veil behind her and they were enveloped with darkness. “Be quiet,” she whispered. “He doesn’t know exactly where I am, but he knows the entrance is somewhere around here.”

Henry’s gut dropped. Right when Nora had finally seemed to forgive him for his part in the divide of their sisterly relationship, why had Maya needed to show up? She was clearly part of the mess they were in. Were they walking into a bigger trap?

* * *

Nora