He’d never wanted to kiss her more. Instead he bent under a tree branch and crouched low, running past the burning cabin to the body on the ground.

No shots were fired.

He didn’t relax. The downed figure was dressed in all black, from head to toe. Angus scouted the area and then ripped off the balaclava covering the man’s face. Buzz-cut blond hair, wide features, a couple of scars on his neck. The man had to be in his midthirties and was solidly built.

Angus felt for a pulse. Nothing. He’d aimed for center mass and his bullet had found its target.

Roscoe barked. Once. Sharp.

Bullets pinged the ground next to Angus, and he leapt toward the burning car.

Nari instantly returned fire, shooting toward the blue truck. This close, Angus could make out the color. Navy blue without a front license plate. It was the same truck that had chased him down before. Bullets winged out of the brush near the truck, and Angus crouched behind the burning vehicle. Fire singed him, and he angled himself as far away from the sizzling metal as he could, returning fire.

Another figure dressed in all black leapt toward the navy-blue truck and jumped in the passenger side.

Angus stood. Another explosion rocked the car, blowing him back toward the cabin. He landed on a burning piece of wood and bellowed as pain pierced his rib cage.

The driver of the truck backed up so quickly the vehicle hit a tree.

Angus gasped and rolled over, scrambling to his knees. He aimed at the truck, firing as it turned and sped down the dirt road, while Nari did the same.

It disappeared from view.

She ran the distance between them, skirting burning metal and wood. “Are you okay?” She grasped his bare shoulder.

He looked down at his rib cage. “Yeah. Just a slight burn.” It hurt like a mother. He stood, taking in the ruins. “I don’t suppose you grabbed your phone before we ran out the back door?” he gasped, leaning over and trying to find some oxygen.

She slowly shook her head, water sluicing down her front. “No. You?”

“No.” He stood and motioned for Roscoe to leave the body alone. “It’s gonna be a long walk.” He adjusted his boxers and switched his gun to his other hand. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Dawn arrived, its soft light washing over the wet forest outside with a golden hue. The rain had stopped, started again, and now was taking a well-deserved break. Nari’s feet hurt, her head ached, and she kept sneezing as she waited in the back room of a mom-and-pop convenience store they’d stumbled upon nearly an hour before.

The matronly owner handed her hot chocolate, and Nari let the blanket around her shoulders drop just enough to accept the fragrant brew. Then the woman left to go watch the counter.