“It’s all right,” he said as he slid out of his sleeping bag and reached for his shoes and a flashlight. “I’ll go check it out.”

He reached for the entrance flap and began to unzip it but Maya grabbed his arm.

“It’s fine. I’ll be right back,” he said. He leaned over and kissed her, stepped out of the tent, and zipped it up behind him.

Maya listened intently, staring out the window of the tent. The light of Phil’s flashlight bounced in front of him with each movement as he inched closer to the figure. But, as the light shined upon the figure, the movement stopped, and Tara could just make out the shape of a man. He just stood there a moment and Phil suddenly stopped as well out of caution.

“Can I help you?” Phil’s voice echoed off the trees, but his words were met with no reply.

The man just stood there, silent, until he reached for something on his back.

“Sir, can I help you?” Phil repeated again. “You scared the shit out of us. Why are you out here so late?”

Maya heard the panic in Phil’s voice and terror flooded her body. Again, there was no answer, and Phil repeated the question, this time even louder.

But the man only continued fidgeting with a bag that he had taken off his back. Phil shined the flashlight directly on him, trying to see what he was doing, but the light suddenly caused the man to stand upright.

Phil instinctively took a step back, and Maya began to unzip the tent. She was about to step out, to run to Phil, to do something, but just as she unzipped it, Phil’s head turned sharply toward her.

She could hear the beginnings of her name form from his lips, but then something whizzed through the air, and Phil suddenly fell to the ground.

“Maya, run!” he screamed.

Maya’s mind swirled into a haze. She looked toward the man and she could now clearly see what he held in his hands as he moved toward her—a crossbow.

Maya darted from the tent, weaving in and out of the trees as fast as she could. She had no clue what she was running toward, if it was more forest or a town, and her mind swirled with panic.

But suddenly, something pierced her leg and an excruciating pain spread through her body like a disease. She fell to her knees and tried to crawl, propelling her body forward. But then a fist met her skull, plummeting her vision into blackness.

Chapter Twelve

Tara opened her eyes as she heard a knock on the door of her hotel room, and she squinted as the early morning light shined through the thin curtains. She heard the knock again and she quickly sat up, before scrambling to throw something on.

Once she opened the door, she was surprised to see Warren standing there, ready and dressed for the day. He looked her up and down, clearly aware that she had just woken up—her hair probably pointing every which way. Had she overslept? Tara wondered, as a sudden heat rose to her face and she felt an urge to check the time.