“I don’t know if you guys can understand me. I don’t even know if you remember who I am. But at the moment that doesn’t matter.” He spoke with the same tone he would use in a huddle with the game on the line. “What matters, men, is that we have a job to do … and not much time to do it. Truth is, not much has changed since last night. We still have a game to win, and we still have an opponent who will do anything in its power to keep us from winning it. If you’ll follow me now, I can assure you we will win. If you don’t . . .” He shared a glance with Savannah. “If you don’t follow me, I can only say that we will have already lost. We will have lost more than you could ever know.”

He spun the ball, setting the laces firmly at his fingers. As fast as he could, he fired a tight spiral at Shane Butler’s numbers. Shane’s hands came up. The ball slapped the receiver’s palms with a blistering crack, only to be tucked away in robotic fashion at his side.

Cole made eye contact with each man. When he got to the end of the row, he pointed to the door of the bus. “Load up, men. We have work to do.”

CHAPTER 23

YOU sure you don’t want to take a seat?”

Savannah looked into the back of the bus. “There aren’t any seats. At least, none that are still bolted down. And if it’s all the same, I’d rather not get any closer to your little friends back there than I have to.”

She stood on the top step beside the open door as Cole struggled to steer the bus over the rough terrain. They had been driving parallel to the river for twenty minutes, but had made little progress. The topography seemed to grow more treacherous with each passing minute. They crept over another large rock and pitched sideways. Everything in the vehicle shifted. Savannah took hold of the stair rail to keep from falling out the door.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Logan.”

“The river narrows and curves about three hundred yards ahead. The cliffs end just beyond. Been riding my bike around these parts my whole life. We should be able to cut through the woods and get onto FM Four just past the curve. At least it’s paved.”

The gears shrieked as he downshifted to get over a steep dip.

“I meant that I hope you know what you’re doing about them.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

“Oh.” Cole glanced into the mirror above his head. His teammates looked like lost, comatose children scattered over the debris and the upended seats. “Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“I saw you feel O’Dell’s neck for a pulse.”

He nodded.