Page 27 of Breathe Me In

“I can’t see him!” She held on to the dash and seat as she watched behind us. “Maybe we lost him?” She tried to sound hopeful. “Wait, Brad, am I wrong to say this road leads to a—”

I slammed on my brakes and spun the car around to face the way we came. I quickly cut the engine and the lights. The bright-yellow dead end sign was all that was visible as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Bree’s heavy breathing as she looked around told me she was all right.

“I can definitely say, I prefer being the predator.” She tried to joke, but fear made her voice quiver.

“Agreed.” I scanned the dark trees, but it was nearly impossible to see anything.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the entire forest around us like someone had turned the sun into a giant flashlight and pointed it in our faces. The power of it was blinding.

“Get down!” I grabbed her head and shoved it down and bent over top of her as I waited for the shots. I heard the stun gun fall to the floor. Thank God it’s not a real gun flashed through my brain.

Her body shook under me as we waited for something to happen. I raised myself enough to peek over the dash as the light suddenly went out. Slowly, I lifted my head and tried to adjust my eyes, which were still trying to recover from the blinding light. I could see flashing lights from police cars through the trees. “I think he’s gone.”

She sat up, and we both looked around. There was no sign of the truck.

“Shit.” She ran a shaky hand through her hair and looked at me. “That was intense. Those lights were crazy bright.”

“He must have some sort of light bar or spotlight.” A loud bang made her jump, and she grabbed a fistful of my jacket.

“It’s okay,” I whispered close to her ear. “It’s one of the officers’ cars hitting that same bump as we did.”

“Okay.” She shook her head a few times. “Same bump,” she repeated as she slowly eased back, but her death grip stayed on my jacket.

“I got you—I promise.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew. Her eyes widened, and the sadness that passed through them pierced my chest like a knife. “He’s gone.” I tried to pretend I hadn’t felt that moment from the river between us.

“Right.” She straightened, and her hold on my jacket loosened. “Well, this is why you chase the bad guys and I deal with finding kids.” She picked up the stun gun, quickly turned it off, and returned it to the glove box.

An officer jumped out of his car and rushed over to us. I saw it was Bostwick, and I got out to join him. Smith was right on his heels.

“You guys all right?”

“Yeah.”

Bostwick quickly filled me in. “Cap’s got an APB out on the truck, but the plates were stolen, and we didn’t see anything as we drove down here.”

I went back to my car and removed a high-powered flashlight as Bree stepped out. She kept a hand on the door like her legs were shaky. I turned on the flashlight and swept it across the tree trunks, but I couldn’t see anything.

“Christ, this place gives me the creeps.” Bostwick rubbed his hand along the back of his neck as he looked at Bree. “You okay, Miss Bree?”

“Oh yeah.” She forced a smile. “This shit happens daily for me.” He chuckled, but Bree didn’t join in.

“Must stir up some memories.” He tilted his head at her.

Bree shot me a quick look before she turned away.

“Bostwick, you’re an asshole,” I growled. He hadn’t been around much longer than Smith, but at least Smith had the ability to read people. I knew Bostwick had been warned not to mention the Barbed Wire Killer around me, but he should have smartened up after his Google search at the bar.

“Sorry.” Bostwick shrugged. “You guys ready to go?” He looked around. “I’ve seen Blair Witch one too many times for my subconscious to be cool with this place.”

“Yeah, but first, do me a favor and drop this off to Wes.” I handed him an evidence bag containing the envelope with the green substance. He didn’t question it. He knew better. “All right, let’s get out of here.” I pointed for Bree to get back into the car. “Thanks, guys.”

“Sure thing.” Bostwick waved, and we all drove back out to the main road. Bree’s eyes were as big as saucers, and she kept her head on a swivel until we hit the city limit.

“Home is that way.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to head to the ranch.” I didn’t trust we weren’t still being watched. “Whoever that was wanted to make a point, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t need them knowing where our families live.”

She sat back and thought about what I said. “Okay, that makes sense. My truck’s not far from the station. I can sleep there tonight.”