Page 126 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

I gritted my teeth and took another step. Then another before I stopped.

Why was I making this easy on her? Screw this bitch. With a smirk at my lips, I dropped to my knees, the pain unbearable but I grunted through it. Then I shifted and sat on my ass.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a breather.” I lifted one shoulder, stretching my neck in an attempt to wipe some of the blood off my face. It hurt like a mother, but when I straightened, there was a red smear on the strap of my white tank.

“Get up,” she barked.

“No, thanks. I’m good here.” My head throbbed, but my focus was sharpening. I let it wake me up. I let it push me to fight.

At the dojo where I’d trained in Bozeman, my senseis, Cole included, had always said the best way to learn was to face an opponent better than you. Rain was better positioned. She had the knife. I had a concussion.

But I couldn’t lose this fight. I couldn’t die on this ridge.

“Get. Up.” Rain kicked my ankle, the sole of her hiking boot scraping the skin raw.

I winced, took that pain and added it to the rest, embracing it as fuel. “No.”

“I will kill you here.”

“And drag me the rest of the way?” I huffed. “Even a

rookie cop would be able to tell that my body was dragged. So unless you want everyone in the county to start asking the questions I’ve been asking for months about these alleged suicides, no, you won’t kill me here.”

The air was lodged in my lungs as I waited for her to respond. A bold move, asserting myself, but at this point, what did I have to lose?

Griffin.

I would lose Griffin.

Find me, Griff. When I didn’t show up for dinner, he would go looking, right? He’d find my car. He’d ask Pops. Hopefully they’d go to Frank’s place and see through that bastard’s bullshit.

Griffin had been right about Frank, and I’d been too clouded by family history to see the lies.

“Did you put Harmony’s purse and Lily’s wallet on the trail for Briggs to find?”

Rain kicked my hip and it took every ounce of my willpower not to cry out. “Get up.”

“Or maybe you put them out there for me to find, hoping that I’d think Briggs had killed them.” I shifted as I spoke so my body would shield my hands.

The dirt was like sandpaper against my fingertips as I clawed at the ground, searching for a sharp rock or edge that I might be able to use to break the zip tie at my wrists. Cops preferred cuffs because even behind the back, a person could break the ties. All you had to do was make some space and slam down hard. But I couldn’t lift my shoulder, not with enough strength to break the tie.

“It almost worked. I did suspect him.”

“But you did nothing.”

“You didn’t leave me enough evidence,” I sneered, at her and the trail. This spot where I’d plopped down was smooth.

“Up. Now.” Another kick. Another wince. But otherwise, I didn’t move.

“Did you hit them over the head like you hit me? Was that how you got them out here?”

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t find any blood around Lily’s car. No signs of a struggle. What did you do? Trick her into thinking she was meeting Frank?”

Rain’s glare narrowed. “Stop. Asking. Questions.”