Nothing but blessed silence, save the howling wind and brutal rain.
They wouldn’t have given up. They’d probably gone to get their cars.
If she kept going while they backtracked, she had a chance to escape before they figured out her identity. But where should she go?
She searched the area. The beach.
Yes, that’s it.
They couldn’t follow her there in their cars.
Lungs still screaming for air, she kicked into gear again. When she saw no traffic, she crossed the road, barreling down the hill and onto the sand. She heard sirens swirling closer and then stopping on the road behind her.
No! They must have seen the direction she’d headed. She was too far away for them to identify her for now, but they would soon be tracking her on foot again. Her worst nightmare was coming true. They’d catch her and her children would be orphans.
She wouldn’t let that happen. She raced toward the icy water and paralleled the shore, letting pounding waves erase her footprints. She hoped by the time they parked their car and made it down to the water that she’d be far enough away and they wouldn’t be able to see the direction she’d run.
Cold sliced up her legs and tightened her muscles. She wanted to crumple onto the sand, but her only hope was to take shelter in her favorite spot. She often took her morning run along the softly flowing tides then sat on an outcropping of rocks and watched the waves, wishing for things that could never be. Things she thought she’d attain by the time she turned thirty-two but had remained elusive in her life.
Tonight, instead of wishing, she could rest there and make a plan. Very few people knew about her spot, and she would be safe.
She heard raised male voices behind her, and she wrenched around to look. She couldn’t see the men yet but feared they’d found her.
“Father, please let me make it. For the children.” Her words evaporated in the swirling storm that was picking up in intensity.
She had to reach the rocks. Just had to, before they tracked her down and fired a bullet in her heart as they’d done to Todd.
* * *
Cole Justice pushed away hair plastered against his forehead and looked over the pounding surf. A big storm was on its way in from the Pacific, and he’d climbed a large boulder—the highest point on the beach—to watch. Foolhardy move, he was sure. The rocks were slippery and the night dark, but he liked it best in the dark these days. Away from the concerned stares of his family. Away from the constant self-recriminations.
As he stared at the angry sea, the clouds parted and the moon highlighted the beach. He saw someone moving in the hazy mist. Odd. He’d figured he was the only one foolish enough to brave the spitting rain in a winter storm on the Oregon coast.
The tall figure raced along the water’s edge, glancing back every so often as if someone was in pursuit. The “danger” instincts, honed during his second tour of duty in Iraq, sprang into full alert and he felt apprehensive, as if a threat waited in the wings to take him down.
He tried to squelch it, but there it was, burning in his gut. He’d been home for two years now and it still lingered.
Always on alert. Always watchful. Always uneasy.
He checked to make sure his weapon was still tucked in the back of his jeans and ready if he needed it. Even if he wasn’t a private investigator, he was a former deputy marshal and like most former law enforcement officers, he carried all the time. Right now, he was glad he did. Something wasn’t right about the figure moving closer.
Long, lithe, agile. A woman? Out here tonight?
He lifted his hand against the driving rain and stared. Yeah, it was a woman. She raced toward him with graceful strides, but he lost sight of her at the base of his rocky fortress jutting into the water. Though he didn’t have a visual on her, his sniper training taught him to be still and pay attention. The sixth sense warned him that she was climbing up the face toward him.
Man, was she in for a surprise when she found him up here.
Question was, when did he let her know of his presence? If he called out to her now she could lose her focus and fall. If he waited until she got to the top and she startled backward, the fall would be fatal.
Her head popped over the rock and even in the rain, he could see her concentration. He needed to wait before saying anything.
She pulled up and fell on her stomach, dragging in huge gulps of air.
“Not a good night for a run,” he said as calmly as he could, bracing his legs against the rocks should she decide to attack and dislodge him from his perch.
She rolled and came to her knees, her arms outstretched in a defensive posture.
“Relax,” he added. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak.
“You can trust me,” he said from his position on the ledge. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m renting a house up the beach, and I came out to watch the storm.”
She still didn’t back away, but she glanced to her right before flattening herself on the rock again. He looked down the beach in the direction she’d checked and spotted two bulky figures heading their way. She was being chased. And now she’d put him in danger, too.
He slowly eased to his knees, keeping his head low and sliding onto the rock next to her. She turned her head and locked eyes with him.
“What’re you doing?” she hissed.
“I was a sitting duck on that ledge,” he whispered back. With no more than twelve inches between them, he could finally get a good look at her face. Fine boned. High cheeks and forehead. Went well with the lithe figure he saw running. And despite her mad dash down the beach, a hint of her sweet perfume lingered. So sweet he almost forgot that two men were coming after her. Almost.
“Care to fill me in on what’s going on here?” he asked.
She lay motionless for a moment before she took in a deep breath. “No time. The men after me are killers.”
“Are they trying to kill you?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure.” She sounded so sad that it broke his heart. Something he didn’t think it was capable of doing anymore. “I overheard them talking about illegal activities they’re involved in. Now I think they want to kill me so I can’t tell anyone what I heard.”
Male voices mixed with the wind. They were coming closer. He held his finger to his lips but took the time to search her face for any duplicity. All he saw besides large eyes ringed with long lashes was fear. Raw and fresh. Even if she wasn’t telling him the truth about what had happened, it was clear she was afraid of these men.
“I don’t see anyone, Gibson,” a deep voice rumbled from below. “We don’t even know if the person came down to the beach. It’s freaking cold out here, and we should call it quits.”
“Quit being such a baby.” The
