Sawyer whispered to Cassidy when she kept pushing him to get moving.
That stopped her. But it didn’t stop the fear from rising inside her. Sawyer could feel that in her tightened muscles and trembling hands.
“Send Grayson another text to give him our location,” he told her.
That would get her mind on something other than the panic that was no doubt about to eat her alive. Still, the texting served a necessary purpose, too. He didn’t want his cousin walking into gunfire.
There were no more swishing sounds, but Sawyer heard something else that grabbed his attention.
A moan.
Definitely human, and with the blood they’d found, it had likely come from someone injured. Bennie, maybe. At least that meant he was alive.
For now anyway.
Cassidy must have heard the sound, too, because she nudged him to get moving again. Sawyer did, maneuvering from beneath the mesquite and to some thick underbrush that would hopefully give them enough cover if those kidnappers started shooting at them.
There was a small clearing ahead, and because there were no trees, the rain was soaking the ground, making it hard to tell if anyone had gone that way. If the kidnappers had learned their way around these woods, and Sawyer had to assume that they had, they would know there were two ways out.
Doubling back to Miller’s Road.
Or continuing through the woods about a mile until they reached an old farm road.
Since he hadn’t seen another vehicle, it was possible the kidnappers had parked on that farm road. Of course, it was risky to be so far away from transportation in case something went wrong.
And something obviously had.
They likely hadn’t wanted to shoot at a hostage when they were so close to getting their hands on the entire chunk of ransom money.
“Bennie and the woman have to be alive,” Cassidy mumbled, and her breathing got even faster.
Mercy. She was on the verge of hyperventilating now, and Sawyer reached behind him and touched his fingers to her lips. Cassidy jerked back as if he’d burnt her. Their gazes met. Not one of those ordinary meets, either. This was one of blasted nonverbal connections between a man and a woman.
Who’d once been lovers.
Not a good time to remember that. Never a good time, actually. And he scowled to let her know that.
She scowled, too, her eyes narrowing a bit, and just like that, he’d cured her panic attack and hyperventilating.
“Let’s find him,” Cassidy snarled, and considering she’d just whispered it, she’d done a thorough job in conveying that snarl.
Her gaze fired around. “I have the picture,” Cassidy shouted without warning.
Sawyer reeled to her so fast that his neck popped. “What the heck are you doing?” he mouthed.
“Giving them what they want,” she mouthed back, her teeth clenched.
“If they’d wanted the photo bad enough, the kidnappers would have hung around.” And maybe they had. If so, Cassidy had just given away their position.
So, Sawyer moved again, trying hard not to let his anger turn what should be quiet footsteps into stomps. They’d only made it a few feet when he heard another moan. It was weak, barely audible, but it had come from a clump of cedars about fifteen yards away.
But that wasn’t the only sound.
There were footsteps that even the rain couldn’t conceal. Sawyer froze, holding back Cassidy again, but he didn’t have to hold her for long. There was a blur of motion, and Sawyer automatically took aim.
It was someone running.
Someone dressed all in dark clothes who quickly darted out of sight. In the video, Bennie had been wearing a light colored T-shirt similar to the one Cassidy had on.
The runner had to be one of the kidnappers.
There were more footsteps. Not from the same direction where the runner had disappeared to, but on the opposite side of the clearing. It wasn’t the running pace of an injured man who was hurt enough to moan. This was another runner.
And likely the second kidnapper.
Sawyer cursed himself for bringing Cassidy into this. Of course, if he’d left her to wait for Grayson, she would have no doubt been another set of those fast-moving footsteps trudging around in the rainy woods.
The seconds crawled by while he waited and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. He certainly couldn’t just start shooting with Bennie out there.
Behind him, he heard more footsteps. Not a runner this time, but the slow, cautious steps of a lawman. Sawyer glanced over his shoulder and spotted Grayson.
He motioned to the clearing so that Grayson would know what he was about to do.
“Stay here,” he warned Cassidy, and Grayson moved closer to her.
Good. If bullets started flying, Grayson would be able to pull her to the ground.
Sawyer tightened his grip on his gun and stepped out, making a beeline toward the cedars where he’d heard the moaning. No moans now, which might mean the kidnappers had moved their injured hostage.
When he reached the cedars, Sawyer used his elbow to push aside some of the branches. The first thing he saw was more blood.
And lots of it.
It had mixed with rainwater, making it impossible to tell just how much, but the bleeder had left a trail for him to follow.
No more footsteps. Just the sound of his own heartbeat crashing in his ears.
Sawyer pushed back another cedar branch, and he cursed when he saw the lifeless body on the ground in front of him.
Chapter Four
“No!” Cassidy blurted out. Nothing could have stopped her from running to Sawyer.
And toward the person lying on the ground.
Sawyer stooped down, touched his fingers to the person’s neck and shook his head. “Dead.”
Her heart was practically beating out of her chest by the time she made it there, and she tried to brace herself for the worst. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure she could handle the worst.
Sawyer took hold of her to stop her from going closer, but she still got a good look at the person lying on the ground.
Not Bennie.
The victim was a woman with jaggedly chopped hair, black with streaks of blue. Cassidy had no idea who she was, but she had no trouble seeing the bullet wound on the side of her head.
Despite
