Page 23 of Valor

Adrenaline coursed through him. He held his weapon steady and decided to give the guy one chance to do the right thing. Even though it was illegal, he decided to pretend to be a cop.

“Police! Stay back or I’ll shoot!”

The figure ducked and fired off two rounds in his general direction. Thankfully, they went high and wide. Swallowing a curse, Owen fired back.

The guy let out a cry, dropped his weapon, and crumpled to the ground. Then he grabbed his leg and rolled around, screaming in pain.

Lights flashed from the other cabins now, and he could hear Bear barking too. He quickly ran toward the fallen man to kick his gun away. He pointed the muzzle at the man’s face.

“Are you alone?”

The guy’s eyes widened, and he nodded. Owen wasn’t sure he believed him. He spun from the gunman, glad to know he would survive, and ran toward Emily who was standing in the open door of her cabin.

“Get back inside.” His voice was terse as he ran toward her. “We need to get out of here.”

She gaped in shock at seeing him but didn’t argue. He closed and locked the door behind him. Turning, he took a moment to grab one of the dog’s dishes and the half-full bag of dog food. That would have to be good enough. Emily was shoving her feet into her shoes while slipping her phone into her pocket.

“Wait.” The phone nagged at him. What if that was the source of how they were tracked? “Leave your phone here.”

Emily pulled the device from her pocket and tossed it onto the bed. Her eyes were wide with fear as she cradled Bear close.

He urged her forward. “We’re going out the back window, okay?”

She nodded and quickly lifted the sash. He waited for her to get out first, then quickly followed. When he gestured toward the woods, she didn’t complain. Moments later, they were swallowed into the brush.

The only good thing about this mess was that he’d come back to check on Emily. If he hadn’t, she’d likely be dead.

* * *

Emily had beensound asleep when the sound of gunfire had awoken her. She’d been confused at first, until Bear began to bark.

That’s when it all came tumbling back. Seeing Owen, the man who’d tried to choke her, running from gunfire.

And here they were running from danger again. When Owen had told her to leave her phone behind, she’d understood his concern.

But doing so meant severing all contact with her brother, Doug. She wished she’d called him the minute Owen had driven away, rather than waiting the hour she’d promised Owen. To be honest, she’d waited an hour and fifteen minutes before calling Doug. He’d answered right away and promised to be there soon. She’d stretched out to wait and promptly fallen asleep.

She felt sick knowing her brother would arrive at the Elk Horn Lodge to an empty cabin except for her phone.

“Wait.” She snagged Owen’s arm, stopping their forward momentum through the dense woods. She kept her voice a whisper. “Is this really necessary?”

“There’s a man back there with a gun who tried to shoot me, so yeah. It’s necessary.” His exasperated expression portrayed his annoyance. “We need to keep going. The truck is roughly two miles away.”

Two miles? She swallowed a groan. She hadn’t even gotten much sleep, and now she had to hike through the woods for two miles while carrying Bear. The puppy wasn’t heavy, but he squirmed in her arms, desperate to get down.

“Soon, boy, soon,” she whispered in his ear.

Owen pushed forward, ignoring the dog’s whimper. After what seemed like forever, he finally slowed to a stop. “Put him down to do his thing but make it quick.”

She had to bite back a snarky reply. Bending over, she set Bear on the ground. “Go on, boy. Get busy.” The phraseget busywas used by the Sullivan family with their respective K9s, and she rather liked it. Bear didn’t need the encouragement. He squatted to pee for a long minute before running in a circle, his ears flapping with excitement.

“We need to keep moving,” Owen said.

“I know, I heard you the first time.” She sighed and scooped Bear back into her arms. Owen took the lead, and trusting his sense of direction more so than hers, she didn’t argue. After another fifteen minutes of walking, she asked, “Why did you come back?”

He shrugged and glanced back at her. “Overly paranoid I guess. Good thing I did, though.”

“Yes. Thank you.” For the second time in two days, Owen had saved her life. “You really think he found me via the phone?”

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