Page 25 of Valor

He was such a good boy.

Giving her a nod of approval, Owen kept going. He’d only taken a few steps when she noticed that he was moving a large tree branch.

Then another. The large branches had been used to cover the truck.

She would have gladly helped him uncover the vehicle, but she stayed where she was, well out of the way. Before Owen could move to the other side of the vehicle to remove the tree branches from that side, he stopped and dropped into a crouch.

Her breath caught in her throat. What did he see? An approaching vehicle?

The gunman’s accomplices?

Or maybe the driver of the oncoming car was Doug searching for her. That option seemed less likely given the time frame of her call, but not impossible. She moved from the tree, intending to head over to whisper her thoughts to Owen, when he gave her a hard look.

The glow of lights on the horizon had her dropping back to the ground. And as they grew brighter and brighter, she grimly realized if the oncoming car was one of the bad guys, she and Owen might be stuck out there all night.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Owen’s chesttightened as he watched the approaching car. If he managed to get a glimpse of the Sullivan K9 logo along the side, he’d run out and flag down the driver, hoping he could convince Doug to take Emily while leaving him behind.

But if the driver wasn’t Doug or anyone else from the Sullivan ranch, then he had to assume the gunman was lying about being alone. Or maybe the gunman’s injury hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought. The guy may have gotten back to his car to come looking for them.

Emily was tense as she huddled beside him. Thankfully, Bear didn’t bark or growl. Owen was growing attached to the little guy, but he was also concerned the puppy could give away their hiding place. Bear was still young and while the pup seemed to be doing well as far as being house-trained, the little guy was impulsive and liked to play. Bear could wiggle away from Emily and bark at any moment.

The approaching headlights grew painfully bright. He thought he and Emily were well concealed in the brush, yet the brightness had him second-guessing his decision. What if he was wrong and the driver could easily see them?

They should have left the area when they had the chance. Now he feared it was too late. That any movement they made would draw the driver’s attention.

Emily seemed to understand the need to stay frozen in place. Even Bear seemed to understand he shouldn’t move as the lights approached.

The oncoming vehicle was moving so slowly Owen knew the driver was looking for them. He held his breath as the car finally passed by. It was a dark SUV without any markings.

He waited another two minutes before leaning toward Emily. He kept his voice at barely a whisper. “Did that car look familiar?”

She shook her head. “I can’t say for sure if that was Doug’s SUV.”

“I didn’t see any stenciling on the side to indicate it was from the ranch.”

“No, but Chase Sullivan has been getting the SUVs repainted to remove that stenciling as he’s been worried the cars draw too much attention to them.” She shrugged. “Could be that Doug drove one of those unmarked SUVs here.”

He hadn’t known about the plan to remove the stenciling. Not that it mattered. There’s no way he’d risk flagging the car down without knowing who was behind the wheel. Talk about a good way to get shot. “Stay here.” He rose to his feet, taking two tentative steps toward the road. When he could still see the glow of headlights, he turned and came back, lowering himself beside Emily.

“What’s wrong?”

“We can’t leave yet.” In truth, Owen wasn’t sure they should risk getting back on the highway at all. The lack of traffic here would make them easy to spot. And he wasn’t convinced they could avoid running into the bad guys.

Then again, maybe they’d eventually run into Doug Bridges or some of the other Sullivans. That he wouldn’t mind as much. As long as he could hand Emily over while being able to continue with his plan.

“How much longer do we have to sit out here?” Emily whispered.

He wished he had an answer. He inwardly debated their options. They weren’t that far from the Elk Horn Lodge to avoid being found. Two miles wouldn’t keep them hidden for long. They needed to move, either via the stolen truck or walking deeper into the woods, going on foot to reach their next destination.

To where? He didn’t think there was another town close enough that they could walk to. Everything out here was so spread out and far away from each other.

Grimly, he acknowledged he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t drag Emily and Bear through the woods for miles and miles. They’d have to take the truck. He sighed and leaned toward Emily again. “We’ll head out in the truck soon.”

She gave a jerky nod, stroking her hand over Bear’s head. The pup had settled down in her arms with his eyes closed.

Owen waited another five minutes before venturing closer to the road. There was no sign of the headlights in the distance. Either the vehicle had kept going, or the driver had pulled off the road and killed the lights to wait for them to come out of hiding.

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