Page 63 of Flashback

He rubbed Scout’s thick neck and whispered, “I need you stay here. Okay? Stay.”

Scout whined and pawed at Dakota’s leg.

Dakota raised his voice enough to let the Lab know he was serious. “Stay.”

Scout hung his head and lay down.

The dog didn’t have to like it, but Allie had already lost Dixie. He’d do all he could to keep her partner safe. He waited to make sure Scout stayed in the down position, then Dakota crouched low and moved toward the light in the forest.

As he got closer, he had to belly crawl through the ash and dirt to stay out of the light’s reach. Finally he spotted Ray, pacing in front of a lantern while he grumbled into his phone.

Just Ray, not an army. He walked in a flat clearing, his shadow from the LED lantern following him and bouncing off the stand of trees that surrounded the campfire ring in the middle.

But where was Allie?

Dakota moved slowly in a circle around the lit area. He stuck to Ray’s back, but a couple of thick tree trunks blocked his view. Still no sign of Allie. He continued his crawl. His forearm landed on a thick branch, sending a loud crack into the air. Ray paused. Dakota froze.

He held his breath until Ray moved again. “I already told ya. I’m takin’ care of it.”

Was he talking to Earl? Maybe Dakota had been right that the two were connected—and now Ray was supposed to kill Allie and Dakota so Earl could get away with murder.

Not on my watch.

Dakota crawled to the closest rock outcropping. He stuck to the shadows and looped around to the other side of Ray’s little camp. Then he saw her.

Allie sat on the ground, tied up and leaning against one of the big trees. But her eyes were closed, her head slumped down so her chin almost touched her shoulder. Dried blood trickled down her forehead.

The familiar rage boiled inside Dakota. But he needed to keep his wits about him and be smart.

Lord, help me to use my skills for good here. Help me save her.

Dakota took a full minute to study the area. Allie didn’t stir. Her breathing seemed shallow. He pulled out the Glock and waited for Ray to make another pass and turn.

Go time.

He just prayed it wasn’t too late.

THIRTEEN

Allie’s head pounded.She sucked in a breath, and pain lanced through her chest. Probably from where Ray had thrown her over his shoulder and then tossed her on the ground. She’d jarred her ribs landing on a rock. He’d knocked her good upside the head too. Maybe that was why it was so hard to open her eyes.

Cold night air pressed in on her, and she shivered.

She should’ve known Ray was lying. As soon as she was out of the car, he’d grabbed her. She tried to move her arm. It wouldn’t budge. She pulled. Both hands were restrained.

“He’s on his way. Once he’s taken care of, she’ll be joining him too.”

Allie cracked her eyes open just enough to see a blurry image of Ray march behind the lantern on the ground. Her vision swirled, and she slammed her eyes shut again against the wave of nausea that hit.

“I think I know how to cover up my own tracks.” He nearly spat the words at whoever he was talking to. “There’ll be no trace of these two when I’m done.”

She tried cracking her eyes open again and saw he had a phone in his hand.

“Whose fault is that? I wasn’t the one who dumped Paulson out on that ranch. That’s on you.” Pause. “I know what I’m doing, Earl. If you’d done your part with the fire, Jen and the boys would have been taken care of too.”

Nausea roiled in her stomach. The boys!God, please keep them safe.

“We’ll take care of these two tonight and deal with them later—” He stopped. “Yeah. He’ll show. I have the girl to make sure of that. And once he does, we won’t have any more witnesses left.” Pause. “Hey, you should be grateful I’m willing to help clean up your mess!”

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