Page 15 of Captive at Rescue Ridge

“That’s the way I see it.”

“I want to find Owen, Archer. I really do.” Annalee stood up and walked toward him, then took his hand. Hers was small by comparison but fit his perfectly. “That’s priority one.”

“We’ll find a way to do that while keeping your mother alive.”

“I won’t go to the law,” she warned. “Not at any point.” She caught his gaze and held it. “You need to know where I stand on that. Do you promise not to go behind my back?”

Archer stood there for a long moment. He would do anything if it meant saving his brother’s life. “I can’t give you my word that I won’t go to the law. The only thing I can say is that I won’t go without having a conversation with you first.” Archer’s word was as good as gold. He didn’t make promises he had no intention of keeping.

Annalee studied him for a long moment. “I guess that will have to do.”

“We’re in this together.” He wanted her to know that he intended to see it through. “You don’t have to do any of this alone. Not anymore.”

He could have sworn he saw moisture gathering in those tired blue eyes.

She sniffed it away, and a moment later, all emotion faded from her expression. Her face was as readable as a rock, just like it had been all those years ago when she’d broken his fool heart. “What’s our next move, Archer?”

“We walk around these woods until we find that backpack.” It was the only move that mattered. Without it, they had no bargaining chip.

“Okay,” she said, sounding resigned. “We don’t leave here emptyhanded. Okay?”

With a shooter out there somewhere, they needed to be stealthy.

“When was the last time you ate a real meal or slept?” he asked in barely more than a whisper before he agreed to anything else.

“Four days, but if I’m really being honest, it feels like it’s been years since I had a good night of sleep.”

Archer left the admission alone because hearing the tinge of exhaustion in her voice threatened to chip away at some of his armor—the armor he needed to survive another round with Annalee. Based on his body’s reaction to her so far, he needed to remind himself every few minutes that she had the unique ability to crush his heart. The second time around would be his own damn fault for falling for her. But he had no plans to touch a hot stove twice, no matter how hard he fought his hands from reaching out to comfort her. “Lead the way.”

“We’ll end up walking in circles.” She blew out a breath. “Since I’m directionally challenged, why don’t I tell you where I headed when I abandoned the vehicle? Think you can sort of get an idea of which way to go then?”

Seemed like as good a place as any to start.

It took all of a minute of her explaining for him to get his bearings well enough to head in a direction. Since his phone was useless, he could only hope his estimation was correct.

Fifteen minutes into the trek, Annalee bit back a yawn. Several others followed. She’d never done well without her sleep. At least one more thing hadn’t changed. It was oddly comforting to feel like he still knew something about her, that he wasn’t in this situation with a complete stranger.

Was there a way to continue searching for Owen and let her sleep once they found the backpack?Ifthey found the backpack. One fact was as certain as bad breath in the morning: the shooter wouldn’t miss if the bastard stumbled across the two of them after discovering the backpack first.

Considering it was pitch black outside and using the light from their phones would put a target on them if the shooter had followed them into the woods, they were looking for a needle in a haystack—blindfolded.

Every chirp or wind gust made them anxious. As bad as the idea probably was, he couldn’t stop himself from holding Annalee’s hand to guide her through the trees. The connection sent warmth spreading through him like wildfire.

An hour passed with no luck. Annalee didn’t complain, but the events of the evening had to be wearing on her.

“Let’s stop and rest,” Archer said.

“We should keep looking.”

Granted, he realized the clock was ticking, but pushing forward beyond exhaustion wouldn’t be productive if this ordeal dragged on. Not resting could set them back.

“We can afford to take a break. Besides, you’ve been walking for hours. Pushing yourself until you drop won’t help us find the backpack.” He needed to think. Go over in his head the areas they’d covered so he could come up with a plan for where they should look next.

“My feet aren’t happy about it,” she admitted, shivering.

Archer took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders after she sat down.

She shook her head and immediately handed it back. “You need that. You’ll freeze.”

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