Page 49 of Captive at Rescue Ridge

“No other shots have been fired,” he said, glancing at her chest.

“That’s a good sign,” she said as she took inventory of Archer, saw blood on his hands and a ripped sleeve. “How badly are you injured?”

“Nothing more than a few scrapes.”

Head pounding, she brought up her hand to feel around. Her fingers landed on a wet knot. Memories came back in full force. “I knocked the gun out of his hand.” She looked at her fingers. Blood. There was blood on her shirt. “He shot me.”

Immediately, she began feeling around the scrub brush.

“We fought for the gun, and that’s when he slammed something into the back of my head.” Frustration nipped at her. “That’s when he got the best of me.”

Archer was already scanning her body, no doubt searching for all her injuries. He staunched her bleeding as sirens wailed in the distance.

“I’m cold,” she said, shivering.

Then, he shrugged out of his shirt and then wrapped it around her shoulders.

“You’ll freeze,” she said.

“I’m good.”

She got a good look at his ankle. There was more damage than he was letting on. So much blood loss.

“You’re really hurt, Archer.” She lifted her gaze to meet his. The moment their eyes touched warmth spread through her. “And I need to find my mother.”

“You aren’t going anywhere until you get those wounds looked at.”

“Mine have stopped bleeding.” She motioned toward her shoulder. “Can’t be that bad.”

“There’s a hole in your shoulder, sweetheart.” His voice was a study in calm—calm she only felt when Archer was next to her. “And those sirens are getting closer. Travis must have found a signal and called for help.”

“I just want my mother safely back and this nightmare to be over,” she said, a calmness settling over her. Her mother needed to pay for her crimes, but she needed real help, too. Like, counseling and rehab kind of help. Could Annalee convince Becca that she needed to make changes, or would she end up living the rest of her life behind bars? If not for this crime, then for the next scumbag who came along and convinced her to break the law.

Archer’s face twisted in disgust.

“I’m not saying she deserves to go free,” Annalee clarified. “I just want her alive to face the music. It might be the only way she’ll wake up and get the help she needs.”

He nodded. “I’m all for second chances if someone is serious about making a change.” His back jaw clenched. “A big step in the right direction would be owning up to what she’s done wrong.”

The wails of the sirens passed by.

Archer muttered a few choice words. He pulled out his cell and checked for service. “No bars.”

A snap sounded to their right sending an icy chill down her spine.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the two lovebirds,” Russ said, pointing the gun at Archer’s chest.

18

Archer scooted in between Annalee and Russ. “Where’s Becca?”

“I don’t know,” Russ said like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Caught, I guess.”

It wouldn’t surprise Archer one bit to learn Russ had sacrificed Becca to secure his own freedom in the heat of the moment. The bastard. More of that white-hot anger burned in his veins. Russ needed to go down.

But how without risking Annalee’s life?

“You two are gonna be my ticket out of this shithole of a town,” Russ said with a sneer.

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