Page 51 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

She couldn’t decide what would be worse—dying at the hands of Lawrence or being torn to bits by a mountain lion.The latter was still out there.Was it still hungry?Or had it evacuated the area after realizing the hunter had become the hunted?

That idea gave her a thought as she caught a soft glow in the distance.The barn.

Could she slip in and find a weapon?Was there something to use against Lawrence?Or could she find a way to barricade herself inside?Out here in the woods, anything could happen to her?Every chirp raised her blood pressure.Every call sent her into fight, flight, or freeze mode.

Adrenaline was wearing thin at this point.Exhaustion settled into her bones.

Or should she just keep walking?Keep trying to find a way out?Keep on the move?

Would moving keep her alive?Would it give Owen or Travis time to find her?A wave of hopelessness tried to crash over her.Not this time.Hope was all she had left.Hope and the reality that she had bigger responsibilities now.The babies needed her.She was the only family they had left.No way in hell was she going to let Lawrence take their only caregiver away from them.

Taking in a long, slow breath for fortitude, Evie slipped through the trees.Her head pounded harder with every step.Every noise made it hurt worse, like someone stood behind her and nailed her with a bat every time she put a foot down.

Rounding a cluster of trees, two hands grabbed her by the hair.

“Think you can outsmart me, bitch?”Lawrence’s voice was almost unrecognizable now.Beyond madness.Beyond anger.Beyond anything human she’d ever heard.“Guess what?You can’t.”

In the next second, something came down hard on the crown of her skull, and she could almost swear she heard her bones crunch.

Blinking, fighting to stay conscious despite a pull stronger than a riptide, Evie fought back.And screamed.

Another set of footsteps caught her attention.A sharp, metallic clack bit through the night air, and a voice said, “Not so fast, asshole.”

Then, darkness consumed her.

Owen was almostto the front door of the barn when he heard a scream.The sound was unmistakable.Evie.

Travis bolted around the corner, and then they both raced toward the sound.

Evie was alive.Based on the hole in the front door—a hole made from impact—she’d escaped.But Lawrence had caught up, caught her.

Owen listened for a call for help.For something that might indicate Lawrence hadn’t just delivered a crushing, final blow.

The entire woods became silent, as though the creatures and critters froze at the sound.Deadly predators would move toward it in the hopes of a free meal.

Trampling through the woods would only alert Lawrence to their presence, so Owen slowed down and touched Travis’s arms so he would do the same.Forcing slow breaths, Owen held up a finger to indicate he’d be right back.

Travis gave a slight nod.

Owen slipped through the trees with grace.He’d grown up in these parts and knew how to move in and out of the woods without making a sound.He came upon a scene that shocked him.

Ms.Bart stood, feet apart in an athletic stance, with a shotgun aimed at Lawrence’s chest.Owen didn’t immediately see Evie.He frantically searched for her.A hand above the scrub brush caught his eye.Evie’s limp body lay crumpled on the ground.

With a screech-battle cry, Lawrence lunged toward Ms.Bart.He caught the shotgun barrel’s tip.Knocking it just left as she fired—and missed.

Owen jumped into action, diving toward Lawrence as the man threw himself at Ms.Bart.She took a couple of stunned steps back in time for the bastard to miss her.The shotgun fell from her arms.

Lawrence grabbed hold of it, slamming the long metal barrel into Owen’s shoulder as he tackled Lawrence.

A jab to the face caused Owen’s head to snap backward.

“Go to her,” he instructed Ms.Bart, who looked to be in shock.

Owen unleashed a torrent of knee jabs, punches, and elbows into Lawrence, who fought back with the kind of furor that said he knew his life was about to change forever.The man had nothing to lose and knew it, which made him more dangerous.

“The madness stops here,” Owen said as he pinned Lawrence.

The bastard struggled but couldn’t overpower someone one and a half times his size.

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