Run on Red: A gripping thriller with a killer twist by Noelle West Ihli

Author:Noelle West Ihli [Ihli, Noelle West]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mysteries & Thrillers
Publisher: Dynamite Books, LLC
Published: 2022-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

26

I stumbled backward, my arm locked through Laura’s, urging her to move faster toward the ghostly, knotted tree trunks, even though her breathing was already ragged. Our pathetic party shoes crunched through the weeds loudly now, threatening to broadcast our location as Tony’s screams followed close on our heels.

I should have hit him again. And on top of that, I’d been stupid enough to toss the tire iron into the weeds, as if its purpose were complete.

It was much too late to retrieve it now.

Behind us came the wooden thud of the cabin door slamming shut. Then a distant, incredulous voice that echoed through the stillness. “What the fuck?”

Then again. Louder. “What the actual fuck, you dumbass? I go inside for like, one second …”

I cringed at the closeness of the sound. At the very most, we’d put half a football field between us.

My flats caught on a rock and threatened to tip me onto my knees right as we finally reached the shadowy embrace of the cottonwood trees. Laura stumbled against me, nearly toppling both of us into the lower branches of the first tree.

The dry weeds crunched loudly under our scuffling footsteps in the sudden stillness. Tony had stopped screaming. Kyle had gone silent too.

I’d hoped the trees would provide a thicker, forested cover, but the windbreak past the ditch wasn’t quite the dense blanket I’d hoped. The gaps between some of the trees were wide enough that if someone were standing in the right spot on the ATV trail, they would see us easily if they were looking in the right spot for a flash of movement. Thankfully, the tall grass in the fields on the other side of the trees was nearly waist-high in spots. If we could just put some distance between us and the cabin, we could still disappear into the darkness.

“Let’s head this way,” I whispered, angling away from the treeline but trying to keep us pointed in the general direction of the main road. It would be easy to get disoriented and move in circles, once we lost sight of the cabin.

Laura didn’t answer. She cocked her head slightly to one side, listening with wide eyes. I did the same, already knowing what I’d hear.

The faint crunch of footsteps, coming fast toward us from the direction of the ditch.

Focus.

There were no readily apparent hiding spots on this side of the cottonwoods. But if we could just keep moving through the weeds, toward the main road—without making too much noise—the night would help hide us. I parted the tall weeds with one hand as we moved, looking for the bare patches of dirt beneath where we could place our feet without slapping the dirt.

We got maybe twenty steps before the glint of metal directly in front of us caught my eye.

I gasped and stopped short, pulling back on Laura’s arm just in time before she stepped directly into the obscured barbed wire fence.

It wasn’t the standard cattle fences that covered most of rural Idaho.

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