San Antonio Secret by Robin Perini

Author:Robin Perini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Mallory lay flat on her belly. Tall buffalo grass surrounded her and Chloe like a thin, wispy curtain swaying in the breeze. No protection, merely concealment. Mallory’s face dripped with sweat. Huddled next to her mother, Chloe sobbed quietly beside her.

“Where did she go?” The cop shouted from across the small meadow.

Mallory recognized his voice. She’d never forget it as long as she lived.

He let loose a flurry of curses. “Everyone backtrack. Try the other path. Failure isn’t an option. The boss won’t forgive. Or forget.”

The cop wasn’t the boss? Mallory’s mind whirled in confusion. Then who was? How many people were involved?

Several sets of footsteps stomped away accompanied by muttering complaints. She waited until the sounds disappeared in the distance. Then waited several minutes longer.

When she was certain they’d gone, Mallory dropped her forehead against the dirt. Her lungs ached, and for the first time, she realized she’d been holding her breath. She gasped for air.

“Mommy?”

“Shh, Button.”

Ever so slowly Mallory sat up. The sky had begun to darken, but it would take a couple hours for night to fall. They weren’t safe here. If those men came back, it would be all too easy to stumble over their hiding place.

She squinted through the dim light. A few thousand yards away, a thick patch of forest erupted out of the prairie grass. The trees could hide them until Mallory figured out which way to go to get to civilization and find a phone for help.

She rose to her knees and turned in a circle, searching for another option, any sign of a road or trail, a house or a barn, but only a second patch of forest dotted the horizon, even farther away. And in the same direction the men had hiked.

Easy choice. Everything inside her told her to stay as far away from that cop as possible. Her mind made up, she held out her hand to Chloe. “Let’s go, Button. We’re making a run for those trees.”

“It’s too far. I’m hungry. And thirsty.”

“I know, sweetie. I’ll find you something. Soon.”

Chloe thrust out her jaw and folded her arms across her chest. “No. I’m tired. I don’t want to go. I want my house and Princess Buttercup.”

Mallory sighed, sat back and pulled her daughter onto her lap. “I know you’re exhausted, honey. So am I. But we have to keep going. Or we’ll have to go back to the trailer.”

Chloe’s eyes widened with fear. “I don’t want to go there. It smelled funny, and that man took you away from me.”

Choking back a sob, Mallory closed her eyes and hugged her daughter close. “You ready?” she whispered. “We have to be brave like Sierra.”

“She can run fast.”

“That she can.”

Mallory stood and clasped Chloe’s hand.

They ran. Sweat dripped down Mallory’s cheeks. The trees grew closer and closer. Mallory’s feet pounded on the grasslands, her steps small so Chloe could keep up.

Only a few dozen feet more.

“We’re almost there,” she panted, speeding up as much as she could.

Mallory’s foot sank down.

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