Secret Service Setup by Jessica R. Patch

Author:Jessica R. Patch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-07T19:55:20+00:00

NINE

Evan slowed his pace. Jody was trying to cover her limp, but the leg injury from yesterday wasn’t cooperating. His stitch job wasn’t fantastic, either, but once they made it to civilization they could have it checked.

It was after two o’clock. He and Jody had slept in. The secluded cabin had given them a measure of security and they’d needed the rest. Evan had taken the threadbare couch and Jody had slept on the twin bed in the only bedroom.

An hour ago, they’d stumbled upon the Chattahoochee River and Evan couldn’t help it; he’d hummed the old country song, trying to lighten the mood. While the sun was bright and full, the wind was strong, especially near the river. Their hiking had kept their body temperatures up but it was cold. In the thirties, if he had to guess. With the shade from the forest it felt like it was in the twenties.

Following the current, Evan hoped they’d reach a ranger’s station by nightfall. They didn’t have proper shelter for another night in the elements and they hadn’t seen a cabin since they’d left the one earlier today. Jody hadn’t spoken much. Probably concentrating on her footsteps. And if he knew her well, which he did, she was formulating ideas on how to convince him to hitch a boat to the water and brave the sea for a while—and how to convince him to let her join him.

His stomach rumbled. They hadn’t eaten much—trying to conserve. “Jo, how’s the leg?”

“Working,” she said in a clipped tone. Was she angry or concentrating? Probably irritable from uncomfortable sleep arrangements and her leg.

“You think we can—”

The sound of something whizzing right above his shoulder stopped his statement. Two feet in front of him he spotted what it was.

An arrow.

Jody gawked at the arrow, then at Evan and to the trees behind him. “Is that—”

Fwoop!

Another arrow.

Evan yanked Jody up the bank into the cover of trees.

“Are—are we being hunted like animals?” Jody whispered.

“Appears so.” Evan scanned the area. Couldn’t make out where the hunter might be. The arrows looked expensive. Well made. “We have to haul it. Can you run?”

“Do I have a choice?” She frowned and darted a glance behind Evan. “Go first. I’m right behind you.”

This again. “I don’t think so. You’re wounded. You need cover and this guy is probably already moving in on us as we speak. Now. Go.” God, be with us. “Right through that thicket of trees. We can use them as shields.”

Another arrowed pierced the tree an inch above Jody’s head. Missed shot? Or was the marksman aiming for her? If so, why?

Jody yanked it from the tree and dashed ahead, clutching the arrow and moving pretty fast for someone with an injured leg. Evan tore off after her.

Tree limbs with bare, sharp twigs caught his shirt, ripping it and stabbing into his flesh, but he pressed on. The only sounds were their breathing and the crunching of brush under their feet.

Another arrow flew, barely missing Jody.

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