Code of Silence by Heather Woodhaven

Author:Heather Woodhaven
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Luke flinched at the sound of the gunshot. Gabriella’s wide eyes seemed more terrified of whatever lurked behind him. He followed the path of her gaze.

Above the foothills, the sky turned into a massive front of swirling red and gray hues. It reached as high as he could see, as if there were no end to it. His grip on Gabriella tightened as he lifted her up and set her down on the ground beside him, behind a tree where Rodrigo couldn’t see them.

Except the trees all bent with the force of the sustained winds. Leaves and twigs rained down. His heart jumped to his throat. The last thing he wanted to do was to run and test the wound in his leg further, but it looked as if they had no choice. “It’s a dust storm. We need to get to that barn...now.”

Her eyes widened, and she trembled, clinging to him. They needed to get to shelter before the winds brought the choking sand and blinding dust any closer.

Luke should’ve recognized the signs. When fires raged in the west, an impending storm traveled their way and the early morning air stayed below fifty degrees, it made the conditions ripe for what they called a “haboob.”

While dust storms weren’t uncommon in the area, Luke had always been inside when one was about to hit, especially one of this magnitude. Seeing something that resembled a tsunami of dirt about to wash over the land filled him with a combination of awe and terror. Right now, terror won by leaps and bounds.

Gabriella pulled on his wrist. “I don’t think we’ll beat it if we stay to the trail.”

“What if we cut across the alfalfa like you mentioned earlier?”

“But...but you saw him.” Her shaky finger pointed to the trees. “He might see us. Might shoot at us again. And this time, he might meet his mark.”

The massive dark coils of dirt and clouds moved closer, over the top ridge of the mountains. “Assuming he has half a brain, he’ll be more worried about finding shelter himself.” Luke imagined what the stinging bits of dust and sand would feel like against his skin with the intense force of the winds. “I think it’s a risk we need to take.”

She nodded and moved to an oak tree just beyond the trail of stones. “It’s going to be a challenge to keep my bearings. Have you ever run through alfalfa? There are natural rows, but we need to cut diagonally through the corner so the plants are going to hit us more. Stay close. If the dust hits us, grab my hand and we’ll hit the ground.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Gabriella crouched down and took off. Luke hunkered down and pushed off his toes. He almost cried out at the sudden sting of his leg. He narrowed his eyes and focused on Gabriella’s thick hair swishing side to side as she ran through the sticky plants.

The alfalfa hit against his legs. The plants whipped his broken skin.

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