We need to run. I just don’t know where to run to. Looking down at the woman, when her eyes meet mine, she must read my thoughts, because she nods. I motion to the side away from his voice, and her eyes close right before she nods, taking my hand I hold out to her.

Harlen

I slow down my bike and pull off on the side of the road behind two police cruisers that are parked blocking the entrance of a dirt road cut between the trees. I shut down my engine and listen to Wes, Everett, and Mic’s bikes shut off when mine does.

“Harlen?” an officer asks, as I prowl toward him, lifting my chin. “Cobi said you need to stay out here.”

“I bet he did.” I move past him and head for the road that he’s trying to block with his body. Unfortunately for him, he’s about a foot and sixty pounds smaller than me, making it easy for me to shoulder past him.

“You need to stay out here,” he repeats, grabbing my arm, and I tug from his hold, turn on him, and shove my finger in his face.

“You do not want to fucking touch me right now,” I growl, and he swallows, looking behind me, his body going even more alert seeing my boys at my back.

“You’re not—”

“Let him go, Don,” another officer cuts in, and he looks at him then at me, and steps aside.

Jogging down the road, I slow when I see a car against a tree, the airbags deployed. “Fuck, I knew you wouldn’t listen,” I hear behind me, and I pull my gun, Wes, Everett, and Mic all doing the same with theirs. “You better have carrying permits for those,” Cobi says, and I grit my teeth, shoving it back into my jeans.

“Where is she?”

“We’re looking. We just cleared this area two seconds ago. I have officers searching the woods, the car up the road, and the cabin farther up. Uncle Nico’s on his way. We’ll find her.” Fuck. I scan the dark, my gut twisting thinking of her out there somewhere, alone and scared. “It’s Hofstadter,” he says, and pain expands throughout my chest and my body jerks. “She’s also got a woman named Hadley with her.”

“Pardon?”

“Hadley, saw him put her in the trunk. I lost contact with her when she decided to keep following after him. That’s her car.” He lifts his chin to the wreck against the tree. “She’s gone. I’m expecting that when we find Harmony, we’ll find her.”

“Right.” I lift my chin and start toward the woods, done with talking.

“You’ll need a flashlight,” he tells me, shoving one toward me, and I take it.

“Tell your officers there are four other men in the woods looking and not to shoot us,” I order, and he lifts his chin.

“Let’s fan out,” Wes says quietly from my side, and my eyes go to him. “We’ll find her.”

Unable to speak, I lift my chin then watch Wes go to the left. Everret follows, and Mic takes off to the right. Staying straight, I keep my breathing natural, unholster my gun, and listen. That’s when I hear a shot ring out, and I take off.

Harmony

“Oh, God!” I cry out as pain explodes through my thigh. I fall forward to the ground, my hands catching me at the very last moment as my head comes up and swings around, looking for where the shot came from.

“Come on.” The woman tugs on my hand and I get up, feeling warm wetness slide down my leg and start to fill my boot. She tucks herself under my arm and wraps hers around the back of my waist, holding me up as I limp as quickly as I can.

“He’s close,” I whimper, tears filling my eyes—not from the pain in my leg, but from the fear that’s starting to overwhelm me. Hearing another shot, we both stumble and fall forward, my awkward weight bringing us both down quickly. I start to push up, but then he’s standing over us, his gun pointed right at me.

“Don’t!” the woman screams, as his finger starts to pull back on the trigger. My eyes close, every moment I’ve had with Harlen flashing behind my closed eyelids. Him asking me to celebrate my new job with him. Him standing in my kitchen holding Dizzy. Him making me laugh as we unpacked. Us standing under the night’s sky at a bonfire. Me tucked against him riding on his bike. Him claiming me as his. Us planning a future. And him putting a ring on my finger. A loan tear escapes my eye as the gun goes off.

Something wet hits me in the face, and I scream, hearing the woman shriek too. Then my eyes shoot open, and I watch Dr. Hofstadter’s eyes go blank as he stumbles to his knees before falling face forward onto the ground. Scrambling away from him, I see a large hole in the back of his head.

“I’m gonna be sick,” the woman whimpers, and I turn to look at her. I feel my body tense as something moves in the dark, and then my eyes widen when Harlen steps into view shining his flashlight on us.

“Honey,” I breathe, and his eyes come to me, scanning me from head to toe, his face going white when he sees my leg.

“You’re hit.”

“I’m okay.” My hands shake and I start to shiver. Coming to me, he drops to his knees at my side. “I’m okay,” I repeat, but he doesn’t hear me, or he ignores me, as he takes off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. Taking off his plaid shirt, he ties it high up on my thigh.

“Hadley,” he calls, and the woman pulls her wide fear-filled eyes off the back of Dr. Hofstadter’s head to look at him. “I need you to hold it together and go yell for help. As soon as you see someone, tell them we need an ambulance,” he instructs, and she nods. “Go, now.” She gets up and takes off, yelling as she goes.

“You found me,” I whisper, feeling tired, and Harlen’s eyes come to me.

“Stay with me, baby.”

“You found me,” I repeat, my eyes getting heavy as he picks me up, holding me against his chest.

“Stay with me, Angel.”

“I am with you.” My teeth chatter together.

“Stay with me. Don’t go to sleep.”

“I’m just a little tired,” I admit, my body feeling heavy.

“I love you, Angel,” he whispers.

“I love you too.” I whisper back, right before I let the darkness take me.

Hadley

With tears streaming down my cheeks I watch the big bulking man as he climbs into the back of the ambulance with the woman still in his arms. Even with the distance between us I can still see he looks stricken, worried out of his mind. Wrapping my own arms around my middle I look at the doors to the ambulance close then I see it pull away; the sirens blaring, the lights flashing. God I hope she’s okay. I close my eyes only to have them spring right back open when a vision of that man with a hole in his head fills my mind. Looking around I wonder what I should do, I hid myself away in the tree line out of the way when everyone was running to the woman and her man but now… Now I don’t know what to do. Walking slowly toward my car I look at the hood, it’s bad but it’s not horrible. I can probably even drive it, in a daze I open the driver’s door and take a seat turning the engine over.

“Hadley,” I turn my head at the sound of my name and look up into a bright light squinting my eyes. “Jesus, fuck me, fuck me, Jesus.” Two large hands capture my face and I blink trying to focus on the face in front of mine. “Get another fucking ambulance.” The man in front of me roars and I flinch at the sound. “Fuck, sorry baby, fuck, shit, sorry.” His hands still holding me shake and I blink again.

“Mayson, ambulance is en route.” I hear someone say right before I pass out.

Harlen

Three days later standing at the window in Harmony’s hospital room, a room filled with her friends and family, I stare out over the parking lot, sending up a silent prayer to my parents and anyone else who had been watching over her.

After I carried her out of the woods and got us to the road, I found there was an ambulance waiting for us. She had passed out; her body had gone into shock from everything that had happened, and from blood loss. When we arrived at the hospital in the ambulance, they sent her right into surgery, leaving me outside the double doors. I wanted to go with her, but I couldn’t. It went against everything in me to trust they would take care of her.