Page 26

His expression changes.

“I’ll protect her with my life.”

“I know.”

I grip his shoulder once before following Taylor through the equipment room and out the side door.

The cold desert air hits me.

Clouds have moved across the moon, leaving the property in near darkness. Wind moves through the cedar branches, carrying the scent of dust and sagebrush.

I hear nothing from the road.

The men are trying to move quietly.

They’re good.

We’re better.

Taylor disappears toward the southern edge of the house while I cut across the slope toward the western fence. I’ve walked this land enough times to know where every rock and drop-off lies.

The first man reaches the fence twenty yards ahead of me.

He crouches beside one of the steel posts and pulls a tool from his jacket.

Bolt cutters.

I remain behind a cluster of boulders and watch him test the fence. It’s eight feet high, reinforced along the bottom, and difficult to climb.

He starts cutting.

A second figure emerges from the trees.

Both men carry handguns.

“Is she in there?” the second man whispers.

The wind nearly steals his words.

“She has to be. The old man at the gas station said a girl matching her clothes was asking about Campbell.”

My stomach twists.

Sage left a trail without realizing it.

Not because she was careless.

Because she had one name and an entire state to search.

The first man finishes cutting through one section of wire.

“The boss said not to hurt her face,” he mutters.

“After what she did to Mateo, he’s lucky he’s letting her keep it.”

Mateo must be the man Sage hit with the pipe.

The one she thought she killed.