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7
EMMY
At first, Nine looked as if she was about to argue with Ana.But either pragmatism struck or she wasn’t feeling quite as confident as she claimed, because she shrugged.
“Shhh.”
If Ana was going, then I was going too.The three of us headed for the path Nine had been on when we originally stumbled across her, and after several steps, I realised why she’d chosen that particular route.She’d been following a blood trail.Not a particularly obvious one, just a drop or two every few yards, but it was there.From the dog?Had to be if she’d tracked it all the way from the store.
Well, this was an unexpected turn of events.Definitely not what I’d been anticipating when I woke up this morning.There’d been times when I’d wondered what happened to Ana’s original comrades, but I’d never guessed we might run into one of them in rural Oregon.And Ana clearly hadn’t either.Not once had she tried to get in touch with any of the original Ten.
Up ahead, I caught glimpses of Nine moving through the trees, and yeah, you could tell she and Ana came out of the same mould.Zacharov might have been the world’s shittiest father, but he’d been a good trainer.
Nine stopped dead.
Held up a fist, and Ana repeated the gesture.
Freeze.
Oh, joy.
Why had I made that stupid bet with Alex?If he hadn’t been ambling his way around downtown Portland under duress, we’d have been halfway home by now.
Nine motioned us forward.
But instead, here I was, getting my face smashed in and traipsing around a forest looking for— Oh, fuck… I ran towards the girl on the ground—at least, I assumed she was female.You couldn’t tell from her face, but the parts of her sweater that weren’t sticky and scarlet were candy-floss pink.Someone had done a real number on her.
“Is she still alive?”
Nine was already on her knees, checking.“Shallow breathing, faint pulse.”
But for how long?The blood trickling from her eyes and ears wasn’t a good sign.
“Where’s the nearest emergency room?”
“Coos Bay.”
Since Ana was allergic to cops, I borrowed her phone again and called 911 myself.Twenty minutes.To give this woman a chance, we had to keep her alive for twenty minutes before help came.And hell, we’d already wasted too much precious time fighting amongst ourselves.
Next, I called Hallie.
“We need the jump bag.Can you bring the SUV to the empty lot between the dentist and the café?Drive right through, as close to the treeline as you can get.”
“I thought you said it was just a few scratches?”
“This is for somebody else.”
“Uh, yeah.Yeah, sure I can.”
“Good.Keep your gun handy and don’t get out of the car.I’ll meet you there.”
“What happened?”
“There’s someone nasty in these woods, and the dog wasn’t their only victim.”
“Okay.”The engine started.Good girl.I heard the tension in Hallie’s voice, but she kept her head.“Okay, I’m on my way.”
“What’s happening?”Bradley asked in the background.“What’s going on?”