Page 80 of Valor (Long Hot Summer: Christian Romantic Suspense #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Northern Moravia, 2025

Meghan shut her eyes against the darkness and prayed.

God, please, don’t let Oliver die.

Her heart throbbed at the thought that he could have been shot while unable to defend himself. By the faint light of her phone, she crept toward the exit. Hiding while he risked his life wasn’t what she planned to do. Meghan wasn’t some helpless damsel in distress. She had to help him.

Once at the mouth of the cave, she peered around the boulder. There was no one there. The sound of rapid footsteps thumping the forest floor caused her adrenaline to spike. To the left of her, someone shouted a command. They were chasing him. Her hands shook. But then her rational mind kicked in. If they were running after him, it meant that Oliver was alive.

She stepped out of the cave and scanned her surroundings. An ATV was parked in the shrubs to her left. If she could get on and cut through the undergrowth, she would have a chance to get ahead of them. Praying under her breath, she sprinted to the machine and started it, then pushed the throttle to the max as the shouting continued, the rear tires spinning and kicking up a flurry of dry leaves. Meghan drove into the forest. Branches whipped against her as the noise of the engine drowned out the commands of the running men. Her only hope was that they would have assumed one of their own rode the vehicle.

Oliver, where are you? She prayed God would grant her a miracle.

And then she noticed a flash of his jacket between the trees. Her heart beating in her ears, Meghan drove the machine toward him. Oliver turned. His expression told her he was ready for a fight. The intensity melted away as soon as recognition hit him. His face broke into a wide smile. She slowed down enough for him to mount the seat behind her.

“What took you so long?” he said into her ear.

“You told me to wait,” she shot back over the roar of the engine.

“Good, you did not listen. Please take it to the right. The logging road will take us to the mill. The backup is on their way.”

A shot rang through the forest.

“Go, go, go!”

He needn’t tell her that. Meghan drove the ATV straight down the mountain, avoiding the trees and low branches.

God, help me not to tip this thing.