He stopped, and I thought it was because of what I’d said. It wasn’t. There was some noise outside. His head cocked toward it, and then he drew his weapon.
Rachel whimpered, and I felt blindly for her arm, giving it a squeeze.
Think, Lara.
I had Calder’s knife with me. He said it was in case Rachel was restrained, but I knew there were other “in cases” it was for, too. I could try to get it, but I knew I wouldn’t be fast enough. Not against a man with a gun. I wasn’t like Calder; I didn’t have an expertise in weapons, but I did know the adage tonever bring a knife to a gunfight.
Maybe if I rushed him, hit his low center of gravity, it would knock him off balance enough for Rachel to get by. If she could make it behind the cabin, Calder would see her—help her.
Matthew’s head snapped back to me. I started to bend, the balls of my feet pressing hard into the ground.
“Rachel, find Calder—”
“Wait,” Matthew uttered harshly, and disbelief grabbed me by the throat as he lifted his hands in surrender. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
What?I didn’t move. This couldn’t be real. He had to be lying. It was a trick to stop me. He holstered his weapon and with his other hand brought a finger of silence to his mouth.
What was going on?
I froze, balancing on the fulcrum of trust, waiting for his next move to prove whether or not I could believe him.
He kept his head turned slightly—listening—for another second and then strode toward me so quickly, I wasn’t sure I could’ve stopped him even if I had been prepared. But he wasn’t coming for us. He veered to the right, motioning wordlessly for us to follow him.
Where does he want us to go? And why—I looked back to the front door, now hearing the voices he had, and they were getting closer.
Taking my sister’s wrist, I went with my gut. I followed the large guard through a door on the side of the bed into the bathroom. There were two showers on the back wall, and Matthew went straight for the one on the left. Opening the glass door, he stepped inside. There wasn’t time to wonder what he was doing before he grabbed one of the shower nozzles—one that existed in the left shower but not the right—and twisted it.
A latch popped, and a hidden door opened to the outside.
Holy shit.
I didn’t want to think about why Adam Eden needed this kind of exit from his own cabin because I had a feeling he wasn’t the one who used it.
Matthew peered through the door. Left and then right, and then looked back to me, motioning that it was clear.
All I wanted to know was why he was helping us.Was it for Dr. Julia? Did he realize what Adam was doing to her? Was he trying to get her out, too?As much as I wanted to know, my sister was my only priority.
I led us through the shower, going as quickly as her unsteady steps made possible.
“Go,” Matthew clipped when he saw me start to thank him, then went back inside Eden’s cabin, the door closing up its invisible seam.
Voices—commotion—reached a crescendo from inside the cabin.Was it Adam? Had he found Matthew? Would he tell him which way we went?I squeezed Rachel’s hand and buried the hammer of my heart the way I did when a patient coded. Panicking wouldn’t bring them back to life. Chasing unknowable questions wouldn’t restart their heart. And worrying what was coming for my sister and me wouldn’t help us get away any faster.
“This way.” I pulled her into the trees.
I pressed my hand to the rough bark of each trunk, pushing off them like it helped us move faster. Whether it was the drugs in her system, the fear, or both, my sister hardly made a sound behind me. I looked back to her only once and saw tears streaming down her face; after that, I knew I couldn’t look again until we were truly safe.
Once we were far enough onto the ridge, I stopped and brought us to a crouch.
“Wait here for a second.” She nodded, and I stood again, climbing back up the ridge to look for Calder.
I searched for him through the trees, expecting him to appear by my side any second like the silent hunter he was, but he never did. He should’ve been right behind us. That was the plan. He kept a lookout on the cabin, and once I led Rachel out, he would rendezvous with us here on the ridge to go back—Oh god.
Calder was waiting for me to bring Rachel out the front. He didn’t know about the secret back door. He didn’t know we were safe.He didn’t know Matthew entered the cabin to help us, not harm us.
I lurched forward and a shot rang out, the distinct echo cascading down the slope.
“Whatever happens, get back to the shelter. If I’m not with you, call Callum.”