Ian continued on, following behind Rowe while Hollis brought up the rear of their little train. His muscles trembled and ached, but he was relieved to find that the bone he’d broken in his thigh wasn’t giving him problems. The hike had been long and difficult. The terrain was uneven as they climbed up one hill and then down another. Rowe had kept them off any of the trails they ran across, sticking to the woods. Ian saw him occasionally checking the GPS, but for the most part, it seemed like he was using only the sun and a compass.
But the hardest part was when Noah went on ahead of them to check for guards and traps. At first, Rowe had been willing to cut up and make jokes, teasing Noah about getting lost in the woods and kidnapped by some moonshiner’s sexy daughters. But the farther they traveled, the fewer jokes Rowe made because they were getting closer to the ghost town, closer to danger, and Noah was potentially heading into that alone.
The last time, Rowe had simply grabbed Noah by the back of the neck and kissed him hard before saying, “Watch your six.” And then Noah disappeared into the woods, making barely a sound. Ian didn’t know how Rowe did it. He’d lost Mel, the light of his life, in that damn car wreck. He’d been given a second chance with Noah.
Ian closed his eyes and gave his head a hard shake. He couldn’t think about that. Noah was trained. He could handle this. Rowe wasn’t going to lose Noah. He—
“Shh!” Rowe hissed. He made a quick motion with his hand as he dropped to his knees behind a tree as he pulled out his gun. Ian and Hollis scrambled as quietly as possible for cover behind another tree. They’d done this routine more than a dozen times over the past couple of days so they had it down to an art. Rowe had either heard something or spotted movement. Sometimes it was only a deer. The other times it turned out to be Noah.
Hollis pressed his body tight against Ian’s, almost completely hiding him from view as if he could become a human shield. Ian reached up, running the tips of his fingers over the back of Hollis’s hand where he had it pressed into the rough back of the tree. He wanted this when they could go back to a normal life. He wanted to be able to reach out whenever he wanted and touch this man. He wanted to glance up and see that hypnotic, teasing smile burst forth simply because he was looking at Ian.
“Clear,” Rowe called in a low voice, pushing back to his feet and shoving his gun back into the holster at his hip.
Ian released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and pushed away from the tree to see Noah walking over to Rowe. He looked tired and dirtier than when Ian had last seen him—as if he’d spent a good portion of his trek crawling on his belly through the dirt. Rowe handed him a bottle of water and then brushed some hair out of his face as Noah took a long swallow.
Noah handed the water back to Rowe and flashed him a grateful look. “Let’s keep moving. There’s a good flat area with cover a few hundred yards to the west. We can rest there until dark and make plans.”
“You saw something?” Ian asked, picking up his pace to walk up next to Noah. The leaves slid away under his feet, but he grabbed a tree branch to keep his balance.
“Guards.”
“How many?” Hollis demanded.
“Just two, but I saw a worn path through the trees. They’ve got a patrol in the woods around the old mining town. At least during the day.”
“Did you see the schoolhouse? The kids?”
Noah shook his head. “Got a quick glimpse of the cemetery, but not the school or kids.”
“Save it for the clearing,” Rowe snapped. “We need to make plans.”
Ian bit back the next question and frowned. Rowe was right. They needed to find a place to rest and make plans. They had to find a way to get closer. Hollis had been clear that they had to be sure that the kids were there before they called in the cops. They couldn’t risk tipping off Jagger as to what they were doing.
“Ian,” Noah said, catching his attention. “They’re here. There wouldn’t be that many guards in the middle of nowhere unless they had something to guard.”
His heart started pounding hard and he nearly laughed out loud. He’d been right. This trip into the middle of freaking nowhere, Kentucky, hadn’t been for nothing. They would be able to free those kids and stop Jagger from hurting any child again. He’d make sure Jagger regretted ever touching him or any kid.