“Rose! I will find you. And when I do, I will make you pay, baby. I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done.” His voice rose along with his anger.

Mason spun at the waist and held his hand up. “Don’t move!” he mouthed.

But I couldn’t just let Crocker hurt him.

Noticing my resolve, Mason crawled toward me, stopping at the edge of the creek. “Rose,” he whispered, his eyes wild and desperate. “I’m begging you to sit here and say nothing.”

Tears stung my eyes. “He knows where we are, Mason,” I choked out. “He’s going to hurt you.”

He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “No, he’s bluffing. He wasn’t even looking up here. Just wait.”

Mason and I stared at each other, separated by three feet of water.

“Rose!” Daniel shouted in frustration.

Mason hurried back over to his vantage point, observing the scene below.

Tears made my already cold cheeks sting.

He turned back to me and crawled to the edge of the water. His eyes pleaded with me. “Rose, he’s leaving,” he whispered. “I promise. Then we’ll find a house somewhere and call the state police, okay?”

My jaw quivered even more as I fought to keep from crying.

“Rose, goddammit!” Crocker shouted.

I closed my eyes and cringed.

“I know she’s here! I can feel it.” Crocker’s voice carried through the grove below us. “Spread out and look for her! She’s got to—”

“Daniel,” another man’s voice interrupted. “They found their tracks south of here, heading down the creek toward town.”

I heard a loud smack and a grunt, followed by smashing leaves.

“Anyone else want to cross me?” Crocker growled.

No one answered.

Barking echoed through the trees and my eyes widened. Mason’s mouth parted, probably worried about how I’d react.

Muffy.

“That’s her dog. Miller—head south and see if she’s with Rose.” He paused. “You two head north. And you…go up that hill.”

Someone was about to find us.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mason’s eyes widened and he crossed the water, keeping low and trying not to slosh. When he reached me, he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him toward his bag. “Promise me you won’t try and give yourself up to him. No matter what happens.”

“Mason—”

“Rose.” His face hardened. “If you don’t promise me that you’ll do everything in your power to hide, I’ll stand up right now and tell Crocker I’m here. At least then you’ll have the chance to run.”

I reached for him, my nails digging into the back of his hand. “Mason, no!”

He grabbed my face with both hands. “I can’t worry that you’re going to do something stupid like turning yourself over in an attempt to save me. We need to be united if we have any hope of surviving. Agreed?”

I nodded, choking on my tears. “I’m just scared for you, Mason.”

“And I’m scared for you, which is why I’ll do everything in my power to keep him from getting you, and obviously you’re willing to do the same for me. But we have to work together.”

I heard brush breaking on the hill below us.

“Okay.”

He gave me a quick kiss and then spun around to grab the gun and blanket I’d left behind, stuffing both into his bag. “Let’s go.” He slung the bag over his shoulder. Moving past me, he picked his way through the leaves, trying to keep to the bare spots. I followed his lead, having a hard time getting my numb feet to cooperate.

We moved quietly, heading for a cliff that rose ten to twelve feet.

“There’s nothing up here, Crocker!” a voice shouted from behind us. I resisted the urge to turn and look for him.

Crocker’s voice drifted up, faint. “Keep looking!”

The cliff edge angled back, creating a space hidden from the creek. Mason searched for a scalable section of the slope then reached for me, determination making his face hard. “Climb.”

I scaled the rocks, fumbling to find a foothold since I couldn’t feel my feet. The cliff was only about ten feet high in this section, but if we could get to the top and lie flat, Crocker’s man probably wouldn’t see us. However, I struggled to climb even three feet, shivering so hard that I couldn’t get a grip on the rocks above me.

Mason moved past me and climbed to a ledge four feet up, squatting before reaching down and pulling me up. He scaled the remaining six feet of cliff and slid over the top edge. He looked down at the creek and panic filled his eyes as he held his hand out for me. “Hurry!” he grunted.

I grabbed his hands and he jerked me up and over the edge, the rocks scraping my stomach. We scooted back, lying flat on our stomachs. My heart raced as I fought to catch my breath, my whole body still shaking. Mason rubbed my back in soothing strokes while he looked down below.

I listened for signs of the man who was tracking us and heard nothing, but the way Mason’s head was moving, I knew he was watching the tracker. We lay there for at least ten minutes. Each of my limbs felt like it weighed fifty pounds. Even my eyelids started to feel heavy and I succumbed to an overwhelming sleepiness.

“Rose,” Mason whispered in my ear.

I blinked, wondering why I was lying on the ground.

“Rose, wake up.”

He rolled me to my side and I looked up into his face. Tiny snowflakes floated around his head.