With All Your Heart

25~Followed

Annie didn't know it was possible to be so cold in tropical temperatures. She laced icy fingers together to stop them from shaking. Ty noticed and his jaw clenched at the sight. She disliked causing him to worry.

"Follow the markers. Hurry. Don't look back. Keep moving until you get to the Josh and the others." Ty's hand on the small of her back gently guided her along the trail they came. His expression was stoic, but his eyes held a glimmer of concern, which Annie knew was for her and Rachel.

She respected Ty and under different circumstances would do as he said, but Annie rebelled at the thought of leaving them in danger. Lifting her chin and meeting his gaze with a silent challenge. "We're not leaving you here."

"We'll be right behind you," Caleb assured, giving Rachel a quick hug.

"Then why don't we stay here and all go back to the beach together?"

Caleb's expression was pained. "Rachel, it's not safe."

"Exactly," Annie agreed. "We can't leave you. You might need us."

"This isn't up for negotiation." Ty's steely tone was harder than she had ever heard it before. "We can't risk what would happen to you two if Caleb and I are caught."

"He's right," Caleb told them, giving Rach's shoulder a squeeze. "You and Rachel need to warn the others."

A dozen questions filled her mind, but Annie knew she would only prolong the inevitable. A silent tear slipped down her cheek. "Be careful."

Ty pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her temple. As much as she wanted to hang on to him, Annie let him go. She saw Rachel do the same with Caleb. A moment later Ty and Caleb were gone.

Annie reached for Rachel's hand, sending up a quick but heartfelt prayer.

"What do you think they'll do?" Rachel's voice trembled.

A chill shot through her. The answer terrified Annie even though she knew it was wrong not to trust God. She didn't want to be afraid, but the thought of any of them dying was unthinkable.

"Annie?"

She heard the panic in Rachel's voice. "Try to get a phone. Call for help."

Rachel let out a soft cry and brought her fist to her mouth. "Should we stay?"

"No. The others have to know they're being hunted."

"Hunted? I never thought of it like that, but it's true. They're after anyone who helped Sarah."

The skin at the back of Annie's neck tingled, and she felt the eerie sense of being watched. "We need to go."

Rachel simply nodded, not seeming to notice anything amiss, and they backtracked into the woods.

Annie kept silent, but with every step she couldn't shake the unnerving sense that they were being followed.

***

"I think we can take 'em."

Ty's jaw tightened. Despite being armed, the men seemed overly confident, and careless. "We'll have to distract the dog."

As if hearing his comment, Jupiter lifted his head, his ears twitched and he let out an ominous growl.

Caleb flinched. "Nice doggie."

"You're not afraid of dogs are you?"

"Dogs, no." He tipped his chin at Jupiter. "That monster is at least part wolf."

"At least he's chained."

Left unsaid was that Sunny and his buddy wouldn't hesitate to release their not-so-secret weapon if they knew about him and Caleb. Suddenly, the cabin door opened and Sunny stepped onto the wooden porch and tossed a bone at Jupiter. Sunny trotted down the steps and stalked purposefully to his motorcycle.

Lord, help us. Ty was alert, ready for battle. A glance at Caleb confirmed that he too knew they might not get another opportunity like this. They moved with Sunny, as close as they dared get until the moment was right. The timing was important. He and Caleb shared a look, and they separated to surround Sunny.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ty saw Sunny glance down and Ty made his move. The guy looked up just as Ty's fist connected with his jaw. Sunny went down. Quickly, they carried him into the woods and searched his pockets.

"Bingo." Caleb grinned, holding up the phone. "Thank you, Jesus."

"Code?"

Caleb's smile slipped. He tapped the screen. "Nope. Hallelujah and I've got service."

"911 how may I help you?"

"Sunny?"

Both questions came at once—the operator's and guy with Sunny.

Caleb spoke in a hushed tone. "We need help. We're in danger. Our boat, the Bluejay, sank and we're stranded on this island."

"Sir, what is your name?"

"Caleb—"

Ty caught his arm. The dude was getting too close. His beady eyes scanned the area and paused on them. Scratching his head, the guy frowned and then the operator spoke again. Ty and Caleb ran.

Shouts and gunfire pursued them, but they kept running.

***

They were being followed.

Annie was certain now. She wasn't imagining things, wasn't paranoid. The feeling of eyes watching, and the sound of crackling branches and footsteps were real.

Rachel turned in the direction of the sounds and Annie placed a finger to her lips, warning Rachel to be silent.

They kept moving, resisting the urge to go faster and pretending everything was normal.

"We're almost there," Annie lied. "Just a little bit longer."

Rachel swallowed hard, her frightened gaze finding Annie's. "Right."

"Cal seems to really like you," Annie said in a conversational tone.

"Yeah, Cal is a great guy," Rachel answered using Annie's fake name for Caleb. Her voice trembled a little, but she came back strong with, "Gorgeous and Godly."

Annie wasn't sure if it mattered if the bad guys found out who they really were, but giving away personal information didn't seem like a good idea.

"Tyson's almost as good-looking as Cal and he's got a huge crush on you, Anastasia." Rachel's eyes flashed with mischief as she fully embraced her role.

Annie's head turned at the fake name Rachel had made up for Annie, and she didn't hold back her smile. Hopefully, whoever was following them would think they were clueless and harmless. She listened for the footsteps but heard nothing behind them.

A sigh of relief sank through her, but it was in vain. Without warning a shadowy figure launched in front of her. The next instant her head exploded with pain and the world went dark.