Her voice broke, and Everly pulled her into a quick hug. “And I keep my promises.”
Everly called to Sam and started toward the Jeep. Savannah followed. She settled Jamison into the back and did a decent job of making the situation seem like an adventure rather than a tenuous life-saving escape.
“We’re burnin’ daylight here, people,” Roman called out the truck’s window.
Ian had to stuff his feelings and pull Savannah from the Jeep. She jerked her arm away and walked ahead of him to the Suburban. Inside, Savannah dropped her head into her hands and choked down sobs. Regret swamped Ian. But with time as their enemy, he couldn’t wallow. At least not outwardly.
He followed the others’ lead and backed onto the road they’d come in on, then followed Everly’s Jeep. Savannah stopped crying almost immediately, curled into her seat, and stared out the passenger’s window.
She stayed silent so long, Ian was convinced she’d never talk to him again. In his ear, the team relayed travel information and Bishop updates as Rosen phoned them into Everly. So far, Bishop and the deputies were weaving a futile pattern around Hazard County, but Lyle had enlisted the help of locals to cover the town so the deputies could cross county lines and patrol the highway farther south. Ian had no doubt Sam was tracking every Hazard sheriff’s vehicle on a map that showed open and plowed roads.
With no immediate threat and Savannah giving him a well-deserved cold shoulder, Ian was trapped in his own head. The scenery might have been breathtaking, but he couldn’t do more than glance at the occasional vacation home off the road while he fought to figure out how he was going to get back into Savannah’s good graces.
Twenty minutes into the drive, she broke the silence with “Why did we switch cars?”
Internally, he winced. While he’d been craving connection and the sound of her voice, he also dreaded the questions he’d have to answer in ways she wouldn’t understand or like.
“So the lead car has a shooter,” he answered.
“I shoot.” Her voice was flat and tired. “But not like you guys, I guess.”
That made a smile tip his lips. “You shoot?”
“Everyone in Montana shoots.”
Silence filled the car again but lasted only five minutes this time.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We have a temporary headquarters in Whitefish. We’ll regroup there.”
Another long silence.
In the Jeep, Jamison and Sam started singing If You’re Happy and You Know It.
“Oh my God,” Everly groaned over the mic. “Kill me now. Roman, you owe me.”
Ian took his earpiece out and offered it to Savannah. “This will put a smile on your face.”
When she didn’t reject him, Ian positioned it in her ear and Savannah held it there with one hand. He watched as joy lifted her features and her mouth curved in a smile. She laughed and closed her eyes with a look of happiness he hadn’t seen in what seemed like far too long. In fact, it had been less than twenty-four hours ago, when they’d been lying in bed together.
In the next instant, her smile fell. Fear tightened her features, and she cut a look at Ian.
“What?” He took the earbud and replaced it in his ear.
“—two vehicles a quarter of a mile ahead of us,” Sam was saying.
“Cops?” he asked.
“Weren’t you listening?” Sam shot back.
“Plan?” he asked.
“Take a left at the next plowed road,” Sam said, “then your first right onto forest service land. We’ll cut across the pass and hook up with Highway Thirty-two just south of Kalispell.”
“Roger that.” Ian picked up speed to stay on the tail of the other vehicles.
“We’re driving too fast,” Savannah said. “It isn’t safe.”