It was freezing in the desert at night.

We rushed through it, Carly on my back now pretending to be a great pirate on a ship, pointing out directions to me as we made our way through the dark. An hour had passed since we’d climbed out of that motel, and we were good and thoroughly lost. A good place to be, given that we had half an outlaw motorcycle club in pursuit, led by a psychopath, to boot.

The lights and sounds following had died down about ten minutes ago, but I wasn’t ready to stop yet. Not until I was 100 percent sure they weren’t still behind us. Weren’t going to appear and take us back to that horrible motel dining hall with the cameras and the chairs.

“Which way now, Carly?” I breathed, my legs aching, my back paining, and sweat pricking ice cold on my chest as I ran, then stumbled, then jogged again.

“To the left,” she said, in my ear. “That’s the way to the treasure.”

“Are you sure about that, captain?”

“Yes, look!” Carly whispered. “There’s a big rock, there, and the treasure must be buried underneath it.”

“Aye, aye,” I wheezed and headed in that direction.

The rock would provide at least some cover for us to take a break and catch our breaths. And for me to finally get my cell out of my damn jeans and contact Bryan. If there was even cell reception out here.

Don’t think like that. It’s a town, right? So, towns have cell reception. You’re not too far away.

I swerved toward the rocky outcropping, crunching hard grass and small, brittle shrubs underfoot, thanking every deity in existence that I’d chosen to put on my sneakers this morning. Finally, we stopped, and I let Carly down.

“We’ve reached the treasure,” she said.

“That’s right, we have. Now, you stay low, honey. We wouldn’t want the enemy pirates to catch us again.”

“The bad guys,” Carly said, and her voice warbled, ever so slightly.

I spared a moment to give her a hug. “Baby, you have been so brave tonight. I am so proud of you. I just need you to be brave for a little while longer. Soon, your daddy will come and then we’ll be safe again, OK?”

“OK,” she whispered. “I love you, mommy.”

Oh god. I can’t cry now. I didn’t bother correcting her. “I love you too, honey. Now stay quiet. I’ve got to try something.”

I walked a few paces away so she wouldn’t see me digging around in my jeans, then extracted the phone, wiped it down, and returned to her side. I sat down beside Carly, my back scraping against the rock, and unlocked my phone’s screen.

I had 30 percent battery power, and one bar of signal. Still, I scrolled through my contacts list, my heart sitting in my throat, and tried Bryan’s number. I lifted the phone to my ear and grimaced. No service. The bar was intermittent—apparently we’d run pretty damn far from the town.

Carly rested her head on my shoulder, quietly, and her breathing slowed. She had to be exhausted after everything we’d been through, and cold as well. I tucked one arm around her and pulled her against my side. I didn’t exactly have much warmth to share, but it was better than nothing.

Okay. No calls. But surely...

Quickly, I cycled through to my #dateme app and opened it. I typed out a message to Bryan.

”Please come find us.” I sent that off and waited for it to go through. Two ticks appeared at the bottom of the message and I did a mental victory dance. Maybe, we weren’t so screwed after all. Next, I opened up the chat menu and selected “share location.”

I dropped a pin in the chat and waited for that to go through too. It did.

My pulse pounded, and my head followed shortly after. This was all I could do. There was no one else to call. I couldn’t trust that the cops weren’t corrupted by Marcus, and I didn’t want Bev involved in this.

Carly murmured something under her breath, and I stroked her head, cooing to her softly as she dropped off to sleep.

The desert was quiet. No wind, just the occasional cricket in the underbrush, the rustle of a small animal, maybe a snake, slithering between the bushes nearby. I tried working moisture back into my mouth.

God, I was parched. And there was no chance we’d find any water out here. I wasn’t exactly Bear Grylls either.

Time passed, maybe an hour, maybe more, with Carly sleeping and me unable to. My eyelids would droop shut, and I’m immediately open them again as wide as they could go.

Can’t fall asleep. If they find you while you’re sleeping…

No messages came through on the phone, and I switched it off to conserve battery. In case this didn’t go well. Our only option was to pray that Bryan had received our location and would track us down.

“Riley?” Carly’s voice croaked in the darkness.

“Hey, honey, I’m here. Go back to sleep.”

“I’m thirsty.”

“I know, I am too, but we’ve got nothing to drink right now. Don’t worry, I’m sure when your daddy finds us, he’ll have some water. And we could even go for milkshakes afterward. Would you like that?” I asked, trying for a cheery whisper.

“Yeah,” she whispered back.

“What’s your favorite kind of milkshake?” I asked.

“Chocolate. And banana. I like strawberry too.”

“I like bubblegum,” I replied.

“Ew!”

I chuckled under my breath. “Mmm, especially if it’s bright blue and extra bubblegum flavored. Yum, yum, yum.”

“Gross, Riley.” She leaned on my shoulder again, her little body relaxing.

“And what’s your favorite kind of fruit?” I asked.

“Pineapple. What do you like?”

“Strawberries,” I said, “but they have to be ripe and sweet and delicious.”

The distant hum of a vehicle caught my focus, and I shifted, peering to the left around the rock, straining my neck. “What’s your favorite animal?” I asked, to keep Carly busy.

There were lights out there. A car. A cool sweat broke out on the back of my neck. That was either someone hunting us or coming to help us, and I had no idea which. The headlights of a car lanced through the night, then cut out on what had to be the road.

“I like giraffes,” Carly whispered. “They have long blue tongues. It’s funny.”

“Blue like bubblegum?”

“Ew.”

“I like wolves,” I whispered. “Because they always look after their families. What’s your favorite food?”

“Pizza,” Carly replied, a kneejerk reaction and probably true of most six-year-olds.

“Oh yeah? What type of pizza? Do you like anchovies on yours?”

“Ew!”

“Lots of ew tonight,” I whispered, still scanning the night, praying that whoever was out there wouldn’t find us if they were bad, and would if they were Bryan. Please Bryan, read your texts. “I don’t like anchovies either.”

“Good. Because they’re super gross, and I never want to have anchovies.”

“Me neither.” I fell silent, and Carly did too, drifting off to sleep again by the sound of her breathing.

I listened hard for noise out there, a cool wind brushing my bare skin. A shout rang out in the distance, and my insides clenched. Oh god, this was it, wasn’t it? This was the moment we’d be discovered and hauled back to that fucking hotel room to be murdered or whatever they’d had planned for us.

Another shout, and the beams of flashlights sliced through the night, illuminating patches of sand or rock, or tough bushes.

“Carly,” I whispered, “wake up, honey. We’ve got to move again.” If push came to shove, I’d simply switch on the phone again and send Bryan another pin. If we stayed here, we’d be toast.

Carly opened her eyes, and I helped her to her feet. “Onto my back again,” I whispered, and bent low. Her little arms wrapped around my neck, and I lifted her. “That’s right. OK, just for now, I’m going to pick the direction. After that, you can control the ship, OK?”

“OK, Riley,” she murmured, still yawning.

A flashlight arced toward us and landed on us, a beam of blue-white light. We stood in the circle of it, and I froze, staring out at the silhouette behind the flashlight.

Tall, burly, closing in on us fast, the flashlight shaking ever so slight in his hand.

My throat closed, and I spun on the spot, put my foot in the dirt and ran.