17 Chapter 17

"Madison?" Moon asks groggily.

Relief swamps me and I try not to cry. This does no good and tears of relief fall from my eyes. "I'm hurt," is all I can manage to say and even that's shaky.

"Shh," Moon whispers. His voice is my lifeline and I only cry harder. "Where are you?"

Another round of trembling hits me. I suck air into my lungs and try to control myself enough to speak. "Between Payson and Heber..." My teeth continue to chatter and once again, I breathe. "I'm about a hundred yards down the side of the mountain."

"Jesus." I hear movement and then my eyes jump left and right in case whoever did this has decided to come after me.

"How bad are you hurt?" he finally asks. The words are filled with concern, though I can hear the suppressed anger behind them.

I concentrate on Moon's question and manage to speak coherently. "Bleeding. It's a head wound. I went over right after the second s-turn about fifteen minutes or so outside of Payson."

His voice changes from concern to deadly. "Have you called the police?"

I hiccup and cry harder. Fuck, but I need to control myself. It's killing me mentally that I should be able to call the police. In trouble? Need help? Call police. It's the code I've always lived by.

"No, too dangerous," is what I answer.

"I'm on my way."

Panic slices through me. "Don't hang up, Moon."

I hear someone at Moon's end talking in the background, but Moon keeps his attention on me. The anger leaves his voice as he says, "I need you to do something for me, Madison."

I inhale deeply and slowly release the air from my lungs. "Okay," I respond after I've calmed myself again.

"You need to hang up and activate the phone's locate feature. Can you do that for me?"

I don't want to hang up. I want him talking in my ear and reassuring me everything will be okay. A small spark of angst clicks in my brain. I'm stronger than this. Why the hell am I reacting this way? Moon's right. I need to activate the phone so he can find me.

"Madison?"

"Yes. I can do that." My voice is stronger now.

"Call me back as soon as it's done. Alex is driving and I'll stay on the phone with you until we're there."

"Okay... thank you, Moon."

"Hang up now and do it." His voice remains soft, but there's a touch of command in it. It's how I dealt with trauma victims when I worked the streets. This makes me smile slightly as I disconnect.

The second I do, there's a faint ruffling of leaves between me and Sally and I freeze. I keep my gun aimed in front of me and watch for movement. Several minutes goes by without a sound. Whatever it was, I don't think it was human. I attempt to change the phone's settings. It isn't easy with how hard I'm shaking. I curse as I try to navigate through all the settings. My brain isn't fully functional, and turning on the locate feature is not nearly as easy as turning it off. I wipe my eyes to clear them again and finally, I'm able to swipe the correct sequence of controls.

I take a minute to mentally prepare myself for what's ahead. Moon is more than an hour away; closer to two, really. I can do this for two hours, I silently tell myself. Not that I have a choice. I'm safe for now and I have my gun if that changes. I will survive this and kick some ass later.

I call Moon.

"Hey, baby," he says sweetly. I know he's trying to keep me calm, and it works. "We have your location." He hesitates. "Have you charged the phone recently?"

Fuck, I haven't. I'm lucky the damn thing works at all. "No," I answer, and I'm heartsick.

Moon's voice doesn't reveal that this is a problem. "Okay. We're going to plan B and using text messages. Every ten minutes you send a quick text. I'll find you even if the phone goes dead. I promise." I absolutely believe him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I swallow my tears back. "I'm good." I am. I can do this. I went to the police academy for eighteen and a half weeks of pure hell. Day after day of constant stress. If I can do that, I can do anything. "Hurry," I whisper and disconnect.

Branches are poking me and I'm squatting, which is causing my legs to cramp. I crawl out of the bushes so I can rest my back against a tree a few feet away. The area is dark and I don't think anyone can see me without a flashlight. The cell has about one-fourth of its battery left. I can't check the time without using additional power, which is going to be a problem. My thoughts drift when I try to count down the minutes. When I check the time, I have four minutes to go. I send my first text early.

You text me every ten minutes. One-fourth charge left.

Will do.

His reply was immediate and I feel reassured. I close my eyes and separate the sounds of the night. Some kind of small critter scurries around through the pine needles about twenty feet away. Every so often, I hear the tires of an occasional vehicle on the road above me. I try to not think about my pounding head or my muscles, which are beginning to ache. Time drags and I want to check the phone so bad because it seems like thirty minutes have passed. My eyes are open when the screen lights up.

You good?

Yes.

And that's how it goes for more than an hour. Each message, though short, reconfirms that Moon is on his way.

Voices pull me from sleep. I tighten my grip on my gun and lift it. The phone lights up in my other hand.

I'm here.