Every Precious Thing

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Instead of turning right and continuing in the direction they’d been headed, Richard went left out of the gas station parking lot, up one block, then left again onto a deserted side road. Within a minute, the town was behind them as they headed east.

Though the road had been paved, it was obvious that maintaining it had not been a huge priority. Mix that with the snow and summer rains and it was almost a wonder there was still any asphalt left at all.

“Where are we going?” Logan asked.

Richard glanced at him in the mirror and then refocused on the road.

As Diana opened her mouth to respond, her brother said, “Don’t.”

She looked at him, exasperated. “Richard, just drive. Let me do the thinking.”

It was clear this wasn’t the first time Richard had been similarly rebuked by Diana. He looked annoyed and uncomfortable, but he said nothing.

Diana turned to Logan. “A cabin. Belongs to a friend I knew when I used to work around here. He moved back east so he doesn’t get this way very much anymore. Impossible to tie it to me, so not a chance anyone would look for Sara there.”

Logan wasn’t sure it was impossible, but it was better than using a place Diana had lived in before.

“You still haven’t told me who these people are.”

“Does it really matter? I’ll let you talk to Sara, see that she’s all right. Then you can tell her husband to forget about her.”

“Whoa. I thought I was here to help.”

“And I never said we needed it, did I?”

He paused, glancing out the window. The day was dimming as a mass of gray clouds began to cover the sky. “You really think Alan can forget about her?”

“He has to.”

“Why? Why does he have to?”

She shook her head. “It’s better if he doesn’t know that.”

After a moment, Logan said, “I’ll know where she is.”

“No, you won’t,” Diana told him. “When we leave today, we’ll all go together. We’ll drop you in Tusayan and your friend can pick you up. Sara’s already been here long enough. Time for her to move on.”

“To where?”

She looked at him, snorted a laugh, and turned away.

Soon the road got really rough and became more dirt than blacktop. After a mile of this, they turned down another road that was no more than two well-worn tire paths.

Richard dropped their speed to a crawl, carefully navigating the dips and rises so that the bottom of the car didn’t scrape against the mound between the ruts. The road finally ended in a small clearing. It was just big enough so Richard could turn the car around and park it so that it faced the way they’d come.

Logan scanned their new surroundings. “Where’s the cabin?”

Diana pointed at the trees behind the car and climbed out. Logan removed his pistol from his bag and joined her. As Richard was coming around the back to where they were standing, he suddenly stopped, raised the gun he was holding, and pointed it at Logan.

“I told you we couldn’t trust him!”

His gaze flicked to Logan’s pistol.

“Are you kidding me?” Logan asked. “These people who are after Sara tried to kill me last night. Until this is over, I’m armed. Got it?”

Richard didn’t lower his gun. “As soon as you know where the cabin is, you’ll put a bullet in the back of our heads and then go after Sara. Plain as day, Diana. You’ve got to see that now.”

Logan couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for Richard. The guy might have been lacking a little in the smarts department, but he more than made up for it with his sense of loyalty.

Logan crouched down, set his gun on the ground, then stood and took three quick steps until the barrel of Richard’s gun was only a foot in front of his chest.

“Happy?” he asked.

He concentrated on Richard’s face, seeing the man’s anger and confusion and stubbornness mixing together.

Richard opened his mouth. “I-”

In a single, fluid motion, Logan’s hands shot up, twisting the gun free as he pivoted to Richard’s side and dropped him straight to the ground. By the time Richard could have reacted, Logan had a knee on his back, and the man’s own gun pointed at his head.

In the darkening sky, a thunderclap rolled over them.

“I could put a bullet in you right now. That would solve a lot of problems. But I am not your enemy. Got it?”

He stared down at Richard for a moment before tossing the gun several feet away and pushing himself up.

“Ready?” he asked Diana after he retrieved his own gun.

She looked as stunned as her brother had been, but she finally nodded. “Yeah.”

Logan looked back at Richard. “Are you coming?”