Nicole Woodard moved through the woods at a slow jog. The June day was muggy, but a gentle breeze made it quite comfortable.

A poplar branch scraped her cheek, and she slowed her pace. “Come on, Maddy. We need to get back to the house.”

Her little sister skidded to a stop and crossed her arms without turning around. “I don’t wanna.” A foot stomp emphasized the sentiment.

“It’s time for lunch. Dad’s probably back now.”

Maddy turned, a downed tree snagging her gaze, and her eyes widened. The tree was huge, its jagged roots extending a good six feet from the base. It would make great firewood for use this winter. If things went as Nicole hoped, she wouldn’t be here to enjoy it.

She’d planned to come back home after finishing her degree…for a visit. Not an indefinite stay. Now instead of accepting that school psychologist job she’d been offered in Cleveland, Ohio, she was chasing a spoiled seven-year-old through the woods in the sticks of Kentucky.

Maddy skipped toward the tree and maneuvered her body through the mass of roots. “Look, Cole. It’s a secret fort.”

Nicole heaved a sigh. “We need to get back. After lunch, I want to go see Mom.”

When she’d arrived yesterday, she’d dropped her bags off at the house and headed straight to the hospital. The woman lying there barely resembled the one she’d hugged goodbye at the end of spring break. If the diagnosis hadn’t aged her, two surgeries and an aggressive round of chemo had.

“I wanna go with you.”

“Dad will take you later this afternoon.” The hospital waived the minimum age requirement for children of patients when accompanied by an adult.

“I wanna go both times.”

“I’m not coming right home afterward.” She’d already made plans to have an early dinner with friends. As much as she loved her sister, she wasn’t going to change those plans or play babysitter while enjoying them.

Maddy peered between two large roots. That signature stubbornness underlay the eagerness in her eyes. “I could go with you.”

“Not this time.” Nicole extended her hand. “Come on. Let’s have lunch. When I get home this evening, we’ll play Sushi Go!”

The stubbornness fled, and a smile climbed up her cheeks. “Okay.”

Nicole squeezed the hand that slid into hers. Throughout her childhood, she’d begged her parents for a little sister. By the time she’d gotten her wish, it had been too late to enjoy it—she’d been a few months shy of high school graduation. In spite of the seventeen-year age difference, the family resemblance was strong. If one put their first-grade school pictures side by side, they looked like twins, with the same large, brown eyes and hair so dark it was almost black, both thanks to their mother’s Italian heritage.

“Can we play Hungry Hungry Hippos, too?”

“Sure, until Dad says it’s bedtime.”

Maybe that wasn’t a good promise to make. Maddy might not even have a bedtime, especially now that school was out. The rules were more lax for the younger daughter than they’d been for the older one. Approval flowed more freely, too. Of course, she couldn’t compare her upbringing to her little sister’s. Nicole had had two healthy parents. For the past two years, their father’s focus had been more on caring for a sick wife than raising a well-behaved daughter.

Maddy swung Nicole’s hand in an exaggerated arc. “I like it out here. Mom and Dad don’t let me walk by myself.”

“I like it, too. While I’m here, we can go for a walk every day.”

The property really was pretty, although she hadn’t appreciated it when her parents had dragged her here at the age of seventeen. She’d been happy in Memphis, ready to start her senior year of high school. Then her mom’s parents had passed away, leaving her mom and uncle two homes on four hundred acres of land bordering a national forest on one side and prison grounds at the back. For her uncle, the inheritance had come at the perfect time—after a business failure and some bad investments, his home had been in foreclosure.

For Nicole, being pulled away from her friends and the much-anticipated senior activities had been the pits. Her mother’s pleas to make the move after Nicole graduated had fallen on deaf ears. Her authoritative father had insisted, and her mother had acquiesced because that was what she always did.

Maddy began to sing softly, some silly, happy children’s song about a fat cat. Nicole envied that childish lightheartedness, the being blissfully unaware of adult-size problems. Their parents had probably sugarcoated the details about their mom’s cancer, keeping the worst of it from seven-year-old Maddy.

Nicole smiled down at her little sister. She wouldn’t do anything to destroy that innocence.

From somewhere ahead, a male voice drifted to them on the gentle breeze. It didn’t belong to her father, and it was too deep to be her uncle’s. Nicole stiffened, a wave of uneasiness sweeping through her. She drew to a sudden stop and shushed her little sister. The fat cat song died mid-phrase.

The bass voice came again, followed by her father’s.

Her breath released in a rush, and she glanced at Maddy. “Come on, Dad’s back.”

They’d just started to move when her dad spoke again. This time his voice was raised, anger lacing his tone. She stood stock-still, every sense on high alert. Something was wrong. Her father was always in control. Even during the frequent scoldings she’d received when she’d failed to live up to his expectations, he’d never raised his voice. Someone had ticked him off.

The man he was with spoke again, his voice low and controlled. Her father’s response was immediate. “I won’t be any part of this!”

Suddenly someone was crashing through the woods toward them. Nicole slipped behind a tree and ducked into the undergrowth there, pulling Maddy down with her and praying they weren’t sharing their hiding place with anything that slithered.

“What’s going on?” Maddy’s voice was thin, filled with fear.

Nicole put a finger over her sister’s lips and leaned close. “Let’s play a game and see how quiet we can be.”

Maddy nodded, brown eyes wide.

Moments later, someone fell to the ground a short distance away. There were some rustles and grunts and then the thud of fists against flesh. Someone was being beaten up. If Nicole had to guess, it was her father.

She pressed a hand over her sister’s mouth and held a finger in front of her own lips. Once sure her sister would remain quiet, she lifted her head to peer through the top of the undergrowth.

A man was squatting with his back to her, her father lying on the ground in front of him. As she watched, he pulled something from his pocket and pressed a button. A blade extended from the end, glistening in a beam of sunlight that pierced the canopy overhead.

A soft gasp slipped between her lips. The man was going to hurt her father. She had to do something. She rose from her crouch as the stranger lifted his arm.

“I’ll make sure you keep your mouth shut.” His tone held a cold steeliness. The arm holding the knife swung in a downward arc, and her father released an agonized scream. Nicole pressed a hand over her mouth to keep her own from escaping.

She should have thought of her sister. Maddy screamed, loud and long, as the man plunged the knife into their father’s torso three more times.

Nicole grabbed her sister’s arm and broke into a full run. Her heart twisted as she left her father lying on the ground, bleeding. But trying to help him would get both her and Maddy killed. Soon heavy footsteps pounded behind them.

“Faster.” She hissed the word, even though her sister’s little legs were moving as fast as they could. Tears streamed down the child’s face, and her breath came in sobbing gasps. They would never be able to outrun the man pursuing them. God, help us!

Nicole glanced around them. The downed tree she’d coaxed Maddy from earlier lay ahead and to the left. Barely slowing her pace, she leaned toward her sister.

“There’s our secret fort. Get in as far as you can and don’t make a sound.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Go, and don’t come out till I say so.”

She slowed just enough to watch Maddy weave her way between the roots and then shot away at a full run, taking a sharp right. Her path was leading the man away from Maddy, but she needed more of a plan than that.

The footsteps drew closer. Her pursuer couldn’t be more than thirty feet behind her now. Even without dragging her little sister, she wouldn’t outrun him. As she glanced over her shoulder, the burgundy of his T-shirt flashed among the greens of nature. If she could see him, he could see her.

She slipped behind a tree and skidded to a stop. A broken branch lay on the ground a few feet away. She picked it up and gripped it like a baseball bat. It was sturdy, not rotted, and about four feet long. She wasn’t strong enough to disable him, but maybe she could stun him enough to escape.

As the footsteps pounded closer, she tightened her grip and held her breath. The steps slowed.

“I know you’re here. You might as well give up.”

The taunting tone set every nerve on edge. Given the opportunity, he’d use that knife on her just like he had on her father, without a thread of remorse.

The next moment, he stepped past the tree she was hiding behind. His head swiveled toward her, and his eyes widened. She leaped in front of him and swung the branch with all her strength. Although he twisted to avoid the makeshift club, he wasn’t fast enough. It connected with the side of his head, the sickening thud sounding amplified in the silence of the woods. He stumbled sideways and hit the ground.

Without waiting to see what he’d do next, she ran. A minute later, she stopped to listen. All was quiet except the soft rustle of the breeze. Maybe she’d knocked him out. She changed her direction and headed toward Maddy, making a wide arc. If she didn’t get back to the little girl soon, she couldn’t count on her to remain in her hiding place.

After running for another five minutes, she slowed her pace and looked around. She’d always had an excellent sense of direction. Now wasn’t the time for it to fail her. The tree where she’d told Maddy to hide had to be nearby.

A rustle sounded in the distance, sending her heart into her throat. She strained to listen. Just as she’d feared, the initial rustle became the rhythmic sound of footsteps, and they were moving closer. Where was that tree?

She spun in a slow circle. About twenty feet to her right, a mass of roots was barely visible through the trees and undergrowth. She’d almost reached it when Maddy poked her head into an opening between roots. Fresh tears streaked her face. “Nicole!”

“Shh. Let’s pretend we’re spies, hiding out in our secret fort. But we have to be really quiet.” She crawled into the space, roots and debris poking her palms and knees. After maneuvering as close to the base of the trunk as she could, she motioned to Maddy. “Come on. Snuggle against me.”

Maddy crawled closer, and Nicole wrapped her arms around her. God, please make this work. And please don’t let there be any copperheads or rattlesnakes in here. She didn’t even want to see a harmless black snake.

She held Maddy and waited, tamping down the grief threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t fall apart. There’d be time for that later. Now, nothing mattered except the two of them getting to safety.

The breeze picked up, sending a “shh” swelling around them. The rhythmic crunch of footsteps punctuated the sound.

Maddy stiffened. “Hear that?”

“It’s okay. He won’t find us in here.”

The man moved closer. Nicole tightened her hold on Maddy, willing her to remain silent. Then the footsteps stopped. A deep voice penetrated the rustle of the trees, sending Nicole’s heart into her throat.

“We got a problem. Woodard found out and threatened to go to the police. I took care of it, but his kids saw me.”

After a brief pause, he continued. “Hey, I didn’t know they were there.” Another pause. “Just get out here, and bring the drones.”

Drones? Nicole’s stomach sank. If it was just the two men chasing them, they could possibly escape. Once those men had eyes in the sky, that would be almost impossible.

Rustling began anew, growing closer. The man continued his conversation. “I’ll meet you up front. They won’t get far.”

The sound of footsteps faded until they disappeared altogether. Nicole released a pent-up breath. After waiting for another minute, she nudged her sister. “Let’s go, but we still have to be super quiet.”

Maddy nodded and followed her from the space. Nicole looked around. They were alone. But those drones might be in the air within thirty minutes. They needed to get to safety. But how? In the middle of four hundred acres, the nearest neighbor was at least a half mile away.

Returning home wasn’t an option. Neither was going to her uncle’s house. The two homes were within view of one another. Her father’s attacker would likely be waiting for them. Besides, her uncle wasn’t even there. He’d left early this morning to spend the day in town.

Going deeper into the woods would eventually put them at the fence separating the back of their property from the prison grounds. They could make their way toward the neighbor’s farm, but they’d have to cross too much open, unprotected area. Their best bet would be to head in the opposite direction, into the national forest.

She squeezed Maddy’s hand. “We’re gonna run. I’ll take you somewhere you’ve never been.”

It had been years since she’d been herself. During the months she lived there, she and her friends often took hikes on the weekends, venturing well onto national forest land. They’d even found some caves.

Maybe caves was exaggerating. More like the occasional hollowed-out place in a rock face or natural ledges that formed a roof for the space beneath. If she could find any of those spots again, they might offer a place to hide, especially from the drones.

Nicole tightened her hold on her sister’s hand and began a slow jog. Maddy did well keeping up. Maybe their father had been grooming her to follow in his footsteps and become a track star also. If so, she hoped Maddy was doing better than she had. She’d never been able to break second place at any of her track meets, a perpetual disappointment to her trophy-winning father.

A sudden pang of grief stabbed through her. What could he have been involved in that would make someone want to kill him? She shoved the thoughts aside. She had to focus on keeping herself and Maddy alive.

A few minutes later, rusted wire fencing came into view, stretched between wooden posts. They’d reached the edge of their property.

Nicole pointed with her other hand. “There’s the park.”

“What park?”

“Mammoth Cave National Park.” More than fifty-two thousand acres of nature.

“There’s no swings.”

“Not that kind of park.” Nicole stopped where a tree had fallen, crushing the wire fencing. “We’ll climb over right here.”

She released Maddy’s hand to swing one leg, then the other, over the dilapidated barrier. Then she lifted Maddy over with a grunt. Another change since spring break—Maddy had grown.

Once clear of the fencing, they resumed their prior pace, until Maddy jerked her hand free and skidded to a stop. She crossed her arms in her typical stubborn stance.

“I’m tired.”

“I know, but we need to keep going. We don’t want those bad men to find us.”

“We can hide.”

“We can’t stay hidden forever. We need to find a policeman.”

Maddy looked around. “There aren’t any policemen here.”

No, there weren’t. Not even a forest ranger. “That’s why we have to keep going. We need to find one.”

When Maddy still didn’t move, Nicole pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t cover any ground dragging her sister. Carrying her piggyback wouldn’t be much better.

She extended a hand, palm up. “You wanna run like Tyson?”

Maddy loved the movie Tyson’s Run, about the autistic boy who dreamed of running a marathon. It was her all-time favorite movie. They’d watched it together when Nicole had come home for spring break and had seen it again last night.

Maddy took the offered hand with eagerness. “Let’s run like Tyson.”

Nicole heaved a sigh of relief. Some would consider what she’d done manipulation. She called it putting that brand-new psychology degree to good use.

For several more minutes, they ran, slowing on the uphill slopes, increasing their speed going downhill. Soon, Nicole’s thighs burned, and her breath came in jagged pants. Maddy was probably in better shape than she was. Nicole had dropped her track activities as soon as she’d been out from under her father’s demands. For the past several months, she’d been too busy finishing her coursework and internship to bother with exercising in any form.

“I’m hungry.” Maddy made the complaint without stopping.

Nicole was hungry, too. She slowed to a walk. She’d planned to feed them lunch and then head for the hospital to visit Mom. Those plans had blown up an hour ago.

There was lots of sustenance in the woods, if one knew what to look for. Some of the mushrooms they’d seen were edible. Nicole even had a pretty good idea of which ones. She just wasn’t confident enough to give it a try.

But there were plenty of wild blackberries. They wouldn’t ripen for another two or three weeks. But sour blackberries beat possibly poisonous mushrooms.

“Let’s try these.” She held one of the branches between a thumb and forefinger, careful to avoid the thorns. The berries were mostly red, with some starting to turn glossy black. But none had yet taken on the dark dullness that indicated they were ready to eat.

She picked a handful and passed some to her sister. “They won’t be sweet.”

Maddy’s pucker gave her second thoughts about eating what was still in her hand. She did it anyway. The sour tartness exploded across her mouth, creating a tingling sensation in her jaw that was borderline painful.

As Maddy picked some more berries, Nicole looked around them, uneasy about being stopped for even a short time. They’d had enough of a head start, the men weren’t likely to come upon them. But how much area could a drone cover and how quickly?

“We’d better get moving again.” If they could make it to a camping area or a popular hiking trail, they could summon help. Except she had no idea where those areas might be. With the sun almost overhead, she didn’t even know if they were traveling in a straight line.

Soon, a distant buzz formed the backdrop for their movements. She pulled Maddy to a stop to listen.

“What is it?” Maddy’s eyes were round.

Nicole swallowed hard. She knew that sound. She’d only heard a drone one other time, when a friend at school had gotten one and she’d gone with him to test it.

“Run!”

They needed to find better cover. A lot of the trees in the area were pines, their needle-shaped leaves creating shifting patterns of shade and sunlight on the forest floor. Those “caves” she’d seen years earlier seemed to have disappeared.

The buzz grew louder. It was gaining on them. Nicole ran faster, pulling Maddy with her. Suddenly, Maddy tripped, and her hand jerked free. Nicole spun to find her little sister face down on the ground.

Nicole squinted through the trees, trying to catch sight of the drone. Branches swayed in a steady breeze. A black object appeared and disappeared, before appearing again a short distance away. It was likely circling the area, searching for them. Outrunning it was impossible, especially now that Maddy had fallen. Their best option was to hide.

Nicole dropped to the ground next to her sister. “Follow me.”

On hands and knees, she crawled several feet to a large downed pine. Brambles grew around it, two or three feet tall. Their thorny branches grabbed her clothes and scraped her skin.

After instructing Maddy to hunker down next to the tree trunk, Nicole crouched beside her and covered them with the brambles as best as she could. They were both in muted colors—faded denim shorts and T-shirts, Maddy’s a medium beige and her own a dark shade of olive green. If they stayed completely motionless, maybe the drones wouldn’t detect them.

Unless they were equipped with infrared cameras. Then it wouldn’t matter. The machine would pick up their heat signatures.

Now it seemed to be hovering above them, with the sound of a thousand swarming bees. She didn’t look up. She didn’t dare move or even breathe. But it didn’t matter. They’d been spotted. Why else would the machine be still, suspended several yards above the earth?

A deep bark set her nerves on edge. Hopelessness washed through her. The men didn’t just have drones. They had dogs. Oh, God, help us.

Without rising, she turned her head to look. A German shepherd emerged from the underbrush.

Nicole threw herself over her sister and tried to prepare for the coming agony, whether from the deadly canine teeth or the sharp blade of the knife.

Whatever was in store, neither of them was likely to make it out of the forest alive.