Week 196 – That’s a lot of raisins

“You still remember how to shoot a gun?” Jacob asked as he pulled one from his backpack.

“Yes,” Elle replied firmly. “I go to the shooting range once a fortnight.”

“Take this, don’t hesitate to use it,” he said, thrusting a gun into her hand. Elle took it, checked it, then when she went to tuck it into her waistband realised all she was wearing was a bikini and one of Jacob’s shirts. “You got any pants in there?”

“Your wish is my command, sweetheart.” He threw her a grin then pulled out a pair of sweatpants. “They’ll be too big on you but at least you’ll be warm and covered.” His eyes stared at her bare legs and even in the dark she could see the heat in his dark eyes.

“What else you got in that bag of tricks?” she asked, peering inside it as she stepped into the sweatpants, she was hoping he had spare shoes because traipsing through the forest in bare feet wasn’t going to be fun. “That’s a lot of raisins,” she laughed when she saw several boxes of them in there.

“They’re my favorite,” Jacob said defensively.

“I know,” she laughed, then sobered, “you knew I was in danger, you were here to watch over me, how long were you planning on doing that?”

“Until I knew you were safe. Look, Elle-“

“Not now okay, later,” she said cutting him off. “How many of them were in the cabin?”

“Three.”

“Do you know who?”

“No, I didn’t see their faces but it doesn’t matter, they’re all bad news.”

“So are we trying to get out of here or do we take them out?”

“When they find the body of their friend and no sign of you they’ll know that it was me.”

“Your cover is blown, you won’t be able to go back and find who killed the judge.” She knew Jacob well enough to know that would eat at him.

“At least you’re safe.”

Elle was about to thank him for saving her even though it had messed up her case when she saw a light bobbing through the trees. “Jacob, look.”

He looked where she pointed then slipped his backpack on. “We have to move.”

Jacob took her hand and they began to move. Her ribs protested the fast pace he set, and her feet screamed with each step on the rough group but she wasn’t going to be the reason Jacob got hurt.

“Another light,” she said a few minutes later pointing ahead of them. Jacob cursed and changed direction, bringing her along with him, but they hadn’t gone far when they spotted a third light.

That made one in the north, another in the south, and one to the east.

They were surrounded, and from the looks of it their pursuers were closing in fast.