There was a large wet stain of something dense darkening the flattened earth just after the first bend. Adam was sure it was blood. Heart sinking, he looked frantically around, but there was nothing but trees. Not a clue about what had happened, except for the broken glass pieces littering a spot near the blood. That had to be from a car. Had they run over somebody? Nauseated, he checked the map again. There was a signal up there, in the middle of nowhere. He moved up the slope, carefully first, at a fast jog later. The trees were not too close together and the ground was dry. As long as he avoided any thorny underbrush and the loose spots where pebbles might make him skid, he could move fast.

Max was a troubled man. He had lost his hostage; he had lost his partner; he was sure that...

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