Free Can't Run (Danger and Desire Book 1) by Caroline M. Townes

state. Once they gained some distance between the sleeping group of heavily armed kidnappers Eric stopped pulled out a flashlight and shined the light over Sara.
    “Are you okay?” He asked, his voice full of concern.
    Sara nodded, “Yes”, her voice was still shaking.
    “They are going to be looking for you as soon as they wake up. I know you’re tired but we have to push further away.” Eric’s voice was soft, too soft, it reminded Sara of her own victimization and made her feel weak and terrorized.
    Sara felt a lump in her throat, threatening to erupt into sobs. She weakly nodded her head in agreement. He took her hand again and tightened her grip as he led her deeper into the wild forest. It was impossible to tell where they were going, but Sara knew that at that moment their sole purpose was to get as far away from the armed men as humanly possible. Still, she couldn’t help but hope that Eric had a plan to get back.
    After a new more hours of tiredly trudging through the forest they stopped for a quick rest, he laid large leaves down on the ground next a large trunk for them to them to sit on.  “We can rest for a few hours, but at first light we have to move, they might be able to track us” he warned.
    Sara nodded understanding that they weren’t even close to being out of danger. He ran the light of his flashlight over her, looking over each bruise and every cut she got from the branches and thorns encountered on the rough journey. He saw the bruise on the top of her breast and flinched, Sara couldn’t help but see the glint of sadness and anger in his eyes through the deep darkness.
    “They didn’t… he didn’t ... you know, you got there in time.” Sara whispered.
    “I’m sorry, none of this should have happened.” Eric said shaking his head.
    “This isn’t your fault,” Sara said, “I wish I believed you and my parents. I really didn’t believe there was a threat.”
    Her voice was shaking as she continued, “If anything, this is all my fault.”
    Sara’s heart sank as she remembered her friend laying on the boat deck covered in her own blood, struggling to breathe shallow breaths as she was taken off the boat.
    “Amanda?” Sara asked.
    Eric shook his head, his face was solemn and his jaw clenched, “I’m sorry.”
    Sara began to sob uncontrollably, covering her mouth with the sleeve of her sweatshirt to muffle the noise. She felt strong arms surround her and pull her close. She put her face against Eric’s shoulder, welcoming the human comfort, and sobbed while he stroked the back of her hair. She couldn’t believe that Amanda was gone, and worst of all it was because of her. Never again would she hear Amanda’s laugh, or see the flaming red hair, and knowing that her friend was gone forever shattered her.
    When she could finally calm her breathing she wiped her eyes and leaned back against the tree.
    “Is Carrie okay?” she asked, with renewed pangs of fear stabbing into her gut. She remembered Carrie bent over their friend, distraught and crying as fear and pain consumed her. There were so many questions left unanswered.
    Eric saw the concerned look on Sara’s face and seemed to interpret what she was thinking.
    “After you were taken, the crew came and woke me up.” Eric began, “They tried to revive Amanda but she was already gone. Carrie wanted to come with me to go after you but the crew and I convinced her to go back on the boat to Manaus to contact your family and get help. I took one of the motorized dinghy’s to go after you.”
    “How? You were unconscious, how did you know where to find me?” Sara asked, surprised that he had even attempted to go after her.
    “The crew pointed me in the right direction, the dinghy wasn’t near as fast as theirs but I kept going until I saw the speedboat pulled over. By then it was dark, I began to track you guys, but, because it was hard to see it took me a lot longer than it should have.”
    “But you found me,” Sara