Free Abducted (Amber Alert Series Book 2) by Sara Schoen

you’ve gotten it out of your system. Let’s go,” Damien said, sticking his hand out for me to take.
    “Sorry, I have other plans,” I said, as I took his hand and lifted my knee into his groin.
    Damien automatically fell to the ground in agonizing pain. I took off running once my knee met its mark. I kept running until I was sure Damien was a safe distance from me, when I couldn’t hear his groans. I slouched to the ground beside a large tree, my chest was threatening to crush my heart. I was heaving, hard short breaths due to the cold temperatures. I suddenly wished that I had run in high school instead of joining the swim team. Being able to swim long distances wasn’t going to do much for me here, but being able to run fast and far would have helped.
    As I continued to walk, I could feel the brush digging into my legs, but I had to be quiet to hope that I would remain hidden. My foot snagged on a raised root, and I tripped into the dirt. That's when I heard laughter, maniacal and crazed, coming from behind me.
    “Who’s there?” I asked worriedly.
    When no one answered, I decided it was time to keep going. I didn’t know who else would be out here except Damien, and I hoped he was the only other person out here. I ran through branches, twigs, thorns, leaves, and continually tripped over ingrown roots and rocks. The sun had almost completely vanished in the darkening twilight, giving off an orange glow around the trees and through the branches. This would be the last visible light of the day; I would be sent into darkness. I glanced around the area to see if there was any cover I could use to sleep for the night. 
    There were a few branches laying askew on the ground, crafting habitats for the animals. There were dead branches and tall bushes littering the ground, making it difficult to walk through the brush. I could hear animal claws scratching into the earth around me as they seemed to get closer and closer. There was a growl, here and there, while pairs of yellow eyes watched every one of my movements.
    “I’m going to be fine here,” I said to reassure myself, as I found a small opening under a tree.
    I reluctantly crawled into the small opening and curled up. I could hear the nocturnal animals begin to stir while the others went to sleep. The claws were raking into the sides of the trees and in the soil around me. For a while I thought I heard footsteps and a few times they got really close to me. I watched carefully as I fell into an uneasy sleep.
    When I woke up, the sun was almost in the middle of the sky. It made me wonder if Damien was already out looking for me or if he had given up the search. I could only hope for the latter so I could escape and be free of him as I crawled out of my hole. My scream pierced the cool November day when a hand grabbed my shoulder. There was something different about this, it was rougher and angrier; it wasn’t Damien.
    “It’s funny really, you look so much like your mother. You even took almost the same route your mother did when she tried to leave me,” a dark heavy voice said from behind me. I was frozen with fear, I couldn’t move—I couldn’t think. “You will turn to look at me when I talk to you,” the voice said, as he shoved me to the ground for not obeying.
    As he stood over me I saw the person of my nightmares. He was what I grew to fear, and what I should have run from, but I was frozen where I fell. I felt my breath quiver as I tried to process who I was seeing, I was looking into the green eyes of Steve Bennett. Suddenly, being trapped with Damien and fighting the urge to kiss him wasn’t so bad.
    “Steve Bennett, they let you out of jail?”
    “Of course, who wouldn’t want to find you? They want to make sure they caught the right man, and they have to make an example out of my copycat so that more won’t step forward. I was shocked when they let me come with them, but I need your mother, not you. The only way for that to happen is