Carmen put a hand over his and met his gaze. "What are you going to do?"
His smile was strained. "I'm going to do my best to stay out of their reach."
He had to have been plagued by the same doubts she had. He must have been every bit as frightened of being caught. And yet, he did what needed to be done. This was a side of Alex she had never seen. She had always known he had courage and integrity - that he felt intensely responsible for the welfare of his family. What she had never seen before was the sheer tenacity in the face of incredible odds. He never gave up - never relinquished control. Maybe he was controlling to an extent, but every fault had its up side.
"Please come back to us." She said, and her voice broke with emotion. She swallowed hard. She wasn't going to cry.
He turned his palm up and squeezed her hand. "Go on now. I'll be along as soon as I can. If you keep moving, you'll get across the mountain before dark. I'll start back that way then. Watch out for snakes. Trust your horses. If they don't want to go someplace, don't push them."
He paused and stepped back. "It will be dangerous crossing that mountain in the dark. You'd better get moving so you can make the best use of the daylight."
They left him there, and when they topped the next rise, he was nowhere in sight. It would be doubly dangerous for him tonight. Sure, he could probably outride anyone out there, but he couldn't outrun a bullet. By now they wouldn't waste time pursuing him if they could shoot him from a distance. They knew he could ride with the best of them and they'd be ready. Hopefully they still didn't know about the children, but chances were the two men following them did and when they got back to the others they'd have reason to want Alex dead.