Читать книгу Lawless - ХеленКей Даймон, HelenKay Dimon - Страница 10

Chapter Four

Ten minutes later Hope had her leg wound bandaged and cleaned by Joel and carefully kneeled on the floor of her cabin, putting as little weight on the injury as possible. After a quick check under the bed she sat back on her heels and stared up at Joel. “Can I panic now?”

As far as he was concerned, they’d passed that point one missing businessman ago. “Soon.”

Joel had come out here as a favor. He’d dragged Cam because he needed a ride. Now they had a full-fledged mess on their hands.

Time was the issue. Mark had been missing for potentially twelve hours or more. That amounted to an emergency. The weather had stayed warm, but the breeze had kicked up and the air carried the scent of rain.

From all accounts Mark wasn’t a seasoned hiker. Animals, accidents, falls—the list of dangers went on and on. He could be hurt or worse.

Joel needed to get word to the rest of his team in Annapolis of the potential issue in West Virginia. They might need search and rescue, or air support, and he sure as hell wanted an answer to who was stalking Hope.

Then there was the bigger problem. The lingering sense of something being off. This should have been a routine assignment for Hope. He understood her dad’s worries, and Joel shared them when it came to her safety around a bunch of idiot men in the middle of nowhere, but this felt bigger. Targeted.

Joel didn’t like it, and the frown on Cam’s face and way he walked around, staring at the floor, suggested he wasn’t a fan either. Joel wanted to chalk it up to the mix of guilt and want that pummeled him every time he looked at Hope. She was the one woman who tempted him to give it all up and hunt for a normal ending to his story.

Leaving her was the one time when he’d acted like a complete jerk with a woman and deserved a swift kick. He was lucky she hadn’t treated him to one.

But the tic in the back of his neck wasn’t about his feelings for her. He loved her until he couldn’t see straight. Probably always would. No, this was something else.

He’d been attuned to danger—real danger, not the kind his father manufactured in his sick head—since he joined the military to escape his childhood. He learned to recognize it during his short tenure at Algier Security and honed it at the Defense Intelligence Agency. With Connor’s help and the support of the Corcoran Team, he understood not to ignore it and instead figured out how best to handle it.

And he was into it up to his eyeballs now.

“Let’s do a weapons check.” Joel touched a hand against the gun strapped to his side, then performed a mental rundown of the rest. One at his ankle and the two knives hidden under his clothing, plus the others in the lockbox on the helicopter.

He glanced at Hope. “What do you have?”

“Charlie has a gun.” She stood up next to Joel at the side of the bed. “I have a knife and a bow.”

“Bow?” Cam broke off from his staring to watch her from across the mattress. “Is that really practical?”

That was the kind of talk that usually led to a demonstration. People underestimated Hope. They saw the pretty face and tight body and decided she must be the type to sit on daddy’s piles of money and do nothing.

Joel had made that miscalculation for exactly three minutes before he saw her do a verbal takedown of a guy in her father’s office who called her sweetie. Joel had been about to give the guy a lesson in respect, but she’d handled it.

And he’d been hooked ever since. He found other women attractive, but none of them were her. None came close.

He decided to fill Cam in on the nonprivate part. “She was basically a Junior Olympics champion.”

“Not just basically.” Bending over, she pulled the case out from under the bed and opened it. “Want to see my medals? I have several bows—recurve, long bow and a few compound. You’ll have to trust me that I know how to use all of them.”

Cam stretched and looked over the bed from his side. “Why did you bring one here? That one’s recurve, right?”

She flashed him a smile. “The man knows his hardware.”

“Definitely.”

“Well, I figured I could show the men how to use it. People generally assume it’s easy and have no idea how much strength it takes. And...” Her smile grew to high wattage as she closed the case. “Having a bow and arrows in the room tends to cut down on drunken male idiocy.”

That time Cam laughed. “Impressive.”

“What do you guys have?” she asked as she sat on the bed.

The laughter in her voice caught Joel in a spell. Seeing her lighthearted and happy, if only for a few seconds, touched off something inside him.

Near the end they had fought a lot. Then he’d made her cry. He could have gone a lifetime without seeing that, without having her despair rip through him, shredding him from the inside out.

He forced his attention back to the present before the old feelings of guilt swamped him. “Guns, knives.” Joel thought about a man tracking her through the woods. “My bare hands.”

Her head fell to the side and her hair cascaded over her shoulder. “Strangely, I find that comforting.”

A stark silence zipped through the room. It was charged and uncomfortable enough to have him thinking about the big bed right in front of him and Cam squirming as if he wanted to bolt.

He inched toward the door, looking like he was about to do just that. “I should head back to the helicopter and lock it up. Also need to check in with Connor.”

Joel nodded. “Fine.”

“Who is that?” she asked, seemingly unaware of the firestorm she’d set off in the man she’d once dated.

Joel swallowed a few times and thought about every unsexy thing he could to overwhelm the other thoughts in his head. After a few seconds, his control zapped back to life. “Our boss, Connor Bowen. He runs the Corcoran Team.”

“Yeah, like I said, I should contact him.” With his hand against the door, Cam appeared to want to do it right then.

Joel didn’t disagree. He’d been toying with yelling for the cavalry, but he didn’t want to rush everyone in before they conducted a few more easy steps. “Let’s see if we can figure this out first. It’s still possible we have an annoying businessman acting like a spoiled child.”

“How do you explain the gun?” Cam asked.

Joel couldn’t. Not without hitting on options that had his temper spiking. That was the problem. “I’m thinking Mark snuck in here and took the box.”

“What?” Hope jumped off the bed and wrapped her arms around her body.

“I know that sounds bad, but—”

“While I was sleeping? No way.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Don’t you think I’d hear him?”

Cam winced. “Maybe not.”

She visibly shivered. “That’s just creepy.”

“And one of the reasons your dad wanted me here.” Joel slid that in there in the hope it would cut off any argument he’d get on the helicopter when they flew out of there the second after they located Mark. Thanks to all she’d described about this retreat so far, he’d leave when she did and not a minute earlier.

She held up a hand. “Don’t start.”

Looked like her fear or disgust or whatever it was about the lockbox had disappeared. “Your dad is being practical.” Joel suspected her father was also engaging in a bit of matchmaking, but Joel decided not to share that thought.

“The word you’re looking for is overprotective.”

“Hope, I think—”

She turned to Cam. “So, now what?”

He bit his bottom lip in what looked like a poor attempt to block a smile. “We check the helicopter and do a quick search around the campground.”

Those priorities worked for Joel. “Cam will question the men here at the campground and maybe see if Charlie knows anything or can give us some direction.”

“He knows these woods better than anyone and probably can tell us where someone might hide.” She sighed as she shook her head. “I swear if Mark is just being a big baby and staying away because a woman yelled at him, I’m going to hit him.”

“Absolutely fine, since nailing him with an arrow is out. Unfortunately,” Joel said.

Cam nodded. “Sounds like a reasonable plan.”

She let her hand drop to her side again. “But Mark being a jerk still doesn’t explain the missing satphone and the stalker.”

“You’re sure Mark wasn’t the one following you?” Man, Joel wanted that to be the answer. It was simple and clean, but he knew life rarely worked that way. Not for him.

“The build was all wrong. Mark is stocky and a bit out of shape. This guy was lean and moved fast.”

“I don’t like that at all.” Cam shook his head as he peeked out the small window next to the cabin’s front door. “Heads up—the troops are gathering by the fire pit again. Looks like Charlie is giving them orders.”

“I bet Jeff pays attention to Charlie,” Hope grumbled.

Cam snorted. “Annoying but at least they’re listening. Good to know they can.”

Sounded like time had run out. Joel didn’t want to spend one more second in planning mode. “Okay, we meet back here in two hours. If we haven’t found anything, we start looking in the other cabins.”

Hope reached down. “I’ll bring—”

No way was Joel dealing with that. “The bow stays here.”

“Fine.” She got up and joined the men at the door. She glanced at Cam. “I thought you had to be somewhere else today.”

He nodded, like he always did. “I’m fine for now.”

“Maybe we should all be in on the questioning. I mean, I already checked the woods.”

Joel knew that would eat up too much time. “This go-round we’ll look for tracks.”

“Want me to do that? It’s more of my specialty than yours,” Cam said.

“We’ll be fine.”

Cam reached for the doorknob. “I bet.”

“Can I have a gun?”

Her question stopped both men. Cam froze and Joel did a quick count to ten. She could handle it, but she was still spooked and he had to be sure she was back in full control before he handed her a loaded gun. Still... “No.”

“Can you shoot?” Cam asked.

“Been practicing since I was ten.”

Joel wasn’t having this conversation right now. He reached around and shoved the door open, bringing the warm breeze inside. “Shooting a person is different.”

Her head snapped back. “Are we doing that?”

He hoped not. “Maybe.”

“And you would know how hard that is.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Yes, I would.”

* * *

THEY’D CROSSED OUT of sight of the campground before Hope broached the difficult subject. Actually, about a hundred feet away she opened her mouth and then closed it again, focusing on the sway of branches against the increasing wind and the clomp of their feet against the ground.

Later they hit the point where she could see sunlight up ahead and knew the helicopter sat a short distance away. She didn’t hold back. “Are we going to talk about it?”

He stopped scanning the trees and large expanse of forest around them to spare her a glance. “About what?”

Men were clueless. “Us.”

He exhaled. “Hope—”

“I know. You don’t have to list off the reasons why we should pretend we’ve never slept together.”

“I never said that.”

“You act like it.”

“And, for the record, it was more than sex.”

“Was it?” She asked even though she couldn’t stand to hear him dismiss their relationship as unimportant—again.

True, they hadn’t been together in what felt like forever. She’d convinced herself she didn’t care and could move on, but seeing him made her realize how untrue that was.

He picked a leaf off a branch that nearly whacked him in the face. “We can’t do this now.”

The world around her barely registered. Not when this topic came up.

She’d heard all of the excuses. They ran through her mind on constant play. They spilled out of her now before she could call them back. “This is the wrong time. I’m the wrong guy. You deserve better. My background is a mess. My job is dangerous.”

He stopped. “Excuse me?”

“Have you invented more reasons? I’ve heard all of those, and none of them sent me running.”

“Wow.”

She debated storming ahead, leaving him floundering, but refrained. Childish wasn’t the answer when what she really wanted was for him to treat her the way a woman deserved to be treated. “Imagine how I felt as you ticked off that list, or some version of it, day after day. You always had a new reason to push away and leave, but you never found one to stay.”

“That’s not true.”

She knew it was because she had lived it. “All those months ago I asked you to move in with me since you were basically staying there every night anyway, and you flew out of town on a business trip the next morning instead of giving me an answer.”

“That was legitimate.”

“Joel, come on.”

The leaf disappeared as Joel crushed it inside his clenched fist. “Your father said you were dating again.”

Her gaze slipped back up to his. “What?”

“No?”

The conversation had her mind spinning. Her dad still talked with Joel? And since when was her dating life up for discussion? Not that she really had one. She struggled through a few setups from friends and had a perfectly nice time with a guy from her climbing club.

Handsome men, fun places and she didn’t experience so much as a spark. Not even a tiny nibble of interest.

But that’s not where her mind went when Joel asked the question. It zoomed right to her nightmare scenario. The one where he walked away and found someone else. Where the truth turned out to be not that he wasn’t ready to make a commitment but that he didn’t want to make one to her.

“Are you?” Two simple words, but it actually hurt her to say them.

“I didn’t leave you so I could date other women. My decision wasn’t about being a playboy.” His voice rose and anger slipped in as he spoke.

As if he had a right to be upset about the fallout. “Well, I guess that’s good to know.”

Instead of standing around arguing, she headed in the direction of the helicopter. This was a waste of time and they had more important things to worry about than her broken heart.

Joel grabbed her arm before she got more than three feet. “Hey, wait up.”

She didn’t shake out of his grip, though she could have because his hold was more gentle than confining. Seeing the pain in his dark eyes killed off any thought of pulling back anyway.

He closed in, bringing his body within a few breaths of hers. “You know I’m telling the truth, right?”

“I know you had a lot of excuses. Still do.” And she couldn’t hear them again. Not and still function.

“Hope, look...I want...”

“What?” She heard the pleading in her voice.

His eyes closed and when they opened again the wary expression hadn’t faded. “Maybe we should stick to finding Mark.”

Just like that, the mood changed. Something snapped and the tension that had been building blew away.

Because he seemed to want an out, she gave him one. Maybe a change of topic made sense. There had been so much pain and disappointment, so many tears. She needed her head in the game and her mind on Mark. “Fine. Why are we headed back to the helicopter instead of following tracks?”

“I want to check in at work.”

“And?” Joel’s face went blank and she wasn’t falling for it. “Oh, please. Maybe I didn’t see you walking out on me, but I do know you. Part of you, and you are fixated and worried.”

“I didn’t leave you—”

“Joel.”

His hand dropped. “Okay, yes. I’m concerned.”

“You’re admitting it?”

“You deserve that much.” He motioned with his head for them to start walking again. “This is your job, and I think something is very wrong here.”

The honesty flooded her with relief. “Good.”

“Why good?”

“Sharing even that much is a big step for you.”

“I thought you’d be happy I left.” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “Back then, I mean.”

The words stunned her and she stumbled. She stared at him, thinking he had to be playing a sick joke, even though that wasn’t his style. But he looked ahead, not even blinking.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” She was about to pull him to a stop when a crack echoed through the trees. Dirt kicked up a few feet away from her, and birds swooped out of the trees in a rush.

“Get down!” His full body smacked into her before he finished talking.

The ground rushed up and she put out a hand to stop the free fall. Her legs twisted with his and the second before she slammed into the ground he turned them.

Landing on his side with a grunt, he absorbed the majority of their combined body weight on his shoulder. His body bounced and she tried to move away and let him brace for impact, but he curled her body into his. Still, the jolt rattled her teeth and she heard him swear under his breath.

She could taste dirt and feel sharp sticks jabbing into her bare legs and ripping off her bandage. Her mind finally focused and the sounds of the forest came rushing back. “Joel—”

“Don’t move.”

It had sounded like... But it couldn’t be. “What was that?” She whispered the question as she frantically looked around.

Before she could scramble to her feet, he shoved her against the ground and covered her body with his. His fingers slipped into her hair as he held her down. She heard a steady stream of reassuring words, but they barely registered over the fear and panic pounding through her.

She expected shouts and more pops. When nothing came, she glanced up. His gaze scanned the area, and his gun was up and ready. She swallowed hard at the vulnerability of their position. Right there on her makeshift path with nothing covering them or blocking their view in any direction.

“A gunshot.” He was so close the words vibrated against the side of her head.

Adrenaline pumped through her, and her heartbeat hammered in her ears so loudly she thought for sure she’d give away their position. “Where did it come from?”

“I’m more worried about who and how many.” He shifted his weight until most of it fell away to her side. “Stay under me.”

“Are you wearing a bulletproof vest?”

“Didn’t think I’d need one.”

She waited for the attacker to rush them. Listened for another shot. “I can’t hear or see anything.”

“I need to get to the helicopter.”

A vision of him running and getting shot hit her with the force of a crashing train. The horror of it stole her breath and had her fingernails digging into the dirt. “No.”

“I have a vest and binoculars in there.” He slipped farther off her. “Other weapons.”

“You can’t risk going into the open.”

With barely a touch he moved them to the left. She felt his deep inhale before he rolled them over and stopped close to a large tree trunk. He tapped the back of her legs. “Curl up.”

When the world finally stopped spinning she looked up and saw rough bark right in front of her face and threw a hand out to touch the surface. “What are we doing?”

“You are going to make yourself as small as possible.” He gave the orders without looking at her. His head kept moving as he glanced around them. “Then you’re not to move.”

“You can’t—”

“I’m serious. You move and I will come back, which is more of a threat to me than racing over there.” With a hand between her shoulder blades, he lowered her closer to the ground. “Stay down.”

Before she could grab on or call him back, he was gone. In a crouch, zigzagging he broke through the last line of trees. He hugged close to the helicopter as he lifted a hand. The door must have stuck or his angle was off because she saw him pulling and tugging.

With all her concentration, she focused on him. Her teeth clicked together as terror spun through her. She waited for footsteps to fall and a hand to pull her up. The only thing that kept her from screaming was watching Joel. Even as her vision blurred around the edges, she stared.

After some fiddling and a yank, he got the door open and bonelessly slipped inside. One minute his dark hair provided a beacon and the next he was gone.

Her breath hiccupped in her chest as she fought the urge to run after him. She’d just decided to do that when she saw his head again. He held binoculars and swept his gaze over the forest. The door inched open and he was off again, this time running toward her.

He slid in beside her, kicking up twigs and leaves around her. He held up a vest. “Put this on.”

“You need it.”

“I think the person is gone, but I don’t want to risk you getting shot.”

When he continued to hold the vest, she took it and slid it on. The way he stared at her with that I-can-wait-all-day expression had her adjusting the straps and securing it tighter to her body. “Happy?”

“Not really.”

That made two of them. She looked at the binoculars. They weren’t the standard bird watching kind.

“Do they do something special?” She half hoped they functioned as a grenade launcher. She’d be satisfied with any weapon that could protect them all and get them out of there fast.

“Increased magnification and brightness. Plus the universal mil reticle.” He spit all that out without lowering the glasses.

“Um, okay.”

“The last is a special feature snipers use.” This time he looked at her. “It allows for better targeting and range estimates.”

The techno-jargon filled her with a strange sense of relief. It was as if they had walked right into his wheelhouse. She was fine to stay there with him.