Читать книгу Cody's Come Home - Mary Sullivan - Страница 10
ОглавлениеCODY STUDIED THE map lying open on the hood of a forest ranger’s vehicle. He tried to think like Aiyana, but it had been too long since he’d known her—since she’d shared her young ambitions, thoughts and dreams.
They’d spent one summer together, an innocent couple of months. Aiyana had only just turned sixteen and he’d been nineteen and heading to college in September. That was more than a dozen years ago. He’d seen her only sporadically since, but he remembered her well.
That summer, she’d been a gentle, thoughtful girl. He’d found her quiet intelligence attractive.
Who was she now?
People changed. He certainly had.
What would she do? Where would she go?
“What have you set up so far?” Cody asked Salem.
Aiyana’s father pointed out the trails people were searching. Most had already paired up and been assigned.
Salem handed out the supplies to the volunteers before they set off. Cody had snagged a couple of thermal blankets and tarps along with a first-aid kit for himself. His backpack was full of bars and water.
Sensing that he didn’t have all of the information, he asked, “Does Aiyana often hike late in the evening?”
“No!” The response burst from Salem. “That’s why we got so worried. She always comes home in time for dinner.”
“If she was injured, why didn’t anyone notice her and help her? It was Saturday. The place would’ve been busy. What was the weather like?”
“Cool but clear.”
“How adventurous is she?” The girl he remembered hadn’t been very.
“More than she used to be, but not extremely. Not in the woods.”
“So she wasn’t likely to do anything dangerous.”
“Definitely not. She would have stayed on well-traveled paths. Aiyana is a cautious woman.”
Still didn’t make sense. If she’d been on one of the popular trails, someone would have seen her if she’d been in trouble.
“Why was she out here alone?” Cody asked. “Why not hike with a friend?”
“Because she stops every five seconds to take photos.” Although Salem’s voice was filled with frustration, within it lingered a warm thread of love. “That’s why she comes out here. She’s a photographer. Makes her living at it. Has a website, a—what do you call it?—an image bank. None of us have the patience to go out with her. We want to walk. She wants to commune with nature and record it.”
Cody mulled that over then beckoned the ranger closer. “Where are the most picturesque views in the park?”
The man pointed to the map. “Here, here and here.”
Cody rested his finger on one of the spots. “That one is away from the more popular trails.”
“Yes. It overlooks a ravine and the views are spectacular.”
“If the views are so great, why isn’t it more popular?”
“It’s a serious hike in.”
“Dangerous?”
“Not really.” The man frowned. “Maybe. The path’s narrow. In a couple spots, it butts right up against the side of a steep hill. Most people who come out here are social and want to take well-traveled trails.”
“Okay, I’ll take that one,” Cody decided.
“Who are you going with?” the ranger asked. “We don’t want anyone out there alone.”
Cody glanced around. Only Mom and Dad were left. He didn’t want either of them out on that trail for that long of a hike at their ages. “I’m fine on my own.”
“You sure?” The ranger didn’t look happy.
“Yep. I have my cell. Battery’s fully charged. Can I get service out here?”
“We’ve got most of the perimeter covered.” He pointed to a cell tower across the lot. “Unless you go deep into the middle of the park where there’s no service, you’ll be fine, but she wouldn’t have been able to do that in an afternoon’s hike.”
The ranger gave him a quick once-over. Cody knew he looked strong and reliable. He worked out regularly. During the past year, his weight workouts and pounding on the heavy bag had kept him sane. They had also made him stronger. He’d always been athletic. Lately he’d kicked it up a notch. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t be able to handle on a hike.
“Okay,” the ranger said. “Go on alone. My phone will be on. Here’s my number. Call if you find her, or if you need anything.”
“Will do.” Cody programmed the number into his phone along with his dad’s cell and Salem’s. He studied the sky. “Looks like we’ve got weather coming in.”
“Yeah, that’s why we’re out here early urging everyone to get out and back quickly.” The ranger peered into the distance. “It’s a ways off yet.”
Cody hoisted his knapsack onto his back then felt someone fiddle with it. “Who is it and what are you doing?”
“Food,” his mom said from behind him. “I stopped at the bakery on the way here. I got some day-old baked goods.”
Good old Mom. “Any cinnamon buns?” Mom’s bakery-cum-café was famous for them.
“God, no, Cody. We never have any of those left and today’s weren’t out of the ovens yet.” He heard a smile in her voice. “The Colantonios also brought crusty rolls, salami and cheeses from their store. The salami is cured. With the weather this cool, the cheese won’t go bad in your bag.”
Tonio’s, the organic Italian market on Main, had the best food around. His lunch was going to be pretty spectacular for an impromptu meal.
When she finished, Laura walked around to face him. “It’s good to have you home, but—” she took his face between her hands and kissed both of his cheeks “—when this is over, we’re having a serious talk, you and I.”
When she used that parent tone, he knew she meant business. She walked away.
He wished he could avoid their talk. Parents were great at protecting children while they grew up, but there came a time in a man’s life when the child wanted to protect the parent.
“Okay, I’m headed out,” he called to the few people left. “I’ll phone if I find her.”
An hour later, thunder rumbled in the distance. He could smell rain. Electricity shimmered on the cooling air.
He called the ranger for an update. No one had reported finding Aiyana. She was still out here somewhere. He studied the sky. Dark clouds fomented above.
The storm was heading in faster than predicted. “Great. Just great.” Cody retrieved a poncho from his backpack and covered himself just in time. Heavy rain pelted him. Visibility diminished. An enormous crack of thunder shook the air at almost the same moment a streak of lightning snapped. Too close. Cody figured it might have hit the parking lot.
He debated calling back to make sure everyone was okay, but he needed to use his time to find Aiyana. He could only hope everyone was safe.
This storm was a bad one.
Where was Aiyana? Was she sheltered? Protected? He examined every side shoot of the trail. Would she go off trail? The trail was halfway up the side of a low mountain. If she wanted to shoot scenery, wouldn’t she opt for views of the valley below?
He couldn’t chance not checking out everything. Maybe she decided to take one of these paths to shoot nature up close.
A couple of hours later, frustration ate away at him because he hadn’t covered as much ground as he would have liked, even though he’d done a fair bit of running instead of walking.
He took out his cell to call the ranger. Nada. Not even a dial tone. What the heck? He wasn’t that far into the park.
Oh, crap. That huge crack of thunder probably hit the tower. Cody had no way of knowing whether Aiyana had been found and no way of calling for help if he found her.
He wouldn’t stop looking. He had to go at least as far as the ranger said she would have been able to get in one afternoon.
After a foray into yet another offshoot, he stepped back out onto the main trail and started forward again.
In the nick of time, he caught himself from tumbling into a break in the path. A three-foot gap of earth had disappeared down into a ravine.
His heart rate kicked up. Could this have been the spot where she disappeared? If she’d come this way, could she have fallen here?
“Aiyana!” he yelled.
Nothing.
“Aiy-aaa-naaaa.” He pitched his voice to travel as far as possible.
He thought he heard something and crouched down on the edge of the path.
“Aiyana,” he shouted again.
“Down here.”
The voice was faint, feminine. Thank God! She was here and conscious.
He slipped and slid down the wall of rocks, trees and dirt until he got to the bottom. She was lying half in, half out of a fast-moving creek. His heart lurched into his throat.
“Aiyana!”
“Who’s there?” She picked up a stick and held it across her chest, the gesture both defensive and aggressive.
Cody wondered about the fear in her voice, but maybe it made sense. She’d been in the woods all night alone. “Aiyana, it’s me. Cody Jordan.”
He bent down beside her and removed the hood of his poncho so she could see his face.
“C-C-Cody?” Her face registered her surprise. If he were she, he would be shocked, too. She must be wondering where he’d come from. He hadn’t been home in six months and she hadn’t been here at that time.
A sigh of relief whooshed out of him.
He touched her icy cheek, her normally golden skin currently gray, and her thick dark hair soaking wet and plastered against her scalp. She looked like hell...and he drank in the sight of her like a parched man in the desert. She was found, maybe not in a great situation, but alive. He could handle whatever needed to be done to get her out of here.
He breathed out, his relief so great he only now realized how deep his worry had been. He’d half expected to find her dead. Sure, he hadn’t seen her in years, but he knew that Aiyana would have fought tooth and nail to get out of whatever predicament she was in to save her dad and Emily from worry last night.
This was a girl who cared more about others than herself.
He studied her. She was no longer a girl. Even with straggly hair and pale skin, she was a sight to behold, imperfect but lovely and all herself. No Botox or pouty lips or unnaturally taut skin.
Aiyana was still Aiyana.
“Why are you staring at me?”
He shook himself out of his musings. “Sorry.”
She shivered and rubbed her hands.
Protective instincts on high alert, he soothed, “Hey, hey, I’m here now. I’ll take care of you. First let’s warm you up.”
He wrapped her in his arms, but there was no chance of warming her properly without building a fire, or getting her out of this ravine.
Thank God she was safe.
He pulled back.
When he pushed wet hair from her forehead, his hand shook.
She looked bewildered by his presence. “I’ve been praying for someone to find me, but you, Cody? Where’d you come from?”
“I got in late last night. Drove in from LA. Your dad came to the house at first light to enlist our help. He’s worried sick.”
“Oh, p-p-poor Dad.”
See? Here she was, obviously feeling like hell, and her sympathy was for her father.
“There’s an entire search party out looking for you.”
She groaned.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“My f-f-foot is jammed between a couple of boulders. I c-c-can’t get it out.” She sounded exhausted. “There was no water here when I fell down last night, just a little stream nearby, but it’s been raining hard. Look at it now. My foot’s been underwater for a couple of hours.”
Her teeth chattered and her words came out jerky, her sentences in bits and pieces. He silently cursed long and fluently. He could tell she was putting on a brave face, but she had to be freaking out on the inside—had to have had a miserable night out here alone, freezing in the dark. And in pain.
He didn’t like the way she kept glancing around and the fear that lingered in her eyes. She should be relieved that she’d been located.
“What is it, Aiyana? What are you afraid of?”
Her frightened gaze shot to him. “N-n-nothing. Get m-m-me out of the water and then we’ll t-t-talk.”
The tops of the two boulders crested the fast-moving stream. He sat down and took off his hiking boots—the rain had soaked the outer layer, but at least they were still dry inside. He removed his socks.
“What are you doing?” Aiyana asked, clearly flagging.
“I’m getting into the water to assess the situation. I need this stuff to stay dry.”
“Your feet will freeze.”
“How are your feet?”
“I can’t feel them anymore.”
“Then this needs to be done. We need to get you out of here and warmed up.”
“Oh, God, I s-s-so want to be w-w-warm.” She sounded this side of tears, but held them back.
He rolled up the legs of his pants to his knees and stepped into the water. “Frig, that’s cold! How have you stood it all morning?”
“L-l-last of October hit with a vengeance last night. It was so n-n-nice y-y-y-est—” Talking was too hard for her and she gave up, laying an arm across her eyes to keep out the rain.
Cody felt around under the water, his hand smoothing down her jean-clad calf until he reached her foot. It was jammed, all right.
“Okay, listen, I can get you out, but the second I release your foot, blood is going to rush into it. It’ll hurt like a son of a b—” He cut himself off.
“Cody, it’s okay. I know how to s-s-swear. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been saying all n-night.” She tried to laugh. “Anyway, you c-c-can’t move those boulders by yourself.”
He grinned at her. “I can.”
“Must be n-n-nice to be strong.”
“I’m gonna push the boulder to the left. The second I do, you need to pull out your leg.”
“D-d-don’t know if I c-can. I can’t feel much down there.”
“Put your hands behind your knee now. Use them to pull your leg. Okay?”
“I’m having trouble sitting up. S-sorry.”
“Here.” He adjusted his knapsack on top of hers underneath her back, pushing her a little higher, then helped her grasp her leg behind her knee.
“Ready?”
She nodded.
“On the count of three. One. Two. Three!” Cody put his back into moving the boulder. He heaved and felt it give.
“Now!”
Aiyana pulled her leg and her foot popped out of the water. She screamed. Cody dropped the rock, spraying both of them. He knelt beside her and hauled her into his arms. Jeez, poor Aiyana. She turned the air blue with an inventive onslaught of swearwords.
“Yeah, you can curse, all right, and not just in English. I’m impressed.”
She grimaced. He wasn’t sure, but it might have been her attempt at a smile.
Grasping her under the arms, he dragged her uphill under a tree, where he settled her back against the trunk. He crouched in front of her.
The tears she’d been holding back overflowed.
“I didn’t think it would hurt so much.” She swiped her palms across her face, leaving streaks of dirt on her cheeks.
He brushed the dirt away with his thumbs, wishing he could take her pain onto himself. He remembered the affection he’d had for her. It came flooding back.
She tried to nestle against him, and he wanted to hold her forever, but he had work to do. “The blood’s rushing back in your foot. I need to get it wrapped before it swells up.” He dragged their bags over beside her and unfolded the tarpaulin.
Once he got the tarp opened, he sheltered both of them. “Hold this over us so the dressing won’t get wet.”
He retrieved his socks and boots and tucked them in beside her. He opened one of the thermal blankets and tucked it around her shoulders. He needed to get her into dry clothes, but that ankle would swell like a melon if he didn’t wrap it now.
He got Aiyana’s soaked boot and sock off. Her foot was black-and-blue. He palpated the ankle. She winced. “I know it hurts, but I don’t think it’s broken.”
“Neither do I. When I first fell, before the rain started, it didn’t feel broken, just really sore. Sitting up was hard because it torqued it the wrong way.”
Cody rubbed her toes and the sole of her foot to get the circulation flowing. Her toes were too white, and wrinkled from being underwater.
Rain beat against the tarpaulin over their heads. Rivulets of water ran down the hill, in and around rocks, rushing past and under them. At least the tarp cut out the rain. It had eased up from its earlier mad onslaught, but still fell steadily.
“It’s swelling already.” He got out the first-aid kit and wrapped her ankle snugly, applying just enough pressure without cutting off circulation.
Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a pair of his own spare hiking socks and covered her foot with one of them, giving her toes one more quick massage. Again, he went into the knapsack and retrieved one of the plastic bags his mom had slipped in. “Ha! She lied.” Inside sat two day-old cinnamon buns. That’s what the smile in her voice had been about.
He handed one to Aiyana. “Eat this. It’s yesterday’s so it’ll be a bit stale.”
“Like I care. I could eat a horse. Raw.”
Cody bit into the second one. “Not bad for day-old.”
“It’s incredible. Your mom’s bakery makes the best cinnamon buns on earth. What did you mean she lied?”
“She said they were all out of yesterday’s buns.”
Aiyana smiled, her lips blue against her white teeth. “She wanted to surprise you.”
Cody rubbed his palms together then cupped her cheeks. They were ice cubes. “I don’t like how cold you look.” He hoped his heat would help warm her. He ran his thumb across her lips and she stopped chewing and stared at him with huge eyes.
The silence between them lengthened. Their summer together way back when had been innocent, but he remembered teaching her how to kiss. She’d had the sweetest mouth.
Wrong thought. Don’t go there. Keep it cool, Cody.
He dropped his hand.
“Sorry,” he said. “But your lips are blue.” He’d wanted to touch her lips, but there was no reason to tell her that. He was having trouble enough as it was not holding her.
He took the empty plastic bag, sticky sugar residue and all, and wrapped the sock-covered bandage, then used tape to seal it closed around the ankle.
“There. It won’t get wet.” He picked up her boot. “We won’t be able to put this back on, though.”
“Walking up that hill will shred the bag and the bandage.”
Cody shook his head. “You won’t be walking anywhere. There’s no way that ankle will support your weight.”
Aiyana picked up a rock and threw it hard and far. “I hate feeling helpless.” She sounded disheartened but also angry, and that was good. He liked her spirit. She tried to smile. “I threw a lot of rocks and chunks of soil last night. I was angry.”
Cody rubbed her shoulder. She hissed and flinched away from him. “What’s up?”
“My shoulder got wrenched when I rolled down the hill.”
“Sorry. Need me to take a look at it?”
“No. It’s not dislocated, just sore.” She met his gaze with brown eyes so dark in the shade of the tarp they looked black. She’d inherited a lot of her dad’s good looks. Cody had always thought her pretty, but she’d become downright handsome with age.
Aiyana had grown up well, but at the moment, just looked at the end of her rope.
“We need to get you out of here.” He whipped his cell phone out of his pocket. No service. He couldn’t call for assistance.
“There was a lightning strike. Seems it hit the cell tower.”
“We can’t phone anyone?” He hated the disappointment in her voice.
“Afraid not.” At her crestfallen expression, he pulled himself together. “You’re not alone, Aiyana. We’ll get through this.”
He didn’t like the way she looked at him, with something akin to hero worship. He was no hero, not by a long shot, but he’d get her out of here, or die trying.
He had a thought. “You didn’t come out hiking without a cell phone, did you?”
“Of course not.” He liked the spunk of her response. “I always carry my phone, but it was in my hand when I fell. I lost it on the way down.”
“We need a plan.” He looked up the hill. It was a long way to carry her, and steep, too. He was in great shape, but that climb would be serious business with him piggybacking her.
She’d wolfed down the bun. “You still hungry, Aiyana?”
“Yes. I’ve eaten only a protein bar since yesterday’s lunch. I think shivering uses a lot of calories.” She was trying to make light of things, but he could see it cost her.
“Let’s find a better spot and I’ll make us lunch. Stay here.”
He pulled up his hood and stepped out from under the tarpaulin, scouting the area until he found a large flat rock on which they could perch without sitting in one of the many rivulets coursing down the hill.
He returned to Aiyana. “Put on your knapsack. I’ve found a better spot.”
“I don’t think I can get it on fully, but I can pull both straps up onto my good shoulder.”
Cody put his pack across his chest and shot his arms through the straps. He positioned himself in front of Aiyana. “Hop on my back.”
“Cody, really, that isn’t necessary.” She stood up and cried out. “Oh, crud. You’re right. I can’t walk.” Again she sounded on the verge of breaking down, but she stiffened behind him. He sensed her bucking up. She tied two of the corners of the thermal blanket at her throat, wearing it like a cape. Next, he took her weight when she boosted herself onto his back. She wrapped her good arm around him and as far across his chest as she could.
He dragged the tarp behind him to the large rock he’d found. He eased her onto the rock’s surface, up out of the water cascading down the slope. Then he set up the tarp as a shelter using two nearby trees and some rope he’d brought with him. Next he took the second still-dry tarp from his bag and helped Aiyana to her feet so he could spread it beneath her across the rock.
When she sat back down, she sighed. “First dry thing I’ve touched since the middle of the night. You came prepared.”
“With Noah Cameron’s help. If I ever get stranded in the wilderness, I want my uncle with me.”
“What can I do?”
“There are sandwich fixings in my bag. Can you make us a couple?”
By the time he finished and sat on the rock beside her under the tarp, she had two crusty rolls filled with salami and cheese.
“Sorry there’s no mustard or mayo.”
“What are you talking about?” She held up a small plastic container of mustard and a plastic knife.
“Wow, the Colantonios came prepared.”
She’d already bitten into her sandwich. “This is heaven on earth. I’ve never tasted anything so good.”
Cody watched her chew with lips that were full and warming up. To distract himself, he took out a thermos he’d filled with the last of the second pot of coffee Mom had made this morning. He’d doctored it with plenty of sugar and cream. He poured half into the lid cup and handed it to her.
“It’s barely warm,” he warned.
She accepted it and took two gulps. “It’s wonderful.”
He poured the rest into the cup and tried to get her to take it, too.
“No. You drink it.”
“I brought it for you.” When she hesitated, he ordered, “Drink.”
She did, sipping this time while she ate the rest of her sandwich. When she finished eating, she brushed crumbs from her lap, her fastidious behavior at odds with the reality of her soaked, mud-covered clothes. Cody hid his smile.
She sighed. “That was the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten.” Her smile warmed him to his toes. All these years later and she was so much lovelier than he could have imagined. All of her realized potential was a miracle, while he’d lost his.
Don’t go there. Concentrate on getting her out of here.
While he ate, Cody took in his surroundings.
“Going up to the ridge here isn’t an option. It’s too steep.” He could do it alone, but not with Aiyana on his back. He kept that last part to himself. “So we’ll follow the ravine along the river until we reach a shallower incline.”
She’d been watching him make his assessment. “You could leave me here and walk out for help.”
She was being brave. His protective instincts kicked him in the ribs. True, in the past, they’d gotten him into trouble—Stacey came to mind—but there was no way he was leaving Aiyana alone.
“Nope,” he said, rejecting her idea.
“Just like that. No argument?” She’d stiffened. “You’re being stubborn. You can’t carry me out of this ravine.”
He set his jaw. “I can and I will. I’m not leaving you. If anything happened to me on the way back, you’d be out here alone for another night. I’m not taking that chance.”
Her mood shifted as if being out here another night alone terrified her. She nodded and said, “Okay. Thanks.” Beneath that simple word hovered profound relief.
Again he disliked the way she looked at him as though he were some kind of hero. He wasn’t. He hadn’t been worthy of that kind of designation in years, not since he’d left his hometown.
He’d left Accord to attend school in California. Many times since then, he wished he’d taken another road, one that had led to a different destination. He should have made better choices.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda.
Let it go, Jordan. Concentrate on this, the here and now.
He roused himself. Now was a time for action, not thought.
“First things first,” he said, rummaging in the bag. He pulled out sweaters and a pair of pants.
It was obvious she’d sensed his withdrawal, but she smiled gamely. “What is that? Some kind of magician’s bag? It seems to be bottomless.”
He grinned, but it probably looked fake. He hated that he’d come to deal with people on only a surface level. When was the last time he’d been himself with someone? Truly himself?
“Now that you’re fed, we need to get you out of those wet clothes and into dry ones.”
Her dark-eyed gaze slid away. “I’m—I’m going to need help. With the shape my shoulder’s in, I don’t think I can get out of these.”
He liked her shyness. “I can help. Let’s start with your jacket.”
After only one touch, he realized how difficult the task was going to be. “You’re hurt pretty bad everywhere, aren’t you?”
“It was a hard fall.”
Five minutes later, with great care, he’d managed to take off her jacket and sweater. He reached for the buttons of her blouse.
She brushed his hands away. “I can at least do that.”
When she’d finished, he took over because she couldn’t shrug out of it without using her shoulder. Underneath, she wore a mauve bra. A livid, dark, round bruise colored her chest between and onto her breasts. Cody hissed in a breath. “How did that happen?”
“I landed on my camera, on the lens.”
“Christ, that must have hurt.”
Her cheeks, he noticed, were pink against the slowly warming gray of her skin. In college, he’d had plenty of girlfriends. Seeing a woman in her bra was not a big deal for him. Being in front of him in her underwear was apparently a big deal for Aiyana. Obviously, showing herself to a man was not something she did often, or casually.
“It hurt.” An understatement, he was sure. “I couldn’t breathe for a long time after I hit bottom.”
He palpated her bruised shoulder, tested it to see how far she could move it. Not far. “This will be cold, but it has to be done.”
He took her damp sweater, ran back to the rushing stream and dunked it into the icy water then returned and pushed her bra strap aside to place the wet sweater on Aiyana’s shoulder. She flinched.
“I know, it’s cold.”
“It isn’t that.” She hesitated before pushing the sweater aside. “It’s...this.”
A red slash across her upper arm looked sore. “A sharp tree branch on the way down?”
She bit her lip and glanced away.
His hair stood on end. “What is it?”
A lungful of air gusted out of her. “I didn’t want to say anything, but...it’s a graze from a bullet. Someone shot at me.”
“What?”
“I said someone shot at me.”
“I heard you.” He’d said it too sharply and moderated his tone. “What do you mean, someone shot at you? That’s not possible.”
“It is. It happened, Cody.” Her expression had closed, flattened.
He rummaged in the first-aid kit and dabbed at the graze with a sterile wipe. She winced. “Gunshots? Out here? That’s outlandish.”
“It happened.”
He went cold.
She could have been seriously hurt, or killed. “It must have been hunters. They need to be more careful. Why didn’t the guy apologize, or even help you? Maybe because he would have been hunting illegally.” He covered the cut with antibiotic cream and taped gauze into place. “There shouldn’t have been hunters in the park. It’s illegal, especially given the heavy foot traffic this place gets. This is exactly what the law is meant to protect against—someone being shot by accident.”
“It wasn’t an accident.”
He’d been checking out her arm, front and back, but stopped to sit back and look into her eyes. Everything inside him stilled. He was afraid to think what he was actually thinking—that someone shot this woman on purpose. “What are you saying?”
“I thought it was an accident, too, until the man started chasing me. He shot at me more than once, but luckily missed.”
Icy, icy breath caught in his lungs. “In the name of God, why?”
“I don’t know. I just started running and he kept right on chasing me.”
Cody couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“You don’t believe me.” Her voice sounded flat.
“Of course I do.” His voice sounded fake.
“No, Cody, I can see in your eyes that you doubt me.” She grasped fists full of his jacket and leaned forward, willing him to believe her. “I’m not hysterical. This was no accident. He chased me away from the popular paths. Whenever I tried to head somewhere safe, he shot at me. I was terrified because it was real.”
Cody turned away and packed his bag, afraid to let her see his rage. She’d been intimidated yesterday, frightened out of her wits. He didn’t need to make her afraid of another man.
“Why didn’t you phone out?”
“I didn’t have time! Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, he was right there behind me.”
“Did you yell for help?”
“I tried, but he chased me into this remote area of the park. There was no one here. And then I figured it was best to stay silent because the only person who’d hear my screams would be him. I was frightened. And then the trail fell away right from under my feet—I lost my phone, hurt myself. I was angry by that point.”
“What happened after you fell?”
“I lay still for a long time hoping he would leave.”
Cody’s blood rushed through his veins. He wanted to find the guy and hurt him. Badly. He couldn’t imagine the sheer terror she must have felt while waiting to see whether her pursuer was going to come down to kill her. He cursed under his breath.
“I guess he either didn’t want to climb down to check on me,” Aiyana said, “or he assumed I was dead.”
Cody still couldn’t wrap his head around this. It was so far outside anything that should be happening in Accord, Colorado. LA? Yeah, sure. Violence was a fact of life there. But Accord? Never.
Of all the scenarios he’d been ready to face if he found Aiyana, this was so far out of the box he didn’t know how to deal with it.
He glanced around, but all he saw were trees and brush. He wanted to steer the conversation to something positive, but he also had to know what he was dealing with here. “Is that why you were defensive when I showed up?”
She nodded. “I prayed it was help but also thought it might be him coming back to finish me off.”
He hated that she looked so scared. “Has there been any trace of him today?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t heard or seen a thing.”
“That’s good, okay? I’m here now. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Okay?”
She nodded. Her worried frown eased. A bit.
He held her hands until they warmed and she smiled, weakly, but at least she seemed less frightened.
Using the strength of his will to calm her, he set about cataloging her injuries: badly bruised chest and wrenched shoulder, serious bullet graze on arm, useless ankle, not to mention a whole host of bruises all over her body.
Anger churned in him as riotously as the stream whose banks had overflowed through the night. That someone, anyone, would do this to a girl as wonderful as Aiyana...
Not a girl. A woman. He turned away from the golden skin tempting him. Wanting her was the last thing he should be feeling at a time like this.
“Sorry to do this to you, but we have to get you out of those soaking jeans. The last thing we want is for you to get hypothermia.”
“I don’t know how we can, though—not with the way you’ve bandaged my ankle.”
“I know, and I’m not going to undo it. We need to keep the swelling down as much as possible.”
He took his Leatherman out of his pocket and grasped the hem of one of the pant legs. “I hope you aren’t in love with these. They’re about to be toast.”
“I can’t go out of here without pants.”
“I brought clothing for you.”
He flipped out the small, sharp scissors and lifted one eyebrow.
She nodded. “Do it.”
He cut a straight line up the outside of one leg and then the other. Aiyana lay down and raised her hips. Together, they slipped the jeans out from under her butt.
Her underpants, Cody noted, were the same mauve as her bra, the color beautiful against her naturally tanned skin.
“If I turn my back, can you get out of your wet underwear on your own?”
“I’ll try.”
Facing away from her and studying the rugged splendor of the forest around him, he listened to her struggle. “How are you doing?”
“I can’t— Damn. I can’t do this.”
“I’m going to help you. Okay?”
She didn’t answer.
“Okay, Aiyana?”
“Let’s just leave them on me.”
“No. I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to walk out. We need you warm and dry.”
She didn’t respond, but after a while said, “Cody, let me do this my way. I’m more comfortable leaving them on.”
“But,” he started before realizing he was being overbearing. “You’re right. Of course. I’m going to dry you off though before we get you into clean clothes. Is that okay?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
He took his mom’s dry sweater and ran it briskly over all of her, deadening his senses, adopting as much of a clinical attitude as he could. At the moment, he needed to be less of a man and more of a friend.
Goose bumps crawled across her skin.
Gingerly, he pulled an undershirt over her head and threaded her arm through the sleeves. She didn’t utter so much as a peep, even though her lips thinned and turned white at the edges.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Her smile wobbled.
His mother had given him a pair of large cotton underpants and he pulled them up Aiyana’s legs, smoothing them over her hips beneath the shirt.
The waist was too wide. “These were made for a larger seventy-year-old woman.”
Aiyana huffed out an embarrassed laugh. “They’re dry. That’s all that matters.” She shivered.
“Yeah.” He dressed her in a flannel shirt and a heavy sweater, but had to go slowly. It was taking a while.
“Sorry it’s all too big,” he said. “It’s my mom’s. I figured Pearl’s clothing wouldn’t fit you.”
“You’re right. Pearl’s clothes wouldn’t have fit me. She’s so tiny. I tower over her.”
Tower? Not.
“It doesn’t matter, Cody. I’m just happy to be warm.”
“Good. You and my mom don’t exactly have the same style. Mom’s an old hippie at heart.”
“I love your mother’s style. She’s so uniquely her.”
He detected something in her tone. Envy, maybe? Why on earth would a woman as striking and handsome as Aiyana envy another woman?
Her teeth were chattering again. “I got chilled to the bone last night. I can’t seem to warm up.”
“Especially not when your skin is bare. I’ll hurry.”
He grabbed a pair of long johns and eased them onto her feet and legs. She winced when he accidentally touched her ankle.
“I’m trying to be gentle,” he said as he snugged them up over her hips.
“This is ridiculous,” she burst out, smacking her palm on the rock. “I feel like a child with you dressing me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But we need to do this, while disturbing your injuries as little as possible.”
“I get it, Cody. I’m just frustrated by this whole situation.”
“Fortunately, Mom’s jeans will be loose on you. They’ll go on right over your ankle.”
They did.
Aiyana grasped the loose fabric around her trim waist. “How am I going to keep them up?”
He took her blouse and twisted it. “I’ll thread this through the belt loops and tie it snugly.”
She smiled. “That’ll work.” It worried him that she was still shivering.
“We need to get you warmed up. Even these clothes aren’t doing it.”
He unbuttoned his jacket and unzipped his sweater then lifted her onto his lap, snugging her against his chest. Taking his mom’s bulky winter jacket, he wrapped it across her back and held it in place with one hand while with his other he abraded her limbs wherever she wasn’t hurt.
“How can you still have so much body heat when it’s cold and rainy?” She leaned into him as though she wanted to burrow inside his body.
She felt good.
“I built up a real sweat when I was looking for you.”
“I need your warmth.”
I need yours, too.
Whoa. Where had that thought come from, that he needed anything from her?
Warmth? From Aiyana, who was a virtual stranger these days? And the warmth he meant was different from her version. He needed absolution.
He rubbed her back briskly and felt her start to relax, to melt into him. He’d never felt anything as sweet as the trust she had in him.
For the briefest nanosecond, he rested his chin on her head and bit back a sigh. The urge to give in, to take what he needed from this erstwhile friend, sent a shock wave through him.
He denied himself, lifting his head away, because, really, how could he possibly think he deserved it? Or her.
“Cody...”
Alerted by her suddenly serious tone, he tensed, knowing what was coming, the sympathy that killed him every time. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
He set her away from him, the intimate moment broken.
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t found me. I appreciate all of this.”
The air whooshed out of him. She hadn’t mentioned Ben. Thank God.
“Except for your trapped foot, you were holding it together.” He grinned, but it felt fake again, like everything in his life these days. Except for the grief. That was real. “Besides, if it hadn’t been me who found you, it would’ve been someone else.”
“Don’t do that,” she said sharply.
He startled. “Do what?”
“Put down what you’re doing here.” Her tone was harsh. The woman had claws.
He had to put himself down. She didn’t know his history, all of the things he’d done. Taking her right hand in his, he helped her sit up.
She still looked stern and ordered, “Just say ‘thank you, Aiyana.’”
He smiled, impressed by how bravely she was dealing with this adversity. She had to be in agony from her injuries.
“Thank you, Aiyana,” he said gently, and her pique eased. She smiled.
He used her damp sweater to wipe his dirty feet.
He packed everything back into the knapsack, putting her wet clothes into plastic bags.
Last, he put on his socks and shoes.
“We need to move on.”
Cody glanced at her face, alerted by a new determination in her voice.
He picked up her backpack. “Do you think your shoulder can bear this?”
“Yes.”
Carefully, he threaded her arms through the straps and settled it onto her shoulders.
“Why is it so light?” She watched him over her shoulder with a puzzled frown.
“All of your clothes and camera are in my pack. There isn’t anything left in yours. It’s empty.”
He put his knapsack on across his front and turned so she could climb onto his back. Once she was settled he took the two tarps and crammed them into a plastic shopping bag. “Can you take this with your good hand?”
“Yes.”
He hoped she was telling the truth. He wondered if she would say yes to everything he asked just to prove she could handle it.
“Okay, let’s go.”
He started off quickly but soon realized he would have to pace himself on the rough, slippery terrain. The last thing they needed was for him to get injured, too.
Aiyana felt unnatural on his back. “Don’t hold yourself so stiffly, Ai.”
Ai. He’d forgotten that old nickname. He shouldn’t use it. It felt too intimate.
“I don’t want to be a burden,” she said.
“You aren’t. You’re a friend in need.” When she still didn’t relax, he told her the truth. “Holding yourself stiffly makes it harder for me.”
She relaxed against him and he felt her chest against his back.
“Better?” she asked.
“Yes.” No. Having her body so close to his was a lot of hell, but even more of heaven.
He walked on, closing off his mind to Aiyana’s femininity on his back—as he did most days, shutting himself off from everything around him.
He plodded, one foot in front of the other. Left, right. Left, right.
While Aiyana might not be a big woman—he would guesstimate her weight at one twenty-five—he felt the effects of not being on top of his game. He was tired. He’d gotten maybe three hours’ sleep, and it had been a troubled sleep.
But that was the norm. He didn’t know how it felt to wake up refreshed anymore.
He grasped Aiyana’s thighs and trudged forward until he nearly reached his limit. He didn’t know how far they’d come, but figured he’d been carrying her for about an hour.
He was so tired he started thinking crazy thoughts, like maybe this was a metaphor for his life, that from now on he would always carry this heavy burden of unrealized potential, of memories, grief and the stress of a damaged life.
Was it damaged beyond repair? Damned if he knew.
“I have to stop,” he told Aiyana. He meant more than putting her down for a few minutes. He wanted it all to stop, every single part of his life.
