“There’s fish at the campfire.”
He took her arm as if he thought her weary and needing help, and walked with her to the campfire, where the smell of cooked fish filled her with joy, her stomach agreeing with a rumble.
She was surprised that he hadn’t immediately demanded to know why she had taken him away from his brother.
“Your stomach sounds anxious,” Burke said.
Storm sat on the log. “It’s been almost a day since I ate.”
Burke picked the fish clean of meat and gave her a handful. She accepted it gratefully.
“Eat some,” he urged, “before you deliver the news about my brother.”
She took a small bite, but not wanting to delay the inevitable, she said, “The man we freed isn’t your brother.”
“How do you know this?”
That he hoped she was wrong was evident. “Once he knew we neared camp he admitted his name was Peter, not Cullen.”
Burke nodded knowingly. “Cullen had a chance for freedom, he feared Peter would not.”
“Exactly,” Storm said. “Peter admitted that a man had just been removed from there, though he did not know if his name was Cullen.”
“It is the only lead we have; we must follow it. Where was he taken?”
“He doesn’t know.”
Burke paced the opposite side of the campfire, then stopped abruptly. “Philip did not return with you. You left him behind to see what he could learn, didn’t you?”
Storm nodded, swallowing a piece of the delicious fish. “If the man had just been removed, his trail would be fresh. We could not lose the opportunity to follow if possible.”
“I am lucky to have found you.”
He never ceased to startle her with his generous and honest remarks.
“If not for you, I wouldn’t have made it to Dunwith, and even if I had, I doubt anyone there would have spoken to me. I am grateful for your help.”
“You are paying me a sizable fee,” she reminded him, feeling uncomfortable with his praise and turning her attention to picking the last of the meat off her fingers.
Burke suddenly plopped down on his haunches in front of her and proceeded to help her, popping the pieces he picked into her mouth. “You have been a great help, and I want you to know it.”
His actions startled her but she managed not to show her unease, though it was difficult. The tips of his fingers brushed her lips and dusted her chin of crumbs. An innocent enough gesture, and yet it produced a shivering effect she thought had died with her husband.
No one had touched her intimately since Daniel.
Storm gently pushed his hands aside. “Your generous fee requires my immediate attention.”
“My fee?” he asked, placing a hand to his heart as if wounded. “You mean you care nothing for me?”
Storm smiled, though she wondered how serious was his jest.
“I care for the plight of the defenseless. I will not abandon you or your brother in your time of need.”
“Why do you fight so relentlessly for the helpless?” he asked, sitting beside her.
“Who else fights for them?”
Burke shook his head. “Something had to have happened to make you such a staunch defender of those in need.”
