The stranger squatted beside her. “You okay?”
Hell if I know.She’d be damned if she’d let him see the self-doubt. With every bit of strength she could muster, she pushed back up to her feet, where she swayed for a few queasy seconds. “I’m fine.”
He rose and flicked a narrow-eyed look over her face. “Whoareyou?”
“Who areyou?”
With an annoyed grimace, he turned toward the darkening forest. “We need to run. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she lied.
The yeti didn’t look like he believed her either. He opened his mouth as if to protest, and then shut it. Good. She didn’t have the energy to argue at the moment. And she’d like to know just who this guy was before she decided what to do about him.
Was he a friend of Campbell Turner’s? Did he plan to lead her to the other man?
“You can’t keep up.” The yeti leaned down and put his face close to hers. “I’ll have to carry you. Or leave you behind.”
“I’m good,” she deadpanned. No way in hell was she letting this man carry her, no matter whose side he was on. “Lead the way.”
Though every instinct told her not to trust a stranger, Leo had neither the equipment nor the stamina she’d need to survive on her own. Paul Bunyan here, however, seemed to be doing just fine out in the wilderness.
So, she’d follow him, at least until she figured out what the hell was going on here.
And then she’d do whatever it took to get Campbell Turner and the virus out before the other team reached him.
What a day.
Chapter 5
Behind them, the helicopter went low for a few minutes and then took off again in the direction of Schink’s Station.
Elias pictured reinforcements swooping in, armies descending.
And here he was leading a stranger straight to his place.She’s coming to get you,Daisy had said. He still didn’t know if that was a good thing.
He knew absolutely zilch about this woman, aside from what he’d gleaned from a few quick glances. She was a good deal shorter than him—maybe five six—with dark brown skin and closely-shorn hair. Even bleary-eyed and injured, there was an efficiency to her movements, a calculation in the way she took everything in, that made him think she was not to be underestimated, whoever the hell she was.
And then there was the question of what she was doing crash-landing Old Amka’s plane less than a mile from his cabin.
He looked over to see her stumble again. When would she give in and let him carry her? The blood from her lacerated scalp had left a glaring trail of breadcrumbs behind them.
Whoever’d just rappelled from that helicopter would be able to catch up with them in no time at this rate. The dying light didn’t bother him so much, but she didn’t know the area the way he did. If only the ice had already broken up, he could have used the water to hide signs of their passage.
Yeah, and frozen to death in the process.
He stopped and listened.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Not yet.
If they were being followed, at least he had the home advantage.My woods, assholes.If they chased them, they’d do it in unknown territory, whereas he’d spent the last decade right here.
Night fell faster than usual, the clouds skittering in to block out the stars and moon, making the darkness dense as a lead-lined blanket.Good. His neck prickling at the woman’s presence behind him, he humped his way up the steep slope toward the cabin, content to let Bo’s quiet, sure-footed silhouette lead the way.Home-turf advantage.
The temperature plummeted, which was fine for his warm, steadily moving limbs, but when the woman’s chattering teeth reached him, he knew he had to hurry. Between the shock and the blood loss, she’d be close to hypothermic by the time the sun fully disappeared.
Less than a quarter mile from his cabin, Bo went stock-still, one foot lifted, nose in the air. Without missing a beat, he froze, shut his eyes, and listened. The woman surprised him by following suit.
One…two…three…He counted out the seconds, scanning the forest’s usual sounds for something off. A scuffling in the underbrush, leaves scraping above. Below, the river cracked and shifted. The woman’s breathing evened out and went quiet. He’d bet anything she was straining her ears, too. Whoever she was, she’d had training. Not many people could leave a crash like the one she’d just survived and hike straight into a frozen wilderness. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a horror movie, as constant as the Terminator, staggering up the mountain behind him. Grim, determined, driven by something he didn’t yet understand.
