The truck continued moving, wheels sliding ever closer to the drop that would tumble them straight off a cliff.
His body was fully taut as he prepared for the inevitable crash.
Twigs raked the windows, as if they were trying to slow the vehicle and prevent it from hurtling into the abyss, but momentum and gravity were working against them.
The precipice loomed ever closer, yards, feet, then inches.
“Come on, come on.” Mackenzie’s forearms tensed as she worked the brake with both feet. With a groan of protest, the truck shimmied to a stop at last, inches before they would have gone over.
He was pretty sure his heart had stopped beating a few feet back. They both sat motionless, panting.
“Unexpected,” she finally said.
“That about sums it up,” he managed to say.
Still breathing hard, she rolled down the driver’s side glass. They listened to the sound of a truck hurtling past on the road above them.
“They didn’t see us turn off.” She slapped the wheel in satisfaction. “Smooth, right?”
“Oh yeah. Smooth as silk,” he said weakly. His heart was threatening to crack through his rib cage. How they’d survived that escapade had to be purely an act of God. His stomach was still inside out.
Mackenzie, on the other hand, seemed to be unaffected by their near-death experience. She unbuckled and made sure her pack was still on the passenger floor where she’d thrown it. His was mashed between his shoulders and seat since he hadn’t had a spare second to take it off.
Every muscle and joint complained thanks to the battering he’d endured. Being around Mackenzie Bardine was hazardous to a man’s health. At least this time they hadn’t ended up in the water.
“You okay?” she asked. “You look pale.”
“Peachy. You?”
“Okay.” She craned to see through the branches. “Can you tell where we are?”
“Give me a minute.” He climbed out, shoulder complaining along with all his other parts. After plowing through loose dirt and foliage, he found a spot where he could use his phone’s compass to get them an orientation before he returned and climbed back in.
“That way’s Kevin’s trailer,” he said, jutting a finger.“The other way’s town and at our nine o’clock is the stable.”
She thought it over. “So take back roads to town then? You can report to the cops.”
He shook his head. “Al and Jerry will figure on that. I’m sure they’ve got eyes all over, people on the lookout to find us. Could be Kevin and Cordelia are out searching too.”
“But we have to go in that direction somehow. Your Jeep’s there. And ...”
He huffed out a breath. “And?”
“And I can get from there to my next destination.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re not James Bond. I know you’re headed for the airstrip to get the info your contact gave you.” She paused, probably waiting for him to argue against it. No point. If she was going to throw her life away, he couldn’t stop her. But if they stayed alive long enough, he could try to lobby for her to change her mind between here and his Jeep.
“We don’t have to stay together,” she said quietly.
Survival protocol dictated otherwise. It was always better for isolated personnel to stick together. But it was more than his training causing his immediate rejection. The thought of leaving her rubbed him raw inside. Why? Worry? He frowned. Guilt?
Because he’d walked away from Aaron?
The gray of her eyes held streaks of silver as she watched him.
“We stay together. That’s the best way to survive,” he said firmly.
She folded her arms and thought it over. “Much as it pains me to admit, you’re more skilled in this wildernesssurvival stuff than I am. How about we stay together just until we get back to civilization?”
