“We were trying to get away when the helicopter spotted us,” Gideon said.
“You’ve got to trust me now. You two are half dead as it is. You’ll never escape without my help.”
Three days ago, he wouldn’t have agreed. Now it was more than likely the truth. They’d come to the most difficult part of the whole survival, evasion, resistance, and escape conundrum. Whom to trust? The environment might be hostile, but it was nowhere near as dangerous as a human enemy, the kind pretending to be a friend.
If his pain would just let up a minute and allow him to think clearly.
Cordelia thrust the mugs of coffee at them. He accepted. Maybe the hot brew would sharpen his senses. Mackenzie handed him a few ibuprofen, which he gratefully accepted.
Cordelia started to walk past him to the living room, but he clasped her wrist. “I agree with Mackenzie. There’s more you’re not telling us. Much more.”
She flinched. “You’re right. The stakes are high. There are excellent reasons why I would risk my own safety to help you two, but I don’t really trust you either. My reasons are my business.”
Gideon’s tone was sharp with impatience and the twinges that were knocking at his bones. “It is our business. We’ve been betrayed at every turn, and you’re holding back on us.”
She yanked free from his grip, carried her coffee into the other room, and sat on a worn leather chair. He managed to get on his feet, clutch his coffee, and stagger after her, Mackenzie hovering at his elbow.
He sat on the sofa, proud of himself for not spilling a drop of the hot liquid. Mackenzie settled next to him, taut and wary.
Gideon tried again. “You could have alerted Bullseye. He might be on his way right now to get us so you can collect. Maybe get some sort of favor from him.”
She appeared to come to a decision as she lasered in on Mackenzie. “I called you.”
Mackenzie cocked her head. “That was you in the phone message?”
“I would have explained more, arranged a meeting, but the call dropped.”
Mackenzie’s eyes widened. “But ... that call came from Aaron’s phone.”
Cordelia nodded slowly. “Yes, I have his cell.”
Cordelia had Aaron’s cell phone. Gideon’s brain kicked into high gear as she continued.
“You want me to tell you the reason I’m involved? Okay.” She looked right at Mackenzie and pulled a chain from under her shirt. A slender band with a small diamond chip glinted in the light. Her eyes shone as if there were tears collecting under the lashes. “This is my engagement ring.”
Engagement ring. Aaron’s cell phone.
The jewelry sparkled as it swung gently on the chain. “I’m helping you because I don’t want to see my fiancé’s sister murdered.”
****
Mackenzie felt as if the room were spinning around her. She perched on the end of the lumpy sofa with the mug of hot coffee cradled in her trembling hands. Gideon sat next to her, squeezing her forearm, and Cordelia eyed them from the chair where she sipped her coffee, lost in thought.
My fiancé’s sister ...
Leah.Aaron’s tendency to shorten people’s names.
Mackenzie had become Zee.
Cordelia was Leah, the woman he loved, whom Mackenzie had never met.
Her heart refused to beat in a normal rhythm as she assimilated the information.How did you meet her, Aaron? How come I didn’t know about the engagement? Why was everything such a secret from me? Your sister.She couldn’t get any of the words out so Gideon took over.
“All right,” he said calmly. “This is a lot to take in. Would you mind filling us in on how it all came about?”So polite. As if they were at a tea party chatting about vacations or hobbies.
Mackenzie almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
Cordelia took a breath. “Aaron came to the stables two and a half years ago and asked about renting a horse to take a ride while he was in town. We hit it off immediately, wound up talking for hours. He’s—he was—one of the only people I’ve known who loved horses as much as I do. He told me he’d come to the area for a job interview, but that sounded pretty suspect. Oakleaf isn’t exactly a hot market for up-and-comers. Aaron just wasn’t country material either. Except for his love of horses, he was a better match for a city.”
