I was starting to worry they were going to search the caves when there was a sound in the distance. The whomp whomp whomp of rotor blades.
The men heard it, too. “Shit, is that a helicopter?”
“Fuck, it is,” another guy confirmed. “They must be searching for the bitch.”
“Already? We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere, and there was only one sleeping bag at her campsite. Not a single fucking sign anyone was with her. Who the hell would have reported her missing?”
My dad.He hadn’t wasted any time calling in the cavalry after I missed texting him this morning. His overprotective instincts had definitely paid off. With the search already underway, the amount of time I had to last out here was going to be much less than I had anticipated. With how these guys had reacted to me seeing them, no way would they want to get caught out here.
My hunch was proved correct about fifteen minutes later when the guy who’d found the piece of my jacket said, “If we waste more time trying to track the woman, they’re gonna find us while they’re searching for her.”
“But she had a camera with her. What if she took a picture of us,” one of the other men argued.
“That’s tomorrow’s problem. Today we need to focus on getting out of here without getting caught.”
A third man backed up the first guy. “Yeah, we might be wasting our time, and they won’t even find her. For all we know, she could be dead already.”
“I highly doubt we’ll get that lucky. Nothing has gone right with this damn shipment,” the fourth guy chimed in. “First, the damn plane went down. Then a woman with a fucking camera stumbles across us in the middle of nowhere. What are the fucking odds?”
“Slim to none.” The second man let out a low whistle. “We sure as fuck shouldn’t hit up Vegas anytime soon with shit luck like this.”
“Boss is gonna be pissed,” the fourth guy muttered as they moved farther away. “We’ll be lucky to come outta this mess with our lives.”
I stayed where I was for at least an hour after I last heard the men talking. Then I started to make my way back to the mouth of the cave, moving slowly in case I was wrong and they were waiting for me. Using the cave wall as cover, I peeked outside and scanned the tree line for any sign of the men. When there was no movement for another hour, I inched my way into the light.
I should’ve waited a little longer. If I had, I would have still been hidden when another man appeared. He strode through the trees like a real-life action hero—exactly what I needed at the moment. My first instinct was to run toward him and throw myself into his arms, but I couldn’t ignore the possibility that he was the villain. With his black clothing and the gun in his thigh holster, he fit right in with the bad guys who were hunting me. The helicopter could’ve been theirs. A ruse to make me think they’d given up. That it was safe to come out because help had arrived.
I couldn’t risk my gut being wrong about him—no matter how attractive he was. With his tall, muscular body, thick dark hair, dark eyes, and chiseled jawline, there was no denying he was gorgeous. But bad guys could be hot, too. My best bet was to lure him into a false sense of security, and then when his defenses were lowered, make a break for it.
5
WHIT
When I spotted Victoria standing next to a cave, I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. I had veered from my search grid a couple of hours ago when I found four sets of footprints that were too big to belong to her. It looked as though she was being stalked through the wilderness by several men, and judging by the pattern of their tracks, they weren’t part of the search and rescue team sent up the mountain to find her.
Although I hoped like hell the men were hunters whose presence was a coincidence, the crisscrossing of their tracks with hers told a different story. Not to mention my skepticism for coincidences. As I continued to search for Victoria, I’d started to think I would find her dead body. But there she was, alive and more gorgeous than her picture.
As I drew near, I noted the tension in her body and how wide her eyes were. Holding my hands up, palms out, I murmured, “You don’t need to be scared of me. I’m a part of the search-and-rescue team. Here to help get you off the mountain safe and sound.”
Her answering nod was jerky, and a muscle in her jaw jumped as she pressed her lips together. I figured she was too scared to talk, but she proved me wrong when I got within touching distance of her, and she sprang into action.
My damsel in distress packed one hell of a punch. Literally and figuratively. Even covered in dirt, her blond hair tangled, dark smudges under her brown eyes, and with scratches on her cheeks, she was a knock-out. And as fucked-up as it sounded, the right hook she aimed at my chin made her even more attractive to me.
I jerked my head back right before her fist made contact, so her blow barely skimmed over my jaw. Then I wrapped my fingers around her bicep and pulled her body against mine. Once I had her restrained so she couldn’t throw another punch, I murmured, “Easy, baby. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Let me go, then.”
The quiver in her voice and the stiffness in her curvy body made it clear that she didn’t believe me. “Your dad sent in the cavalry. Hooah.”
Her head jerked back, her eyes going wide in shock. “My dad got the Army to come look for me?”
“Not exactly.” I chuckled as I shook my head. “I figured the battle cry would be familiar to you since your father was in the Army.”
She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “And you just happened to be familiar with it?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I flashed her a smile. “I served in the Army for eight years.”
“Like the saying goes, ‘Once a soldier, always a soldier.’” The tension eased from her body, and she laughed softly. “So I was kind of right since my dad is the reason you’re out here searching for me.”
