LITMIR.BIZ

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and Rick—they needed to be dead. She couldn’t see through the greenery, which was good because that meant the men couldn’t see her, either. But she heard them up on the ledge just above them. Doors slammed as their attackers climbed from their killing truck. What kind of people would do something like that? Shove two innocent people over the side of a cliff to their death? And why? Shay squeezed her eyes shut, but that didn’t stop the awkward tears that streamed from the corners. She pressed her face into Rick’s hard chest, fearing she might sob.

      She needed to hold her breath, hold back the tears until the men were gone. Their voices echoed, but she couldn’t make out the words.

      Rick pressed his lips against the hair over her ear. “They need to think we’re dead, understand?”

      She nodded. Though she could barely hear the whisper on his warm breath, when she pressed her head against his chest again, she both heard and felt his pounding heart. Rick was scared, too.

      Then she heard an unwelcome noise.

      Shay stopped breathing, willing her heart to stop pounding.

      One of the men slowly made his way down the incline. Would they keep searching until they found their bodies?

      * * *

      Rick held Shay to him, protecting her, protecting them both—if she moved or even made a sound, it would all be over.

      The crunch of boots filled his ears. Someone cursed when he lost his footing. The scrape against the rocky slope told him when he’d gained traction again. What would the man see when he looked? Would seeing the demolished Jeep at the bottom of a cliff convince their pursuers that Rick and Shay were dead?

      He squeezed his eyes shut, sending up a silent prayer. Images of his quick thinking—their only choice, the jump from the Jeep mere seconds from the moment it plummeted—played through his mind. He’d turned just in time so his body would take the impact as they rolled from the sliding Jeep. They were fortunate there had been thick underbrush to cushion their fall and to hide them afterward. They were fortunate the men hadn’t climbed from their vehicle until it was all over. But was this the moment when their good fortune would run out?

      Shay shifted against him, and he held her tight and still.

      Quiet.

      Admittedly, he was more than uncomfortable, his back partially against a flat boulder where he’d rolled. Branches within the thicket stabbed through his layered clothing to scrape his skin. Salty sweat beaded, despite the dropping temperature as evening approached, and trickled into the open wounds, making them burn.

      Rick steadied his breathing. Hold fast. Just a little longer.

      “Well?” Laced with edginess, a man’s deep voice boomed from somewhere above them. “See anything?”

      A few seconds passed, and they heard another curse—this one under someone’s breath. And that someone was far too close.

      Shay had done well to keep good and still for this long. But her slender form was beginning to tremble, if only a little.

      He ran his hand over her soft hair and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Just a little longer.”

      She stiffened and held her breath.

      “Answer me.” Again the voice boomed from somewhere above them.

      Rick couldn’t see a thing from where they lay, but that would keep them hidden, as well. An eagle screeched in the distant sky and a chilly gust rustled through the trees. Unbidden images of another time and place flashed through his mind and his heart rate soared.

      A bomb exploded. The explosive gunfire from automatic weapons seared his thoughts.

      Shay squeezed him, bringing him back to the moment. She inched her face up to look at him, the concern in her gaze clear. He could have lost it just then. Given them away.

      All because of one fateful moment in his past. A moment he could never forget.

      He gave a slight shake of his head. It wasn’t as if he could explain that right now, if ever. But he sure didn’t want those images to bother him at this moment when he had to maintain what little control he had over this situation.

      “Nothing,” the man said, his voice ringing mere yards from them. “There’s nothing left. No way could anyone survive that.”

      “You’d better be sure. We can’t let them make it to the claim.”

      “They’re dead, all right? If by some miracle they survived that fall, how would they make their way out? Much less hike all the way to the mine.”

      At the words, Rick’s pulse ratcheted up. The men had planned to kill them to prevent them from reaching the gold-mining claim? But why go to all that trouble? They were only interested in the plane, not the claim. Had they killed Aiden? He reined in the rage, the need to climb the ledge and pound the information out of these men. He was at a distinct disadvantage at the moment.

      He released a sigh, then realized his mistake. Like Shay, he held his breath now. Just a little longer, he told himself.

      He counted the seconds, praying the man hadn’t heard his heavy exhale.

      No way could anyone survive that. The words penetrated his chaotic thoughts—what reason did these men have for pursuing them, for attempting to kill them just to keep them from the camp? If it had anything at all to do with Aiden or even with Rick asking around the village for him, what chance did Aiden have?

      He feared his brother was already dead.

      No, God, please, no.... Rick wouldn’t think that way. He could only hope that Aiden was in hiding, too, and hadn’t had a chance to contact or warn them.

      With Shay in his arms, her weight only a slight burden against him as he cushioned her on the ground, they listened as the man who’d been mere yards above them scraped and climbed his way back up to the road.

      They released a collective sigh this time, and Rick didn’t worry they’d be heard. But they weren’t moving from this spot yet. Not until he knew for sure they were safe. Not until he heard the truck drive away, and even then he wouldn’t leave the protective cover of foliage until he searched the area from their hiding place.

      Conversation resumed above them and truck doors slammed. The rumble of the truck’s engine started. Shay shifted to move from cover, but Rick held her tight. “Wait. We have to be sure,” he whispered. She had to think he was being overly cautious, but she hadn’t been through what he had.

      Didn’t know that things weren’t always as they seemed.

      Shay’s trembling grew. She had to be in shock and was losing control, adrenaline fading as she began to believe the immediate threat was gone. Rick was grateful they’d escaped with their lives and, by all accounts, unscathed.

      Of course, for him this was hardly anything compared to what he’d already been through in his life. Now that the men were gone, he was more worried about another immediate threat—Shay. With her warmth and softness against him, a pang of tenderness shot through his heart, the kind of affection he remained guarded against at all times.

      “Rick,” she whispered. “Rick. You okay?”

      He blinked, staring down at her big eyes looking up at him from where her head was pressed against his chest. He was supposed to be helping her, taking care of her. Protecting her. That was what men did. That was what soldiers did. But was he up to the challenge?

      He wasn’t a soldier now. He was just Rick Savage. Damaged goods.

      The gentle concern in her eyes didn’t help.

      I’m dangerous to you.

      FOUR

      Of all the idiotic questions she could have asked. Of course he wasn’t okay. Neither of them was okay. Someone had just tried to kill them.

      She

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