Escape to Morning (26 page)

Alone, if she read Will right. He hadn't hinted at slowing down. Not that she felt overly eager to leave the girl out in the cold another night, but her doubts had begun to shred her confidence. Maybe the girl really hadn't run into the forest. Maybe Dani and Will were on a useless hunt, propelled by Dani's nightmares from the past and fear of leaving a child in the woods to perish. Maybe the girl had been picked up by a trucker and only wanted to be left alone.

A huge part of Dani wanted to head home, curl up with her dog, and start apologizing to everyone for being gung ho without anything more than a hunch.

She could even accentuate her apology with a dinner invitation to one over-committed reporter. …

Will appeared, nearly out of nowhere.

Dani startled. “How did you do that?”

When he grinned through all that green and black paint, she saw mischief in his eyes. It had taken him a long while to ease out of the melancholy she'd inadvertently sent him into. She hadn't intended to scrape open his private grief, but despite his hurt, his brooding, a very large place inside her felt glad she had.

Because he'd held her so tight, so long, that it made her weak. Like she might be giving back to him a little of what he'd given to her yesterday. A great big dose of unconditional friendship.

And when he'd turned away, his eyes wet, thinking she might not see it, it dried her mouth. Inside all that grit-and-macho exterior lay a tender heart.

She heard Sarah's words in the back of her head:
“Just don't let him too close until we know more about him.”

Oops. Too late. Good thing Sarah wasn't here, because his war paint and cloak-and-dagger thing would have her New York friend freaked out.

Dani thought it made him cute. In an I'm-here-to-protect-you kind of way. If he wanted to play cowboy/soldier/defender of the woods, she'd let him. Within reason. As long as he didn't point his gun in her direction.

“So, is it safe to cross the clearing, O Keeper of the Gate?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Listen, I know this feels funny to you, but we're strolling onto private property for a look-see. You have no idea what kind of hermits live out here who aren't going to take kindly to us interfering in their lives.”

“Oh, and they're going to welcome a shotgun-toting, special-ops solider with a fresh-baked blueberry pie and a song?”

He grinned, then let out a long sigh. “Whatever. C'mon. I don't think she's here, but let's look around. The door's unlocked.”

Okay, that bit of information piqued her curiosity. “Any sign of life?”

“I gave it a cursory once-over. Nada. But maybe you and your trusty bloodhound can pick up a trail.”

“German shepherd/retriever mix.” She followed Will to the cabin, and when she found herself crouching just a little, she felt like an idiot. Apparently he'd tugged her too far into his game.

While she stood sentry, he knocked, then creaked open the door. As he stepped forward, he looked back at her.

“What?”

“Just … shh.”

Yes, Sarah would be off-the-scale jumpy, and, truthfully, Dani wasn't far behind. He eased into the cabin, using his body as a shield between her and the cobwebs.

“I thought you'd already checked this out,” Dani said.

“Shh.”

Oh, brother. Still, the cabin did feel creepy—or was it guilt over breaking and entering? The cabin smelled of dust and old wool and was swathed in shadows, fractured only by slivers of late-afternoon sunlight through the boarded-up windows. A door led off the main room, probably to the bedroom.

“There's nothing—”

“Shh!” He held up his hand, soldier style, closed fist, as if they were on some tactical-ops mission. It reminded her of Micah or maybe Conner, and she stifled a giggle.

A mouse hiding under a worn green sofa scurried across the floor into the kitchen area and disappeared under the curtain of a sink.

“There's your bad guy,” Dani said and stepped out from behind him. She scanned the room, letting Kirby in past her.

The dog sat on the floor, laid his ears back.

Dani stared at him. “She was here.”

Will frowned at her. “What?”

“Well, someone was here recently. Look at Kirby. And look at the floor.”

He crouched, studied the floor.

“The dust has been kicked up,” she said in explanation.

“I see that.” He stood, peered into the sink. “And a couple of empty cans of pork and beans, freshly opened.”

“Maybe it was the people who owned the cabin.”

“Maybe,” he said slowly. “But I have to wonder if it was her, and your dog just confirmed it.”

Dani advanced into the room, turned in a full circle. “Where would she go?”

He put a finger to his lips, pointed to the closed door. “That was open when I came in the first time,” he whispered.

She couldn't deny the streak of fear that skidded up her spine. She swallowed, then moved away.

Will crept toward the bedroom door, put his hand on the knob. He flung the door open and swept the room with the muzzle of his gun as if the girl might run out and tackle him.

Dani tried to tuck her heart back into her chest. “Oh, good grief, Will. She's a young girl, most likely hurt and very scared. You're going to give her a stroke. Besides, the wind probably blew the door shut when we opened the front door.” She walked past him into the room.

Sunlight poured into a back window. The boards swung free, probably loosened from the storm. The bedspread was off the double bed, leaving only rumpled sheets. She stared out the window, heart thumping, disappointment lining her throat. “She was here—”

A thump.
Outside
, on the porch. Will met her eyes, and suddenly she got it. He wasn't playing at Rambo; he
was
Rambo. And right now Rambo Will had the little hairs on her neck standing on end. “Get down!”

What?

Only she did, more from reflex than obedience. Then he turned and disappeared, taking her heart with him.
Will!

“Drop it!”

“You drop it!”

She fought to untangle the voices.

A shot, splitting the fear.

No!
“Will!”

“Dani, stay down!”

Not on her life.

They'd found her. And she'd been careful, just as Kutsi had taught her. Fadima had cleared the log from the window, and she circumvented the regular path down to the waterfront so she hadn't left a trail. Of course, Kutsi had taught her on the steppe, but she'd applied the principles of stealth. Maybe they'd used the dog.

Fadima stood outside the clearing. In her hands she held a bottle she'd dug out of the cabin owner's recycle bin, and as she trembled, it spilled lake water onto her shirt. She swallowed a pool of dread and edged back. She'd been looking forward to sleep, to warmth. To another can of beans. Thankfully, she had taken the blanket off the bed.

But if the weapon the man held and the two men who followed him in were any indication of the kind of trouble stalking her, she'd better run.

Now.

“Jim Micah, the next time you decide to bushwhack me, I'd appreciate advance warning,” Dani said. “Are you okay, Will?”

Will sat on the cabin floor, a towel to his nose where Dani's so-called friend had drop-kicked him while some other high-energy soldier he recognized as Conner Young had shoved a Beretta M9 that looked sickeningly like his own into his face.

If she hadn't run out and jumped on her friend's back, Will had no doubt that someone would be seriously injured and in need of a medevac. Maybe even him.

Sadly, he knew these friends—too well—and if he didn't do some fast thinking, they'd know him too in about five seconds. Wouldn't that be a great way to tell Dani that he'd been lying to her since he'd known her?

Please, please don't let Jim Micah remember him. Thankfully, the first time he'd met Micah face-to-face had been in the dead of night during a rescue raid on a terrorist camp on the wrong side of the Iraqi border. The 10th Special Forces was big enough for them not to bump heads or operations too often. If Lew hadn't been assigned to Micah's team the day they'd gone out on patrol and been snatched by Kurdish rebels, Will probably wouldn't be in this mess now.

At least Will was wearing war paint, and had the advantage of this being the last place in the world Micah would expect to see him, right?

Think fast, Will
. The only thing that balmed his wounds was that Dani sat next to
him
, nursing
him
, while Conner dealt with his own blood and a huge swelling lip.

She glanced at Micah, who looked like he wanted another go at Will if only Dani would get out of the way. He wondered if Micah would have hit him if he'd known he was jumping a fellow Beret. Well, if he'd known it was Will, probably … yes.

Wasn't this fun?

Micah leaned against the doorframe, scraping Will with a gaze that looked downright poisonous. “One of you over-the-edge jokers want to tell me what's going on?”

Dani's gaze snapped to Micah, and Will hid a smile. “Joker? Is that what you call hanging out in the bush for days, nearly getting myself and my dog killed?”

“I'd call it breaking and entering,” Conner said quietly, still every inch the stealthy, deadly type. He didn't look at Dani when he spoke.

“We're searching for a teenage girl. She was reported lost a few days ago.” Dani turned to Will, checked his nose. “It's better.”

He didn't look at her as he wiped his hands off. “Who are these guys? Your friends?”

“Yes, these are my
good
friends. Remember that search-and-rescue team I was telling you about?” She gave a grim nod. Then she rose and gave the tall blond a hug. “How are you, Conner?”

Okay, that warm and friendly gesture felt like a sucker punch right to Will's sternum. He even blinked, as if in pain.

“Jim Micah.” He held out his hand to Will in greeting. However, his gray eyes, hard as flint, held no welcome.

Will met his grasp, feeling like a jerk. Most likely, Micah would be on his side if he knew the full scenario. Except, perhaps, for the part about Will lying to Dani—over and over and over. “Will, local reporter.”

Conner gave a harrumph of disbelief.

Will shot him a look.

“No, he really is,” Dani said and gave Micah a kiss on the cheek. Will felt instantly jealous. “I met him a few days ago. He's been helping Sarah and me with the search.”

“Really?” Micah said, but it didn't sound like a question.

“Yeah,
really
,” Will snarled, surprised at his tone. “I'm just a guy trying to do the right thing.”

Dani stared at him.

He sighed. So much for staying calm, not blowing his cover.

Dani got up and leaned against the table. “Okay, so what are you guys doing here? I thought you were supposed to be planning a wedding, Micah?”

He smiled slowly, his gaze still pinned like a rattler's on Will. “Lacey's got that covered. I'm just in the way. Besides, when we got the call about Missy last night, well, we decided to gets a hands-on look at what was going on up here.” He finally loosed his glare on Will and gave Dani a soft look. “She's doing okay, by the way. Andee flew us up. We arrived after you left this morning and hung out with Sarah. She got nervous when she couldn't raise you on your cell phone.”

“Yeah, I lost the signal around lunchtime.”

“Hence, our timely arrival,” Conner finished. “I tracked you through the GPS equipment I installed on your cell phone.” He took his own scrutiny of Will. “I still don't get the interesting SAR getup. You look like—”

“A terrorist,” Micah finished.

Will sighed in relief. “Thanks,” he said, climbing to his feet. “I really like your friends, Dani.”

Micah raised one dark eyebrow. “Dani?”

Was she blushing? She tried to glare at Will, but it didn't quite work. “They grow on you,” Dani told him.