Praying for Daylight (10 page)

“Since I have a reason to be cautious,” Chase’s lips pressed together in a firm line and I saw a familiar sadness in his eyes. I had the same sadness. “I’m not going to make the same mistakes my father did with your mother. I plan on Briar and I staying safe, and together, for a very long time.”

I frowned, wanting to tell him it was a little overboard, but Dustin shot me a look that silenced me. I crossed my arms and complied, knowing arguing with Chase was silly, and I also didn’t want Briar to see us bickering.

“Fine,” I whispered to Dustin.

“Must be hard to keep your mouth shut,” he laughed quietly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you an earful later,” I threatened.

“I look forward to it.”

“I need to go for a minute,” Briar stood and grabbed the toiletries bag. “I’ll be back.”

Chase stood too, following her. “Wait for me, Briar baby.”

She looked back with wide eyes. “Oh, no. You are not coming to the bathroom with me.”

“You can’t go out there alone,” he said.

“I’ll go,” I grabbed a shotgun that was sticking out of one of the packs.

Dustin raised his eyebrows and glanced at Chase.

“This is me we’re talking about here.” I rolled my eyes, when neither of them changed expressions. “We’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Chase sank back down by the fire. “If you’re gone too long we’re coming after you.”

“Worry wart!” I shouted over my shoulder as I followed Briar. “He’s turned into an old woman.”

“You know, there are just some things that I’m not ready to share with him yet, and peeing is one of them,” Briar laughed, once we were far enough away from the guys.

“There was one time Dustin was my bathroom buddy, and I told him if he peeked I’d shoot him.”

“What happened?”

“I shot him.”

She stopped dead. “You what?”

“He was asking for it,” I laughed at her shocked expression. “It’s okay, it was a paintball gun.”

We started walking again, taking ourselves further from camp. Briar stayed close, holding the flashlight. “I’m glad you came with us.”

“I wasn’t given a choice. But since I’m not really busy, considering I’m in hiding, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do.”

She laughed, “So why are you hiding, exactly?”

“No big reason. Other than a need for privacy, and a fan that’s a little deranged. It’s less exciting than it sounds, and not a big deal.” I’m such a lair.

“It just seems kind of extreme.”

“Celebrities do it all the time.”

“You know, I forget you’re famous. You really are normal.”

I laughed, “Thanks, it’s good to know I haven’t lost touch with reality.”

Briar found a secluded spot and handed me the flashlight. I waited, looking up at the starry sky. When she was finished, we started back for camp. Along the way we talked about things we missed being so far out in the middle of nowhere. Living for two years in the city spoiled me, what with stores on every corner, ten minutes from the house. Out here, going to the store was an hour drive if you wanted anything good. Or you just had to settle for what was in town, basic staples for day-to-day life.

“Look,” Briar spotted a little rabbit and stopped to get a look at it.

“You’re cute,” I crouched to get a closer look at him but hopped away.

“K-kate, we’ve got company.”

I turned around, shining the flashlight. The beam landed on the feet of something large and hairy. “That’s not a dog.”

“Coyote?” she asked.

“Wolf.” I backed up with Briar, but the animal growled. We’d interrupted his hunt for a nice rabbit dinner.

I aimed the shotgun at the ground in front of the wolf. I wasn’t going to kill it, just scare it off. “Get ready.”

I squeezed the trigger.

It clicked softly.

The gun didn’t fire.

“This isn’t loaded!”

I swore Briar’s face went paler than the white moon overhead. “But I thought they were all loaded.”

“Apparently not,” I held it like a baseball bat, ready to swing in case the wolf lunged. “Get behind me.”

“What about the toilet paper?” Briar held up the bag. “Maybe if we throw it at him he’ll go away.”

I glanced at the small bag. “You think he’ll run from anything that’s not two ply and quilted?”

She stared at me. “Really? Is this the time to joke?”

The wolf growled and prowled closer.

“Oh, shit.” I knew the best thing was to wave and shout, try and scare it off. But the animal really looked pissed. So I let out a whistle. High pitched.

Briar grabbed a stick off the ground and wielded it in front of her. “What are you doing?”

“Calling for help,” I whistled again.

The wolf came closer, backing us under a tree. I took a calming breath. “Can you climb?”

Briar nodded, “Yeah, and he can’t.”

She started up; I dropped the shotgun and leapt for a low hanging branch, pulling myself up. Briar screamed as the wolf jumped for us. His teeth caught the leg of my jeans, jerking me down. I kicked my legs and felt the fabric rip. The wolf lost his hold on me. I scrambled up the tree as high as I could go. Briar was right beside me. The wolf leapt again for us, but thankfully we were out of reach.

“Are you hurt?”

I held the flashlight between my teeth and examined my pants leg. “That was close. He didn’t break the skin.”

“Great, now what do we do?” Briar stared down at the wolf. He stared up at us.

From the looks of it we weren’t going to get out of this anytime soon.

I let out another whistle, “Hope Dustin hears me.”

“I’m going to kill them if they don’t come looking once we’ve been gone too long.” She shivered, hanging tight to a branch.

“Stand in line.” I whistled again. Nothing.

It was possible we could be stuck for a while.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dustin

I popped a marshmallow on my stick and held it in the flames, wondering how much longer Kate and Briar would be gone. Girls tended to go to the bathroom in packs and chat, so I figured they were just caught up and didn’t realize how long they’d been gone. It wasn’t like anything bad would happen, Kate had a gun and she knew how to handle herself out here. Still…

“The girls have been gone for a while.”

Chase nodded, “Yeah, let’s give them five minutes, and then we start after them.”

“But this is good, gives me time to get the tracker from you.” I stole a glance around us to make sure we were still alone. Last thing I wanted was to get caught.

“Yeah, you really saved my ass. Kate caught me so off guard, I wasn’t sure what to tell her.” He handed me the small black box and I stuck it in my pack where Kate wouldn’t see it.

“So did you learn anything else while I was gone?” I asked, hoping he did.

“No, but I haven’t been alone with Briar yet, so there is still a chance she might have something.”

I stared into the fire, watching the flames dance…Kate might think I was a real ass after this. But I’d deal with her irritation later, and focus on making sure she didn’t wind up lost in the woods now.

“Turn it down,” I nodded to the music playing on Chase’s cell phone. Could have sworn I caught the sound of a whistle. Maybe it was the wind.

Chase frowned, “Why? We just turned it on.”

“I thought I heard something…” we sat in silence, a few seconds passed, but then I heard it again.

“Wait, I hear it too,” Chase grabbed his gun, pushing to his feet.

“Sounds like something’s wrong.” Another high-pitched whistle filled the night. I started toward the sound. “Kate must be in trouble to be calling like that.”

I whistled, answering Kate’s call. We’d made up the sounds as kids, using them to communicate. It was like our own secret code. Chase wasn’t much of a whistler, but he understood what was going on.

Kate answered my reply and I followed the sound. “This way. That cluster of trees up ahead.”

Chase brought his gun up, “What’s she saying?”

“She wants me to come find her.” We crept carefully toward the sound of Kate’s whistling.

“Wolf,” Chase drew up short with a curse and crouched down behind a bush. “Shit.”

His gun had a night vision scope mounted on it. No sense in being in the dark with a gun if you couldn’t see enough to shoot.

I squinted; looking up at the tree the dog was circling. “The girls are out of the way.”

“You want me to take the shot?” Chase asked, aiming his rifle.

“Go for it.”

A few seconds later the gun went off, the crack echoing in the night. The wolf ran, whining, heading deep into the trees.

“You hit it?”

Chase shook his head, “No, just scared it away.”

“Dustin?” Kate shouted as we ran toward the tree. We stood underneath the limbs, waiting to help the girls down.

“Yup,” I tried not to act overly concerned as Kate climbed down and allowed me to help her to the ground.

“What the hell took you so long?”

I grinned, “You’re welcome.”

She crossed her arms and nodded, “Thanks.”

I returned the nod, “You okay?”

“Fine,” she smiled. “Except for the part where I grabbed the wrong gun!”

I grimaced. “Great, let’s check the rest and make sure they’re loaded when we get back.”

“My idea of camping is the Holiday Inn. But at least I’m trying.” Briar nearly leapt into Chase’s arms.

Chase started back to camp hugging her to his side. “Next time, let me go to the bathroom with you.”

She nodded, “I will have to insist, trust me.”

I started after them, but realized Kate hadn’t followed. “You coming?”

“Yeah,” she grabbed the empty shotgun off the ground and started toward me. “I’m beat, let’s get some sleep.”

“After we check the guns.” I squinted, in the dark it was hard to tell, but my attention was drawn to her feet. “Are you limping?”

“Maybe,” she sighed, heading up the dirt path past me. “It’s not a big deal.”

I pulled a small flashlight out of my pocket and illuminated the ground. “Shit, what happened to your leg?”

“He didn’t break the skin. I’m fine.”

Stubborn female. First the woods, and now this. What was I going to do with her? “Damn it, Kate, we need to work on your communication skills.”

She rounded on me, “I am fine. Okay? You’re worrying like an old woman too. Maybe worse than Chase. If you don’t remember, I used to be just as tough as both you cowboys, and if you keep treating me like I’m totally city now… Why are you smiling? I’m serious. I’m going to slap that grin right off your face!”

I kept smiling. “You done yet?”

“No! And if I want to wander alone into the woods, it’s my life, my choice! I’m not your girlfriend, so I’m not your concern.” She started back on the path.

My next move would get me slapped. I was sure of it.

But I did it anyway.

I grabbed her arm, turned her to face me, and laid a quick kiss on her lips.

Kate growled, but before she could do anything, even register what happened, I tossed her over my shoulder and headed back for camp.

“Dustin!” she protested, smacking my back. “Put me down. Crazy, controlling, thick headed…just put me down!”

“Nope.”

“Caveman.”

“And proud of it.”

When I got back, Chase and Briar were in their tent, done for the night. It was zipped shut. I walked to the other side of camp, unzipped the little blue tent Kate had set up, and practically tossed her in.

She opened her mouth to start on me again, but I added fuel to the fire by putting one finger over her lips and shaking my head. She’d be even more upset, but I was past the point of caring.

“Let’s get something straight,” I knelt in front of her, trying to keep my face serious, when all I wanted to do was smile at her chagrined expression. “I know you’re not city. You’re as tough as any cowboy, but for God’s sake Kate, the way you’re acting is what’s got me acting like this. You’re not yourself half the time. I don’t know why you showed up here, but I’m not stupid. I’m smart enough to know it’s got more to do than some fan that’s a little too into you. You’ve got bodyguards and people you hire to take care of that. So just cut the bullshit and figure out a way to tell me the truth, or I’ll find out myself one way or another. If I have to get Cheyenne on the phone and tell her you’re here I will.”

“Dustin, please. Don’t call my sister.” She went from furious, to half terrified and begging in a blink. I didn’t know how to process it. “You can’t tell her where I am.”

“Kate, does anyone know where you are?” I asked, trying to keep calm, when really, I was so upset from the look on her face. I was the enemy now because I threatened to out her hiding place.

“No, no one does. They can’t know. Please, I’m begging you. Don’t call her. Don’t tell her. I’m already worried I’ve screwed this up hanging out with you, and Chase, and Briar.”

I took her hands, “Kate, what happened to you? Please, I just want to help.”

“If I need help, I’ll ask you. I promise. Right now I just need to stay out of sight, off the radar.”

“What did those Hollywood people do to you? What’s got you so paranoid?” I tried to plead with my expression, but by the look on her face nothing would make her talk.

“They didn’t do anything. It’s one person. And I don’t want that person to find me. So just drop it. I will tell you if I need help.” Her lips pursed. “Okay?”

I backed off, letting her hands go. “Fine,”

“Where are you going?” she asked, sliding after me as I left the tent feeling a little dejected. I just wanted to help and she wouldn’t let me.

“To check the fire and get the guns. Go to sleep.”

She frowned. “Where are you sleeping?”

“By the fire,” I nodded at my black sack and rolled bag.

“What if the wolf comes?”

“He won’t mess with me,” I reached for the zipper to close her tent. She stopped me. “Kate, I’ll be fine.”

She frowned. “Maybe you could share with me…there is plenty of space.”

“You really want to share a tent?”

“O’Brian, considering our history, sharing a tent is tame,” she punched my arm, laughing. “Look, I’m extending an olive branch. I know you’re mad because I’m not telling, so the least I can do is show you that I’m going to be okay.”