Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 (10 page)

Sure enough, Liberty and Ashley had
started a fire. By the time Connor reached them, Liberty was
holding her deadly skillet over flames while Ashley poured a white,
gooey mess from a plastic bag into the pan.

“
Seriously?” Ashley asked as she
tilted the baggie up. “This will make pancakes?”

What does she think she’s
doing?
Connor wondered, his
fists clenching as he approached.

“
Good morning Sunshine,” Liberty said
with a Cheshire grin.

Sunshine?
Connor scowled.
What
stupid game is she playing now?

“
Hey, Déjà vu,” he replied. “The only
thing we’re missing is your creepy boyfriend. Did he miss the cue
or is he coming later?”

Her smile only widened. “He couldn’t
make today’s performance.” She jiggled the handle of the pan. “Care
to take his place?”

Connor felt heat rush to his face as
his temper flared. “Just giving you a friendly reminder of what
happened the last time you made a fire. So … suicidal or stupid?
Are you intentionally endangering the life of my niece? Or are you
so thick-skulled you didn’t even realize that’s what you’re
doing?”

Her smile turned into a teeth-bearing
snarl and her eyes sparked a warning as they narrowed. Her knuckles
turned white around the handle of the frying pan, and Connor took a
step back, just to be safe.

“
Ash, take this.” Liberty passed the
handle to the girl and shuffled through her pack, pulling out a
large spoon. She haphazardly flipped the pancake, getting little
specks of batter all over the place. “Oh, thank goodness you found
us in time!” She gasped. “What on earth would we do without The
Incredible Connor Dunstan to take care of us?”

Ashley giggled.

Connor could feel his teeth grinding
against each other. He consciously forced them apart and said,
“This is foolish. Your immaturity is a danger to us
all.”

“
How dare you! I have
been watching my own back now for the full ten years of my adult
life. I don’t need your protection, I don’t need your manipulation,
and I don’t
need
you.”

He blinked. Last night her
gaze had been heavy with understanding and tainted by pity. Now she
was freaking out on him because he was trying to keep them
safe?
Multiple personalities?
Bipolar?

She calmly removed the
pancake from the frying pan, placed it on a cleaned, flat rock, and
dumped more batter into the pan. The cakes were a little thin, but
the fragrance infected Connor’s brain and tickled his taste buds.
His stomach rumbled, but Liberty was too busy growling to
notice.
When did I last have
pancakes?

“
You are not in
command of this expedition. I will
not
take orders from you, and you
do
not h
ave the
right to pull my strings, Geppetto.” She stood directly in front of
his face, with her index finger digging into his chest. “We are
always in peril. We hide in shadows, sleep in bushes, and are on
the move constantly. Should we give up everything that makes us
happy in order to survive? If that’s your idea of survival, I don’t
want it. I’d rather be happily dead.” She went back to preparing
the food. “Right now, the promise of pancakes makes me pretty
happy.”

Connor watched her. To him, the risk
of discovery and death seemed like a hefty price to pay for a meal.
But he and Ashley had never starved. Their supplies had held out
and he had always been able to find whatever they needed. It
occurred to him that he knew almost nothing about Liberty. She
could have been starving in the sewers or running for her life
before he met her. Still, she needed to understand the
danger.

“
You could have been killed,” he said,
knowing there was no way she could have held off the man from the
previous day if he’d attacked her. “Or worse.”

“
I had a plan and I was taking care of
it!” Her voice was one decibel shy of yelling. “Did you not see the
skillet to the head?” She took a deep breath, but it didn’t stop
her temper from coloring her cheeks. “I’ve taken care of men like
that before.”

Connor chuckled. His gaze
drifted to her chest and lingered there. Starvation hadn’t robbed
her of all her curves and he took a moment to appreciate that fact.
“Oh, I bet you have.”
Wonder if I can get
her angry enough to self-destruct?

Her arms started to cross
in front of her, but she stopped and lowered her clenched fists to
her sides. “First off,
that
is none of your business. Secondly, if you think
I’d have allowed that shaggy, putrid, revolting excuse for a human
being to have his way with me, you know
nothing
about me! I’d have put my
knee through his genitals, or died trying.”

Connor’s mouth twitched. Unsure of the
exact moment when his anger morphed into amusement, he bit the
inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. She was exactly the type
of person he’d enjoyed getting on the stand; just blow a little
smoke in her direction and she goes up like bonfire.

“
If you didn’t trust me to keep Ashley
safe, you shouldn’t have manipulated me into taking
her.”

Connor’s eyebrows
rose.
She figured it out? Didn’t see that
one coming.

“
And
what
should
I have done?” he asked, glancing at Ashley and wondering if
she’d figured it out as well. “She needed to get out of there, and
she wouldn’t have willingly come with me.

Liberty raised an eyebrow.
“So you left her locked in a safe with a perfect stranger, and now
you’re getting on my case because you think
I’m
putting her life in
danger?”

“
Let me get this straight.” Connor
tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. “You’re screeching at me
because I trusted you with Ashley?”

“
Screeching?” Her voice raised another
octave.

“
You can be as self-righteous as you
want, but I did the right thing! I knew what I was doing, and I
can’t believe you’re really arguing with me about this. You’re so
determined not to trust me, that you can’t possibly accept that I
trusted you.”

She sighed, and a vast amount of anger
seemed to escape with her breath. “You could have asked, you
know.”

“
Right.” He snickered. “Before or
after you threatened to rename me ‘Stubby’?”

“
You … you … are so
infuriating.”

She sounded more frustrated and
confused than angry. He couldn’t blame her, but he also couldn’t
shed light on something he didn’t even understand. He’d always been
able to read people and his career had just enhanced the ability.
But how could he explain that to some crazed woman? Instead he
squared his chin and looked her into her eyes. “I will not ever
apologize for doing what I felt was right for Ashley. Don’t ask me
to.”

* * *

After the pancake batter was depleted,
Liberty dumped maple flavor into the pan. Then she added water and
sugar, and stirred the mixture while it heated. Eventually the
contents of the pan thickened into a runny maple syrup. Connor
smothered the fire and the trio sat around the pan, dipping the
pancakes in the syrupy mix, and stuffing them into their faces.
Connor closed his eyes and savored the quiet, flavorful
moment.

When they were done eating, Ashley
slipped behind a tree and left Liberty and Connor alone. His anger
had dissipated, and hers appeared to have as well, sated by the hot
meal. But the woman’s stubbornness knew no bounds. She took the pan
and spoon to the water and washed them, throwing occasional glances
over her shoulder.

Connor leaned back, resting on his
elbows in the grass. A few fluffy clouds raced across the sky as
birds chattered in the trees. It was a calm, peaceful background
noise and for a moment he rested his eyes. Then he heard Liberty
zip her pack.

“
The pancakes were delicious. Thanks,”
Connor said, pushing himself off the ground.

Liberty’s brow furrowed as she slung
her pack over her arm and approached him. “You’re welcome.” She
cleared her throat and came to a stop directly in front of him.
“Now here’s the deal. Right now you have a clean slate, but if
we’re gonna do this, you have to be honest with me. We work
together, or not at all. Do not lie to me and don’t you dare
manipulate me again.”

Connor watched her.
So … unpredictable
, he
thought. Just ten minutes ago she was screaming at him and now
…
Ground rules for a
partnership?

She held out her hand, interrupting
his thoughts. “Deal?”

CHAPTER TEN

CONNOR STARED AT my open hand while I
wondered what was going through his mind. His expression shifted.
The indifferent face of a practiced attorney stared back at me for
a moment. Then the sides of his lips turned up into a grin that
made me feel like guppy swimming dangerously close to a shark. But
it was too late to recall the offer.

“
Deal.” He grasped my hand and firmly
shook it.

Not to be outdone, I squeezed his hand as
hard as I could.

He chuckled.

I pulled my hand away and resisted the
urge to wipe it on my pants.

* * *

We headed north again, and
this time Connor walked beside us. The river led us for four more
days. Often we’d stop early to fish, taking advantage of the
proximity of the water
. The abundant catches were a
blessing, and we rarely had to dip into our meager
provisions.

By the time the sun reached its zenith
on the fifth day, it was hidden behind angry, dark clouds.
Lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by the foreboding background
music of thunder. The temperature dropped quickly, and then the
clouds split open and dumped their contents on our heads in a
sudden downpour.

Connor and I each grabbed one of
Ashley’s hands and ran for cover toward the nearest group of trees.
We huddled together and searched the area for shelter.
Multiple dark houses lined both sides of our new
discovery: a golf course. We set our sights on the closest house
and ran for it.

The windows were busted, but
ironically, the front door was locked. Connor slipped through the
broken window and let us in. The home smelled faintly of mold and
dust, but that was all. Ashley and I dripped on the hardwood floor
while Connor drew his knife, motioned for us to stay put, and
disappeared.

The house was impressive. Vaulted
ceilings, professionally painted and textured walls, classy light
fixtures, and a gorgeous, brick fireplace were just a few of the
features that made it so appealing. Our shoes crunched on the
shattered glass from the window as we admired the custom moldings
of the living room.

Now that we were shielded from the
pounding rain, I couldn’t hear Ashley’s teeth chattering. “Come on.
You need to get out of those wet clothes.” I grabbed her hand and
headed for the stairs, almost running into Connor.

“
Upstairs is clear.” He scooted around
us.

“
Oh Ash, he’s like our own, personal
guard dog.” I tried to pat him on the head, but he moved away from
me.

Ashley giggled as I towed her up the
stairs.

Both the smaller bedrooms had
obviously belonged to boys, but the resident of the farthest room
had been about Ashley’s size. She grabbed sweatpants and a
sweatshirt while I searched the top drawers for socks.

“
Here you go.” I held up a pair of the
boy’s underwear.

She scrunched up her face. “I don’t think
so.”

I attempted to hand them to her, but
she backed away. “Afraid they might bite you?” I
laughed.

“
Very funny. I don’t need underclothes
that bad.”

I was not nearly as picky. In fact,
the discovery of a clean sports bra in the master bedroom threw me
into a victory dance. Finding pants was a bit trickier. My jeans
used to be size twelve. I’d worked out religiously and made every
attempt to diet, but try as I might; there was no squeezing my
ample derrière into anything smaller. But now, I had trouble
finding pants the right length. Like usual, everything I found in
the woman’s dresser fit around the waist with no problems, but only
came to the middle of my calf. Definitely not ideal for trudging
through the forest. Sighing, I pulled on a pair of men’s
sweatpants—at least six sizes too big—and tugged on the string
until the fabric doubled over.

So much for thin.

* * *

After we were dry and dressed we found
Connor in the garage, surrounded by a dark cloud of smoke. A small
barbeque was pushed against the open external door.

Ashley coughed and swatted at the
smoke with her hand.

“
We haven’t even been here an hour and
you’re already trying to burn the house down?” I asked. “What is it
with boys and fire?”

“
Hah. Very funny.” He lifted up the
lid of the barbie, peeked inside and closed it. “Now get out of
here and let me cook.”