“I’m sure.”
“Okay, how did you manage to outrun it?”
Still breathing hard and shaking so badly her teeth chattered, she said, “I think...I think...”
“What?”
“I think God knocked it out of a tree.” Grasping for the right words she went on, “I saw the lion above me. A branch broke and he fell before he could pounce.”
Instead of doubting her conclusion or arguing the finer points of the frightening experience, Daniel pulled her closer and held tight. That was just fine with Kaitlin. More than fine. It was perfect.
If she never received another hug for the rest of her life she wouldn’t care. She’d had the best already.
A scratching noise outside caused her to cling to him more tightly. “Do you think it’s trying to get in?”
“If it was full grown and determined to have you and me for breakfast, a regular wooden door wouldn’t slow it down much.” Cupping her shoulders with one arm he held out the other hand. “Bullets.”
“You’re not going to shoot it, are you?”
“If it comes through that door or one of these boarded windows you’d better believe I’m going to do something. A loud bang should be enough to scare it away.”
“And waste a bullet?”
Daniel expertly loaded the gun and chambered a live round. “This is cop stuff. That means I’m in charge.”
“I’m the one who was on the menu.” Leaving him she hurried to the kitchen and was back in a flash with a couple of large pots. “Hang on.”
Holding each by its handle she banged them together repeatedly, then stopped to listen. “Ta-da! No more scratching.”
The slow shaking of his head and a murmur of “Unbelievable” tickled her enough to bring a nervous laugh.
Cane in one hand, pistol in the other, Daniel approached. “We ought to make sure.”
“You’re not going to open that, are you? Stop. I want to change the rules. This incident does not fall into the category of police business.”
“Well, it sure isn’t medical. At least not yet.” Gesturing with the pistol and keeping it pointed at the ceiling for safety, he leaned on the wall next to the door to free up one hand. “Stand clear.”
Kaitlin did better than that. She armed herself with the fireplace poker and waited across the room. When she heard him begin to chuckle she lowered her weapon. “What’s so funny?”
“Muddy, wet prints on the porch are from raccoons. You probably scared the life out of them.”
“I saw those, too, a whole family of them. They took one look at the lion and ran. Probably came here looking for a place to hide.”
“Whatever you say. You dropped your phone out there in the yard. Want me to stand guard while you go get it?”
“No, thanks. If it’s still there when we leave I may pick it up. Otherwise, I’m not interested.”
“You really are scared, aren’t you?”
“Do EMTs use stethoscopes? Of course I’m scared. There was a real live cougar out there, just like the ones on the TV nature programs. Raccoons are little furry guys with tiny hands, pointy noses and brown-and-white rings around their tails. Lions are big and tan and make funny noises.”
“What kind of noises?”
Kaitlin fisted her hands on her hips and stood firm to face him. “It wasn’t a roar. I’ve never heard anything like it before. It sounded like this.” She demonstrated by forcing air through her half-closed mouth and adding a bit of a squeaky throat sound to it.
Daniel mimicked her, only his rendition was closer to reality.
“That’s it!”
“They call it a chirp.”
Instead of continuing to dismiss her reported sighting he crossed the room and folded her into another embrace. She didn’t need him to say a word. His actions and expression told her everything important. Not only was he saying she had been right, he was plainly grateful and astounded that she had come through the encounter unscathed.
Kaitlin didn’t care whether or not the cat had simply chosen a weak limb or had been knocked down. All she knew was that she was safe again. And that Daniel was bestowing another of the amazing hugs she was getting all too used to.
It was almost—almost—worth what she had just been through.
TWELVE
Daniel was loathe to delay for long after the breaking of his fever, particularly because he didn’t want Kaitlin to see another example of his mental distress. Nevertheless, he came to the conclusion he wouldn’t be worth a penny if he was unable to defend her, should it come to that.
One thing he didn’t want to do, however, was linger at the abandoned lodge a second longer than necessary. It had provided shelter in the storm but the morning was sunny and a lot warmer. He was ready to hit the road.
Kaitlin handed him a mug with brown liquid in it, explaining when he didn’t immediately drink. “That’s coffee.”
“Are you sure?”
“Relatively sure. I did the best I could with the water I’d been warming by the fire.”
“We let the fire burn out.”
“Which is why your instant coffee looks a little funny.”
Amused by her efforts if not the result, he took a tentative sip. “Looks aren’t everything. It tastes funny, too.”
“Picky, picky, picky.”
“So you’ve told me before.” Glancing from the mug to her, he asked, “Where’s yours?”
“I’m not a coffee drinker.”
“Since when?”
The expression on her pretty face was telling even before she said, “Since this morning.”
Taking one more sip he wrinkled his brow. “Thought so.” Then he paused until she started to smile before adding, “The best part about this is the hint of plastic flavor.”
“There wasn’t any creamer or sugar in the kitchen to mask it.” Kaitlin grinned at him. “Bon appétit.”
Chuckling, he raised his mug in a mock toast. “Is that French for drink it or else?”
“Something like that.”
As soon as she turned away he dashed the tepid liquid into the fireplace to finish quenching the last embers. If Kaitlin heard the splash she didn’t acknowledge it. She did whirl and stare at him when he said, “Pack up. It’s time to hit the road.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean no. No way. No how. You’re not strong enough to travel yet. There’s still redness around your wound. The infection isn’t gone.”
“My fever broke.”
“This time it did. Get too tired or stressed and you can be flat on your back again.”
“I have antibiotics left. I’ll keep taking them.”
Fisting her hands on her hips she stood firm, chin out, eyes narrowing with determination. “You certainly will. And you will continue to rest for at least one more day. Medical decision. Mine.”
“We still have to move,” Daniel said, nodding assent with reservations. “I only brought us here because I knew how sick I was and the storm caught us unprepared.”
“Where else can we go?”
“A campground, maybe? I don’t know. We can skirt the shore of the lake till we come to one. How much cash is left?”
“Very little.”
It pained him to see her discouraged. “Then a motel is out no matter how much I need a shower.”
“I did rinse out a few things last night while you were sleeping. We’ll make do.”
“Are you for real?”
Kaitlin arched an eyebrow at him. Her smile was lopsided with muted humor. “Because?”
“Because you’re so agreeable. Most women would be ranting about having to stop here at all, not to mention insisting on having all the amenities of a posh hotel and restaurant meals.”
“I am not most wo
men,” she countered.
That made Daniel laugh and shake his head. “Lady, you can say that again.”
“All right. I’m not like...”
He waved a hand to stop her and continued chuckling. “Yeah, I get it. Know what you remind me of? A pioneer. This is obviously all new to you, yet you’ve adjusted and coped.”
She sobered. “All except about the mountain lion. I didn’t do well when that happened.”
“Sure you did.” Although he wanted to go to her, to embrace her again at the mere remembrance of the close call, he held himself in check. “You survived.”
“I wonder if my cell phone did.”
“We’ll soon find out. The battery may have run down, though.”
“I keep a charger in the truck,” Kaitlin said proudly. “Never can tell when I’ll need it.”
“Do you have many more surprises in store for me?” he quipped.
When Kaitlin replied, “You’d be surprised,” he would have laughed again if she hadn’t looked so serious.
What occurred to him next wiped away all amusement. “Uh-oh.”
“What now?”
“If anybody knows you and I are together they can track us through your phone.”
“They may know you have a partner but how would they know who I am?”
“The license on your truck? The contact we’d had before you rolled me out of the hospital? Any number of ways.”
“That’s not good.”
“No, it isn’t.” Daniel began to gather up the supplies nearest to him, continuing to lean on the cane so he wouldn’t stress his leg. “Go pack up all you can grab. We need to hit the road ASAP.”
“You don’t really think anybody will follow us all the way up here, do you? We heard raccoons on the porch. Surely we’d have heard a car.”
“Not if they parked by the highway to wait for us.”
“If you’re trying to scare me, it’s working,” Kaitlin said.
“I’m trying to think ahead like someone determined to track me down and collect bounty money,” he said gruffly. “The sooner we get out of here, the more likely I am to live long enough to get back to St. Louis and put an end to this vendetta.”
“That’s the first time you’ve used that word.”
Daniel froze with the blanket over his arm and stared at her. “It’s the first time I’ve thought of it that way. But that may be the answer I’ve been looking for.”
“What do you mean?”
“All along it’s seemed strange to me that anybody would care if I got away after taking such a bad beating. I mean, the punishment had been delivered, the message sent, yet right after that things started happening. For instance, a few weeks later, Levi was ambushed coming out of Letty’s place. She’s positive he was shot because he was mistaken for me, which is why she’s gone over to the other side.”
Kaitlin was shaking her head. “That makes no sense. If she thought the gang you infiltrated was responsible for his murder, why join forces with those same guys? It’s them she should hate, not you.”
“Good point. If we hadn’t had to run from her and her cohorts twice I might consider that idea valid. But remember the hospital? The way she tried to lead me into a trap?”
“I’m not likely to forget. That was a close one.”
“So was Springfield. I’d thought I could trust Anthony Grainger to help me until I spotted Letty and heard him call out to her. She’s in this up to her neck.”
“You still haven’t given me a good reason why they want you dead.” Kaitlin crossed her arms and shivered as she spoke.
“The raid. After I escaped and told my chief what had happened, SWAT raided the home of the gang’s leader. He escaped but one of his nephews was wounded and later passed away. I hadn’t made that connection before but it makes perfect sense. This is more than a hit on a cop. My subconscious solved the mystery of why when vendetta came to me.”
“Which means they aren’t likely to call off the hunt,” Kaitlin concluded.
“No, they aren’t.” Doubling his efforts, Daniel limped over to the sofa and collected the trash they had failed to burn when they could have. “We need to pick up every sign we were ever here and wipe the place down for fingerprints, just in case the ones who follow our trail happen to be law enforcement.”
“You don’t trust anybody?”
“Not at the moment,” Daniel told her. “Even if there are only a couple of turncoats on the force, the rest of them are looking for me, too, hoping to bring me in for protective custody. Once that happens I’ll be as defenseless as I was in the hospital unless we can identify the bad cops and have them dealt with first.”
“And you plan to do that how?”
Daniel didn’t answer her. He had no idea how he was going to win each battle, let alone the war.
* * *
Kaitlin would have loved to check the muddy yard for the large paw prints of the cougar but decided to squelch curiosity in favor of good sense. She smiled to herself, proud of the sensible choice.
Another thing she and Daniel had discussed was the destruction of her poor, soggy phone. He had her stop the truck next to where it lay so he could remove the battery, then back up and run over it, squashing its remains into the sticky goo.
There was mud on his sandals when he pulled himself back into the passenger side and slammed the door. “Done. There’s no way we can erase what they may already know but we can’t be tracked any farther.”
“You’re only guessing they’ve figured out who I am. Why did we have to kill my poor phone?”
“Because I was too feverish and out of it last night to think clearly and remove the battery. I’m sorry about your phone. When all this is over I’ll get you a new one.”
“Pink. With a protective case and an upgrade,” Kaitlin said, hoping to draw him into a less serious conversation.
“All the whistles and bells,” Daniel vowed.
“Then see that you take your pills, listen to your nurse and keep your head down,” she said with a smile. “I mean to collect everything you owe me, and then some.”
“Like?”
To her delight he was smiling again. A short lock of hair had curled by his forehead and shadows accentuated dimples she had failed to notice before. The more handsome he appeared, the less she wanted to chance alienating him by mentioning the fondness she was recognizing, so she grabbed at the first idea that popped into her head. “I figured there must be a reward or something involved with this escapade of ours. You can tell your chief or whoever’s in charge to give it to me.”
He huffed. “I didn’t think you were that mercenary.”
“I’m not. But I’m missing work, so I won’t get paid. And the longer it takes me to finish my paramedic schooling the longer my wages will stay low. Besides the out-of-pocket cash, it’s cost me a lot to keep company with you.”
“Ah. Okay.” He feigned wiping sweat from his brow. “I was afraid for a second there that you were asking about collecting the bounty.”
Kaitlin sobered. “That’s not funny.”
“Sorry.”
He reached across to gently pat the back of her hand where it gripped the wheel and she almost swerved. Didn’t he realize how sensitive she was to his touch? Was it possible he hadn’t gotten the same vibes during their embraces as she had? Possibly, she reasoned. Then again, she’d been privy to his most private struggles. Surely that had bonded them beyond casual acquaintances. It had pried open her heart as if Daniel had applied a crowbar. Theirs wasn’t a simple relationship. Not anymore. And as far as Kaitlin was concerned, it would never return to the way it had been when they’d met again after so long.
Because I know I owe him my life, she affirmed silently. Memories of her teenage struggles almost brought tears to her eyes. If he had failed to use discretion that night when her s
treet friends had been arrested, she could easily have gone to jail and spent the rest of her life trying to find her way again.
“I will never, ever, betray you,” she told him. “Never.”
His fingers curled over hers, warm and gentle. When he said, “I know,” the moisture she’d been denying blurred her vision. She blinked. A few tears spilled out and trickled down her cheeks.
He shifted, trying to move closer, and made a guttural sound as pain interfered. Instead, he released her hand and used the backs of his fingers to dry her cheeks.
The effort was so loving, so tender, it brought more weeping. She wasn’t sad, she was touched so deeply, so poignantly, the tears simply came.
Apparently Daniel realized what was happening because he said, “Hey, don’t cry, partner. If the new phone isn’t enough, I’ll buy you a pony.”
That helped. Kaitlin sniffled and glanced over at him. “A what?”
“A pony. Or a puppy if you don’t have room to keep a horse where you live.”
“You are a crazy man, you know that?”
“And you love every nutty thing I do and say. Right?”
The reference to loving something almost caused her to blurt out too much truth. At the last second she regained control and came up with the perfect retort.
“Cashews are my favorite nut. That’s what I should call you. Would you like that nickname?”
Daniel chortled and leaned back against the seat. “Not unless you want me to come up with one for you. I was thinking Bonnie to my Clyde.”
“No good.” Tears gone, Kaitlin was grinning. “Maid Marion to your Robin Hood?”
“No bow and arrow. And no band of merry men. Sorry.”
“Well, we’re not going to be Juliet and Romeo. You know how they ended up.”
“Um-hum.” A hint of tenderness had entered his voice.
Kaitlin blushed. “Forget I mentioned it. No nicknames.”
“Oh, I don’t know. If I think of the perfect one we may have to renegotiate.”
“We can talk about that later,” Kaitlin said. “We’re coming up to the highway. Keep your eyes open for an ambush.”
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