Her Guardian

by Sharon Dunn

  Her lips were drawn into a tight line. “Okay.”

  He had to take her mind off the pain. “That was some fast thinking, slipping into the bathroom.” He had been impressed with how she had strategized. They might make a good team after all. Gavin increased his speed as the countryside opened up in front of them.

  “I have a few good ideas.” A tiny gasp escaped her lips. Her hand curled into a fist.

  He responded with a sympathetic shudder. She was really hurting. “Just hang on.” He checked his mirrors. No one was following them on the rural road. Hopefully, the van had pulled out on to the highway.

  Her stiff posture indicated she was still in pain.

  He drove for twenty minutes more until he found a shoulder to pull off on. “Stay where you are.” He grabbed a first-aid kit from under the backseat and hustled to her side of the car.

  When he opened the door, she was pale. Her jeans had a huge blood-soaked patch. He pulled his pocketknife out of his coat. “I’ll just cut the fabric away.”

  She nodded, breathing in air through gritted teeth.

  The gash was short but deep. She jerked when he placed the disinfectant on it. He pulled a strand of gauze from the kit and wrapped it around her calf. “Better?”

  She offered him a half nod. Obviously, she was still in pain.

  He dug through the kit until he found ibuprofen and grabbed his water bottle. “For the pain.” He cupped her hand in his and placed the tablet in her palm. The back of her hand was smooth like silk.

  He lifted his head and looked into her blue eyes. He saw strength, an indomitable spirit. “That should help ease your pain.” He was struck by the paradox of her life. Here was a woman who had been through more than most people would ever face. She could certainly deal with more than the average person. Yet she didn’t know how to put gas in a car.

  Her lip quivered. Sympathy rushed through him. He reached up and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “That leg is going to be okay.”

  Julia drew strength from the intensity of Gavin’s gaze. The warmth of his touch on her cheek still lingered when he pulled away. Carefully, gently, he lifted her leg and helped her to face forward in the car. She tensed when a fresh dagger of pain sliced up her calf. That ibuprofen couldn’t kick in soon enough.

  Gavin’s expression communicated empathy. “Ready to go?”

  She nodded. “I’ll be okay. Let’s just get to the hot springs.”

  Gavin drove down the country road. The throbbing in her leg subsided. Julia shared her donuts. The sky turned from blue to gray while they made small talk about what they passed on the road, often falling into silence. The setting sun created a display of orange and purple on the horizon.

  Their endless zigzagging to shake off the pursuers had cost them a lot of time. Gavin pulled back on to the main highway. It was dark by the time the headlights illuminated a sign that indicated the exit for Silver Cliff, the town that was close to the hot springs.

  “Can you read me the directions your father wrote down?”

  He handed her a folded note he had stuffed into the cup holder. His fingers brushed over hers. A spark of energy surged up her arm. The sudden warmth that spread through her surprised her.

  She took the note and unfolded it, bringing it closer to her eyes to decipher her father’s spidery scrawl. “My father should have been a doctor, not a lit professor.” She read the directions.

  As Gavin repeated the directions back to her, she shook off the unexpected heat of attraction. At a time when most girls just started to think boys didn’t have cooties, her life had become a nightmare. After her escape, male friends she had known from when she was thirteen had come to the house to visit. Their company had helped break the monotony of confinement, but her awkwardness in conversation with men was a reminder of how a whole chunk of her life had been ripped away. She had never felt anything more than friendship toward any of the young men who had come over.

  Julia wasn’t quite sure what to think about the surge of electricity Gavin’s touch had caused. Everything was so new. She was twenty-two-years-old and had never even been on a date. She cut her eyes at the man beside her. What would it be like to go on a date with Gavin? The thought made the heat rise to her cheeks, and she was grateful for the darkness that hid her face. She shouldn’t be thinking about such things.

  The car rolled through the tiny town of Silver Cliff. They passed the dark windows of a dress shop and a hardware store. At the end of the block, a coffee shop that had a warm glow and a few patrons sitting at tables caught her attention. A young woman hunched over a magazine lifted her head and glanced at Julia. An ache spread through Julia as she placed her hand on the car window. How wonderful would it be to order a coffee and sit and read for an afternoon? She tried to picture herself in the coffee shop doing something so ordinary, something she had never done.

  Gavin’s soft voice broke through her musing. “Did you say a left turn after Old Goat Road?”

  She checked the note again. “Yes, a left turn.” She laughed. “That’s a funny name, Old Goat Road.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure there’s a story behind that. Montana has lots of strange names for places.”

  “What made you decide to come back to Montana?” His earlier evasiveness to the question had piqued her interest.

  “This looks like where we need to go.” He turned the car down a dirt road.

  Maybe he would answer the question later, or maybe he wanted to keep things professional. He probably hadn’t felt the same burst of electricity when their fingers touched. This was just a job to him.

  In the dark, she could barely make out the sign that said “Silver Cliff Spa and Hot Springs.” One of the chains that held the sign to a post was broken. A hand-painted sign that said “Closed for Renovation” had been nailed to the post. They drove about a mile down the dirt road. The silhouette of several buildings came into view. No light shone in any of the windows.

  “I didn’t think this place would be so big.” Gavin leaned toward the windshield and squinted. “Did your father say exactly where this friend said she would meet us?”

  Julia shook her head.

  He pulled into a parking lot. Gravel crunched beneath the tires as he drove toward a huge log cabin. “This looks like the main building.” He pushed open the car door.

  Julia reached back and grabbed her coat before getting out of the car. Her first step on the cut leg sent a pulse of pain through her. Wind rustled the tall cottonwoods that surrounded the building. Creaking branches emanated a sense of loneliness. She shivered.

  Favoring the hurt leg, she made her way up the stone path. She scrambled for an explanation as to why the place looked abandoned. “We’re getting here a lot later than expected. Maybe she went to sleep. We probably should have called.”

  “Maybe.” Gavin stepped away from the door. He moved a few feet in one direction and then a few feet in the other.

  Gratitude for Gavin’s vigilance washed through her, and with it guilt over having been difficult. He was so obviously good at his job. Julia wrapped her hand around the doorknob. “The door is not locked.” The creaking of the trees in the darkness caused memories to rise to the surface. “Let’s go inside. I don’t like it out here in the dark.”

  Gavin hesitated before answering, glancing around one more time. “We are kind of exposed out here anyway.” He stood behind Julia as she opened the door, matching his step to hers. “Something doesn’t feel right. Stay close to me.”

  FOUR

  Instincts on high alert, Gavin ran his hands along the wall, fumbling for a switch. After he pressed the light on, a warm glow illuminated a huge main room containing leather couches and chairs. A chandelier made out of elk horns hanging from the high ceiling and dark-stained wood dominated the decor.

  Julia pointed to the doors on the second floor surrounded by a balcony with a railing made of rough pine. “Those must be the rooms where guests stay.”

  “Lights are o
n out there.” Glass doors at the far end of the lobby caught Gavin’s eye. An outdoor pool with mist rising off it was visible. Gavin called out, “Hello, we’re here.”

  Tension threaded through the silence.

  Julia stepped toward a door. “Elizabeth?”

  Her inquiry was met with a meow. A large Siamese cat raised her head from the plush chair where she rested. After staring at them for a moment, the cat settled back down to sleep.

  Their footsteps echoed on the wood floor as they made their way through the building. Next door to the lobby was a dining hall that had about ten tables. The dining hall led into an industrial-size kitchen that had a separate exit. They stepped outside. A second unlocked building contained indoor hot tubs with white Christmas lights strung from a dome-shaped ceiling that featured skylights. The hot tubs were drained and looked as if they hadn’t been used in some time. One of the three doors to the left side of the room was unlabeled. The second had a sign on it that said library. The third was a massage room. Still no sign of Elizabeth.

  After leaving the hot tub building, Gavin and Julia walked toward a smaller cabin set apart from the other two buildings. In the distance, behind the small cabin, was another building that was probably a barn. Julia limped slightly. Hopefully, the cut would be okay. Their feet crunched in the snow. Gavin ran the events through his head from the time he’d picked Julia up at her father’s house. They had been very careful not to leave any kind of a trail that would hint at where they were going.

  Though the followers had had no inhibitions about rooting through trash, he doubted they had any high-tech surveillance equipment. The only way they could have found out about this place was to have followed the SUV, and he’d been overly careful to shake the van that had tailed them. It didn’t seem probable the followers could have gotten here ahead of them and done something to Elizabeth. Yet he had been surprised at the cult members’ ability to locate and follow them in the first place. Maybe they were more sophisticated than he gave them credit for.

  Julia gazed into the dark windows of the little cabin. “This must be where she lives. She might have gone to sleep.”

  Gavin knocked on the door. No response. When he tried the doorknob, it was locked. “I’ll call her cell.”

  From inside the house they heard a cell phone song play. Each bar of music racheted up the tension in the air.

  “Looks like wherever she went, she didn’t take her phone with her.” Julia couldn’t hide the worry in her voice.

  If there had been a change in plans, why hadn’t Elizabeth just called him or at least left a note? He peered into the window, only able to make out the vague outlines of furniture. Most people didn’t leave home without their cell phone.

  They made their way back to the main building. A half-finished brick wall surrounded the outdoor pool. Bags of cement and a wheelbarrow stood to one side. Julia pushed open the sliding glass doors and stepped back into the lobby. “I’m so hungry my hands are shaking. If I don’t eat, I’ll get a headache.” Anxiety threaded through her voice. “I’m going to see if there’s anything to eat in that kitchen.”

  Gavin hurried to be close to her. He stepped through the dining hall and followed her into the kitchen. Julia had made smart choices at the gas station, but would she be responsive the next time he needed her to trust his decisions? The truth was, he was wondering if he deserved her trust. It was his poor judgment that had let her go into the department store in the first place. That one decision had given her pursuers the opportunity they needed. After what had happened in Florida, he was beginning to doubt his own skills as a bodyguard.

  He stared at his cell phone and thought about calling Julia’s father to see if he had heard from Elizabeth. He’d seen the torment etched on the older man’s face when he had hugged his daughter good-bye and told Gavin, “Take care of her.” He snapped the cell phone shut. No need to call him and add to his worry needlessly. They didn’t know anything for sure yet. Maybe Elizabeth had stepped out for a late night walk and didn’t want her solitude broken by a ringing cell phone.

  Julia opened the industrial-size refrigerator. “There’s lots of food in here. Do you want a sandwich?”

  “Sure.” He stepped over to the wide metal counters.

  Julia laid out deli ham and Swiss cheese. “This okay?”

  He paced the floor. “Anything sounds good. Those donuts didn’t really stay with me.” Whatever explanation he came up with, he couldn’t figure out what had happened to Elizabeth.

  Julia took four pieces of bread out of the sack. “I know this is rude, eating Elizabeth’s food without asking. But, from the way the fridge is stocked, she planned for us. Maybe we can leave a note…if we don’t find her first.”

  Gavin weighed his options. Going back into town meant they risked being seen. Julia had been in the news enough that people might recognize her and start talking. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving Julia alone in the house to search the grounds. The best choice would be to stay here for the night and stay close to Julia.

  Julia stuttered in her movements as she put the bread in a toaster. “There has to be a reason why Elizabeth is gone, right?”

  He nodded, trying to convince himself. He didn’t want to stir her up with his concerns until he had something solid to go on. “Maybe…some kind of emergency.”

  After toasting the bread, she spread mustard on it. “My mother used to make toasted ham-and-Swiss sandwiches for me when I was a little girl.” Her voice was tainted with sadness.

  “Your mom died when you were young?” When he was hired, he’d seen the photos in the house of a blonde little girl being hugged by her mother, but none of an older Julia with her mother.

  “Cancer when I was five…after that it was just me and Dad.”

  She placed the sandwich on a plate and pushed it across the metal counter. She retrieved milk from the refrigerator and poured him a glass. They ate with only the sound of a ticking clock and their chewing.

  She pushed her plate to one side and planted her palms on the counter, as though bracing herself for what she was about to say. “I’m sorry about…not believing you earlier when you said we needed to leave the department store.”

  He stared at her for a moment. Julia had freckles. He hadn’t noticed that before. “It’s okay.” He liked the soft smile that graced her lips.

  Her cheeks turned an intense red. She angled back toward the counter. “I, um…I saw some cake over here.”

  He’d looked at her long enough to make her self-conscious. She was so beautiful. He found himself wanting to study each of her features. “I never turn down cake.”

  She opened and shut cupboards until she found two dessert plates. “Why don’t we go out and eat in the lobby?” After cutting the cake, she handed him a plate. “Those couches looked really comfortable and my leg is kind of hurting.”

  She skirted past him, accidentally brushing his back with her arm. The soft citrus scent of the perfume she had sampled earlier surrounded him. It really did suit her. In the lobby, Julia sat down in a plush leather chair with her plate in her lap. She pulled up an ottoman to elevate her hurt leg.

  After scanning the pool area for movement, Gavin chose a chair that allowed him a view of the parking lot. With as much as he had seen in the dark, the hot springs had some pluses and some minuses. The big windows on both sides of the lodge made him nervous. If the followers did locate them, it would be easy to hide in the cover of the trees, wait for Julia to walk in front of the windows and shoot her. On the other hand, the place was remote—no nosy neighbors to start talking.

  Admiration colored Julia’s words. “You pay attention to everything, don’t you, Gavin?” The Siamese cat jumped from its perch on the chair and leapt up beside Julia.

  He took a bite of cake. Rich chocolate coated his tongue. “It’s my job.” As far as he could tell with the limited light, only one road led into the place: a feature that was both good and bad. There was only one way for intruders to ap
proach in a vehicle, but it also meant only one escape route for them, unless they were on foot. “I was just thinking it would be better if you didn’t spend a lot of time in this room.”

  Julia set her cake to one side and glanced around while she petted the cat. When she thought about what the next month would be like, the walls felt as though they were closing in. “So what can I do? Do you think it would be safe for me to soak in that outdoor springs?” She fingered a beaded necklace she had around her neck.

  “Maybe. I need to see the whole place in daylight before I make those kinds of decisions.” Gavin rose to his feet and paced past the window. “That library in the hot tub building probably doesn’t have big windows. There might be games or table tennis or something.”

  The cat settled on Julia’s good leg. Though he hadn’t come right out and said it, his words made it clear that he preferred she stay inside…for a month. Two years of constant vigilance had left her battle weary for the final fight. She had to find a way to focus on the positive. “I brought some books, and I’m studying for my ACT. I just did my GED last month.” Unwittingly, the edge had come back into her voice.

  “That should keep you busy.” He studied her for a moment. “Like I said, I’ll know better when I can see the grounds in daylight. Maybe it’s secure enough for us to go for a walk in the back. I don’t know what’s around us.”

  “Even if I can go for a walk, I won’t be able to go by myself, right?” Despite her best effort at hiding it, her tone revealed frustration.

  He shook his head. “We can’t risk that.”

  “The only time I get to leave this place is when you take me to go see the lawyers to be prepped for the trial.” Her voice quivered. The sensation of being trapped was like an elephant on her chest. She took in shallow, sharp breaths as memories assaulted her. In Elijah’s house, there were crawl spaces with locks on the outside. Despite Marlena’s protests, she’d been sent there every time she had tried to escape or had broken one of Elijah’s rules. In the dark, she had clutched her knees, listened to the sound of the mice scurrying around her and prayed. Elijah had designed the punishment to break her will, but she had used it to strengthen her faith. Still, darkness and small spaces were hard for her to deal with.