Hunted

by Margaret Daley

  Then she spied Luke approaching. She sank to the ground.

  He rushed to her. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “Where were you?”

  “I had to take care of business. I was just around that boulder. I was only gone a couple of minutes.”

  She bent her head, kneading her fingertips into her forehead. “I had a dream about what happened in the restroom. I don’t know if it’s true or my imagination.”

  “Tell me about it.” He sat next to her.

  His nearness calmed her tattered nerves. Her life had been routine and quite frankly dull. She worked, saw friends, and dated occasionally. Everything changed on Thursday, and she had no idea what was going on—until now.

  She told Luke about the dream before she forgot it. “Why in the world would Keith Drummond kill Shelly? He’s been the head of the campus police for several years. Before that he was a deputy sheriff.”

  “Are you sure it was him?”

  “He was the one I saw in my dream, but I can’t verify its validity. It’s a dream, but the campus police uniforms are similar to the Sweetwater City police ones.”

  “When I call Clay, I’ll have him look into Drummond. Did you ever see Shelly and him together?”

  “Maybe a few times during the school year but nothing unusual.” She paused, tilting her head in thought. “I also remember when I was in the trunk of the car right before I was tossed off the bridge, there were bundles of drugs in there with me. Lots of them.”

  “With Shelly’s dead body?”

  “No, a different time. When he stopped and opened the trunk, he gave me a shot, and I lost consciousness again. But at that time the trunk was only filled with me and Shelly.”

  “Did you see where he stopped?”

  “There were lots of trees around, but I couldn’t tell much more than that.”

  “Let’s go.” Luke rose and held his hand out to Megan.

  She took it and stood. “How long did I sleep?”

  “Over an hour but I have to confess I took a short nap, too. We’re close to the cabin.”

  “Good because I’m starving. I’ve worked up an appetite.”

  He chuckled.

  He started to turn around, but Megan reached out and stopped him. “Thanks.”

  He glanced back.

  For a long moment, their gazes embraced across the small expanse that separated them. He moved closer and dipped his head toward hers. His mouth hovered above hers. Their breaths tangled. She wanted him to kiss her. Her lips tingled in anticipation.

  Then he closed the space between them. The kiss, gentle at first, quickly evolved into much more. When he wrapped his arms around her and drew her to him, the shelter of his embrace wiped the remnants of her fear away. He’d lost so much trying to protect her. She didn’t know how she could ever repay him.

  Chapter Nine

  Luke sat on a stone overlooking the valley below him while he placed a call to Clay. “We arrived at the cabin an hour ago. How’s Liliana?” His sister was a strong, determined woman. He knew if anyone could take care of the mess created by the fire it was her.

  “She hasn’t stopped. It’s official the fire was started intentionally. The sheriff is running point on the investigation, but I’m also looking into it with Zach Blackstock, the state police officer I brought in.”

  “Was the fire confined to the house?”

  “Yes. It helped that it was calm last night. If a wind had been blowing, that might not be true.”

  Closing his eyes for a few seconds, Luke sighed. “When we were leaving the farm, we encountered a spooked horse. Is everything all right with the other animals?”

  “All accounted for and uninjured.”

  “Good. Besides letting you know we made it, Megan believes the man who abducted her was Keith Drummond, the head of the campus police.” Luke explained to Clay how Megan came to that conclusion and the fact drugs had been in the trunk with her when the two assailants took her to the bridge.

  “So, it wasn’t a Sweetwater City police officer and drugs might be involved somehow? Then it might be possible to at least bring Chief Franklin in on what’s going on.”

  “I don’t know if we should. If it’s a drug ring, we don’t know how wide it’s spread. We have no idea who the two men were who threw Megan off the bridge.”

  “Could one be Drummond?”

  He thought about what Megan told him yesterday morning when she talked about the guys who tried to kill her. “Maybe. She only remembered seeing one of the men. She described him as tall and husky like a bodybuilder. He had dark hair and eyes. She didn’t see the other one—at least she hasn’t recalled what he looks like.”

  “I’ll dig into this and let you know what I find the next time you call me.”

  “Was the woman in Megan’s house identified?”

  Clay didn’t speak for a very long moment. “Yes. As we suspected, it’s Shelly. The search for Megan has intensified. There’s talk that she killed the nurse or she’s dead like Shelly.”

  “Thanks for your help. Please let Liliana know we’re okay. I’ll call her and you tomorrow.” As soon as Luke disconnected, he disabled the satellite phone, so no one could track their location.

  With all that had happened to Megan over the past two days, she needed the rest. He’d encouraged her to take another nap with Shep by her side while Luke looked around and called Clay. But a rustling sound behind him sent him twisting around as he leaped off the small boulder, clutching his rifle.

  Megan gasped, throwing up her hands. “I surrender.”

  “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

  She approached him with Shep by her side. “After counting a thousand sheep, I gave up. I’m still trying to process the fact Keith Drummond might have killed Shelly. I can’t figure out why. Could he be connected to a drug ring?”

  “Anything is possible. If we knew the answer, we’d know what’s going on. Could Shelly have been involved with drugs? As a nurse, she would deal with them.”

  “I wish I could say. I didn’t know her that well.”

  “At least Clay and his friend are working on it.”

  Sighing, Megan stared at the sea of green stretching out before them. “It’s beautiful up here.”

  “Yeah. I enjoy coming up here when I can get away.”

  “Do you do it much?”

  “No.”

  “I thought you were retired.”

  “Nope. I’ll never retire.”

  One of her eyebrows lifted. “A workaholic?”

  “Not like I was before. I was a driven man. Not anymore.”

  Megan took a seat on the boulder. “What made you retire from Wall Street?”

  “My wife died. She loved New York City with all the hustle and bustle. I didn’t. When she was gone, I had no reason to stay even if I had wanted to continue in finance.”

  “But you didn’t continue?”

  “For twelve years that was my life. It consumed me. After I buried Rochelle, I took a hard look at my life. When I started in financial planning, I loved my job. It was a challenge and exciting, but I also realized my wife and I rarely did anything as a couple. I loved her, and we’d grown apart. We were going in two different directions.”

  Megan brought her knees up against her chest and laid her head on them while clasping her legs. “How did she die?”

  He stared at the bright blue sky, watching a hawk soar on an air current. He rarely talked about her death, but after what Megan and he had shared, it seemed natural to tell her. “One of the few vacations we went on was to a ski lodge in Vermont. Usually we went at least for one long weekend in the winter. Rochelle taught me to ski. She loved it. I tolerated it. The last time we went she was caught in a rare avalanche. I tried to save her. I…” Emotions crammed his throat. As memories inundated him, he dropped his head and swallowed several times. “I couldn’t. I begged the Lord to save her, but He didn’t.”

  “I had a younger sister who dove
into a lake where she shouldn’t have. She hit a large rock that was submerged and hidden from the shore. My dad and I went into the water to find her. The whole time I prayed to God to help me find Cara. I did, but she never woke up from a coma. She died after a few days. My parents divorced shortly after her death. It tore the family apart. I don’t even know where my father is.”

  Luke took her hand. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to see that happen in front of you.”

  “I was angry at God for taking her and wouldn’t come out of my room. My mom came to talk to me. I wouldn’t listen at first. Then her words slowly seeped through my anger and grief. Not all of our prayers will be answered the way we want. God sees the bigger picture, and for a reason we might not understand, our wants weren’t fulfilled. Things happen, and I might never know why. I learned I have to put my trust in the Lord. He knows best. The alternate is to be angry and bitter because I didn’t get my way. We don’t always.”

  Luke drew strength from Megan’s words. Has that been what I let happen to me? He’d spent years blaming God. Rochelle’s death was an accident. There was no blame, and even if there had been, what good was that for him? He was living in the past. Rochelle would never want that for him. “You’ve given me something to think about.”

  “I’m only passing along my mom’s advice with a little of my own sprinkled in. I’ve been thinking about it a lot these past couple of days. I need to trust God even when things aren’t going my way. Not always easy to do. When I was thrown from the bridge, that was all I could do—pray and trust.” Their gazes connected. “And you showed up.”

  He smiled. “So, you think the Lord brought us together?”

  “Yes.”

  He slipped his arm around her and slanted a look at her. “I think so, too.”

  He bent his head close to hers. His mouth hovered over her. The urge to kiss her swamped him. He leaned down and planted his lips on hers while drawing her against him. The feel of her in his embrace felt so right.

  When he finally pulled back, he touched his forehead to hers. “I told Clay about Keith Drummond and the possible drug angle. He’ll look into the man and let us know what he finds out. Hopefully we won’t have to be here too long, but while we are, I’m going to show you camping can be fun.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll take your word for it. Besides counting sheep and getting nowhere, I saw a big spider crawling across the ceiling in the cabin. Now I’m not scared of spiders like some people, but he was big.” She raised her hands and spread them about a foot from each other. Clearly an over exaggeration.

  “Oh, that’s Fred. He was here last time I was. He’s harmless.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because nothing happened to me.” He slid his arm along her shoulder, rose, and started toward the cabin.

  “Are there any more critters that I should know about?”

  “None that will hurt you. There’s a small black bear that hangs around from time to time, but Shep will warn us. So long as we lock the door and keep our food and trash inside, he won’t stay.”

  “A bear! How can you talk about him so casually?”

  “I’ve been here a couple of times before, and he hasn’t threatened me. Besides, when I come up to the cabin, I always carry a gun.” He brought the rifle up and slowly opened the door then panned the interior. “I think it’s safe. Fred’s gone, and I don’t see any threats.” He stepped aside and let her go inside.

  “Ah, ha! There’s a flaw in your reasoning. If it’s safe, why do you carry a gun?”

  “Because I always plan for the unexpected. It’s best to be prepared rather than wish you had a weapon when something happens.”

  She held out her hand, palm upward. “Okay, then where’s my gun?”

  “Since the outdoors isn’t your element, I figured you don’t know how to use one.”

  “Gotcha!” She planted both fists on her waist. “My daddy taught me. He used to take me to the shooting range with him.”

  Luke moved closer. “I only have the one rifle, but I do have a revolver. I’ll let you have it if you show me you can shoot.”

  “Which one?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  “Both. He showed me how to fire each kind.”

  Luke marched over to his belongings and picked up the revolver. “Let’s go outside.”

  As he followed Megan, he was continually amazed by her. And after she shot each weapon a couple times, he was even more impressed. “But you don’t like camping?”

  She held the rifle, pointed downward. “They don’t go together. Sleeping on the hard ground never appealed to me. When my dad wanted to rough it, he went with friends. My mom, my sister, and I always stayed home.”

  “Then I guess we aren’t going to take turns sleeping on the cot in the cabin?”

  “You’re right.” She grinned and winked at him. “While the cot isn’t like my bed at home, it’s much better than the wooden floor.”

  Among a cluster of trees near the cabin, a light wind cooled the hot air—slightly. “We have food, a roof over our heads, and one bed. Not too bad.”

  Megan leaned the rifle against the trunk and fluttered her hand in front of her face. “Too bad there isn’t an air conditioner and for that matter, electricity.”

  “When the sun goes down, we’ll use a couple of lanterns. We’ll have light.”

  “Can we at least open the windows and get a cross breeze?”

  “Yes. The first year I came in the summer, I asked my friend if I could install screens. Since then I’ve added a few other luxuries.”

  Megan’s eyes grew round. “What? I didn’t see any luxuries.”

  “The cot, cooking utensils, pans and dishes in the cabinet are mine. Also, the chairs and table. I didn’t want to bring them up the mountain each time. Clay helped me that trip.” He picked up the rifle then headed to the cabin and held the door for her to go inside. “I forgot the curtains over the three windows. That was Liliana’s suggestion.”

  Megan chuckled. “Downright homey, but you aren’t going to be able to convince me this is better than a hotel room.”

  “Wait ’til you see the sunset and sunrise from here and the joy of silence. But what I love the most is the sense of getting totally away from the rat race.”

  “I would like that from time to time.” She sat in a chair, releasing a long breath. “I’m not ready to go back to work in a couple of weeks. All the things I saved to do in the summer and didn’t get done, I…”

  He took the seat catty-cornered from her. “What?”

  “Everything I’d planned to do and clean out burned in the fire.” Shaking her head, she clasped her hands on the table. “I haven’t had time to process the loss.” Her gaze fixed on him. “The same for you because of me. I’ve put you in the middle of what’s happening to me. I appreciate what you’ve done for me more than any words can convey. But tomorrow we need to leave and return to Sweetwater City. Now that I remembered that the mystery man was the head of the campus police, I’m sure it’ll be safe to talk to Chief Franklin.”

  He covered her hands with his. “No. We’ll wait until Clay has investigated Drummond, especially his connection to the drug angle. I didn’t risk my life to save you, so I could leave you in danger and walk away.”

  “I hate people thinking I’m dead or a murderer.”

  He rose and drew her to her feet. “That’s better than the alternative. I’m here to keep the dead part from occurring.” He tugged her toward the door. “Let’s go look at the sunset.”

  “Did you talk with Liliana?”

  “No, but Clay said she’s all right and no animals were hurt. The fire was contained to the main house.”

  “But all your possessions are gone.”

  Luke stepped outside and scanned the area. In the distance, the sun neared the hilltop to the west with bands of orange, yellow, and hot pink entwining in the blue sky among the clouds gathering. “I know, but they can be replaced. If s
omething happened to you or someone else that would be completely different. When Rochelle died, I looked around our beautiful apartment that she had carefully and painstakingly created. She was very proud of our home. It meant nothing to me without her. In fact, I couldn’t wait to sell it and live somewhere else. I was having a hard time moving on when I was constantly reminded of her.”

  “It was the house I grew up in. Lots of memories.”

  “Those are still in your mind, and you can rebuild in the same place.” He swept his arm across his body. “What do you think?”

  Making sure she didn’t glance down into the valley, Megan finally looked toward the sunset and sucked in a deep breath. “Beautiful. I can see why you like to come up here.”

  Luke shifted his attention to Megan. “Yes, beautiful,” he said, his gaze taking her in.

  He tried to keep telling himself the only reason he didn’t turn her over to Clay to keep her safe was because his curiosity had been aroused. But he felt responsible for her. For the first time since Rochelle’s death, he couldn’t stop thinking about a woman—Megan.

  * * *

  Megan snuggled under the light cover on the cot, the quarter moon the only light coming into the cabin through the window by the door. All the windows were raised and the curtains open to allow a cross breeze. Not far away, Luke lay in his sleeping bag while Shep was right next to her “bed.”

  Exhausted but wide awake, she curled on her side and stared into the dark at the hump on the floor where Luke was. The last man she’d dated seriously, a teacher at the high school, had broken her heart. They’d gone out for almost a year. He was supposed to pick her up for a date but didn’t come to get her. An hour later, he called her and told her he wasn’t interested in getting serious. He broke up over the phone. Later, she discovered he took another teacher with him to the high school football game that he and Megan were to attend. She heard through the grapevine he’d done the same thing to that teacher. She counted herself lucky now, but the rejection had hurt at the time.