Dangerous to Know

by Nell Dixon

  “Looks completely different with the sun shining, doesn’t it?” His voice rumbled in her ear and she jumped. He sat down next to her on the rock, his hip and thigh pressed up close to hers.

  “It’s really beautiful.” She set her plate down on the grass and picked up the coffee he’d brought her. Steam drifted gently from the surface of the liquid as she took a cautious sip. His closeness unnerved her, and the aroma of her drink mingled with the pure male smell of Jerome.

  “Are you up for a hike? I thought I might manage to get some casual shots of various things and we can investigate the location of a big badger sett I’ve been told about. That’s where I’m hoping to shoot this evening.” He bit into his sandwich. The movement of his body brushing against her as he raised his arm made her body tingle.

  “Sure, sounds great.” She tried to surreptitiously edge a little further along the boulder, to break the connection between them.

  Jerome appeared oblivious to her efforts, only taking advantage of the extra room to move further onto the boulder.

  “Were you okay in the tent last night? You slept all right?” He glanced at her.

  He’d removed the plaster from the cut on his brow, she realized, and she could see where the ugly gash had just begun to heal. Her heart squeezed as she remembered the risks he’d taken and how scared she’d been.

  “Yes, I was perfectly comfortable, thank you.” She focused on her drink again, wondering how she could sound so prim when her thoughts were leading her down a very different path indeed.

  His eyebrow lifted at her reply. “We’ll get cleaned up here and set off then.”

  Gemma took another large mouthful of coffee and leapt to her feet. “I’ll go and wash up.”

  He passed her his empty plate, and his fingers brushing hers sending electricity into her hands. She hurried off to the stream with her cheeks on fire. Hopefully he wouldn’t have noticed her reaction.

  The pan and plates were soon clean. Once she’d packed them away, she collected her wash-bag and went back to the brook. Gemma enjoyed the shockingly cold sensation of the soft spring water she splashed on to her face invigorating her skin. Perhaps with her head clearer she’d be more in control of her feelings.

  Jerome dipped his comb into the stream and flattened the spikes in his hair back to their usual raven’s wing smoothness. The growth of beard, dark against his jaw, gave him a dangerous air. He straightened up and faced her like a mediaeval knight who’d stepped out of time into the Cumbrian countryside.

  “Aren’t you going to shave today?” Gemma ached to reach out and touch his face, to ruffle his hair with her fingers and to claim his mouth with hers.

  He stroked his chin as if he’d forgotten all about the stubble. “Sorry, I never bring any shaving gear with me when I’m on a field trip. Good job we’re not in civilized society.”

  He strode off back towards his tent with his towel over his shoulder. Gemma swallowed hard before picking up her own towel and following him.

  With all the equipment stowed safely inside the tents, Jerome handed her a small bag of filters, film and lenses to carry. He shouldered a much bulkier bag that contained the rest of his equipment and some bottles of water and fruit for their hike.

  “How far are we going?” Gemma wiggled her toes inside her walking boots and hoped it wouldn’t be uphill all the way.

  “I’ve plotted out a five-mile round circuit. The badgers are about a half a mile away, but there’s a copse the rangers said gets visited regularly by deer, so I’m hoping to get some shots there.”

  Five miles didn’t sound too bad, especially if they would be stopping for photographs. Before, when she had belonged to the rambling club, she’d often walked fifteen to twenty miles. She ignored the reminder from her conscience that the last time she’d done a decent walk had been before she’d met Carl. That had been the start of her giving up her hobbies just to be with him.

  Gemma set off alongside Jerome, still deep in thought. Why had she been so ready to abandon all her interests for Carl? At the time she’d thought it had been out of love, but her feelings for him were just a pale shadow of everything she already felt for Jerome.

  The realization made her stumble on the rabbit path as they skirted the brow of the hill.

  “Am I walking too fast for you?” He slowed his pace, his expression concerned.

  “No, I’m fine.” She flashed him a smile of reassurance. Her skin tingled, hot and prickly with the force of her discovery. She couldn’t have fallen in love with Jerome. That would be stupid - no - worse than stupid. It would be like pressing a self-destruct button, because he’d already warned her he wasn’t about to fall in love with her.

  * * * *

  Jerome wondered what Gemma was thinking. Her face reflected her emotions as clearly as the landscape around them reflected the seasons. Things had felt awkward between them ever since the previous evening when she had stepped out of his embrace and retreated to her tent. Sometimes he thought he caught her looking at him in a way that gave him hope. But then she would turn away and the moment passed.

  “That’s an amazing view.” Gemma halted and stood gazing down at the valley far below them. The edge of one of the small lakes reflected the clear blue sky above their heads while the road trailed like a strip of licorice along the floor of the valley between the greenery of the trees.

  A light breeze ruffled her brown curls and her cheeks were rosy with exertion.

  “It won’t be like that for much longer if Gerald Shakespeare has his way. The flat area near the lake shore is part of Maggie’s Fell.”

  “You’re kidding! There can’t be any way that the government would allow him to develop that ground. Surely it’s protected.” Gemma looked indignant.

  Jerome pulled a bottle of water from his pack and took a long draught. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I’ve seen the plan for a tourist village, shopping area and a light manufacturing unit.” He handed her the other bottle of water.

  She shook her head. “That’s disgusting. I can’t believe anyone could support that scheme.”

  “This area is short of jobs and Gerald makes big promises about affordable homes and bringing sustainable wealth to the region. A few rare bats and newts and an incredible natural resource aren’t going to cut much ice against the kind of economic arguments that he puts up.” He watched her take a drink from the bottle.

  “Thanks.” She closed the top and passed it back to him. “Then we’d better do a good job with these pictures if we’re to convince people of everything they stand to lose if Gerald gets his way.”

  His pulse quickened as she smiled at him. It felt good to be sharing the problems of Maggie’s Fell with someone who understood and sympathized with his point of view.

  He led the slow descent towards the area of woodland he’d been assured the deer frequented regularly. He soon spotted signs of recent activity. After checking the wind direction, he picked a cozy spot sheltered by bracken, where he and Gemma could stop. Gemma settled herself back with her magazine while he prepared his camera.

  He loved the way she instinctively understood the need for silence, making no demands on him for company while they waited for the deer to make an appearance.

  A rustle in the undergrowth alerted him to their approach and he touched her arm. A lone deer wandered into the clearing, its head held high sniffing the air for any sign of danger. Jerome focused his camera and began to fire off shots. The animal seemed to listen and he wondered if it had heard the faint click of the camera.

  As swiftly as it had come into view, it walked across the copse in front of them and disappeared into the trees, the reddish hue of its skin providing perfect camouflage in the dappled sunlight.

  “Did you get the shot?” Gemma shuffled on the bracken.

  “Hope so. I’ve some that looked promising. It’s sometimes hard to tell till I get into the lab and see the results on the screen.” He stretched out his legs from where they had started to c
ramp from spending so long in the same position. “We should push on and see if we can find the badger sett.”

  He stood up and extended a hand to help Gemma to her feet. The touch of her small hand in his sent a thrill along his spine.

  “Lead on, then.” Her voice sounded breathy and her face appeared flushed as she grabbed her bag and prepared to follow him.

  They continued through the wood and he took some nice shots of other small birds and animals along the way. The directions he’d been given to the sett proved accurate and they found the earth bank with its entrance and exit holes without any difficulty.

  “It looks quite large,” Gemma said.

  “The badgers have been here for a number of years. The rangers work hard to keep the location quiet. There are still some idiots that think badger-baiting with dogs is an acceptable sport.”

  She wrinkled her nose with a look of distaste at his words. “Sometimes people make me sick.”

  They surveyed the area around the sett, being careful not to get too close as any trace of their scent might stop the animals from coming out in a few hours’ time.

  Once they had identified a good place to set up for the evening shots, they set off on the last stretch of the walk back to camp to grab a rest break before returning for the vigil.

  The hairs on the nape of Jerome’s neck prickled up in warning even before their campsite came into view. Bile rose in his throat as he saw that the contents of the bags they had zipped so carefully inside their tents that morning were now strewn all around the camp.

  Chapter Seven

  He stopped on the track. Gemma halted beside him.

  “What’s the matter?” She followed his gaze and he watched a stunned expression dawn on her face.

  “What on earth?”

  “It looks as if we’ve had visitors.” He scanned the area around the tents. There didn’t appear to be any signs of life. Chances were whoever had done this was long gone.

  Jerome walked cautiously towards the camp with Gemma at his side.

  “Look at the mess! I’m so glad you had all the camera equipment with you.” Gemma dropped her bag down near the rocks and surveyed the damage with her hands on her hips. He could see distress and bewilderment in the droop of her shoulders.

  Their food supplies had been emptied out of the cool bag and lay scattered all over the hillside. Both tents had been slashed, the canvas sagging in jagged holes from the metal frames.

  “My clothes!” Gemma let out a wail and rushed forward, picking up items of underwear from the grass.

  “The shotgun’s gone.” He followed her around the site gathering garments and possessions as he went. Anger burned deep inside him, growing more intense with every item he retrieved from the hillside.

  She snagged a toothbrush and face cloth from a gorse bush and then stood up. “What are we going to do?” she asked, a quiver in her voice.

  Jerome raked his hand through his hair and tried to think. “We can’t stay here tonight. The tents are wrecked.”

  Gemma sank down on to one of the rocks with her belongings clutched to her chest. “But that would mean they’d won.”

  “Not necessarily. We can get the camp equipment packed up and stowed in the car, walk back and get the pictures.” He had no doubt about who was behind the destruction: Gerald Shakespeare and his goons.

  “Do you think the car is okay?”

  He hadn’t thought about the car. “If they want us out of here, it wouldn’t make much sense to wreck the transport.”

  Gemma frowned. “I don’t think these people are exactly acting logically, but perhaps you’re right. We should go and check the car anyway.”

  He dismantled the tents while Gemma packed up the equipment. He hoped his car hadn’t been damaged or, even worse, burnt out. It wasn’t a new model or even a particularly classic car, but he was fond of it. He threw the tent pegs into the bag and pulled up the drawstring with savage intent.

  With any luck, his mobile would get some signal from the spot they’d left the car. He needed to let his ranger friends know about the vandalism and there were a few other calls he intended to place, too.

  “Okay, I think that’s everything.” Gemma stowed the last pot inside a rucksack.

  “We’ll take what we can for this last trip. Anything we can’t manage we’ll hide on the edge of the forest to take down with us after we’ve got the last of the photographs.”

  “Good plan.” Gemma shouldered one of the bags, a look of grim determination on her small face.

  Jerome smiled at her. She really was one heck of a girl.

  The kind of girl he’d always dreamt of finding. Someone who cared about the same things he did. Someone who loved the outdoors and who was prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Someone he could share his life with…

  The last thought gave him a jolt. He hefted the heaviest of the bags onto his back and set off along the track back towards the car. Gemma’s boots crunched over the pebbles and twigs as she followed behind him.

  To his relief his car appeared to be undamaged. He had been expecting to find the tires slashed or the paintwork scratched. Something white under the windscreen wipers caught his eye, though. Gemma joined him as he retrieved a folded piece of paper.

  “’Take a hint from a friend and go home’,” She read aloud, peering over the curve of his arm.

  Jerome gritted his teeth as he popped open the boot ready to load in the backpacks. “I need to ring some people. Could you finish putting some of these things away, please, Gemma?”

  He heaved the heaviest bag into the boot. She looked a little surprised at his request, but moved to stow the camping equipment away. Jerome moved away from the car to the far side of the track where the reception was better and dialed.

  * * * *

  Gemma pushed the last of the bags they’d carried down the track into place and closed the boot. Jerome paced up and down on the far side of the road while he talked into his phone. He was too far away for her to hear what he said, but the tension in his stance and the rigidity of his shoulders told her he wasn’t happy.

  She leaned back against the car, feeling the heat from the sun-warmed metal against the backs of her thighs. Her shoulders and legs ached from the unaccustomed exercise. She longed for a hot bath.

  Jerome continued to talk and pace. Gemma wondered what he planned to do once they were finished with the evening shoot. It would be late by the time they walked back down the trail, not an ideal time to face a long drive home when they would both be tired and hungry.

  “Okay, I’ve notified the Forestry Commission guys and they’ll keep an eye open for anyone trying to access this track.” Jerome pushed his mobile inside his jacket pocket as he strode back towards her.

  “What do we do now?” Gemma looked at her watch. There were still a couple of hours to go before they needed to be back at the badger sett.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  Her stomach rumbled in response. She had been so caught up with the destruction of the camp she hadn’t realized how long it had been since they’d eaten anything.

  “Now you mention it, I’m starving. But what can we do? All the food was spoiled.” There was some packet soup left, but that was all she could remember. The last of their bread and cheese had been strewn all over the ground.

  “Jump in the car. We’ll head down to the café for something.” He opened the driver’s door and slid into the seat.

  Gemma climbed into the passenger side. “Aren’t you worried that the people who trashed the tents might see us?”

  He started the engine and reversed the car as she fastened her seat belt. “I’m kind of hoping they do. Gerald will think we’re on our way home, which is what he wants. I think all this intimidation is intended to keep me at a distance while he tries to win over support for his plans.”

  They started down the bumpy track. Gemma gripped the sides of her seat to steady herself against the pitch and roll. “I can’t see how he
thinks he’s ever going to get permission for the type of development he wants anyway. There are so many opponents; you, the National Trust, local conservation groups and the ramblers.”

  “Even so, the hitch is that Maggie’s Fell isn’t in the trust area. It’s right on the edge. I believe Gerald is attempting to convince the council and the government to allow a small ‘green’ development to begin with. That’s how he operates. Then before you can blink, everything changes and the site is gone.”

  Jerome steered the car off the track and back on to the road that led back to the café. Gemma noticed a dark green Forestry Commission Land Rover amongst the trees a little further along the road. She felt comforted by the sight.

  The café was busy with walkers and tourists making the most of the bright September weather. The sky’s reflection in the water of the lake sparkled blue in the sunshine. Small children chased one another between the tables and benches on the lakeshore while ducks begged for bread from the diners.

  A family vacated one of the tables as they approached the café. Gemma took a seat while Jerome went to fetch a menu from inside. She closed her eyes for a moment and relaxed in the gentle warmth of the autumn sunshine. Her shoulders ached from tension and from where she’d carried the heavy bags down the hillside.

  “Gemma?” Jerome’s voice vibrated soft and husky in her ear.

  Startled, she opened her eyes and smiled an apology at him. “I was just enjoying the sun.”

  He handed her a menu and sat down heavily on the seat opposite her. “Listen, if you’d rather not go back up to the sett tonight, you don’t have to. I can book you in at a guest house here in the village.” His brow creased in concern.

  “You made that offer before,” she reminded him. “My answer’s still the same. Besides, I want to see the badgers.”

  Laugh lines creased at the corners of Jerome’s eyes at her reply. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t offer you an opt-out clause.”