by C. J. Miller
His gaze swung from the top ledge to the ground. “With the river beneath you?”
“Water is better than rocks beneath me.”
Comforting. “You don’t know how stable the ledge is.”
“It’s rock. I’ll be careful.”
She riffled in her backpack for a rope, looping it around her arm. “I might be able to repel down once I get to the top.”
Though he wasn’t a particularly religious man, he sent up a prayer she could make it to the top without breaking her back.
“Can you give me a boost?” she asked, after she had adjusted her equipment, leaving her backpack on the ground.
To climb onto the peak, she would have to either stand in the water, soaking her clothes, or have help. He wanted to refuse, demand she tell him what she was thinking and then talk her out of this crazy scheme. But he’d seen her determination, and she’d risk the water and hypothermia to scale to the top of it if it meant it would help Blaine.
Nathan laced his fingers together and gave her a boost. Her foot landed on a thin ledge and she wobbled.
He reached to steady her, setting his hand on her thigh. “Be careful, Autumn.”
“Always am.”
He watched her scale the peak, moving slowly, checking each foothold with a stomp before setting her weight on it. She was halfway up when he heard the breaking of rock above him.
Autumn hadn’t stumbled, but she was looking around in confusion, pressing her body against one side of the structure, her arms stretched to the other wall. Fear pelted him. He shouldn’t have let her climb the peak. He should have insisted they come with a team of professionals. Something, anything to keep her out of harm’s way.
Another splintering of rock and Autumn began moving away from the peak. She looked over her shoulder and shouted at him. Nathan couldn’t hear her over the rush of the river’s water.
Rocks were breaking above her. She hadn’t stumbled. Someone was shooting at her!
Another blast and Autumn fell from the peak, disappearing into the water below. Adrenaline shot hard in his veins and he raced for the water, his rescue instincts springing to life.
Autumn was in the water. Had she been hit by a bullet? Was the river washing her downstream? He had to reach her, even if it meant putting himself in the crosshairs of a killer’s arrow.
Chapter 9
Nathan pulled off his boots, threw his gun to the ground and shrugged off his pack, scanning the waterline for any sign of Autumn. She had minutes before hypothermia set in. Nathan dived into the water. It was shockingly cold and he struggled not to gasp in the icy liquid. He had to remain calm and find Autumn. He’d always been a strong swimmer, but the water pressed against him, the cold numbing his arms and legs, making him feel powerless against the force of the river.
Nathan searched for her, his arm striking something sharp. A jagged rock? Or had something struck him? A bullet from above? Fearing someone was shooting into the water, he looked more frantically for Autumn. The bottom of the river was lined with pointed rocks. If she had hit her head, she could be unconscious, breathing in water. He blotted out that thought. He had to think positively.
His lungs screaming, he peered through the murky water. A flash of green fabric caught his eye, and he reached to latch on to it. Autumn? His fingers skimmed her arm but not enough to grasp her. He needed oxygen, but he was afraid of surfacing for air and being unable to find her again. He tried again, this time making contact with her pants, slipping his fingers through her belt loops and dragging her against him. He fought the strength of the river, grateful they weren’t in white-water rapids, and hauled her to the surface. He gasped in air, pulled her head out of the water and labored to shore. He shoved her onto land and then dragged himself out after her.
She was icy cold. She had been in the water less than thirty seconds, but the blue around her lips told him hypothermia would set in soon. He pressed on her chest, once, twice, and she coughed. He sat her up and water poured from her mouth. She gasped and sputtered.
His muscles trembled with cold and exhaustion. He had to get her warm and dry. Whoever had been shooting had stopped. A warning? Or was her attacker circling around for a better shot? In this position, they had no protection and nowhere to hide.
Nathan snatched up their packs, knowing seconds were precious but whatever supplies were inside might save their lives. He lifted Autumn, cradling her against him, realizing his body heat wouldn’t keep her warm, but it was something.
She blinked, breathing hard. Her eyes opened. “I can walk. Put me down. Please.”
Nathan set her on her feet. They had to make tracks. They ran in the opposite direction of the peak, away from the river, skidding and sliding down the hill. They needed shelter and they needed warmth. They wouldn’t make it to the main trail in this condition.
Autumn slammed to a stop against a tree trunk and tugged him to the left. He didn’t question her. They darted across the steep incline, the numbness in his arms and legs making him feel as if he wasn’t the person in his body. A small cave came into view.
“I don’t think it’s inhabited,” Autumn said.
After a run of bad luck, they were due for a stroke of good fortune. They approached cautiously and, finding no evidence of animals inside, they ducked inside the opening. Without the wind blowing through them, Nathan felt warmer. Autumn snatched her pack from him, spilling the contents on the ground. She seized a small wad of sticks and pulled a striker and flint from around her neck.
“We have to warm up and dry or we’ll die. Find wood,” she commanded. She continued to strike the flint, her skin deathly white and her fingers shaking. Sparks flew, but the wood didn’t catch.
As she worked to light the tinder, he searched for dry wood, a nearly impossible task with the recent snow.
He managed to find a few pieces in the immediate area that weren’t soaked through. They would have to do. Autumn had gotten a small fire started and was blowing on it, building its strength with twigs and brush and leaves.
Nathan positioned the sticks over the small fire, leaving air for the flames to breathe.
“Take your clothes off,” she said and removed her shoes and her pants, then her T-shirt. He scanned her for injuries and she froze, her wet shirt still on her arms.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked. He handed her his dry jacket and she pulled the rest of her shirt off and wrapped the coat around her shoulders.
She shook her head and squatted on the ground, reaching into her pack and removing a folded blanket. “I’m fine. Here,” she said, handing him the cloth.
He unfolded it and wrapped it around him. It wasn’t as thick as he’d have liked, but it was something. He opened it to her. “Come here. We’ll share the heat.”
She hesitated only a moment and then opened the jacket to him. They readjusted the few dry clothes they had, his jacket warming their upper bodies, the blanket wrapped around their legs, putting them in an intimate position, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.
Autumn shifted, her soft skin brushing against him. “I was afraid he would hit me and I dropped from the peak into the water.”
Were he not half-numb from the icy water and the frigid air, he would have gotten embarrassingly excited. They’d been shot at and nearly frozen to death. The last thing on his mind should be how good she felt pressed against him.
“Did you see who it was?” he asked.
“No. But he was shooting arrows at me. I saw one where it bounced off the rock and tumbled into the water.”
Arrows, as he’d feared. The Huntsman’s weapon of choice.
They huddled near the fire, teeth chattering. Naked in thirty-degree weather wasn’t good, but wet and naked was a far more dangerous option.
“Whoever was chasing us will see the smoke,” he said.
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She rubbed her hands together. “It’s daylight. We might get lucky. It’s this, or die. Do you think he followed us?”
Nathan scanned the area but didn’t see any movement through the trees. “I don’t know.” The shooter could be stalking them through the woods, closing in on them.
“He stopped shooting. Maybe he ran away. Did you take a shot at him?” Autumn asked.
Nathan rubbed his thighs, trying to scrub some heat into them. “Couldn’t get a clean shot. I didn’t see anyone. I heard rocks breaking and then saw you fall into the water.”
The feeling returned to his arms. They lay in the cave, the fire growing steadily warmer and their body temperature returning to normal. She shifted, sending sparks shooting to his groin. He groaned slightly.
“I need to check the clothes. They might be dry enough to put on.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.
Did she know what she was doing to him? The impact she had? Lust wound tight inside his chest. She rolled away, depriving him of her warmth, of her body. She patted the clothes. “They’re wet.”
“It’s cold. They’ll take a long time to air-dry.”
She spread them out in the sun near the fire they’d built. She scampered back and snuggled in next to him. “You are so warm,” she said.
He grunted, trying to keep his cold hands and feet away from her. Her hot body wiggled against his. It took everything he had not to grasp her waist and hold her close.
He still wanted her. For all his promises to himself to behave like a professional and focus on this case and finding his sister’s killer, this situation was undoing every last thread of his control.
“Why did you jump in the water?” she asked, tucking her head beneath his chin.
The answer was obvious, wasn’t it? “You went in and you didn’t come up.”
It might have been his imagination, but her heartbeat kicked up a notch.
Autumn moved her arms, bringing them closer, resting her hands on his chest. “I thought some rock was crumbling above me and by the time I realized someone was shooting arrows at me, I was just trying to get to the ground.”
“Did you tell anyone you were coming out here?”
“I didn’t even tell Blaine. No one knew my plan,” she said.
Nathan shifted, flexing his feet to get the blood flowing into them. “Someone is trying to warn us off this case.”
The fire was to a full roar now, and inside the cave, despite the cold rock pressed to his back with only a blanket and jacket between it and him, he was warming up.
“Truth time. Tell me the rest of the reason you came out here,” Nathan said.
Autumn shifted, pushing her elbow into his rib cage. “I can’t betray Blaine.”
She’d said her brother didn’t know she’d come out here. “You can tell me,” Nathan said.
“I hoped I would find vines or arrows or a stockpile that the Huntsman used in his killings,” Autumn said. “He moves along the trail, but he has a ritual that requires supplies. Does he carry everything with him? He may not, not while he’s actively hunting.”
“Interesting theory,” Nathan said, wondering if she had caught a thread he and the FBI hadn’t considered. The FBI knew the arrow shafts were hand carved, but the points were from an outdoors company, available at hundreds of hunting stores, including The Out House in town.
“Our pants should be dry. Shirts will be damp, but we should be able to hike to the car.”
“I might not have found exactly what I set out to find, but I found what I was looking for. I have proof a killer is out here. Blaine is in custody and the Huntsman shot at us.”
Proving it to a jury was another challenge. “We’ll need those arrows. Forensics might be able to tie them to the arrows at the other scenes.”
Autumn rolled off him and threw his jacket over his body. He sat up and watched her tugging on her clothes. “We need to circle back and collect them.”
“Autumn, no. It’s too dangerous. He’s watching. He’s looking for us. We’ll need to come out with a team when it’s safer.”
The acquiescence in her eyes told him she knew he was right. “Clothes are dry enough. Let’s hurry. The faster a team gets out here, the less likely the evidence will be washed away.”
* * *
A strange tension built between them as Nathan and Autumn drove toward the campground. Maybe it was the cold or the danger, but they were on edge. Her name was like a litany in his brain. Arousal consumed him and he waited for her to make a move. Afraid to cross a line with her, he bided his time.
She had asked him to drive her truck and she was in the passenger seat, her feet on the dashboard. The sun was angled in through the window, casting a warm glow across her face. Every time he glanced at her, she stole his breath.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Fine, why?”
“You keep looking at me.”
“You’re something to look at,” he said.
She jammed her fingers into her damp hair. “I’ll bet.”
Other women might need hair dryers and makeup to look amazing, but Autumn had a natural quality he found tremendously appealing. “You look great.”
She slipped her hand across the console and over to his thigh. She gave him a light squeeze. Before she moved her hand away, he covered it with his and slid it higher to where his erection strained against his pants. “Do you want to start this now?”
Another light squeeze and he had his answer.
He pressed harder on the gas, pushing the vehicle as fast as the winding and narrow roads leading toward the Trail’s Edge allowed.
He stopped the truck in front of her cabin and they raced up the porch to the front door. She scrabbled with her keys and he grabbed her and turned her, pressing her up against the door with his body. He kissed her and her mouth opened beneath his. The heat of her lips burned him.
He pushed her hands above her head and took the keys from her. Without breaking the kiss, he opened the door. They fumbled inside and he kicked the door closed. He spun her so her back was against the door. He needed her now.
Pulling her shirt over her head, he made quick work of undressing her. He peppered a trail of kisses down her neck, across her collarbone and down between her breasts. All his life, he’d been waiting to find someone like Autumn.
She inhaled sharply when he rubbed his hand lightly between her legs. “Nathan, please hurry.” She pushed his hair away from his face, and the pleading in her eyes nearly undid him.
After removing one shoe, he stripped off his shirt and unzipped his pants. He was frantic to be inside her. Seeing her in danger had triggered something even more possessive and protective, and the safest place for her to be was in his arms.
He lifted her, holding her bottom in his hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He surged inside her, and her tightness and heat consumed him. He moved slowly for a few thrusts, and finding her wet with need, he went faster, setting into a relentless rhythm.
She wiggled her hips against him, taking him deep, making him crazy. She was right there with him. Her breaths were coming in shallow pants, and he felt his body getting tighter when rioting spasms brought him over the edge with her. His muscles felt weak, but he kissed her before releasing her. They slid to the floor and he gathered her in his lap.
“How about a shower?” she asked, her eyes closed.
He rose to his feet, still holding her in his arms, and carried her to the bathroom. He had thrown caution to the wind, and as much as he had wanted to remain focused on the case, he had lost his heart to Autumn.
* * *
Autumn waited in the interview room of the police precinct. Henry had finally arranged a meeting for Blaine and Autumn to talk.
Th
e small windowless room was like something out of a television crime drama—scarred metal table, four mismatched folding chairs and cinder-block walls that had probably been eggshell white when painted, but that were now dull gray. The scent of sweat and cigarette smoke clung to the air.
The entire room felt cramped. Was Blaine being kept in a room like this? Or someplace worse? For someone who loved the openness of the outdoors and craved the freshness of clean air, he had to be suffocating. Autumn’s stomach knotted and her heart sank. Thinking of her brother locked in a small space was difficult.
The door opened with a creak and Blaine entered, escorted by a uniformed police officer. Blaine’s wrists were cuffed and he wore a bright blue jumpsuit. He looked at the floor and took a seat in one of the chairs.
Henry Summers entered a moment later, setting his leather briefcase on the table. His suit was immaculately pressed and tailored, his hair trim and neat, his face clean shaven. “Are the cuffs necessary?” he asked the officer who’d brought Blaine into the room.
The police officer nodded. “We’re taking every precaution.”
Autumn opened her mouth to protest, to defend her brother. He wasn’t a monster and he hadn’t committed those murders. Henry must have sensed she would speak and shot her a silencing look. She clamped her mouth shut. She needed to trust him. He was a good and capable lawyer.
“I feel perfectly safe with my client and his sister. Please remove the cuffs.”
His voice left little room for argument, and Autumn cheered him silently.
The police officer shrugged. “Your funeral.” He removed the cuffs and with a look of disgust at Blaine before fleeing the room and bolting the door behind him.
Only then did Blaine look at her.
His eyes were red rimmed, his face drawn. He looked broken, as though the fight had been driven from his soul. “Hey, Autumn.”
Autumn struggled to control her emotions, feeling her chin tremble and her knees weaken. She sat, no longer caring how dirty the table and chair were. “How’re you holding up?”
