by Platt, MJ
It had taken a while to talk his libido into recession before he got to sleep. Now he eased his body back away from hers so she wouldn’t feel his Good morning, America salute.
It took some doing to slip away from her without waking her. He managed to sit on the side of the bed to pull on his briefs, long johns and jeans. Then he felt her stirring behind him. Would it be an awkward moment for them? Nothing had happened. Not because neither of them wanted it. He had been the one to call a halt.
Once he had realized it was Sage, it was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over him. It stunned him to think how far he almost went. This was Sage, the woman he wanted as his wife and mother of his children. Just because his self-imposed term of celibacy had been a long one didn’t mean he could use her like something he picked up on R&R. He had managed to explain, to negate her feelings of hurt and rejection.
She was a virgin. How rare was that in this day and age? He should have remembered Sage was not one to look for love in unlikely places, or to give it easily.
He thought about their ride the day before and the information about her childhood that she had divulged. How could her parents be so selfish? Just because she wasn’t a son? He knew of several women who led hotel companies and were excellent at the job. He would like to give Sheldon Burnett a piece of his mind.
Mac watched her sleeping peacefully, curled into herself now that he wasn’t there to hold her. For a moment he thought the heck with everything and crawl back into bed with her, but there was too much to do today. He had to take her and Little Mouse into town. If it wasn’t that they needed supplies, he wouldn’t let her off the ranch. His gut was telling him not to let her out of his sight while in town.
He couldn’t keep her like they were joined at the hip. She wouldn’t allow it. He was certain she knew of what danger could be lurking anywhere if she were found alone. But she had convinced herself the greater danger was for him.
He had to keep her there. His ranch hands were well armed and any of them would be willing to give his life to save hers. He was sure she was not aware of that. She still thought she had to handle it by herself.
Could he find Diego first? The sheriff’s hands were tied until the bastard did something wrong. He had to be caught in the act. Preferably while stalking, not when he had her in his grasp.
Mac thought maybe he could entice Diego to attack him first. Then he could take him down before he could get to Sage. If he only knew where the rat was hiding. He could already be in Somewhere. If he was, he was keeping a low profile. Sheriff Deveaux hadn’t called with a sighting.
First things first. The chores, breakfast, then the trip to town, which he was not looking forward to. He couldn’t be angry. Had to keep his senses under control and be watchful, just like he did on patrol in Stan. He would call on his military training. Anything to keep her safe. She had to stay safe. He didn’t know what he might be capable of if she were taken from him. He loved her with all his being.
He watched Sage stretch languidly, like a kitten just stirring awake. Her eyes opened slowly. Then she sat bolt upright. He would bet the night’s events were playing through her mind. She looked around and blushed when she saw Mac standing beside the bed buttoning his shirt, watching her. It was apparent she didn’t know if she should say anything or merely retreat to her room. She slid out of bed and stood as he came around to her side.
“G-good morning,” she stammered, her blush deepening.
“It is a good morning,” he said with a smile. He held her face with his palms and dipped his head to deliver a gentle, loving kiss. “That was the most restful four hours’ sleep I’ve had in a long time. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being there for me. For—” For loving me even though you can’t say it because you think it won’t be returned. How I want to tell you I love you! Would you believe me? No, it’s not time yet. He read the questions in her eyes, the expression changing from scowl to blank, like a curtain pulled down. “I’m going down to start the coffee. Get dressed. We’ll be leaving right after breakfast.”
* * * *
She watched him stride from the room, whistling a lively tune. What was he doing? His actions were more puzzling. She was embarrassed by her actions the previous night. He said he hadn’t rejected her, and he had remained a gentleman while declining her advances. Yet he seemed happy about the circumstances that morning. She shook her head in bewilderment and figured she better get dressed and downstairs before he left without her.
As soon as everything was cleaned up after breakfast, Sage slid into the truck with Mac and Little Mouse to go into town. He dropped Little Mouse off at Murphy’s and continued on to the mall. Mac pulled into a parking space in front of the bookstore. Shutting off the ignition, he turned to face her.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” she answered, frowning. His skeptical expression made her wince. “I’m not worried. Even if Diego arrived, he doesn’t know where I am right now.”
“You sure you don’t want me to go in with you?”
“I’m only going after two books that should be easy to find. It’s not a covert op.” She smiled at him. He glowered at her.
“If you’re sure, I’ll pick up the dry cleaning and I need to speak to Ozzie at the gym. Twenty minutes be enough? I’ll meet you back here at the truck.”
Sage entered the store to the sound of gentle chimes. It made her feel welcome. She could smell the books, see the row after row of filled bookshelves. Some things never changed. She made a beeline for the section her books should be in and had no trouble finding them. Then she stopped to check out a couple authors she had read blogs about, but had never read any of their books. Engrossed in reading the blurb on the back cover, she didn’t notice the man moving up behind her.
“Well, well, Sage. Isn’t this convenient,” said a voice.
She almost dropped the books as she spun to face her nemesis. He reached out to grasp the collar of her jacket, fingering the fur.
“You should know by now you can never get away from me. I will find you and those who help you. Oh, I’m not going to snatch you away today. Too many people around. I’ll just let you wonder when I will come for you.”
Then he sauntered away and when she looked around the end of the row, he had disappeared.
She didn’t dare move. He could be anywhere. How did he find her so quickly? She knew he would follow through with his threats. What did he have planned for her this time? She fingered the scar on her face and felt a twinge in her side.
She experienced a flashback to his initial attack. Her lying on her bed, her hands imprisoned by his one big, beefy one. The smell of his sweat interspersed with his spicy cologne as he knelt between her thighs made her gag. How he flashed the knife around. His taunts.
She could feel again the stinging and sharp pain as he drew the knife over her face. Would he do it again? She didn’t think she would be able to face that disfigurement a second time.
What other atrocities did he have planned for her? Rape was high on the agenda. He had claimed no one would have her first after she had screamed at him in fright that she was a virgin. That was going to be his privilege. She wished Mac had not been so honorable last night. Would Diego leave her alone if he thought she had already given it away, or would it change his diabolical plans to something more scurrilous? Would he have the knife with him? She would bet on it.
She couldn’t stand here in the open. Stealthily she made her way to a back corner in the children’s section. Squeezing into the tight place, she slid down the wall until she sat on the floor. She pulled a movable display in front of her, moving a couple books so she could peek out between them. She wanted to cry as the trembling set in. Screaming was out of the question. It would bring Mr. Harrington and his son into the fray. It would only put them in danger. Mr. Harrington was in his eighties and his son had to be late fifties. They wouldn’t be much help again
st the younger Diego even if they double teamed him.
She couldn’t stay there. Mac would be coming back to the truck and would worry if she wasn’t there. She had to leave. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and carefully moved the display stand aside. Slowly she crept out, looking around. Silently she placed one foot in front of the other. She stopped at the end of each set of bookshelves. Cautiously she made her way to the checkout counter.
Sage quickly paid for her purchases and cautiously stepped out the door. It was only a few steps to the truck, but it seemed to take forever. She fumbled with the door handle and tripped on the step getting into the truck. Locking the doors, she sat there trembling, praying Mac would be there soon.
* * * *
When he reached the truck, Mac wondered why it was locked. He didn’t remember locking it, and Sage was inside. He tapped the unlock on his keyless entry. As he opened the back door, Sage whipped around to look, her hand on the door handle, ready to run. One look at her face, he yanked open the driver’s door and leaped inside.
“Sage, what’s wrong?” She was hyperventilating, her face so pale, the pulse in her throat faster than he could count, her whole body shaking. He reached over and drew her to him, wrapping her in his arms. He felt like he was trying to hold onto an earthquake. “It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe. What happened?”
“D-Diego was in the store. He-he said he was coming for me, b-but I wouldn’t know wh-when,” she stammered, her tears overflowing with increasing intensity. Mac started out the door, but she stopped him. “He’s gone. He wasn’t around when I came out of the store.”
Mac snatched his phone from his inside jacket pocket and tapped a speed dial number. “Dante. It’s Mac. Diego is in town. He just confronted Sage in Harrington’s. He could still be somewhere around the mall, watching her.”
“Oh good Lord! Was she hurt?”
“No. Just scared the wits out of her.”
“Get her out of there. Let me patrol through the area, see if I can spot him.”
“Okay. Better you than me. No telling what I might do if I spotted him.”
“Let us do the police work. No sense in me having to arrest you at this time,” Dante cautioned. “Will you be someplace around town?”
“No, I’m taking her back to the ranch right now. Security is tight there.”
“Best place to be. I’m on my way to the mall as we speak.”
“Keep me posted.” Mac closed his phone and slipped it back in his pocket.
He sat Sage away from him and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. He gave her an everything-will-be-okay smile, even though his mind didn’t agree. Then he started the truck and surveyed the parking lot as he pulled out. After picking up Little Mouse, he headed for the ranch, his foot heavier on the accelerator than normal.
When they reached the ranch, Mac shepherded Sage into the office, seated her on the couch, and moved to the mini bar to pour a shot of whiskey. Sitting beside her, he pushed the glass into her hand. Her hand shook so the liquid sloshed over the rim. He placed his hand over hers to steady her.
“You know I don’t touch the hard stuff,” she said.
“Then it should take only a couple sips to help numb those jangled nerves. Go ahead, drink it. If nothing else, it will make me feel better.” She looked askance at him as she took a tentative sip, grimacing at the taste. With his hand over hers, he tipped the glass until she finished it. Setting the empty glass aside, he wrapped his arms around her, tucking her into his side, determined to support her until her shivering abated and muscles relaxed.
Once he felt Sage had settled enough that he could leave her, Mac rose to check his answering machine, the blinking red light urging him to retrieve the messages. The first two were business regarding the horses and he jotted down the information to return the calls later. The third message had him reaching for Sage.
“I know you’re there, Sage,” it began. “You can run but you can’t hide. I’ll be coming for you. Your lover-boy won’t be able to help you. He’s already a dead man. See you soon.” It ended with a sinister laugh and the receiver slammed down.
When the message began, Sage sprang from the couch ready to bolt. By the end of it, she was frozen in place. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, knees shaking and weak, her pulse like a trip hammer, and she was unable to breathe. Mac grabbed her and held tightly. He stared into a pair of blue eyes so filled with fear he couldn’t speak. The reassuring words wouldn’t pass from his brain to his tongue.
“I have to go. I can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous,” she cried wildly.
“This is the safest place you can be,” stated Mac. “The security is tight. He can’t get to you.”
“But you are not safe. If I’m not here he will leave you alone. He won’t hurt you or Grandfather Two Feathers or Grandmother Little Mouse.”
“He knows you are here. This will be the first place he will try to get to you. It is safer here with everybody around than if you’re on your own. Please. Say you will stay.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, and then nodded. “If you think it’s best.”
As he held her, he wondered what she could be planning. She had given in too quickly. Or could she have realized he spoke the truth about her safety being at the ranch, not on her own? He didn’t trust her not to bolt when his back was turned. His only recourse was to keep her with him.
* * * *
Getting ready for bed, Sage listened carefully for movement in Mac’s room. After the shower shut off, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She wouldn’t put it past him to park his tantalizing butt in the cushioned chair in her room for the night. Hopefully she had averted that, citing all the security measures he had in place plus his need to be sharp by getting his rest.
She didn’t like deceiving him this way. Her first consideration was to remove the danger to him. She ignored the fact he was a Marine and more than capable of defending himself. Diego didn’t like guns. He preferred the more silent benefit of a knife.
Doubts crept in about her ability to protect herself once she made it to her bolthole. No! She couldn’t think along those lines. There was a rifle in the closet by the kitchen door. That would be her defense, or offense. If Diego did find her, she would shoot first and ask questions later. She would not be a victim again. She imagined the look on his face as he advanced toward her and she pulled the trigger.
That set up another uncertainty. Would she be able to pull the trigger? She had only shot at targets in her self-defense course. Could she actually shoot a human being? When she thought about it, in this case she could. Diego wasn’t human. He was a dangerous, feral animal, and she would do whatever was necessary.
A half hour slowly crept past and still no sign of Mac. Sage quietly pulled her backpack from the closet and packed it. She moved quickly and efficiently, taking only necessary items. She arranged the pillows in her bed so that if anyone looked in it would look like she was sleeping. Then she dressed and slipped silently on stocking feet out the door and down the stairs. At the bottom she listened for a couple minutes to be sure Grandfather Two Feathers wasn’t lurking somewhere in the shadows ready to stop her.
Hearing nothing, she stealthily made her way through the kitchen to the back door. She quickly donned her boots and jacket and, grabbing the rifle and a box of ammo from the closet, punched in the security code and let herself out into the cold, moonless night.
In the shadow of the porch she stood and listened. Pulling back her cuff, she chanced a quick glance at the luminous dial of her watch. She knew one of the guards patrolled by about that time. When he passed by and turned the corner of the house out of sight, she made for the direction he had come. She moved quietly until she reached the gate to the pasture at the base of the mountain.
There she stopped to fasten her snowshoes. No sense in trying to wipe out her tracks. Mac would know where she’d gone and would be sure to follow. Or maybe he would figure she would be safe there and sta
y at the house for when Diego showed up.
Once she reached the enveloping forest, she used her flashlight to keep from tripping or snagging on low hanging limbs. Nothing must slow her down from reaching the cavern. Would Sasha be nearby to act as her sentinel?
It took longer than she expected to reach the waterfall. She hadn’t regained the strength she thought she had. It had been a month. Surely she should be strong enough to face anything. Her knee throbbed and her side ached. You’d think I ran up the mountain. A bit of a rest and I’ll be fine.
She ducked behind some snow covered, low hanging branches of a fir tree and leaned against the trunk. Turning off the flashlight, she waited to catch her breath and for her legs to stop shaking. After a few minutes, she felt capable to continue. She knew it wasn’t much further to what she considered her safe haven. With renewed energy, she made a beeline for the waterfall she could hear. Soon her flashlight picked out the entrance behind it.
Safely inside the cave, she lit the lantern and laid a fire. When it was burning well she opened her jacket. It was still too cold to remove it. She spread out her sleeping bag and sank tiredly onto it, propping up against her backpack, the rifle clasped tightly on her lap.
* * * *
Mac awoke as the fringes of daylight started creeping across the sky. He laid there going over the events of the previous day. He couldn’t get over how easily he was able to get Sage to agree to stay. How quickly he convinced her. Too quickly.
He leaped from the bed, dashed through the bathroom, and yanked open her door to view the shadowed form in the bed. The breath he held released with a soft whoosh as he willed his heart to a steadier rhythm. He leaned against the doorjamb as his body stabilized.
He had to stay calm. Plan his defense same as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only this time it was one wily psycho, not a pack of brainwashed zealots. Returning to his room, he dressed and headed for the kitchen. Time to check in with the guards he had posted. He would let Sage sleep as long as she could. She probably hadn’t slept well during the night, considering all yesterday had entailed.
