She forced herself to concentrate on where she was going. After a few minutes she couldn’t think about anything else. Thick vines reached out to trip her, and thin branches whipped her face. Chase tried to hold them back for her, but it didn’t help. Instead of protecting her face, she used her hands to shield Paolo from the branches and the insects that seemed to swarm around his tiny head.
By the time Chase stopped, her face burned and stung from the lashes of countless branches, and sweat dripped down her cheeks. Impatiently she swiped one arm over her face as she peered ahead. The river must be close. There was a hint of a breeze and the smell of water in the air, pungent and faintly fishy.
“We’re just about there.” Chase moved closer and spoke softly into her ear. She shivered involuntarily and hoped he hadn’t noticed. “Let’s wait here for a moment and just watch,” he added.
She nodded again and prayed he would move away, but he stayed close. His heat enveloped her again, and she could feel the tension in his hard muscles, feel his wariness. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was scanning the area around them, assessing their situation.
Don’t be a fool, she told herself sharply. Chase Remington was the last man on earth who should be stirring her hormones. He hated her. He hadn’t forgiven her for deceiving him three years ago, and she was sure he held her partly responsible for his partner’s death.
And he was right. It was her fault Richard Butler was dead.
She took a step away from him, away from the temptation he presented, and tried to grab hold of her galloping emotions. Taking a deep steadying breath, she said, “How close are we to the path you found?”
“You’re standing on it,” he said.
Andi looked around and saw that there was a faint depression in the ground parallel to the river, and the vegetation wasn’t quite as thick. It was the best they could hope for, she realized.
“How’s the kid doing?” Chase asked. He still wasn’t looking at her.
“Sleeping.” She touched Paolo’s head, noticing that in spite of her efforts, he had several insect bites. “He’s always slept pretty soundly.”
“Good.” Chase stepped back and finally turned to face her. “Let’s start— My God! What happened to your face?”
Andi touched her cheek. “What do you mean?”
“You’re covered with cuts, and there’s blood smeared all over your cheeks.”
He reached out and took her chin in his hand, and Andi’s heart jumped in her chest. Her skin burned where his fingers touched her, and she wanted to pull away. Instead, she looked down at Paolo, reminding herself what was at stake if she made a stupid mistake.
“It looks like every branch in the damn jungle sliced across your face,” he finally said, letting her go. She drew a ragged breath and moved slightly away from him. “Let’s clean them up.”
Andi shook her head. “They’re fine. We don’t have time right now. Don’t we need to get moving?” She didn’t want Chase to touch her again.
“Do you know how quickly those cuts can get infected in this heat and humidity?” he demanded. “Not to mention all the insects the blood will draw. We’re not going a step farther until you’re cleaned up.”
“I can do it myself,” she said, slipping the sling off her shoulders and setting the baby carefully on the ground. “I’ll run some water through my purifier and use that.”
“Give me the purifier.” Chase held out his hand for the thick tube. “You stay here with the kid and I’ll get the water.”
Before she could object, Chase had plucked the water purifier out of her hand and disappeared into the jungle. Andi took a deep breath, then opened her backpack and rummaged around until she found her first-aid kit. Her hands were hardly shaking anymore, she noticed. She’d clean her face up herself and stay out of Chase’s reach.
But when he returned with the clean water in his canteen, he didn’t bother to ask her if she preferred to tend to the cuts herself. He simply pulled a T-shirt from his pack and began cleaning her face. His hands were surprisingly gentle.
“How did this happen?” he asked again.
Andi shrugged. She knew why the branches had snapped into her face time after time, but she had no intention of telling Chase. “I guess there are a lot of branches in the jungle,” she said, trying not to think about how his hands felt on her skin.
His hands slowed, then stopped, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, his fingers lingered on her cheeks and traced down the side of her face. “I think all the blood is gone.”
His voice sounded harsh, and when she glanced at his face, she saw that his skin was drawn tightly over his cheekbones. His eyes, hard and sharp as emeralds, were glowing in the faint moonlight. Desire glittered in their depths.
She told herself to move, but the drumbeat of desire began to beat in her blood, answering what she saw in his face. She stared at him, watching his pupils dilate, and felt the throb of need deep inside her, shocking her with its intensity. Every touch of his fingers on her skin sent a flash of fire through her veins, and she found herself leaning toward him.
He moved closer, his eyes fixed on hers. Then the vegetation rustled beside them, and Chase jerked away from her as if he’d been stung.
He stared at her for another moment, and she could see he was breathing heavily. Her own heart pounded in her chest in an insistent rhythm, and it took all her willpower to look away from him and pick up the first-aid kit.
“Thank you for cleaning the scratches,” she managed to say, but her voice sounded high-pitched and breathless. “I’ll put some cream on them.”
“You do that,” he said, getting to his feet and turning away from her. “Then we’ll start walking again.”
It only took a moment to smear some of the white cream on her face, then she stowed the kit in her backpack and picked up the still-sleeping Paolo. Her hands were shaking, she noted, and her legs felt weak and rubbery.
“Drink the rest of this water,” Chase said, and he handed her the canteen. “I don’t want to stop again until we get a lot farther away.”
She drank the water wordlessly, then put the empty canteen into his outstretched hand. She was careful not to touch him.
He turned around and began walking, and she scrambled to keep up with him. Although the path was narrow, it was apparently well used, because there were very few branches that slapped at her as she walked. It was much easier to keep Paolo’s head protected and keep the vines from whipping her own face.
Chase walked quickly, and she had to strain to keep up with him. But she didn’t say a thing. She knew as well as he did how important it was to get as far away from Chipultipe as possible. Their lives and Paolo’s depended on it.
Chase listened to Andi behind him, hurrying to keep up with his much longer strides. He was walking as if the devil himself was on his tail, because that was the way he felt.
What the hell is the matter with you? Chase asked himself.
He’d come too damn close to kissing Andi McGinnis. He’d been mesmerized by the blue of her eyes, the hint of startled passion he’d seen in their depths. And his hands still burned with the memory of her soft smooth skin. He’d wanted to let his hands trail down her body, to touch every inch of her. He’d wanted to lay her down on the ground and cover her slim body with his.
He’d wanted the one woman in the world he couldn’t have.
He blew out a sharp breath and reminded himself again who Andi was. She was the agent his boss had sent to spy on him and his partner. Someone in their organization had been working for El Diablo and his boss had suspected him and his partner. She had deceived both of them, and he’d played right into her hands by falling for her. He’d been too distracted on their last job to focus completely, and his partner had paid the price. Now Richard was dead, and Andi was part of the reason why. And he’d better not forget it again.
He wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted this time. This time he would ignore the way his body reacted to Andi McGin
nis. He was here to do a job, and he would damn well do it. Andi was just part of that job.
An inner voice whispered that she was far more than that, but he paid no attention. Andi was not to be trusted—which she’d already proved. And he’d better not let his hormones forget it again.
“We should be getting close to the village,” Andi said behind them, her breathless voice a prick to his conscience.
“Is it on this side of the river?”
“No, the other. But I’m pretty sure there are farm plots on this side, so we need to be careful. There won’t be any cover to hide us.”
Chase slowed down, too aware of Andi right behind him. Her scent seemed to cling to the air around her, urging him closer.
“How close do you think we are?” he said roughly, trying to ignore the throbbing of his body.
“No more than a quarter mile.” She spoke in a harsh whisper, even though the sounds of the jungle at night would muffle her voice. “If my calculations are correct, there should be a bend in the path just ahead of us, then suddenly you’re in the fields.”
Chase slowed down even more, and in a few moments he saw the bend. He stopped and touched her arm, pulling back sharply when his blood fired again at the feel of her skin.
“Let’s go into the jungle again, until we know what we’ll find in the village.”
She nodded in agreement, waiting for him to lead the way off the path. He plunged into the vegetation and heard her right behind him. When he looked back, he realized why her face had gotten so scratched and cut.
Instead of blocking the branches from her face, her hands formed a protective tent over the sleeping baby. She flinched each time a branch whipped her face, but she didn’t take her hands off the baby.
His heart moved in his chest and he grabbed her arm. “Walk next to me. I’ll keep the branches off your face.”
“I’m fine,” she said, pulling away from him. “It’s more efficient for me to walk behind you.”
“Don’t be an idiot.” His voice was rough with emotion. She was allowing herself to be injured in order to protect Paolo. “I won’t bite.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “That’s news to me.”
“You just watch out for the kid, and I’ll watch out for you,” he retorted.
“And who’s going to watch out for you?”
“I can take care of myself.”
They moved more slowly through the jungle, but he noticed with satisfaction that the branches no longer hit her face. They both apparently heard the sound of rushing water at the same time, because she stopped before he could put out a hand. As if they thought with one mind, both crouched at the same time.
He put aside the whisper of uneasiness at their apparent unspoken communication. Creeping through the undergrowth, Andi right next to him, he stopped when he could see the water through the plants. He signaled to her, but she had seen it, too.
Carefully he edged forward until he could see the river clearly. On the other side stood a small village. Lights gleamed from a few of the windows, but there were no sounds coming from the circle of houses.
Suddenly Andi grabbed his arm. Her fingers gripped tightly, and she pointed to the far edge of the village.
A man stood there, holding an automatic weapon, scanning the river in front of him. As they watched, three other men joined him, all holding efficient-looking weapons.
“El Diablo’s men,” Andi said in a low voice.
Chapter 3
Chase stared at the four men and nodded without taking his eyes off them. She was right. The men had the hard faces and soulless eyes of killers. Chase had no doubt they were looking for Andi and Paolo.
“Looks like El Diablo thought the same way you did.”
“He didn’t get to be as powerful as he is because he’s stupid,” she said.
Chase didn’t answer as he watched the men across the river. They were scanning the jungle carefully, their eyes moving steadily back and forth. “Let’s move back farther into the jungle,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t want to be this close if the kid starts crying.”
Andi checked on Paolo. “Yes. He’s still sleeping, but I have no idea how long he’ll stay that way.” Chase heard the worry in her voice. “It would be a good idea to get away from here.”
“Start backing up,” he ordered, still watching the men across the river. “I’ll wait and see if they notice anything.”
She started to object, then began to move backward. Too slowly, he thought, and he wanted to tell her to hurry. If the baby started crying, it was all over.
Finally she was far enough away that he couldn’t hear her moving through the dense bush. After one more look at the men, he starting backing in to the jungle, too. He was almost out of sight when he heard Paolo wail. It was almost immediately cut off, but he froze and looked at the four men on the far bank of the river.
One of them had jerked around to stare at his hiding place. As Chase watched, the man slowly brought up his gun, still staring across the river. He said something to the other three men. They looked over toward his hiding place, also.
Chase pulled his gun out of its holster smoothly, then stood still and waited. He didn’t hear any more sounds from behind him, and after a while he wondered if the wail had been Paolo, after all.
The men apparently felt the same way, because they finally lowered their weapons and turned to walk away. Chase watched as the first man looked over his shoulder once more before they all disappeared into the village.
He waited a long time before he moved. He saw the men again, but they appeared to be checking all the houses in the village. No one looked toward his hiding place.
Finally he began to move. Slowly and deliberately he headed away from the river, until he could no longer hear the rushing water. When he reached the path, he waited again for long minutes before he crossed it. Once across the path, he moved more quickly. He wondered if Andi was worried, then told himself it didn’t matter.
He almost walked right past her. She sat between the roots of a huge tree, foliage almost completely concealing her. He’d hardly given it a second glance when he heard her whispering, “Chase! Over here.”
He spotted a flash of movement at the base of the tree and pushed through the veil of vines that concealed it. Andi sat with her back against the tree, Paolo on her lap. Two empty bottles sat on the ground next to her.
“I’m sorry he cried like that,” she said, and he saw worry and fear in her eyes. “Did anyone hear him?”
Chase hesitated. “I’m not sure,” he finally said. “One of the guys standing by the river heard something, but I think he decided it was an animal. The four of them watched for a long time, but they eventually left. It looked like they were checking all the houses.”
She nodded, and he thought her face looked pale. “He opened his mouth and let out that scream without any warning. I gave him his bottle, and he stopped instantly. I guess he was just hungry.” She looked down at the baby and smoothed a finger down his cheek. “This must be frightening for him. He’s being cared for by strangers and nothing about his surroundings is familiar.”
“Do you think he knows the difference?” Chase asked.
“Of course he does.” Her eyes flashed. “He’s four months old. He’s very aware of his surroundings. He knows I’m not his mother.”
“Well, he’d better get used to us pretty damn quickly. If you had been closer to the river, those goons would have known for sure we were around.”
“I’ll try to be more observant,” she said, her voice tight.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Hell, McGinnis, it’s not your fault. I’m not blaming you.”
“No one is to blame. But I have to get better at anticipating Paolo. Until I do, all three of us are at risk.”
She shifted the baby so she was holding him more closely, an unconscious act of protection. She looked down at Paolo again and her face softened. His heart contract
ed. For just a moment Chase let himself see the tenderness and yearn for some of it himself.
Then he stood up. Trying to ignore the feeling, he turned and peered out into the endless darkness in front of them. It was no use wishing for what you couldn’t have. He’d learned that early in life.
When he could look back at them without wanting to scoop them both into his arms, he turned around again. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he said abruptly. “I don’t want to try to get past the village right now. Let’s give those men a chance to get out of the village before we go anywhere.” He gestured to the baby. “Will he be all right if we stay here for a while?”
“I’m not sure,” she said slowly. “He just had two more bottles of formula and I only have one left. I should make more bottles for him in case he wakes up hungry.”
“I’ll get water from the river for you.”
She shook her head. “You can’t take that chance. I’m sure someone will be watching the river. I don’t want them to see you.”
It almost sounded like she cared about his safety and not just about Paolo’s supply of food. He squashed the treacherous thought and pulled her backpack toward him. “I’ll fill up all the canteens. Don’t worry, no one will see me. It may take me a while, though, to run all the water through the purifier.”
She held her breath for a moment, then nodded once. “Be careful.” But he saw the worry in her eyes.
It was a far cry from just a few hours ago. He’d had to argue with her to convince her to wait for him. Now it was accepted that they would work together.
Don’t make anything out of it, he warned himself. She was as pragmatic as he was. She knew that the baby’s survival, and probably her own, depended on cooperation. There was nothing personal about it.
And he didn’t want there to be. He resisted looking back at Andi and the kid as he moved away from them. This was just a job for him, a job he was being paid for. That was all it ever would be.
Family on the Run Page 3
