by Lisa Harris
Gwen walked toward him across the small campsite as he was adjusting the propane bottle, then sat down on one of the logs across from him.
“How are you feeling?” Caden asked, not missing the frown on her face.
“Sore, but thankfully the pain medicine is finally starting to kick in.”
“Good.” He bent down and looked at her ankle. “It’s still a bit swollen, but that’s expected considering you just walked down the canyon on an injured ankle. You still need to keep it elevated, but it should be better by tomorrow.”
“I know I should be lying down, but I just felt so restless,” she said. “I was wondering if you had a plan?”
His hand automatically touched the butt of his weapon. “Until morning, we’re going to have to keep our guard up. Then I’m hoping we can find a group of rafters to join so we can head downriver. That would be the easiest way out for you.”
“But still dangerous.”
He nodded.
“What about my brother?”
“He’s another reason we need to get out of here as soon as possible, so we can let the authorities know what’s going on. Even if I wasn’t worried about your ankle, we can’t go after your brother in the dark.”
“I know, I just—I just need to do something.” She picked up a small stick and snapped it in two. “Tell me what I can do to help with dinner in the meantime.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on company, but pasta alfredo with salmon was on the menu for tonight.” He’d already grabbed the ingredients for the meal that had been neatly packed in a plastic Ziploc in his bear-resistant canister. “I don’t think it will be a stretch to feed two.”
“Pasta alfredo with smoked salmon?” she asked.
He hesitated. “You don’t like salmon?”
“No… I mean, yes. Salmon’s fine, but is this how you always eat on the trail? That sounds like a gourmet meal.”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know—ramen noodles and a packet of tuna fish.”
He chuckled. “I like to cook and realized years ago that just because I’m not standing in the middle of my kitchen doesn’t mean I can’t eat well on the trail. Tonight’s pasta, but I can also make a mean chili from sun-dried tomatoes and dehydrated kidney beans.”
She shot him an unexpected smile. “All I can say is I’m impressed.”
He shoved off the compliment and started organizing the food. He’d also learned early on that an hour or two of food prep before he hit the trail translated into a much more enjoyable trip. And as long as the food was light and quick to fix—meaning no cooking, just boiled water—it wasn’t that difficult to carry.
He handed her a small bunch of fresh basil from his mother’s garden along with a knife. “If you’ll mince this, I’ll get the pasta going. Then we’ll just have to add the ingredients for the sauce I already put together back at the house.”
“Of course you did.”
This time he wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or complimentary, but she was smiling, so he decided to go with the latter. He dumped the pasta into the water, and for a moment, working beside her seemed oddly…normal. While he loved the solitude of the trail and a solo hike, there were times when he missed the sound of another human’s voice. If only he could forget not only that someone was after them, but also who she was, he might actually enjoy tonight.
A noise behind them seized his attention.
He took a step back from the stove and shifted his concentration to the shadows filtering down the canyon wall. He scanned the surrounding vegetation, senses on alert, but the movement was just a squirrel. He let out a huff of air.
“What if they come back?” she asked.
“I’ve already thought about that.”
“And?”
“While you were lying down, I rigged a trip wire around the camp.”
“An alarm in case they find us?”
Caden nodded.
“How’d you do that?”
“Fishing wire and key-chain alarm. It’s pretty rudimentary, but it should do the trick if they show up.” He stirred the pasta, then tested it to see if it was done. “I don’t usually set one, but I’d say we have reason tonight.”
“I agree.”
“I also don’t want either of us sleeping in the tent. If they show up, that’s where they’re going to assume we are.”
She nodded as they worked side by side for the next few minutes, mixing the dry sauce ingredients with water and letting it simmer, then combining it with the pasta, freeze-dried corn, smoked salmon and the fresh basil.
“This is delicious,” she said, once they’d dished up the food.
“You look surprised.”
“Most guys I know could never pull this off.”
“My mother ensured all of us boys knew our way around the kitchen.”
“Well, I’m impressed.” She took another bite. “I remember you had brothers. Three of them, right?”
Caden nodded.
“What do they do now?” she asked.
“Reid works for the local fire department in Timber Falls. Liam is in the army and is married with a daughter and has another one on the way.”
“That’s exciting. And number three?”
“Griffin is a deputy and getting married in December.”
“And you—you left the military?”
“My father had a bout with cancer a couple years ago, and while he’s made a full recovery, I was at a place in my career that I felt like it was time to walk away and help. I’ve been running the ranch with him ever since.”
“I remember you talking about your ranch when we were in school. It always sounded so beautiful.”
“It is.”
“Do you ever regret your decision?”
He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with all her personal questions. “There are things I miss about the military, but I love working on the land every day. I just decided if I was going to do it, I wouldn’t look back.”
“Still, that had to be hard.”
“It was. And to be honest, it still is sometimes, but I love what I do.” He stood and headed for his bear barrel, needing a distraction from her questions. “How about some chocolate cookie bars?”
“Why am I not surprised? That would top off a perfect meal.”
He grabbed two, then handed her one. “You said you’re a prosecutor. What kind of cases do you work on?”
“I focus primarily on family law.”
“Do you like it?”
“I do, though the cases can be tough. I represent children most of the time.”
“I bet you’re good at it.”
“It has its rewarding moments.”
He took a bite of his cookie and frowned. He hadn’t planned on giving her a compliment, even though he’d meant it. But smoked-salmon pasta and chocolate couldn’t make him forget whom he was sitting next to.
“I guess you heard Cammie got married,” she said without warning.
He set down his dessert and frowned at the news. For a moment, he could have almost imagined that they were simply old friends catching up. But now, hearing his ex-fiancée’s name made him want to run.
“I did,” he said finally. “Do you ever see her?”
“We used to get together several times a year, but they moved to Dallas, and I haven’t seen her as much since then.”
“Is she happy?”
He frowned, wondering why he’d asked the question. Why it even mattered after all this time. She was a part of his past, and he was content to leave her there.
“She seems happy. Rick’s a decent guy.”
The unspoken tension hung between them. He knew what Gwen was thinking. Knew she’d probably never forgiven him for what she thought he’d done. She’d made it clear th
at night exactly what she thought about him, and he hadn’t tried to convince her otherwise. At the time, it didn’t seem to matter. He’d known the truth wasn’t going to change anything. Cammie would have walked away no matter what he said.
“So you never married?” he asked.
She glanced at her left hand. “I came close once, but in the end our goals ended up being too different. I guess I was looking for something more.”
He thought he’d found that something more with Cammie. He knew her friends had blamed him for the breakup the night before their wedding, but he’d decided that was fine with him. He knew the truth, and in the end, that was all that really mattered.
As far as he was concerned, he was okay with being the bad guy in the whole scenario. He’d gone on with his life, and while he still might not be able to trust his judgment when it came to picking women, at least he could live with his conscience.
He caught the fatigue in her eyes as she yawned beside him. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep. I’ll stay up.”
“You can’t stay awake all night.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.” He could tell she wanted to argue with him, but he didn’t miss the exhaustion in her eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
“Wake me up in a few hours and I’ll keep watch. You’re going to need your rest just as much as me.”
Twenty minutes later, she was asleep, and he was going through his gear, needing to be prepared to run if the men showed up. If he’d been on his own, he would have approached the situation differently, but he wasn’t looking for another confrontation against armed men with Gwen’s safety at stake.
He finished packing a go bag, then pulled out his Bible. He settled in on his camping chair, aware of the night noises around him as he stared up at the sliver of stars above him, and started praying that he’d be able to get her out of here before the men found them. Praying that Gwen wouldn’t get under his skin. He didn’t even know he’d fallen asleep until the blare of his trip wire going off jolted him awake.
THREE
Gwen heard the screech of an alarm go off, then quickly fought to dig herself out of the dream and orient herself. A couple seconds later, Caden was hovering over her.
“They found us. We have to leave. Now.”
He grabbed her hand and helped her up, as everything rushed through her in one terrifying flash of memory. She could hear the men yelling at each other in the middle of the camp as they ran toward the tent, shouting her name. There was no doubt they were looking for her. No doubt Caden’s plan had bought them the extra seconds they needed to escape.
She stumbled to her feet beside him, thankful not only for his suggestion to sleep in her shoes, but also for the full moon high above them. The problem was, even with the moon out, there was still barely enough light to see where they were going because of the tree cover. Pain shot up her calf as she rushed through the brush with him, but she refused to let it slow her down. She knew how this could play out if they didn’t run. Those men were armed, and from everything she knew, they planned to kill her when they found her.
Caden kept his arm around her, steadying her on the rugged path as the voices in the camp faded.
“What time is it?” she whispered.
“Just past two.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“There’s a shallow spot in the river nearby. We need to cross over, then head downstream on the other side. After I set the trip wire, I left a trail of false tracks heading upstream. Hopefully they’ll follow them and buy us more time.”
And then what? She knew she couldn’t keep running. Not for long. She glanced up at his profile as he tightened his arm around her. As much as she didn’t like it, Caden O’Callaghan held her life in his hands, and she was going to have to trust him.
She struggled to catch her breath as he led her into the icy river water. She’d known that he’d planned on trying to catch a ride down the river in the morning, but there was one thing she hadn’t mentioned. Her fear of water. Panic swallowed her. She gripped his hand harder but wasn’t going to let him see the fear. The water was shallow here, like he’d told her, but it still rushed across her calves, almost to her knees. She took another step, and another, fear of the men behind her compelling her forward.
At the middle point of the river, she glanced back toward the camp. Beams of light hit the tree line. The men were still rummaging for clues as to where they’d gone. Confirmation they were at the right place. But it wouldn’t be long before they extended the perimeter of their search. Her foot slipped on a rock—she couldn’t allow herself to be dragged into the water. All it would take was one misstep, and she’d end up sucked into the current.
But Caden was there to steady her.
“Gwen?”
“I’m fine.”
“How are you really feeling?”
She hesitated. “Like I was hit by a truck.”
“I’m not surprised,” he said as they kept walking. “What about your head?”
“Just a slight headache.”
“As soon as we can stop, I’ll get you some more pain medicine. Any nausea or dizziness?”
She was shaking now, as much from the cold as from fear. “I’m just sore and tired.”
She knew what he was thinking. Headache, confusion, dizziness, nausea—the symptoms of a concussion. If it was a concussion, treatment meant she needed to rest, but there was no more time for that. Instead, they were looking at a long hike out of here. Her only option was to push through.
They stepped onto the other bank and started downstream, keeping to the dark shadows of the canyon to ensure they stayed hidden.
“I’ll be fine.”
They walked in silence along the side of the river. She tried not to think about where her brother was, or what would happen if the men found them. She just had to keep moving. Had to make sure the men didn’t catch up to them. Caden stopped every twenty yards or so and listened to the night sounds. She could no longer see the flashlights or hear the people after her, but she knew they were out there.
“Did you hear something?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m just not sure if it’s them.”
Another few yards down the river, he steered them behind an outcropping of trees. She was barely able to distinguish his movements as Caden pulled his weapon out of his holster. Gwen shivered in the darkness. She had no idea what their plan should be, or how they were going to defend themselves if those men struck again. But clearly, they needed to be ready for anything.
“Caden…”
“Have you ever used a gun?” he asked.
“A few times at a shooting range. Why?”
“I need to go out there and figure out which way they’ve gone. Make sure they’re not behind us, but I don’t want to risk doing that with you. I also can’t leave you defenseless.”
She shook her head, wanting to scream at him not to leave her, but she knew he was right. They needed to know where the men were. But was leaving her alone the solution?
“You’ll be fine if you stay here.” He tilted back her chin and caught her gaze. “I promise I’ll be back.”
“I don’t want the gun. You’ll be defenseless.”
“I have no plans to confront them. Not at this point, anyway.”
He rechecked the weapon. “Leave the safety on and don’t shoot unless you absolutely have to. And when I come back…don’t shoot me.”
She watched him walk away, then stood frozen in the shadows until she lost track of time. Five, ten…fifteen minutes… She had no idea how much time had passed, but she heard every sound around her. Her ankle throbbed and her head pounded. She didn’t want to be here alone and hated the helpless feeling overtaking her. Hated that she was a liability. But there was nothing she could do to change the situation.
She studied the sur
rounding terrain, listening carefully for anything that sounded out of place, but every noise caused her pulse to quicken and her heart to race. What if something had happened to Caden? What if she was left alone to find her way out of the canyon? The river churned beside her, crickets chirped. If those men were out there, close by… No. She gripped the gun tighter. She wasn’t going to panic. She had to be ready. Caden was counting on her to stay calm. Which made her want to laugh. As part of her job, she’d stood her ground to protect dozens of vulnerable children who had dealt with domestic violence, trauma and child abuse, but put her in the middle of a potential gunfight and her only instinct was to run.
Something rustled behind her.
She turned around and aimed the weapon in front of her. “Whoever you are, don’t come any closer. I’m armed.”
“Gwen…it’s just me.”
Her heart pounded as Caden came into view. She took a step backward and realized she’d been holding her breath. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She handed him the gun, barrel first, glad to have the weapon out of her hands. “Did you find them?”
“They’re headed upstream like I hoped. Can you keep moving?”
She nodded.
“Good, because we need to put as much distance between us and them as possible. And in the meantime, pray we find someone to take us downriver once the sun comes up.”
Caden glanced at her, impressed by the grit and determination in her step, knowing it had to be painful. Not that it changed anything. She’d once told him exactly what she thought about him, and he was pretty sure that even with all the time that had passed, her feelings toward him hadn’t changed, either.
He’d never been able to forget her words that night. She’d caught up with him in the parking lot as he was leaving the rehearsal dinner. Twenty-four hours before he was supposed to marry Cammie. Instead, everything he’d thought was real—everything he’d believed about his fiancée—had all turned out to be a lie, and his plans for the future had suddenly come crumbling down around him.
