Chapter 6
Chapter Six
The sound of chattering teeth kept Cree awake.
The small space heater couldn’t keep up with the chilly air seeping through the wooden walls.
Shoving off the floor, he pulled his blanket with him as he slipped under the comforter.
Draping the cedar bark blanket over them, he tucked himself around Kennedy and felt her stiffen.
“Don’t worry, katawasisiw. We’re just snuggling to warm you up. ”
“I’m so cold.”
Cree wrapped his arms around Kennedy, tucking her tight to him. “Give it a minute, you’ll warm up.” In his head, Cree sang tribal songs to distract him from the feeling of Kennedy’s lush body pressed against his.
“Are you Native American?” Kennedy asked, trying to relax against the handsome man currently wrapped around her. Her teeth chattered as her body continued to shiver.
“Yeah. I’m Cree.”
“I know your name.”
“No. Yes, it’s my name, but I’m called that because I’m of the Cree tribe. I’m part of the First People’s.”
“I’d love to hear about it.” Her voice cracked.
“Now?”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
Cree pulled her tighter to him, trying to keep her teeth from rattling out of her pretty head.
Not being able to stand the fact she was freezing, he climbed out the bed, turned on the table lamp, and built a fire in the small wood-burning stove in the far corner.
He hadn’t thought they would need a fire with the heater running.
Shutting the little door, he went back to the bed and climbed in.
Bringing Kennedy against him again, Cree settled in for some much-needed rest.
Over the course of the night, the weather dropped to much colder temps.
Due to them both being exhausted, neither had paid attention to the forecast, and that was proving a mistake.
They had missed the signs when they should have been paying attention to them.
A small winter storm had popped up, according to the weather report.
They needed to get Kennedy more suitable clothes to ride. Looking at the sleeping girl, he could see she hadn’t moved an inch since passing out the evening before.
The sounds of high winds rattled the small windows and door of the tiny cabin. If it wasn’t so low to the ground, Cree was sure it would sway with the wind. The moans that barrelled through the alley between the cabins made him more aware they were wasting precious time.
Rolling over, he grabbed his phone to check the weather for the next twenty-four hours. “Fuck,” he growled. Tossing off the blanket, he got up and headed for a hot shower. He’d wake Kennedy when he was done.
Hearing a male’s voice coming from the front room, Cree snapped off the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he grabbed the gun from the sink ledge and yanked the bathroom door open.
Looking around, he found Kennedy bundled up in the bed watching TV.
The male voice was the weatherman talking about the winter storm headed their way.
He watched her eyes scan over his body as water droplets ran down his tan skin.
“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll be enticed to drop this towel just to see your expression. ”
Kennedy turned her attention back to the TV. After spending the night pressed against Cree, she wouldn’t have minded seeing what was beneath the towel, but it wasn’t the time. Not that she’d know what to do with a man like him, but damn if she wouldn’t give it a try.
The weatherman said they were in for hard winds and to expect a few inches of snow overnight.
Listening to the news, Cree had a bad feeling.
A storm could lock them down in the small town.
That would give anyone looking for Kennedy time to catch up with her.
If they stayed there, it could set things up for shit to happen.
Kennedy clicked the TV off. “Are you finished in the bathroom?”
“Yeah, you can have it.” He could dry off and get dressed while she was in the bathroom. “Why don’t you get dressed while you’re in there?”
Kennedy glanced around the room. “Where are my clothes?”
“Hang on. I got you something to wear when I picked up the pajamas.”
“What pajamas?”
“The ones I forgot about until we had you in my shirt.” Handing her the shopping bag, he watched as she limped into the bathroom and closed the door. They needed to take care of the blisters on her feet before they went anywhere.
A well-rested Kennedy was a completely different Kennedy than an exhausted one.
Cree was finding out fast she was stubborn as well as argumentative.
Sitting in the diner, she argued about him buying her everything from clothes to breakfast. “I’m not asking you to fuck me for repayment, sweetheart.
Player will pay me back. Just order a decent breakfast.”
“Can you let me order what I want, the way I want to order it? Can you?”
Cree dropped back against the blue vinyl booth. “Have it your way.”
“Thanks.” Kennedy looked at the waitress with a smile. “I’ll have two scrambled eggs with cheese on top and two slices of dry white toast.”
“Any meat?”
“No, thank you.”
Cree waited for the waitress to get to him then ordered a full breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, fried eggs, potatoes, and toast. Thanking the waitress, his attention went back to the female currently giving him a headache. “You need clothes and shoes suitable to be on the bike.”
“I’ve never ridden on a bike.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
“Player’s never given you a ride?”
“I haven’t seen my brother since I was five.”
“How old are you now?”
“Twenty-five next month. I’d love to see him for my birthday.”
“You’ll get to. Montreal isn’t but a few days’ ride.” Her eyes jumped to his. The way she stared at him, he knew what the problem was. “You don’t have a passport.” He made it a statement, not a question.
“Not with me.”
“Fuck.” Sliding from the booth. “Stay here,” he told her firmly, then he walked outside to make a call. He needed a passport and fast.
Cree called the President of the South Dakota chapter. Roughstock was a solid brother, one who would come through for him. “Cree, how’s it going, brother?”
“Roughstock, things are good.”
“You still in South Dakota?”
“Yeah. Listen, I had to come up to Hill City to protect Player’s little sister.”
“You need some help?”
“Nah, I got it covered. What I need is a passport to get her across the border.”
“When can you be here?”
“Later this afternoon.”
“Shoot me a photo and her info. We’ll have it waiting for you.”
“I owe you, Roughstock.”
“It’s family, Cree.”
“True. See ya soon.” Cree hung up with Roughstock and walked back inside at the precise time his food was being delivered. Waiting for the waitress to walk away, he kept his voice low. “We’ll pick you up a passport in Rapid City.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Your personal information and a photo.”
“Where can we get a passport picture taken?”
Cree thought about the question. He recalled seeing a dollar photo booth inside the General Store. “The General Store has an instant photo booth. We’ll stop in while we grab you better clothes.
Kennedy made a sandwich out of her breakfast as she acknowledged Cree’s comment.
When he asked why she hadn’t ordered a breakfast sandwich, she sighed.
“The sandwich was twelve dollars. Ordering it this way, it’s only six.
If you ever had to stretch a dollar, you’d pay attention to the small details. ”
Biting into the sandwich, she wasn’t surprised Cree didn’t have a response. It didn’t bother her that he remained silent. It was easier to appreciate his good looks if he kept his mouth shut.
Thirty minutes later, Kennedy found herself once again arguing money with Cree as they walked down the sidewalk. Weaving around tourists and holiday shoppers, she followed the directions Alice had given her.
“How do your feet feel?”
“These booties are comfortable, although I don’t think they’re made for outdoor use.”
“They’re slippers.”
“Are they?” Kennedy glanced at the shoes she was currently wearing. Interesting. They didn’t look like slippers. “Can I wear them on the bike?”
Cree almost stopped walking when he heard the question. “Hell no, you can’t wear those on the bike.”
“Okay, I was only asking.”
“Are your feet hurting now that the blisters have been drained?”
“The ointment and bandages are keeping them from being rubbed. Thank you for helping me last night and this morning.”
“It’s not a problem.
“Here we are.” Opening the door to the second-hand clothing store, she told him he could stay outside. He wasn’t having it since the clothes were for her to wear on the bike.
On entering the store, she was engulfed in the sound of chipmunks singing Christmas songs through the overhead system. Could she not escape the holidays even while running for her life?
Moving through the aisles, she grabbed two pairs of jeans and two long-sleeve tops in her size. Asking for a dressing room, Kennedy made quick work of trying on the clothes. Cree handed her a thicker turtleneck sweater and a third pair of jeans. She tried them on per his request.
Satisfied with the fit, she kept the outfit on and stepped out of the dressing room. Cree handed her a pair of western-style women’s boots to try on, which she did.
Kennedy was amazed at how well they felt and fit.
Even with the bandages on her feet, they were comfortable.
Walking around the store, she made sure they were indeed something she could and would wear.
As she walked, she spotted a well-worn denim jacket that was lined with lamb’s wool.
Pulling it on, she found it was a little big but it sufficed.
“That’s a good jacket,” Cree told her as he walked up. “I hate to hurry you along, but the weather isn’t getting any better. We need to get back to the cabin and pack up.”
“I’m done.” At the counter, Kennedy grabbed a pair of mittens and a knit cap. If the weather was worsening, she wanted to be warm on the bike, even if they were only making the hour run to Rapid City. At the last minute, she tossed up a generic phone charger on the counter.
“What’s this?” Cree picked up the charger cord.
“My phone’s dead.”
Cree tossed cash on the counter, paying for her things before she could argue. He reminded her about her credit card being no good. He saw the annoyance in her pretty eyes when she huffed off.
“Sisters.” He laughed when the cashier looked at Kennedy, then at him. Grabbing the paper bag from the counter, he handed it to Kennedy as they left the store.
“Why did you make that woman think I was your sister?”
“Think about it, Kennedy. The two men hunting you are looking for a single female travelling alone, not a female travelling with her brother.”
“Is this the first time you’ve told someone you were travelling with your sister since arriving here?” she asked, curious to know the answer.
“No. I told a woman who tried getting in my pants at the drugstore.” When he saw her shocked expression, he laughed, moving her along the sidewalk to head back to the cabin.
Back at the cabin, Kennedy plugged in her cell phone to charge while she packed.
She wanted to see if there were any messages from her boss.
She was hoping they’d given up. Rolling all the clothes, she crammed them into a small backpack Cree gave her.
She could see him outside on the phone and wondered if he was talking to her brother.
Knowing he needed to have a backup plan, Cree called the Minnesota chapter’s President. If they ran into bad weather on the way to Rochester, Magnus would give them shelter. Listening to the phone ring, he hoped he wasn’t waking the brother.
“Hello?”
“Magnus, it’s Cree from Montreal.”
“It’s been a minute, nomad.”
“No shit.”
“What’s got you calling me?”
“I’m in South Dakota, picking up Player’s little sister. She’s got herself in a jam.”
“Anything we can help with?”
“We’ll be running through your area, heading into Rochester tonight. I was hoping if we run into any problems . . .”
“Say no more. The door’s always open for a brother.”
“It’s appreciated. I’ll call if I’m headed your way.”
“Safe travels.”
Hanging up, Cree headed inside to check on Kennedy. “Hey, you packed?” he asked while walking back into the cabin.
Glancing around, she grabbed her phone and the charger, tossing it in the bag.
“All packed.” Tossing the backpack to Cree, she watched him head outside to pack the saddle bag.
She took one more look around. In the bathroom, she found her ruined work clothes on the floor.
Scooping them up, she carried them outside and tossed them in the trashcan.
She wouldn’t need them where she was going.