Chapter 7
Seven
“H ow far could she have gotten? This forest is fucking huge.” Gage and Stone had been walking back on the trail for at least ten minutes.
“We need to head south another kilometer. I think it’s right around there that she veered off the path.” Gage held onto his phone like it was keeping his blood circulating through his body. “I don’t know what they were thinking, leaving her out here on her own. What if she’s hurt?”
“It’s not their fault. The girls were just listening to Sloane. We’ve tracked harder targets than her through worse terrain than this. And with way less information. You’ve basically got a map right there that’s going to lead us to her.”
Gage nodded in agreement. They had. But Sloane wasn’t a target. She was their friend. The stakes felt so fucking high because of that.
They kept their heads down, both men sweeping the area with harsh gazes. If something so much as moved with the breeze, Gage was on it. But nothing turned out to be Sloane.
“Gage.” Stone’s hand slammed into his chest. He was about to grumble about it when he followed the line of sight to where Stone’s finger was pointing.
His heart jumped. Sloane was resting with her back against the trunk of a tree, her left wrist cradled gently against her body. Oh shit, her legs were bloody. Fuck she was hurt!
“Sloane!” he called out, running towards her.
Her eyes were wide, bouncing all around him unfocused, as his legs slammed into the ground next to her.
“Red? What the hell happened?”
“No. No… I’m not going back!!” She scrambled, her feet slipping out from underneath her. Fuck. Her breathing was too fast. He’d seen it before, and the way Sloane looked, the way she was reacting, he knew she wasn’t in the woods with them. She was lost to some other place. Some place where something bad had happened to her.
“Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself more.” Her feet still kicked out, trying to gain traction as Gage reached to stabilize her. His only thought was to stop the thrashing movement before she hurt herself more than she already was.
“Whoa. I’ve got you.” His hands wrapped around her upper arms and Sloane screamed.
* * *
“G-get away. Get away from me!”
She couldn’t breathe.
“You’re okay. You’re okay. Can you look at me?”
“No… No… you have to stay back. Please, please don’t touch me.”
“Okay. I won’t touch you. I’m just going to sit down here across from you, okay?” Her eyes darted around the forest. What was this? Had she found help? How long had she been walking? How far away from the cave was she? Her head felt foggy and the panic made her feel like she was going to pass out.
There were a million places he could be hiding. He was there, watching her. Stalking her. Working through his plan to take her. Her breathing sped up as dangerous, dark circles filled her vision. He was going to take her back. She wasn’t safe.
“Breathe. Please, just breathe.” The gentle voice around her repeated. Over and over until she forced herself to follow the command.
Sloane placed her hand at her neck, over the necklace. She hadn’t had that before. That meant something important, she just couldn’t remember what. Her fingers slowly inventoried her body. She was still wearing a shirt. The feeling of the smooth fabric grounding her a little bit more into reality. He wouldn’t have let her be dressed. If it was really him, she wouldn’t be wearing clothes.
“I’m not going to touch you, but can you take a deep breath for me? I know it’s hard, Sloane, but we need to get your breathing calmed down. You’re going to hyperventilate and I don’t want you to pass out.”
Sloane.
The voice surrounding her sounded so normal. So kind. And there was no way he would ever use that name. Her head felt a little less like it was under water. She forced her eye up off the ground, hating that her body was screaming at her to get away.
She blinked. Gage. And not too far behind him was Stone. She wasn’t in Ashwood Falls. She wasn’t back there.
His sparkling chestnut eyes were staring at her, filled with so much concern it made her want to set the tidal wave of pressure behind her heart free. She forced air into her chest, allowing herself the first full breath she’d had since her mind pulled her back.
But then she heard another twig snap, and she knew she had to get out of there. Because he was back, and he was going to come after her.
“He’s here. He’s going to take me back…” she whispered.
Gage’s head whipped up, looking in the distance over her shoulder. “Someone was out here with you? They hurt you? Is that why you’re holding your wrist?”
Right. Her wrist. She’d fallen and then her imagination got the best of her. Embarrassment burned through her veins as she shook her head.
“Oh god. I’m not making sense, I’m sorry. I fell. I-I’m fine. Just got turned around and tripped over a tree root. I’m really fine though. I’m fine. And we need to get back.”
She lifted her eyes and forced herself to focus on the warmth coming from Gage. Even though they weren’t touching, it was rolling off him in waves. And she was desperate to soak up as much of it as she could.
“Okay. I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere just yet. Are you, Stone?”
“Nope. We can stay here for a minute. But I would like to get a better look at that cut on your leg, when you’re up to it, Sloane.”
“Gage, I?—”
“Will you take a couple deep breaths with me, Red?”
She sat still for a moment before finally nodding. Her eyes dropped to Gage’s chest, where he drew in an exaggerated breath, and held it, clearly waiting for her to follow. So she did. Over, and over again until her racing heart calmed down.
“Feeling better?”
Sloane finally dared to look at his face. She was ready for the onslaught of questions she could see forming in his eyes. But none of them came.
“Can I take a look?” he asked gently.
She shook her head, letting the wall that had always protected her in the past fall back into place. There was a part of her brain that was screaming at her to let Gage help, but the fear was still too powerful.
“Maybe in a minute?” She could hear the hope in his voice, but there was no way she could let him touch her. It was all too much. “Stone, can you send a message to everyone and let them know we found her?”
Oh, god. There was that red hot embarrassment creeping back up her neck.
“Red? Did you hear me?”
“Sorry, no.”
“Do you think you can walk?”
“I’m fine,” she snapped. Shit, her emotions were all over the damn place. Her skin still felt too tight. Her body ached from the drop in adrenaline and all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed.
“Okay. Here’s some water.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a steel bottle. When he handed it to her, the top was already off and ready for her to take a sip.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You know, if you wanted to give me a heart attack, you didn’t have to go venturing off in the woods all by yourself to do it. Could have just flirted with Hawk in front of me.”
She fought the smile that was tugging at the corner of her mouth. The smile faded instantly when she thought about Gage and Stone having to trudge through the woods to find her. “I feel so bad. I didn’t mean to make you have to come out here.”
“What happened? Lily and Mae said you took a call from a patient.”
She nodded. “I had a client in distress. He called me, and I just wandered as he talked to me. Should have been paying better attention to my surroundings.”
“Yeah, you should have. We’re lucky I was paying attention when you didn’t cross with the last people,” Gage grumbled. “A minute ago you mentioned someone else being out here with you. Did you see someone?”
“No,” she groaned. “This is so embarrassing. I thought I heard… A twig snapped behind me and I thought someone was there. My imagination just got the best of me. Can we start walking back?”
“Not yet. Finish that water first.” He pointed to the bottle in her hand and she forced herself to take another sip. “So you felt like someone was there? Watching, or following you?”
She paused, hating the way her mouth instantly went dry and her stomach wanted to heave. “Yes.”
“Do you think it could have been that client you dismissed?”
“David? No. I mean, I hadn’t considered it, but it’s not likely that he knew I’d be here today.”
“But he could have.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess anything is possible.”
“We’ll look into it. Now, do you think you could let Stone take a look at your wrist and your legs? It looks a bit swollen and I just want to make sure none of those scratches are going to give you any problems.”
She hesitated. Stone stepped closer, getting down on the same level as Gage.
“How about I start by looking at your legs. I won’t touch you, Sloane, okay? I just need to see what we’re working with.”
“Thank you,” she barely got the words out.
“It’s not a problem. Just stretch them out for me whenever you’re ready and we’ll go from there.”
Sloane winced as she tried to get her body to relax enough to pull her legs out from underneath her. After a little maneuvering, she got there, and Stone did just as he promised. Neither of them were making her feel uncomfortable.
“Shit. I don’t like how this cut looks. I’m sorry, Sloane, but I’m going to need to put some bandages on your legs. I think this one deeper cut needs some wound closure strips. And I need to clean it out before we move you.”
“Move me?”
“I’m sorry,” Stone had a forlorn look on his face. “I think it’s best if we get the wound tended to and then either Gage or I carry you back. We need to be careful not to reopen it. I think walking on it just isn’t the right call. I’m going to apply the strips now. I’ll be quick.”
“Shit,” she hissed as Stone flushed the scrapes with some sort of antiseptic fluid.
“Sorry, Sloane.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’m sure I look like a wreck, but I’m stronger than you’d think.” She tried not to wince as Stone pulled her skin together and secured the first bandage strip over it. “I didn’t even feel it before.”
“Adrenaline can really mess with your body.”
“Yeah.”
“Red, can I ask you something?” Gage’s voice was so quiet, she’d barely heard the question. Stone looked away, rummaging through his backpack.
“Okay.”
He hesitated. “Is it all touch, or is it just skin to skin contact?”
“It’s all touch,” she whispered, praying he wouldn’t ask her why.
Gage stood, taking a step back as Stone finished with her leg.
“Hey, Doc. Slip off your sweatshirt for me.” Gage pulled his own jacket off his body, and Sloane’s eyes lingered on the way his shirt underneath formed to his muscles. He cleared his throat, a smile on his face as she met his eyes and felt her cheeks growing warm. He’d caught her checking him out. Good lord, she just wanted the day to be over.
In one quick motion, Gage slipped his jacket around her back, helping her get her good arm into the sleeve.
“Be careful of your wrist. Go slow,” he directed.
“Who’s the doctor here?” she teased, sinking into the warmth that the jacket provided. Gage took Stone’s sweatshirt from him, placing it under her legs. She must have given him a questioning look because he just smiled before sliding his hands under her legs and behind her back. Before she could protest, she was up in the air in Gage’s steady hold.
“I’m sorry for this,” he whispered into her ear. “But I’ve got you now. I’ll make sure you get back safe. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thank you,” she said, exhaustion washing over her. The motion of Gage’s strides through the woods, and the warmth his hold wrapped around her was making her sleepy. She would normally fight it, the deep desire to rest her head down on his shoulder. To try and trust again. But with Gage, she was starting to see it was a losing battle. Because she knew he kept his promises, and she knew that he’d keep her safe.