Chapter 5
WHIT
When I spotted Victoria standing next to a cave, I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
I had veered from my search grid a couple of hours ago when I found four sets of footprints that were too big to belong to her.
It looked as though she was being stalked through the wilderness by several men, and judging by the pattern of their tracks, they weren’t part of the search and rescue team sent up the mountain to find her.
Although I hoped like hell the men were hunters whose presence was a coincidence, the crisscrossing of their tracks with hers told a different story.
Not to mention my skepticism for coincidences.
As I continued to search for Victoria, I’d started to think I would find her dead body.
But there she was, alive and more gorgeous than her picture.
As I drew near, I noted the tension in her body and how wide her eyes were. Holding my hands up, palms out, I murmured, “You don’t need to be scared of me. I’m a part of the search-and-rescue team. Here to help get you off the mountain safe and sound.”
Her answering nod was jerky, and a muscle in her jaw jumped as she pressed her lips together. I figured she was too scared to talk, but she proved me wrong when I got within touching distance of her, and she sprang into action.
My damsel in distress packed one hell of a punch.
Literally and figuratively. Even covered in dirt, her blond hair tangled, dark smudges under her brown eyes, and with scratches on her cheeks, she was a knock-out.
And as fucked-up as it sounded, the right hook she aimed at my chin made her even more attractive to me.
I jerked my head back right before her fist made contact, so her blow barely skimmed over my jaw. Then I wrapped my fingers around her bicep and pulled her body against mine. Once I had her restrained so she couldn’t throw another punch, I murmured, “Easy, baby. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Let me go, then.”
The quiver in her voice and the stiffness in her curvy body made it clear that she didn’t believe me. “Your dad sent in the cavalry. Hooah.”
Her head jerked back, her eyes going wide in shock. “My dad got the Army to come look for me?”
“Not exactly.” I chuckled as I shook my head. “I figured the battle cry would be familiar to you since your father was in the Army.”
She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “And you just happened to be familiar with it?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I flashed her a smile. “I served in the Army for eight years.”
“Like the saying goes, ‘Once a soldier, always a soldier.’” The tension eased from her body, and she laughed softly. “So I was kind of right since my dad is the reason you’re out here searching for me.”
I inclined my head as I dropped my arms to my sides. “Fair point well made.”
She took a step back and heaved a deep sigh. “He’s going to have a lot to say about all the things I did wrong today. Starting with the fact that I didn’t have my sat phone with me when he drilled into my head that I should keep it with me at all times.”
I was about to ask her what had happened when I noticed a smear of blood on her right sleeve. Gently wrapping my fingers around her wrist, I lifted her arm to get a closer look. “We need to get this cleaned up.”
She scanned the tree line. “No, we need to get the heck out of here.”
I dug in one of my pockets for the small first-aid kit I’d stuffed in there before I left my mom’s house. “After I make sure that scratch isn’t going to get infected.”
She shook her head. “You can look at it later. It’s not safe here.”
Thinking about the tracks I’d followed, I figured she was afraid those men were going to come back. “Whoever was after you is long gone now.”
“Are you sure?” She looked toward the tree line again.
“I’m positive.” I led her over to a rock and kneeled in front of her after she sat down. “My military training was extensive. I know how to evade capture, and I can kill with my bare hands if necessary. On the off chance they decided to come back, we’d still be okay.”
“Keep your head on a swivel.” Her use of military slang made me grin. “Those guys weren’t happy about leaving me behind to make their getaway. I wouldn’t put it past them to come back.”
“Chasing after you now doesn’t make any sense. As soon as I radio in our location”—something that I should’ve done the moment I found Victoria, except I broke protocol because my reaction to her was one hell of a distraction—“this mountain can be swarming with law enforcement in minutes.”
“That’ll be useful if we bump into those guys again. They didn’t look comfortable in the wilderness, but they had a lot of firepower.” Her gaze dropped to my Beretta. “A lot more than the fifteen rounds in your gun.”
I was impressed by how much she knew about my semi-automatic pistol. “That’s pretty specific information for a weapon you can barely see.”
She shrugged, her gaze scanning the area again as she explained, “The M9 is my dad’s gun of choice, too.”
“That makes sense since the Army started using them in 1985.” I pulled out a few antiseptic wipes and a couple of bandages from the first-aid kit and set them next to her on the rock.
She jerked her chin toward the supplies. “Were you a Boy Scout, too?”
“No, the Army taught me to be prepared.” I ripped open one of the wipes and added, “Sounds like your dad learned the same lesson and passed it down to you.”
“Fat lot of good it did me,” she snorted with a rueful shake of her head.
“I failed at one of the biggest things he told me to do when I’m camping on my own—keep the sat phone on me at all times.
I ran into the guys after me while I was down by the stream about a hundred yards from my base camp.
As badly as I wanted that phone, I knew that going back there would up the odds of them finding me. So I stayed away.”
I’d been a damn good soldier. People spent a fuck ton of money to have me protect them.
I had seen a lot of fucked-up shit. I’d done some things that I wasn’t proud of.
But it was the thought of what could’ve happened to Victoria that was going to haunt me.
I finally understood why my friends had been out of their minds with fear when shit had gone down when they’d been falling in love, and I’d only met her five minutes ago. “Good call.”
Her head dropped low, and she stared at her hands. “Thanks.”
“Let’s get this off you,” I murmured as I started to tug her jacket off her shoulders
“Whoa, slow down there, soldier.” She shifted her body so the material stayed in place. “I don’t even know your name, and you’re already trying to undress me?”
I’d been starting to worry how she’d do now that the adrenaline from being chased had worn off, but her flash of sass reassured me that she was tougher than she looked. “Whit Baker.”
“Whit Baker.” She grinned up at me. “I like it.”
It was a good thing she didn’t hate my surname. I couldn’t shake the wild notion that she was going to share it at some point in the future. “Enough to let me tend to your wound?”
Her smile widened. “Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out.”
Once I got the scratch on her arm cleaned and bandaged, I checked the time and saw that we still had about three and a half hours of daylight. Plenty of time to safely get off the mountain.
“From what your dad told the sheriff, you’re accustomed to the outdoors.” Victoria nodded. “The Army made sure that I know how to survive in any terrain.”
Her brow wrinkled in confusion. “Okay?”
“What I’m saying is we can get out of here two ways.” I gestured toward the walkie-talkie clipped to my waist. “I can radio for a chopper to come get us at the nearest field that will work as a landing zone. Or if you’re comfortable with the hike, we can walk out of here together.”
She shuddered a little at my mention of a chopper. “I vote that we hike out, but I could use a snack before we go.”
I pulled a protein bar out of one of my pockets, and she practically drooled. “When’s the last time you ate anything?”
“I was rinsing off my breakfast dishes this morning when I ran into those guys.” As she ripped into the wrapper, her stomach growled.
“Sorry, baby.” I picked up my walkie-talkie again. “I’m calling for a helicopter so I can get you out of here without delay.”