19. Toren
Toren
Ididn’t mind sharing a tent. What I minded was everything else about the situation, but Deke probably already knew that.
“We’ll be good, so long as whoever’s with us knows how to behave.” I speared Deke, then Vic with a look. Based on what I’d seen so far of Toby, I didn’t feel like he’d give us much grief.
Deke simply raised an eyebrow, then turned to Vic. “You choose who babysits.”
Vic held up his hands. “Not me. I want my beauty sleep.”
“All right, then, Toby—you’re up.”
Shoulders tight, the man nodded. “I’ll put their stuff in my tent.” Toby turned and wandered off.
Since we had little else to do, and I knew he needed to keep us alive for the time being, I asked the question that had been rattling around in my mind. “How long have you been up here, running this sort of operation?”
Lana went still beside me.
Both of Deke’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a bold question.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a bold person.” I nodded toward the processing area. “That’s an efficient setup, and you seem to know the area.”
He didn’t answer, but the curious set to his brows told me he was thinking about it, so I kept going.
“This country gets more traffic every year. Game officers, outfitters, sport hunters. Hard to stay invisible.”
“Not if you know what you’re doing.”
“Clearly. Must be lucrative for you to test your luck like that, though.”
“There’s no luck involved. I grew up near here. I’ve been walking these mountains since I was a toddler and hunting almost as long.”
“Why poach, though?” Lana asked. “If you’re that experienced, why not run guided hunts, like Toren does? They pay well.”
“Sweetheart, do you know what some animal parts fetch on the black market?”
She shook her head.
“Thousands. Plus, I don’t have to deal with whiny hunters who don’t know the butt of the gun from their ass.”
He wasn’t wrong there. Sometimes, I wished the hunters weren’t part of the deal. But I couldn’t fathom poaching as a job. Hunters were supposed to be stewards of animal welfare, not indiscriminate killers only out for what they could get from the animal.
“You know, this will catch up with you, eventually,” I said. “The game wardens in this area are top-notch. An operation like this”—I nodded to the workspace—“won’t just vanish without a trace. One day soon, they’ll come across your handiwork and then it’s game on.”
Deke cocked his head. “That a warning?”
“An observation.” I met his eyes. “I’m not in a position to warn anybody of anything right now.”
His soulless eyes held my gaze for a long moment. I stared back, refusing to blink.
“No, you’re not.” He turned to Vic. “Take the woman and get firewood.”
Lana sat up. “What? I’d rather stay here.”
Deke speared her with a quick look. “I’m sure you would.” He turned to Vic and tipped a finger at the trees.
Vic got up and took a step toward us.
I rose and stood in front of Lana.
“McCrae, sit down.” Deke sighed. “As you said, you’re not in a position to do much right now.”
Ignoring him, I kept my gaze focused on Vic, who had paused a few feet away.
I might not be able to stop Deke from ordering us around, but I could offer them all a reminder that I wouldn’t go quietly into the night.
“She comes back unharmed and untouched, or there won’t be enough bullets in your rifles to stop me from lopping off your favorite appendage and ramming it down your gullet. ”
A slight widening of Vic’s eyes was the only indication he gave that my words affected him. He stepped to the side to see around me. I let my gaze slide past him to Toby, who stood at the edge of the tent circle, watching. The man met my stare, but I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“Do you have gloves?” Vic asked Lana.
I glanced over my shoulder at her as she got up. Her eyes found mine. Hesitation pinched the fine lines around them. She was unsure whether to follow Deke’s instructions.
I nodded once. Crippled and held at gunpoint or not, they wouldn’t hurt her so long as I was alive.
She took her gloves from her pockets, giving them a little wave.
“Let’s go, then.”
“I might fry it first, too,” I called as he led her away.
Deke chuckled, low. “And people call me a psycho.”
My gaze swung to him. I was unamused. Rage boiled just below the surface of my control.
I knew tonight—or one night very soon—my mind would pull out the reasons why I was so protective and smack me over the head with them, but for now my conscious mind was content not to know and just act.
“You asked earlier about whether I was making threats. I wasn’t then, but I am now.
You don’t want to meet me if you or your men hurt her. ”
Some of the cockiness faded from Deke’s demeanor, and a more contemplative look crossed his face, a small vee forming between his brows as he held my gaze. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I wouldn’t hold back the devil inside if they tested me.
“She’s safe,” Deke finally said. “For now.” His expression turned hard again. “Now sit down.”
Slowly, and maintaining eye contact, I lowered myself onto the log again.
A tense thirty minutes passed until Vic returned with Lana in tow, the two of them hauling a tarp filled with wood across the ground.
As she came closer, I scanned her from head to toe. Minus some wispy hairs out of place, she looked just like she did when she left.
Her gaze met mine after she dropped the tarp and walked away from it. Annoyance flashed through her pretty hazel eyes, but no fear or anger.
She marched across the small clearing to stop in front of Toby. “Where are our bags?”
He startled and stared up at her for a second, then pointed, wordlessly, at the far tent.
Spinning on her heel, she stormed away.
I frowned. What was she doing? Did she hurt herself and I just didn’t see it?
The slow burn of anger erupted in my gut, and I rose from my seat, eyes locked on Vic. “What did you do?”
He held up his hands. “Not a damn thing. I didn’t touch her. I swear.”
Deke raised a hand. “Stay.” He turned to the tents. “Lana, darling, you’ve set off your dog.”
Rustling came from in the tent, then the swish of zippers.
I tipped my head. What was she doing? “Lana?”
“Hold your horses,” she said, her voice muffled.
Moments later, she emerged, holding three MREs, a pot, our utensils, and our water bottles. Glaring at Deke, she marched past him to the fire. “I’m starving. I don’t care if you planned to let us eat or not. Try and stop me.”
He sighed. “You two are more trouble than you’re worth. Careful. I might not need you once I get the coordinates from your pilot.”
“Walker won’t let you on board if we’re not there.” She looked at him askance. “He doesn’t know you, and you show up where his friends are supposed to be?” She scoffed. “That’s a red flag. He’ll just take off again and radio search and rescue to come get you. The man isn’t dumb.”
Cracking open her water, she dumped the contents into the pot and set it by the fire before rising and waving the now empty bottle. “Where can I get more water?”
I smothered a smile, glad to see our predicament hadn’t quelled her sass or her “I-don’t-give-a-shit” attitude.
“We have a jug in Vic’s tent.” Toby got up and walked over. “I’ll fill it for you.”
The first genuine smile I’d seen from her all day crossed her face. “Thank you.”
Color stained the young man’s cheeks. He nodded, taking the bottle before turning away.
Deke didn’t stop us as Lana reconstituted the MREs. Nor did he stop her when she took one to Dustin. The man took it eagerly and practically inhaled it.
My jaw worked. It appeared as though they hadn’t been feeding him.
The justice system wasn’t good enough for these three.
Aches and pains set in as we sat. Moving had kept my sore body limber, and the lack of mobility now was making me stiff. Pain medication would help, but it was in my bag in the tent. I’d try to take some once Deke allowed us to go to bed.
Trying not to think about the throbbing in my ankle and hand or the stiffness in my ribs, I took in every detail of the camp I could, including where I thought it was.
While we walked up the mountain and into this valley, I’d kept a visual map in my head of the terrain and the directional changes we made.
When we got out of this, I wanted to be able to lead the authorities back here to gather evidence.
Hours passed in slow motion. I let my mind wander.
Cara’s face floated through my mind.
I knew thoughts of her were inevitable. She’d been circling at the back of my mind since Lana drove up my driveway and squared off with me in her fancy boots.
Watching Lana cross the camp today, like there was no gun, no way for it to go sideways and it was just something that needed doing, so she was going to do it, had apparently loosened the reins I had on my memories.
Cara would have done the same thing.
The sound of her laugh filled my head, like music.
God, I missed that sound.
Shifting, I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, and pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, pushing back the burn of tears. That’s enough of that.
Getting emotional over my dead wife wouldn’t help anything. Not in this situation. Plus, I’d long-ago cried all the tears I could over her. That well should be dried up and dusty.
Lana readjusted her seat on the log, brushing my shoulder.
A quick zip of need shot through me. Guilt followed close on its heels.
My jaw clenched, and I fought the urge to get up and pace. I shouldn’t feel any sense of guilt for finding Lana attractive. Cara had been gone for six years. Our vows were until death do us part, not, until death comes for us both.
Besides, I never intended to act on my feelings for Lana.
I hadn’t been a monk since Cara died, but I also didn’t mix emotions with sex anymore.
With Lana, I’d never be able to separate the two, and I refused to let someone into my heart again.
Cara’s death about took me out with it. I didn’t want to live through that again.
I forced my mind onto boring thoughts, like my schedule and how I would need to cancel some tours, and who I’d be making it up to by foisting my clients off on them, so they didn’t lose the money from their plane tickets and other travel costs.
The moment my ankle was well enough, I’d be back out on the mountain. Sitting around with my chickens didn’t pay the bills.
Finally, Deke stood and stretched. “I think it’s time to turn in. Let’s take a trip into the woods for a potty break, and we can all get some sleep.”
Never again would I take a bathroom with a door for granted. I was sure Lana wouldn’t, either.
Once we’d all taken a trip behind a bush, we returned to camp. Deke and Vic ducked into their tents without a word. Toby held the tent flap open to his and waved us inside. I waited for Lana and Dustin, noting that the latter looked ready to keel over with every step.
Inside, I took a quick inventory of the space. Three bedrolls with sleeping bags were set up on three of the four walls. The fourth was bare floor with a balled-up sweatshirt and a thin blanket.
I frowned. “Is that where he’s been sleeping?” I turned to Toby.
The man’s jaw worked, then he nodded.
My eyes narrowed. I looked at Dustin. “You’ll take Lana’s sleeping bag. She and I can share.”
Dustin cast a quick glance at Toby. Our captor just sat down on his own bedroll in front of the doorway and took off his boots.
“Are you sure?” Dustin asked, uttering the first words I’d heard from him all day.
“Absolutely,” Lana said. “You can even use my backpack as a pillow, if you want.”
A watery shimmer appeared in his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Get some rest.” She reached out and skimmed his forearm with her fingers.
The tent was small. Four people made it smaller.
Dustin practically dove into the sleeping bag after he kicked his boots off and had zipped himself inside within seconds.
Lana and I were a little slower, removing not only our boots but our jackets, too, arranging them on her side to use as a pillow.
She climbed into the sleeping bag, tucking herself against the side to make room for me. Like last night, I wiggled in beside her and zipped us in, then rolled to face her.
Neither of us said a word. Her breath fanned over my neck, warming the air between us.
I shut my eyes and pictured my calendar, mentally moving things around.
Her fingers found my shirt and curled into it. “Toren.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Yeah?” I breathed.
She didn’t respond. Not in words. Tipping her head in, she tucked it into the crook of my neck.
My arms went around her, needing the physical touch as much as she did. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but I’d do whatever I could to get us—Dustin included—out of this alive.