22. Chapter 22 #3
Her breathing gradually slowed against my chest, and some of the tension left her body. Not much, but enough that my words were reaching her again instead of getting lost beneath everything screaming in her head.
As much as I wanted to keep her right where she was, we were still too close to the compound and far too exposed to stay beside the cliff.
I eased her back and searched her face. “We need to keep moving.”
She nodded.
I stood first, then took her hand and pulled her upright. Her knees wobbled, but she stayed on her feet.
“Do you know where we are?”
She drew a slow breath and turned toward the trees, then the cliff, piecing together the terrain around us.
“Not exactly.”
“Not the answer I was hoping for.”
“I know the area immediately around the finca,” she said. “The drainage channel and fence line we just came through, and some of the nearby properties. But I’ve never traveled this far from the finca on foot or gone this deep into the forest.”
I stared at her.
“You planned an escape without knowing where the mountain went?”
“I knew where it went on maps.”
“That’s reassuring.” I huffed a laugh.
Her eyes narrowed. “Well, I’m sorry my twenty-five years of imprisonment didn’t include practical field exercises.”
There she was.
“My mother taught me the terrain when I was young. Rafael told me where the roads and farms were, and I listened whenever Ciro’s men discussed the lower farms or nearby homes.
” She dragged the back of her other hand across her forehead.
“I read everything I could find, but reading a map inside my bedroom is not the same as standing here.”
“I understand. You did the best you could with what you had.”
“Good.” Her chin lifted a little. “Because I don’t remember any of the maps labeling that section Cliff likely to kill escaping daughter. Avoid if possible.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Would’ve been useful.”
“Extremely.” She rolled her eyes.
That little flash of attitude made me want to kiss her, which was inconvenient as hell at the moment.
Turns out, a woman rolling her eyes at me while covered in blood and standing a few yards from a fatal drop was exactly my type.
Good to know.
More importantly, there was my Mouse again. Rafael’s death was still crushing her, with the rest of the day piled on top of it. But the woman I’d come to know in that dungeon hadn’t disappeared.
I liked her far too much already.
I kept hold of her hand and studied the terrain downhill. The cliff forced us to the left, where the mountainside kept descending through denser forest.
“What do you remember the maps showing from here?”
“Several streams run toward lower farms. If we keep descending, eventually we should reach cultivated land that uses the water for irrigation.”
“That gives us a direction, but we don’t follow the streams too closely. If someone comes after us, they’ll be looking for the most logical route downhill too.”
Her expression sobered. “I’m sure Marcela will send someone, or Mateo will come himself.”
“If she can stand upright long enough to give the order, absolutely.”
A faint satisfaction crossed Isabella’s face.
I couldn’t blame her for that one.
“I don’t think Mateo will be going anywhere either.
I ruined his shooting arm. But between the two of them, they’ll get men after us as soon as they can.
” I glanced through the trees. The light was dimming fast beneath the canopy.
“We have maybe another hour of useful daylight, and I don’t fancy feeling our way down this mountain in the dark.
Too easy to miss another drop or put a hand on whatever unpleasant creature calls this place home. ”
Isabella glanced toward the forest. “There are venomous snakes and spiders.”
“Of course there are.”
She tried very hard not to find that funny.
“We move downhill but stay off the obvious paths,” I continued. “No roads, no lights, and no approaching houses until we have somewhere to disappear if the people inside decide they like cartel money more than strangers.”
“There are farms lower down. Someone will have a phone.”
“Someone probably will. The trick is finding someone who wasn’t paid by Ciro or whoever comes out on top after all this.”
“How will we know?”
“We won’t.” I gave her hand a small squeeze. “First we find somewhere concealed enough to get through the night. Tomorrow, when we can see where we’re going and I’m reasonably confident you won’t introduce me to another cliff, we’ll worry about finding a phone.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”
“Not a chance.”
I liked being able to get a rise out of her.
I gave her hand a tug and led her into the forest.
“No more running ahead,” I said.
“I believe I’ve demonstrated that I can walk without supervision.”
“You’ve demonstrated several things today. That one remains under review.”
Her fingers tightened around mine. “You’re very bossy.”
“Aye.”
“You say that as though you’re proud of it.”
“I’m holding your hand, and you’re still on the mountain. So far, I’m pleased with the results.”
I got the eye roll again.
Worth it.
We left the cliff behind and continued downhill together.