Quinn I (Undaunted Men #1) (30 page)
I hope what I’m doing is the right thing, because now is not the time to second-guess myself. Who confiscates a phone from someone they’ve just met? That alone gives me goose bumps, and not in a good way, and when I’d asked him to give it back, he’d said no. There’s something he’s hiding, something he’s not telling me, and my intuition is screaming out at the top of her lungs
for me to run.
Something cold and wet nudges against the side of my face, and for the third time in a row, I swat at the nuisance to get it to stop. I’m pretty sure it’s Kimber who’s harassing me.
Why the hell is she bugging me?
She’s never done this before unless she has to go outside in the middle of the night to pee, but she’s got an entire forest at her disposal.
She pokes me again with her nose, and I’m growing angry. I’m having the most restful sleep I’ve had in years. I don’t remember the last time I’ve slept so soundly. She prods at me again, and I grunt in irritation for her to go away. Not giving up, she then paws at my arm, scratching me hard with her nails.
That did it. “Dammit, dog,” I growl, half asleep. I wake up enough to push her away as I tell her, “Leave me the hell alone.” I roll over to get away from her then wrap my arm around Lexi so I can feel her body pressed against mine. Except for one small problem: my hand never meets the curvy resistance I was expecting. My hand lands on the flat, hard space beside me. My brows pinch together in confusion, and then I remember she got up at one point to go to the bathroom.
“Lexi,” I gruffly call out into the dark night, my eyes half closed. Kimber licks the side of my face, and I lift my arm to shield myself from getting slobbered on. “Dammit, Kimber,” I grumble. “Lexi!” I call out her name louder this time with irritation, and still, there’s no answer. I reluctantly pull myself out of the sleepy haze I'm in to find Kimber prancing in front of me, whining. My forehead wrinkles, because something feels off.
I sit up to try to clear my head, and then call out her name using the deep timber of my voice. “Lexi? Where are you?”
Kimber stays still as a statue except for her tail as she waits for me to discover what it is she’s been trying to tell me all along; Lexi’s been gone too long.
I listen for sounds, but the only thing I hear are the usual crickets and the occasional owl hooting off in the distance. Something isn’t settling right in my gut. I'm in this drowsy stupor, and I can’t seem to process anything. My head feels fuzzy as fuck. I thread my fingers through my hair and press my hands against the sides of my skull, thinking that’ll fix the haze I’m in, but it doesn’t. Knowing I need to start moving, I blindly fish around the side of my sleeping bag, searching for my camo pants while willing myself to wake up.
“You got something to tell me, girl?” I ask Kimber as I slowly slip out of my sleeping bag. The warmth quickly escapes from the confines of the bag, dissipating into thin air as the chilly mountain air permeates my skin, giving me goosebumps. A shiver rolls through me, but I think the cold air does me some good, helping me to wake up. I quickly slip on my pants and then grab the flashlight I keep beside me. I click it on, shining the light around as I stand up in search of my boots. Remembering I left them beside Lexi’s boots last night, I turn around. As I shine the light on them, I discover something worse: her backpack is gone.
“What the fuck?” I whisper into the dead of night. I stand here stunned for a moment, because I sure as hell wasn’t expecting this. I can’t believe she left me. Kimber puts herself in front of me and hunches down on her front legs, sticking her ass in the air, and then barks at me to get my attention.
“Just what the Hell is going on, girl?” I ask Kimber half panicked. These are the times I wish she could talk. I fumble for my boots, and then work to get them on as fast as possible being careful to lace them up right. I’ve always had the ability to roll out at a second’s notice, except I don’t feel so spry.
Did she drug me?
I dismiss the thought just as soon as I think it; it’s inconceivable.
I can recognize the second my adrenaline kicks in, clearing my head, and I begin to move faster. A feeling of dread washes over me, and the warning of danger hits me at full force. I worry for her safety. I slap the side of my pants, making sure my pocketknife is where it should be, and then I grab my gun.
What the fuck was she thinking?
“Kimber, you know which way she went? You ready to do some tracking, girl?” She twirls around in a circle then barks at me, ready to roll out. With it being dark, I don’t want to lose sight of Kimber, so I keep her on a short leash and let her guide me. I take off at a half run, shining the flashlight in front of us to keep from stumbling in the dark.
I don’t know how long of a head start she got on us, but I do know her tracks are fresh, because Kimber knows exactly where she wants to go. Lexi’s father is going to hang my ass if I lose her. She’s obviously hiding something more than she’s told me, otherwise, why would she have left me? This makes no sense, because I know we have some unspoken bond going on between us. Whatever her reason, it has to be pretty bad for her to have done this to me. I pace myself, controlling my breathing as both Kimber and I keep a steady pace.
My eyes and ears are on high alert for anything that might clue me in to her whereabouts, but, of course, that’s hard to do when your heart is beating loudly in your ears, along with my heavy weight snapping twigs and crunching leaves underfoot. I’m really relying on Kimber’s awesome nose. I have no choice, and as fast as we’re going, my peripheral vision is a blur.
It’s times like these that I’m thankful for keeping my body in tiptop shape. Of course with the amount of adrenaline circulating through me right now, I feel like I could run a marathon. There’s no way, she could’ve run for any length of time, not with her backpack on, so I’m hoping we’re getting close.
I think we’ve been darting and skirting around trees and shrubs for almost five minutes before I hear a loud, piercing scream filtering through the forest trees. It's the kind of scream that echoes in my head, and sends chills down my spine. That’s Lexi wailing; I’d know those vocal cords anywhere. My pace picks up as does my heart rate.
I hear her scream again, and I'm almost frantic inside. I've never lost my shit during any of my missions. I've always been cool-headed, but this is Lexi, and she's my woman. Her scream is not like when she encounters a bug, or even a snake. This is a bone-chilling scream, expressing extreme distress and fear. At this point, I can’t seem to get to her fast enough, but I know Kimber is hot on her trail, because when Lexi screams for a third time, it’s much closer. I see a light flickering through the leaves of the trees, and I freeze when I realize she’s not alone. I hear a deep voice yell out into the thick of the night, with a harshness that makes even me shudder, “Shut the fuck up, bitch.” A resounding slap follows, and I know she's been struck hard. I'm close enough to hear her respond in a whimper-cry of torment and despair. She's in serious danger, and there's no telling how much or what she's already suffered. I die a little on the inside, praying I'm not too late.
What would be a true J.C. Cliff novel if I didn’t leave you hanging on a Cliff?
I have to live up to my name after all.
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