Rattled (26 page)

Erin raised a hand and stroked his cheek. “Drew? I do like this, but....”

“I know, we don’t have time. Camie’s in trouble.” He released Erin and gestured toward the clothes.

Erin raised her eyebrows at the boxer shorts. “Yours?” Drew nodded and she smiled. “Good.” The boxers hung low on her hips, and Drew bit back a groan. She looked damn cute. She quickly tugged on the rest of the clothes. “Is there anyone else here who can help?”

Drew cleared his throat but his voice still sounded husky. “Just a bunch of administrators from the college. They started on the tour and I’m not sure where they are right now.” Erin fumbled with the buttons on the flannel shirt, so he started buttoning it for her. “Holed up in one of those buildings, I imagine. We’d waste time trying to find them and explain. Besides, dragging more people out there might cause more confusion.”

He studied Erin. She looked better, but she still had dark circles under her eyes, and the way she had fumbled with her buttons couldn’t entirely be explained by the finger splint. She needed to go to bed and sleep for a couple of days. He wanted her tucked away someplace safe. Yet he wanted to keep an eye on her and hated the thought of leaving her alone, even if logically she’d be safer there.

But was he asking too much? “You can stay here if you want. Call the police and try to get some backup. You’ve been through a lot.”

She stared at him without answering, and Drew could see the struggle inside her. Finally she said, “I need to go back. I can’t wait here and not know.... Please.”

Drew squeezed her arms, surprised at the pleasure that flooded through him. He wanted her beside him. And he realized he trusted her to do her part—to be a help, rather than a hindrance, in a rescue mission. “Then let’s go get Camie.”

Erin rinsed off her boots and put them on while Drew gathered supplies. Part of her wanted to just stay there, fall asleep and not wake up until the whole thing was over. But she wouldn’t be able to rest until she knew Camie was okay. She told herself she’d made the right decision in leaving, getting help. She told herself she’d needed the hot shower and dry clothes in order to keep functioning. But still guilt pulsed through her. What if they were hurting Camie right now? What if Erin had wasted too much time? She should have ridden the horse faster, kept control of him when they got out of the canyon. And how much time had she wasted showering and kissing Drew? Maybe only 10 minutes—but what if those 10 minutes counted?

She put a hand on her stomach and slowly realized the dull ache there came partly from hunger. She had no idea what time it was. It couldn’t possibly be as late as it felt, despite the dark skies and all that had happened, but her stomach was reminding her that she hadn’t yet had lunch. She glanced around the small office and homed in on a flimsy box with a cellophane panel in the top, sitting next to the coffee maker. She pounced and discovered half a maple bar and an old-fashioned glazed. She started shoving the donut in her mouth while she poured coffee with her other hand and added three heaping spoonfuls of sugar. The thick black brew looked disgusting, but she wanted the caffeine.

“Ready?” Drew asked from behind her.

Erin downed the coffee and turned, wiping her mouth across her sleeve. At Drew’s amused look, she said, “What? I was hungry.”

“I’ll bet.” He took her hand and sucked donut glaze off her fingers. “Mmm, maple.”

Erin felt the heat shoot straight to her belly, but Drew was already turning away. She shook her head to clear it and followed him.

They ran through the rain to the hangar and ducked in a side door. Drew flipped on the lights and started doing a quick safety check of the helicopter. Erin watched him, admiring his competence. She didn’t think of herself as the kind of woman who wanted to be rescued, but it sure felt good to have Drew take charge. Not because he was a man, but because of the kind of man he was—someone she could count on in a crisis. Erin had run out of steam, and if she thought too hard about Camie stuck with those goons and Tiger smashing into the cliff, she knew she’d cry.

He hauled up the hangar door. Water still trickled off the roof and splashed into the hangar, but the rain had turned to a drizzle and Erin realized she hadn’t heard thunder in several minutes. Drew pushed the helicopter out of the hangar and then released it from the rolling unit. “Go on out,” he said. “I’ll get the lights and close the door.”

Erin started to pass by, then paused and put a hand on his arm. “Whatever happens, I want to say thank you.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You barely know me, and I’ve dumped all this trouble on you. You believed me. You’re risking yourself to help. And you’re not expecting me to stay behind and wait.”

He brushed a thumb along her lower lip. “Camie’s your best friend. Of course you have to go help her.” He leaned in for a kiss, soft and gentle. “You see, I do know you.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead. “Anyway, I admire strong women. Now let’s go.”

He headed for the light switch. Erin stood near the open doorway, watching him as rain splashed at her boots. She’d never thought of herself as a particularly strong woman. She did what she was supposed to do, or what she had to do to get by. But the last week had thrown one disaster after another at her. She’d kept going even when she wanted to quit. She thought if she had known everything that would happened, was still happening, she’d have been too overwhelmed to act. But she’d gotten this far facing challenges one at a time. She wouldn’t look too far ahead. They had to get through the storm, back to Camie. Giving up wasn’t a choice; she just had to do it. Drew believed in her, and that helped. Even better, this time, she wasn’t alone.

She smiled at Drew as he came back toward her. Then she ran through the rain and climbed into the helicopter. Erin felt like an old pro as she buckled herself in and settled her headset in place. Drew started the helicopter and they rose slowly. “I’m going to keep close to the ground,” he said. “No need to go up and attract lightning any more than we have to. Fortunately the storm seems to be fading now. I just hope we don’t have to fly farther into it.”

Rain still splattered the windshield but without much force. Still, weather moved from west to east, and they had to head east. Would they catch the storm? Erin realized she was clenching her hands when her broken finger started to complain. She forced herself to loosen her grip. She trusted Drew. She knew accidents happened even when you were competent and safe—and their actions were hardly safe. But to rescue Camie, she’d take a chance.

They flew down the main street and out of town, skimming over the wet desert floor. The sky was still gray, but the clouds were higher. They could see east across the desert to where the clouds still piled up, dark and heavy. The storm light added an odd green cast to the reddish ground below. Lightning flashed in jagged streaks across the bank of clouds, briefly turning the gunmetal gray to white. An echoing electric shiver ran down Erin’s spine. The lighting was so beautiful from a distance. So deadly up close.

What would happen if lightning hit the helicopter? Would it fry them instantly? Or would they be insulated, so long as they weren’t touching the thin metal shell? She made sure she wasn’t touching the door, but what about the wires in the headset? What about all the controls Drew had to handle?

If lightning didn’t fry them, would it send them crashing to the ground? Could they survive a crash, if they were already close to the ground? Did the helicopter have one of those black box things, to help people find them? Drew was speaking into the headset, giving coordinates to some distant listener. At least someone would know where they went.

She had to stop thinking about crashing.

Erin stole a look at Drew. He definitely made a pleasant distraction. She felt steadier with him by her side. But this ride was only the first step. Erin couldn’t dump her problem in Drew’s lap and expect him to take care of everything. When they got back to Camie, they had to deal with the goons.

How could they rescue Camie? What if they couldn’t even find her? She shook her head. The men wouldn’t take her away. Not until they’d found the treasure cave. Would they hurt her if they thought she knew where it was and wasn’t telling? Erin felt the air backing up in her lungs. What if those men—

She blew out a long breath. She couldn’t think about that now. She remembered a saying, advice she’d heard for mothers with injured children. “Don’t bleed for the patient. Let him do his own bleeding and you do what you have to do.” Erin couldn’t help Camie by worrying. She had to let Camie fight whatever battle she was facing and concentrate on her own part.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, trying to control the whirling thoughts, the worries that pounded her from every side. She had to be strong enough.

“You okay?”

She opened her eyes. Drew was dividing his attention between her and the flight as they skimmed just feet over the desert. Erin nodded. “Just... trying to gather up my energy.” She smiled, not wanting to give him something else to worry about. He needed to concentrate on flying.

Erin leaned forward and looked out at the wet landscape. It looked soggy, with puddles in the low spots, but already the dry desert was soaking up the moisture. In a day or two, wildflowers would burst out, sprinkling the desert with color. Tomorrow things would be different. Erin held onto that thought. It might be beautiful tomorrow. They just had to survive to see it.

The helicopter jerked sideways and shook. Erin gasped and grabbed the edge of her seat. “Just the wind,” Drew said.

Of course. Huge commercial jets sometimes bumped and rocked in the wind. Obviously a helicopter would be more sensitive. They were only 20 feet above the ground. Could a hard gust smash them into the ground? Erin swallowed and reminded herself that she wasn’t going to worry about things she couldn’t control. She studied Drew’s face. He didn’t look worried, so she would try not to be. She would let him do his job. But she almost wished she were back on the horse, where she had a job to do. The waiting was in some ways harder.

“Almost there,” Drew said. “I want to land out of sight. One good thing about the storm, it will make it harder for them to hear us coming.”

Erin had to remind herself to keep breathing. As much as she wanted to be there, she wasn’t ready for the next step. She cleared her throat. “The grove of trees where we left our gear might hide us a little.”

“Good idea.” He ducked his head to glance out the side window up at the sky. “We’re out of the worst of the storm, so we don’t have to worry as much about lightning hitting the trees.”

Oh good, because Erin didn’t have room enough for any more worries. She leaned forward and peered through the gloom. “That’s it, I think.”

Drew angled the helicopter in the direction she pointed. A minute later they were landing in the trees. Erin took deep breaths, trying to fight back the nerves that made her limbs feel numb and threatened to gray her vision. The waiting was over. Now she had a job to do.

Drew shut down the helicopter, grabbed binoculars, and got out. Erin slid out on her side, holding onto the door until her legs felt steady. She joined Drew in the trees where he was already scanning the horizon with the binoculars.

“Anything?” Her voice sounded odd to her.

Drew didn’t answer. Erin wanted to snatch the binoculars and look for herself, but she knew that wouldn’t speed the process.

Finally he spoke. “There.” He passed her the binoculars. “Along the canyon rim, past that crevice. She looks all right.”

Erin had to see for herself. With Drew’s directions, she quickly spotted three figures in the distance, past the side canyon she’d fled up just hours before. The big man held The Finder and Camie walked close beside him. Erin couldn’t see her face, but at least she was alive and moving. The other man stayed 10 or 15 feet back, holding a sack in one hand, as they walked slowly along the main canyon rim.

“Hopefully they’ll keep heading away from us,” Drew said, “and not look around much. If we can get over to that crevice, we can duck out of sight. I can’t tell how deep it is. I remember flying over it, but I didn’t take a good look. Do you know what it’s like?”

“Yeah, I’ve been in there.” Erin didn’t want to describe her desperate scramble over boulders and past thorny bushes, trying to get away from the goon with the gun. “It’s not an easy path, but we can get through. It will be muddier now, though.”

“We’ll have to play it by ear. Let me get my gear and let’s go.”

He retrieved a bag from the helicopter and they started jogging across the desert. The mud sucked at their boots and several times Erin skidded in the slick muck. At least the rain had stopped—she even saw patches of blue sky overhead.

A couple of times Drew told her to duck, and they crouched. They didn’t have much cover, but in their drab clothes, hopefully the bad guys wouldn’t notice them. They reached the side canyon in about 10 minutes. Drew glanced down the slope. “Too steep here. We’ll have to go in from the end.”

Erin followed him, nervously watching the trio just a few hundred feet away. At any moment they could turn and see Erin and Drew. They neared the shallow end of the side canyon. Soon they’d be able to get down into it. Erin checked on the men again. They had stopped. Was Camie in trouble?