Page 67 of Valor

“We’ll go.”

George set off heading the way they came. The way back was much more treacherous, as it was ascending rather than descending. Allen’s muscles complained at the exertion. He’d be sore tomorrow. This wasn’t anything like the exercises he did to keep fit.

After a little while, Allen heard a soft moaning sound. With the rocks surrounding them, he couldn’t tell where the sound came from. Heather froze and held her arms wide.

“Do you hear that?”

George strode ahead, making up ground. Allen kept pace with Heather as she tried to keep up. George stopped and looked down into a crevice between two outcroppings.

“It’s coming from down there.”

He hadn’t finished the sentence before bullets exploded from the hole. George and Allen yanked Heather out of the way as they dove for cover. Heather screamed, and all Allen could see was the red patch blooming over her arm.

“We can’t go in there without help. I’ll get someone to keep watch. They have to come out sometime. When they do. We’ve got them,” George said, pulling out his radio.

CHAPTERSIX

It was only a scrape.Heather repeated the encouragement as she pressed the compress Allen had given her to the wound on her arm. She’d assumed it wouldn’t bleed as much as it had, but she was already feeling lightheaded and nauseous.

“You still with me?” His steady voice helped her focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

“Yes. Just keep pressing, like you told me.” She closed her eyes and thought back to the hidden crevice. That person groaning down there had to have been Dad. Who else could it be unless they were targeting multiple people?

“I’ve got a med kit back at my office unless you want me to take you all the way to Rapid City,” George glanced at them in the rearview mirror as he drove back toward the ranger station.

“I don’t want to go that far.” And she hoped she wouldn’t have to. The hospital would probably want to admit her, and they’d have to explain what happened. She wouldn’t be able to be there when they looked at the drive. “I’m going to be fine. It’s just a scratch.”

George snorted. “It was bleeding pretty good for a scratch.”

Heather swallowed a wave of nausea and rested her head on the backrest. Every other time these people had shot at her, they’d missed. Intentionally. Now she had a gash in her arm. A few inches over and it would’ve hit her heart. They’d either decided she wasn’t worth the trouble, or they had what they wanted without her.

“I know Dad didn’t know about the drive, so why would they try to kill me now? They need it. I know it’s crazy, but I expected them to keep missing.” Her arm throbbed a warning that she needed medical attention soon.

“At least they didn’t follow us as we left. At the time, I was most worried about that,” George spoke quickly.

Allen wrapped his arm around her back and nestled her to his side. He took the bandage from her and pressed it to the wound. “Rest. We’ll get you checked over at the station. If you need to go in, I will take you. No arguments.”

Heather snorted, not because she was one to argue but because he thought he could control her. Maybe he could though, because each breath made keeping her eyes open harder. Her arm quivered and she felt cold.

His words seemed to hang in her heart like a picture off-kilter on the wall. She couldn’t turn away from them. Why had she allowed herself to look at him like a friend when she knew to her core that he was a cop? He was married to his career. Nothing she or any other woman did would pull him away from that. Even if he did prove her wrong, Dad wouldn’t agree to any kind of relationship with him.

* * *

George glanced backat them from the front seat. “She might be going into shock after that walk. There’s a wool blanket behind you, in the rear.”

Allen couldn’t reach for it without reducing pressure on her arm, unless he unbuckled and straddled her so he could do both. That wasn’t a position he wanted her to find him in if she opened her eyes. He reached across her and held the bandage while stretching over the seat. He almost nuzzled her ear as he stretched. Even after hiking and landing on the ground a few times, she still smelled good.

He tucked the blanket around her and held her close again. If he remembered the route correctly, they would be back at the station in a few minutes. Two other ranger vehicles passed them, heading toward the area they’d left. George had been on the radio telling them where to go and what to expect from the moment they’d gotten far enough away to be sure they weren’t followed.

As they pulled into a parking spot behind the ranger station, a woman in uniform met them. “George, you have the injured woman?” She had a bag with her.

“Right here,” Allen called, motioning her to the back.

The woman opened the door and waited for Allen to get out so she could kneel on the seat and look at Heather. He knew most rangers had to have basic first aid knowledge. Some were basically the equivalent to nurses.

“She’s woozy, but the bleeding has already slowed. Let’s get her inside and clean it up. Looks like it just grazed her.”

“Thank God,” Allen offered a shoulder for Heather to lean on. He wasn’t sure if she still felt like he was the only one she could trust, but until she told him otherwise, he’d act like she could trust him.

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