Page 33 of Risk It All
“Doubt it.” He was starting to get that tight-jawed, clenched look he’d had when they were having grenades tossed at them, which made her more anxious about the upcoming weather. “We need to cross the river.”
“The river,” she repeated, trying to wrap her head around everything that a water crossing would entail. “The one that’s way down there?” Even though he couldn’t see her, she pointed in the general direction of where she’d last seen the river. It had looked tiny and far away, and the wrecked car had fallen for what had felt like a long time before it hit bottom. That was going to be a long descent in sleeve-boots—and an even longer climb back up. Another problem hit her. “Are we going to have to swim across?”
“It’s low enough now that we’ll be able to find a spot to wade across.”
Cara was quiet for a minute or two, absorbing all the ramifications. The dark clouds seemed to be racing in to cover the sky, only allowing the sun to peek out for a few seconds before the world darkened again. “Okay. First things first. It’s getting colder really fast, and I might have just spotted a snowflake. Should we find a sheltered spot to wait out the snow?” She couldn’t help but picture them trudging right off a cliff during a whiteout.
He gave her an approving look over his shoulder before pointing at something Cara couldn’t see. “There’s a structure of some kind in that direction. We’ll head toward it.”
Even squinting, she couldn’t spot what he was referring to. “Do you have ultimate-supreme vision? Because all I’m seeing are trees and rocks.”
“Ultimate-supreme vision?” When she just shrugged, he pointed again. “Look there when the sun’s out.”
She trotted a few steps until she was walking next to him rather than behind him, so he didn’t block the view. Now that she was waiting for a peek of sunlight, it felt like forever before there was a gap in the clouds. It only lasted for a moment or two before the sun disappeared again, but when the landscape was lit up with sunlight, she thought she saw something in the direction that Kavenski had pointed.
“What was that flash?” she asked, peering through the trees as she tried to catch the burst of light again. “Is someone signaling over there?”
“The sun’s reflecting off something shiny—probably a window.”
“Oh, that’s clever!” Without thinking about it, she reached over and gave his shoulder a pat. “Good eye. I was thinking we’d have to huddle under a bush to wait out the snow, but a house would be so much better. Maybe whoever lives there has a phone we can use. I just hope it’s not a Unabomber type who tries to kill us for trespassing. I’ve had enough of that for today—for a lifetime, really.”
The corner of his mouth twitched up, and she felt a surge of accomplishment for getting a rare Kavenski smile—well, his sort-of smile, at least. She’d need to work up to getting him to actually show teeth in a full-out grin.
“We’ll hope for no Unabomber, then,” he said as evenly as if they were talking about the weather. Now she couldn’t hold back her own smile.
“I’m glad you came to rescue me,” she said impulsively, and then felt her face heat as she realized how strange that sounded. “Not just because I would probably be dead a few times by now if you hadn’t been here.”
His sideways look told her clearly that she was just digging herself deeper into an awkward hole.
Giving up on trying to make sense, she just blurted out her thoughts. “You’re making everything easier in this whole messed-up situation, and I’m glad I’m not trying to do this by myself.” After a pause, she couldn’t help but add, “Although I probably wouldn’t have driven us off a cliff, but that ended better than I expected, so I won’t hold it against you.”
The sound he made was a pearl-clutching huff of offense that made her snicker. “You would’ve rather been hit by that truck?” he asked.
“No, but I don’t think my solution would’ve involved cliff diving in a car.”
“It was the best spot. If we hadn’t blown a tire, it would’ve been a smooth ride down to the bottom.”
Cara bulged her eyes out at him. “Did you forget about the flipping-upside-down thing?”
Waving a hand, he made a sound of dismissal. “We were fine.”
“We almost went off the edge of a cliff—arealcliff.”
“But we didn’t.”
“It was close.” She shivered as she thought about just how close it had been.
“We didn’t die, and that’s all that matters.”
She was quiet for a few beats and then said, “I think that’s a good motto for this whole kidnapping adventure.”
“Adventure?” he repeated.
“Escapade?”
“Fiasco.”
“Yeah. That’s the right word for it.” She resisted the urge to companionably take his hand. They were escaping attempted murderers and kidnappers, not going for a stroll in the woods, she reminded herself. Still, what she’d said was true. If she had to be lost in the mountains with sleeve-boots and an approaching blizzard, there was no one she’d rather have with her than Kavenski. “Can I ask you something?”
