Page 79 of Mountain Rescue
He came right up to her and put his hands on her face, cradling her cheeks. “It’s going to be okay, Rachel. We know what we’re doing.”
“How do you know he’ll show up today?”
“Just a hunch. He wants this over as much as you do because he thinks he can go right back to his life once he takes care of you. We’re not going to let that happen.”
“Robert’s a snake. He won’t play fair.”
“We know how to play dirty and won’t hesitate to do what we have to.” He kissed her. “It’s time for you to feel safe.” He kissed her again. “Nothing’s going to happen to us, I promise.”
This time when he kissed her, he lingered. His tongue tangled with hers, and his spicy scent surrounded her. He tasted like coffee and mint toothpaste. She fisted her hands in his shirt. Maybe she could hold on to him, keep him from leaving.
As if he understood what was going through her mind, he wrapped his hands around hers and gently pried them away. “I have to go, sugar.” He kissed her one last time, then stepped away.
“I’m going to be worried sick. Will you call me as soon as it’s over?”
“Yes. Stay inside and lock up behind me.” He paused at the door. “We’ll go out tonight and celebrate.”
“Like a real date?”
“Yeah, like that.” He winked, and then he was gone.
She slid the deadbolt closed, leaned back against the door, closed her eyes, and said a prayer that her three protectors would return safely home. Bella whined, and Rachel opened her eyes to see her and Blue looking up at her. Bella had a worried expression, and she looked at the door and whined again.
Rachel dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around Bella. “He’ll be back. He promised.” Besides, they had a date tonight, and she was going to hold him to that.
To try and keep her mind off worrying about the guys, she decided to inventory the clothes she’d brought, see what kind of outfit she could put together for their date. She wished she could go shopping and find something sexy. A pretty sundress would be nice, but she’d have to make do with what she had, and there wasn’t much in her suitcase.
“What do you guys think of this?” She held up a sleeveless pale blue blouse. It was the nicest one she had. Bella and Blue were on the bed, Bella seemingly interested in her choices and Blue more interested in catching Bella’s tail.
“I think it will work.” Paired with her black skinny jeans, her black half boots, the black belt with a silver buckle, and the silver bangle bracelets and hoops she’d bought for her college girl disguise, she’d do.
Once her date night outfit was decided on, she looked around. What could she do now to keep from worrying about her guys? She stretched out on the bed and played with the kitten for a while. Dallas would be at the cabin now, and she tried not to think about the danger he and the guys were in. She must have dozed off because she jerked up, disoriented when Bella barked, then shot off the bed and raced out of the room. Blue jumped inside the suitcase and disappeared under the clothes.
Right, she was at the new cabin. “You gotta go out, Bella Boo, just say so.” She picked up her phone from the bed so she wouldn’t miss a call from Dallas and followed the dog to the back door. She almost opened it but stopped and went to the kitchen window. There was no one and nothing suspicious in sight. As soon as she opened the door, Bella took off.
“Guess you really had to go, huh?” Bella never went far, and would bark when she wanted back in. After locking back up, she decided to make a cup of tea while she waited for Bella to return.
She set her phone on the counter, then found the cabinet with the cups in it. She was filling one with water to heat in the microwave when the front door crashed open. Robert stormed in and the cup fell out of her hands and shattered on the floor.
How was he here? She was stuck in one of those nightmares where your feet refused to move even though the monster was coming for you. Bella raced in behind him, growling and snapping at his legs. Robert tried to kick her, but she backed away.
Rachel shook off her stupor when Robert pointed a gun at Bella. “No! Don’t hurt her.” Broken china crunched under her sandals as she stepped forward. “Bella, come.” Still growling, Bella backed toward her, never taking her eyes from the bad man.
When Bella’s rear end bumped her legs, Rachel grabbed her collar. “You should leave. The guys are going to be back any minute.”
Robert laughed. “They’re busy looking for me.”
“How’d you find me?” She needed to keep him talking while she tried to think of how to escape. If he didn’t have a gun, she’d run or try to fight him, but if she tried anything, he’d shoot her. Which was what he planned to do anyway, so maybe she should try to get out the back door.
“My man put a tracker on the Jeep.”
She glanced around. “Where are your men?” Were they outside, waiting to help him haul off her body?
“They’re off playing war games with your toy soldiers.” He smirked. “They actually begged me to let them show those boys what real soldiers can do.”
“They’re not soldiers.” At his confused look, she said, “They’re Navy, sailors, not soldiers.” She didn’t know if he was aware they were SEALs, and she wasn’t going to enlighten him.
“Well, my men will be disappointed. They were looking forward to a challenge. But never mind that.” His gaze roamed over her. “I was just going to put a bullet in your heart, but I’ve decided you owe me.”
