Rocky Mountain Manhunt

Again, he followed her instructions.

As she climbed down from the boulders, her heart beat faster. The air grew thick with portent, and she felt a little bit dizzy. Interaction with another human being had jolted something loose inside her head. Another memory. Not a pleasant one.

A sense of danger flared, and the heat spread through her veins, melting her resolve, dragging her toward a dangerous weariness. She was losing control. Fight it! Don’t give in! Bracing her back against the boulder, she faced the tall stranger.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” Her voice quavered. “Stay back.”

What next? It was hard to think. Her brain was in turmoil. She forced words through her lips. “Put your hands over your head.”

He followed her instructions. The precious, beautiful, delicious chocolate was within her grasp, but she couldn’t move. She stared at the center of Liam’s chest. And she remembered….

A burst of gunfire. It crashed and rattled inside her head. She saw blood that wasn’t her own. A man had been shot, fatally wounded. The thick, red blood spread across his chest as he staggered toward her.

Rain blinked rapidly, trying to clear this unwanted vision from her head. For an instant, she had seen the past with crystal clarity. And it terrified her.

She glanced down at the gun in her trembling hand, and she feared the worst. Had she fired the fatal bullet? Was she a murderer? In an awful yet logical way, it made sense. She hadn’t hesitated to shoot at Liam. Had someone else threatened her?

Oh God, what if she was on the run because she’d killed another human being? What if the hunters who were after her were lawmen?

Rain needed to find out more, to unlock her memories. Right now, Liam was her only source of information.

“The names,” she said. “Tell me again. What are the names of those missing people?”

“Kate Carradine,” he said. “Wayne Silverman.”

Had she killed Wayne Silverman? Though she couldn’t visualize his face, there was no doubt in her mind that he had died. His spirit had departed from this earth. “What else do you know?”

“Wayne was your boyfriend.” Liam’s hands were still raised above his head. “Together, you left Denver and went to the mountains for a camping trip. There were several forest fires that weekend. When you didn’t return on Monday morning, search parties started looking.”

“A fire.” When she had first come to this meadow, her clothing had smelled of smoke. It was becoming inescapably clear that she was, in fact, Kate Carradine.

“Let me help you,” Liam offered. “I’ll take you home where you’ll be safe.”

“Home?” But this forest was her home. If she returned to Denver, she would be walking into lethal peril. But how could that be? She’d be returning to her family. Her mother, Elizabeth. Her stepfather and stepbrother. Returning to their welcoming embrace gave her no comfort.

“Listen, Kate—”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not who you think I am.”

Liam raised his eyebrows. “You’re Kate Carradine.”

“No.” She could take care of herself as long as she stayed here. This was her sanctuary. Loudly, she proclaimed, “My name is Rain. I live here. And I’m not leaving. Not ever.”

In two measured steps, she approached the candy bar. Her intention was to retrieve her chocolate and take it back to her cave where she could eat it slowly and make the flavor last for days. But when she touched the smooth wrapper, her self-discipline faded.

One bite wouldn’t hurt. Still holding her Glock, she tore open the wrapper with her teeth. The smell was heavenly. Her taste buds danced with giddy anticipation. She bit through the chocolate and caramel. A warm memory of her father’s face flashed across her mind, easing her fear. Candy bars had only good, comforting associations for her.

Another taste. Chocolate smeared across her chapped lips. She licked it off and nibbled again.

When she looked up, she saw Liam watching her. He was grinning, and before she could stop herself, she returned his smile.

Just as quickly, she scowled. It was still too soon to trust him. “This isn’t funny, you know. I’ve been out here for twenty-eight days.”

“I’m not laughing.” He knitted his fingers together and rested his hands on top of his head. “I like to see a woman who enjoys her food.”

She took another small bite, savoring the texture. The sugar rushed through her system, boosting her energy, giving her a false sense of well-being. “All right, Liam. What kind of work do you do when you’re not flying search and rescue for CCC?”

“I’m a charter pilot based out of Grand Lake.”

“Why did you come to this spot?”

“A couple of days ago, I took aerial photos of your meadow. When the pictures came back, I noticed a parka on the ground.”

She nodded. He was telling the truth. Her parka had gotten wet and she’d laid it out in the grasses to dry. “So you came back to look around.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Now, I have a question for you. Why do you want to stay here?”

“I want to be left alone.”

“Something’s got you scared,” he said.

His perceptiveness surprised her. Her eyes narrowed as she met his gaze. “Why do you think I’m afraid?”

Steadily and calmly, he said, “You’re hiding from something. Why?”

This was more than enough sharing of information. Even if Liam wasn’t one of the hunters, she wanted him gone. Rain had no intention of leaving these mountains.

She’d nibbled the candy bar down to a stub, which she held out toward him. “The rest is yours.”

As he approached, she realized her mistake in inviting him closer. Before she could pull the candy bar back, Liam took it from her. And he kept on coming.

She scrambled backward until she was trapped between the boulder and this tall, muscular man. He must be nuts to come at her like this. Didn’t he see the Glock? The barrel was only inches away from his belly. If she pulled the trigger—

He grasped her wrist and bent her elbow. The bore of the gun pointed toward the sky. His body pressed against hers. She could feel his hard strength and the heat that emanated from him. This was her first human contact in weeks, and the sensation startled her. She’d forgotten what it was like to be touched.

His nearness took her breath away. His fingers locked firmly around her forearm, and his gaze imprisoned hers.

“I could disarm you.” He wasn’t bragging, merely stating a fact.

Her lips pressed tightly together. There was no point in objecting. Liam was capable of physically overpowering her.

“However…” His voice was deep and resonant and— God help her!—sexy. “I’m not interested in taking your gun away.”

Up close, his hazel eyes were flecked with gold and deep, forest green. He stared with an unblinking intensity that verified her earlier impression: this was a stubborn man. She asked, “What do you want from me?”

“The truth,” he said. “You could have returned to civilization if you wanted. You seem to be healthy enough to hike out. But you stayed here, and I want to know why.”