Fearless

by Marlie May

I couldn’t scream. I had to scream. No! Leave me alone!

  While terror liquefied my limbs, I was unable to kick or punch. Shock had frozen my bones.

  The men dragged me across the sidewalk, toward their vehicle.

  Loosened from my panic, I wrenched away from them, shrieking for help.

  A fist tightened on my jacket, yanking me backward. The other man grabbed my wrist, twisting until bone gave way. Agony shot through me, and I screamed.

  An arm tightened around my throat, making each breath wheeze.

  Horror overwhelming me, I tripped, crashing to my knees. A shove sent me forward, and my left palm bit the pavement. My right arm hung limply, like the broken wing of a bird.

  Whimpering, I curled into a ball while hands slapped, feet kicked. A boot connected with my ribs, and pain stabbed deep. Gasping, I squirmed, my fingernails breaking as I tried to drag myself across the pavement. “No. Please.”

  One of the men grabbed my foot and hauled me over to the curbside vehicle. As they stuffed me inside, my head smacked on the open sliding door. Stars flickered in my periphery, and I worried I’d pass out.

  They threw me on a bench seat and slammed the door.

  As they jumped into the front of the vehicle, I scrambled to escape. My bloody fingers slid along the glass.

  This couldn’t be happening. Please…Oh, no, please.

  I bolted upright in my tent, my lungs on fire. The rancid taste of the man’s fingers filled my mouth as if the assault was happening now, instead of three months ago.

  Early morning sunlight filtering through the nylon overhead, and a child’s laughter nearby, brought me fully back to my senses. I flopped back on my mattress and rubbed my face. My sigh whistled from my throat.

  In the woods, a raven cawed. A light wind stirred the trees, the leaves whispering calm. My nightmare slithered back into the dark corner of my brain where it lurked, ready to rise up and strike again. I was safe here. Eli and Cooper would hear my screams.

  While my pulse slowed, I willed my breathing to relax. My body wouldn’t stop trembling. I hadn’t had a nightmare like this for weeks. If only I could put what happened behind me. Counseling had helped, but the best cure of all was moving home, where Eli and Mom enfolded me in their comforting embrace.

  At least I’d escaped before those men. When they pulled up to a stop sign, I yanked open the door. Before they could grab me, I stumbled out onto the sidewalk, and a couple of bystanders intervened. The vehicle took off.

  By then, it was too late for me. Coming so soon after a break-in at my hotel room, my confidence had been shredded. In seconds, I’d changed from a self-assured woman into a weak, quivering mess. The police told me the break-in was someone looking for valuables or money or drugs. Thankfully, I’d had my camera, computer, and thumb drives in my backpack with me when they rifled through my things. It would’ve been horrible to lose the items most precious to me.

  I wasn’t the first American to have something bad happen, the police said. A few months earlier, a diplomat had been murdered. Muggings were common. Foreigners were hot commodities in Istanbul. For ransom or worse.

  Worried it could happen again, I’d abandoned my career as a travel photographer. How could I roam the world alone when horrible things like this could hit me at any time? Retreat was my only option.

  The incident still haunted me. For the past three months, I’d worked hard to put myself together again, but I was barely making progress. Which was so, so wrong. I wanted my freedom back. I wanted to go outside by myself without being scared.

  I smoothed my hair, using the gesture to drive away the last of my shakes. Rising, I dragged on sweats and, with my bathroom bag in hand, I walked to the showers. A thorough soaking under the hot spray helped me put the past into perspective. I brushed my teeth and stuffed my things into my bag, slinging it over my shoulder.

  When I stepped outside, I smacked into someone coming around the other side of the building. The towel draped across the back of Tom’s neck told me he’d showered, too.

  “Hey, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to run into you.” His poodle whimpered from where she sat on the ground by his feet.

  “It’s okay. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  “You must’ve just washed up, too. You look great.” Tom’s gaze traveled down my front. He stepped forward and slid a lock of my hair over my shoulder. Grinning, his warm gaze met mine. “Laura’s hair was a lot like yours. She had the same height, facial features, and build, too.”

  Was? I’d thought his wife was alive.

  I’d be foolish to ignore the prickles traveling down my spine.

  “I need to get back to my campsite.” I cursed myself for being creeped out by what was probably a simple interaction. “I need to start breakfast.”

  “Wait.” Tom reached for me, but I evaded his hand.

  While the dog strained against the leash and barked shrilly, I rushed toward my campsite. Arriving and finding it empty, I put my bathroom things away in my tent. I was getting out the frying pan to make breakfast when someone came up behind me. Still spooked, I spun with the pan raised in defense.

  Cooper lifted both hands and took a step backward. A wide grin revealed his straight white teeth. “Whoa. I never argue with a woman armed with a cast iron weapon.”

  I snorted and lifted a smile to match his. “Decent policy all around.”

  “I did tell you a Seabee is always prepared, didn’t I?”

  I had a feeling Cooper was prepared for just about anything.

  Shoving off the uneasy feeling generated by Tom, I dropped the pan onto the picnic table and started the cook stove. Eli joined us as I was sliding eggs onto plates. By then, I’d had my first cup of coffee. Nothing cured an unsettled mood better than caffeine. We ate, and our easy joking drove away the last of my shadows.

  Eli stood and gathered the empty plates. “I’ll do kitchen duty this time.”

  “You about ready for our gold rush?” I asked while I tidied the campsite.

  “I can’t make it today,” Eli said over his shoulder. “I’m really sorry, but Steve was in an accident. He’s hurt.”

  Eli’s employer had only three security guards. Normally, they alternated shifts, but they had to make up for each other if someone was sick or on vacation. Most of the time, Eli loved the overtime. He hadn’t taken vacation time to come camping; this was his scheduled time off. Steve was one of the three.

  “Is Steve okay?” I asked.

  “Think so. The boss asked me to fill in.”

  I was disappointed, of course, because I’d looked forward to hanging out with my brother today. But I understood. When work called, you answered. Especially if someone was injured.

  “We can go another time.” Eli dropped the dish drainer on the picnic table and ducked into his tent to get ready.

  “Okay.” I nibbled my lower lip, wondering what I’d do to keep busy today. I’d ridden here with Eli and left my car at home. Even if I had a vehicle, the idea of going on the adventure by myself made my skin crawl. Maybe I could lounge in my tent and finish my book.

  Cooper smiled my way. “I’m game for a gold rush. Whatever that is.”

  “Problem solved,” I said, standing. “We can leave as soon as you’re ready.” I tapped my chin. “You’ll need swim shorts and water shoes if you have them. I’ll pack the rest.” He started toward his tent, and I called out, “Oh, and bring a hat.”

  While he showered and changed, I made lunch and tucked it into my backpack. Cooper soon strolled back into the campsite wearing shorts and a tee, with a hat on his head, brim backward. It might do nothing to shade his face, but it sure sparked my libido.

  After saying goodbye to Eli, we walked up the path to the parking lot.

  “I’ll be your chauffeur today.” Grinning, Cooper pulled his keys from his pocket and dangled them in the air like bait. The teasing glint in his eyes hauled me in like a fish on a line. Every. Single. Damned. Time. “I’m an exc
ellent driver.”

  I fanned my face, only able to nod.

  We tossed our stuff on the back seat and climbed into the thousand-degree car, putting the windows down. The second Cooper started the vehicle, the radio blared. “…information about an American diplomat killed in—” He shut it off and eased the vehicle out of the parking lot.

  At the top of the camp road, he slowed. “Where to?”

  “Left.” I’d printed a map. Tilting it into the sunlight, I squinted at the fine lines scrolling across the paper. “I think.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “I have GPS on my phone.”

  “Where we’re going, even satellites can’t direct us.”

  “The military gave me the highest security clearance. You can trust me with secret locations.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You just follow my directions, and you won’t need to flash your high-security badge, Sheriff.”

  Chuckling, he pressed on the gas pedal, making the vehicle speed up. The stifling heat inside the car was shifted aside by a wave of cool air drifting from the forest on either side of the road. The scent of evergreen and earth overloaded my senses.

  “Up here.” I leaned forward, pointing. “Take a right onto that dirt road.”

  “The one with no sign.”

  “Exactly.”

  Cooper rubbed the back of his neck. “Where did you get this map, anyway?”

  “If I told you, I’d have to take you down.”

  He sputtered. Talk about making my day. As far as I was concerned, the best kind of man was a man who was unsettled.

  The car smacked over potholes as we inched along the road. We passed a lean, gray-bearded man dressed in overalls, carrying a fishing pole and tackle box. He paused and scowled while our vehicle drove by.

  “How much farther?” Cooper ducked as if he worried low-hanging tree branches would plunge through the roof any minute.

  “Take us all the way to the end.”

  Ten minutes later, we came to a roadblock with a thick forest beyond it. While the fence slanted, the sign showed little wear. No Trespassing.

  Cooper put the car into park and stared through the windshield, tapping his fingers on the wheel. “This must be the wrong place.”

  “I have written permission to be here.”

  Unbuckling, he turned to face me, his gaze narrowing. That gleam I savored had reappeared in his eyes. “Sure, you do.”

  I struggled to maintain a serious expression. “I’m beginning to suspect you don’t believe me.”

  “And what gave you that idea?”

  “I’ve got a map.” I waved it in the air and he tried to snatch it from me, making me tuck it behind my back. “Where do you think I found it, anyway?”

  “On eBay?”

  I sputtered, trying not to laugh, because this was the same reaction I’d drawn from him. Maybe a woman was also best when she was unsettled. “Trust me.”

  He spoke slowly like he was reserving judgment. “Okay.”

  We got out of the car and covered ourselves with bug spray before the mosquitoes carried us away.

  “Hey.” I pulled my camera from my pack. “Can I take your picture before we head out?”

  “One last photo before I disappear off the face of the Earth?”

  “Ha, ha.”

  “Let’s do one of us together instead.” He paused. “If that’s okay. You can send me a copy.”

  I couldn’t imagine another photo I’d rather take right now. “I’ll use a timer.” After setting things up on a boulder, I darted over to stand beside Cooper. His arm slipped around my waist. He was only being friendly, but it sure felt wonderful.

  Picture taken, I tucked my camera back into my bag. I couldn’t wait to look at the photo later.

  Cooper glanced around. “Where do we go now?”

  The map indicated beyond the fence. After striding through deep grass and around to the other side, I stopped and pointed to a narrow trail snaking downhill through the woods. “That way.”

  Cooper followed, and we eventually came to a river. More like a stream this time of year, since it hadn’t rained in weeks. We stood on the bank, staring at the water trickling around rocks and clumps of vegetation. It looked deep in places, though not over our heads.

  “Okay, gold rush,” Cooper said, hands on his hips. “I was expecting…a jewelry store?”

  I flung my arms wide. “Nothing sparkly out here but the great outdoors.” After shrugging off my backpack, I unzipped it and pulled out a metal pan, handing it to Cooper. “Here you go.”

  He blinked down at it. “We making stir fry?”

  “Only the inedible kind.” I yanked off my tank but left on my shorts.

  Cooper groaned.

  Glancing up at him, I dropped my floppy hat back on my head. It blocked out the sunlight, but not his odd expression. “What?”

  He stared at the ground, not at me. “Absolutely nothing.”

  I shrugged and popped the lid off my sunscreen, slathering some on my arms, legs, and chest. I nudged my head to the side. “Can you do my back?”

  “Yep.” His hand lifted away from his side slower than me in the morning before caffeine, as if…

  Surely, he had no problem touching me. Because, if I unsettled him that way…How intriguing. My heart rate doubled, and I knew my words came out breathless. “I don’t know if you want to take off your shirt or not.” Might be better if he didn’t because Cooper’s bare chest shouted temptation. “I don’t burn easy, but I’m not sure about you.” Actually, from what I could see, his skin was a delicious, creamy tan—no doubt from time spent in deserts and the southern California sunshine.

  “I’ll take my shirt off.”

  Okay. I could handle this. Maybe. I handed him the sunscreen. “You do me, and I’ll do you.”

  And, that had come out wrong.

  His eyes drilled my lips before dropping to my breasts. The blue-gray spheres darkened, smoldering. Tingles shot through me, centering in all the right places. Maybe I was taking my teasing too far.

  “Turn,” he said abruptly.

  I spun, my face overheating, because teasing him also teased me.

  Cooper squirted cream onto his hands and rubbed his palms together. He placed them on my body and rubbed slowly, easing across my shoulders and down my back. This was better than sliding into a hot tub. I closed my eyes and acknowledged that him touching me wasn’t a good idea. Well, it was a fabulous idea, but I was enjoying it too much. Savoring every caress, I parted my lips, unable to hold back my hum of pleasure.

  Too soon, he laid the bottle on my shoulder. “I’m next.”

  I scrambled to locate my wits and turned just in time to catch him peeling off his tee, revealing that well-worked body I’d seen yesterday.

  Other parts of his body looked ready for a little work-out, too.

  Needing to speed this process up, I coated his back quickly, even though I ached to linger. It was time to jump into the icy river to chill off before I exploded.

  “Let the gold rush commence.” Pan in hand, I rushed around Cooper and picked my way down the embankment and into the water. After splashing through the shallows, I arrived at a small island.

  “Panning for gold, huh?” Cooper stood on the shore. He’d slid on mirrored sunglasses, hiding his eyes, but their heat bored through me. It kept me flustered, hyper-aware of his presence.

  “We may not find much, but there’s gold in them there hills.” I waved toward Glenridge Mountain. “It washes down here and is lying around for anyone to find.”

  “Have you panned before?”

  “A few times. You?”

  “Never, but there’s always a first time, right?”

  “There sure is.”

  A first time for everything.

  6

  Cooper

  I reminded myself that Ginny was Eli’s sister, not a sniper endangering my heart. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the way her breasts filled her bikini top. The warmth of her skin under
my palms. The clever way she teased me.

  Grumbling about hasty decisions, I splashed into the deepest part of the river, pretending I was overheated—which I damn well was—and dropped onto my knees, submerging myself up to my shoulders. Nothing like a mountain-fed river to ice a man down.

  Until I looked at Ginny again. Leaning forward, she shifted her ass while she gathered gravel into her pan. I couldn’t muffle my groan.

  She spun to face me. “You okay?” Concern filled her face. Sisterly concern, no doubt.

  “I’m just cold.” Like that was an intelligent statement. “Yep, the water’s cold.” Nowhere near cold enough.

  “Come over into the sun, then.”

  Remaining underwater, I used underwater rocks to pull myself across the riverbed to her side. Of course, when I arrived, this position put me crotch-level with Ginny. This was not a good idea.

  She dropped to her knees and shivered. “Wow. Feels great. I was hot.”

  Not nearly as hot as I was.

  Her smile curled up on one corner. If I kissed it, could I make the other side match?

  “Let me show you what you need to do.” With her pan, she scooped up a bunch of gravel. She added water and swirled the contents, creating a rich slurry. “See here?” Her movement slowed, and she flicked through the gravel, highlighting tiny, deep red stones. “Garnet. Where you find garnet, you find gold.” Moving the pan again, she eased the lighter contents over the lip, leaving the heavier stuff—small stones and bits of dark granite—behind. “And bingo.” She looked up at me with a big grin. A few tiny gold flakes winked in the sun, and she inched them across the smooth side of the pan and into a vial. “By the end of the day, we might have enough to buy a gum ball at the grocery store. If you’re looking to get rich, this won’t do it, but it’s fun.”

  I rose to my knees. “Let me try.” I scooped up gravel and water and started slopping it around.

  “That’s too hard.” She placed a restraining hand on my forearm. “And you’re going too fast.”

  “If you want me to slow down, you just say the word.” So, my words came out cocky. Ginny wasn’t the only one who could tease. From the color flooding her face, we could call this point one for me. And…at least ten points still for her. But a man had to start somewhere.