Safe by His Side

by Debra Webb

  Raine stopped abruptly and turned around. He grabbed Kate by the shoulders and squeezed hard. His expression was stone cold as he stared into her eyes for a seemingly endless moment before he spoke. “But, I swear, if you do anything else that pisses me off, I’ll kill you myself.” With that said, he released her, turned and stalked away.

  Judging by the look in his eyes, Kate had no doubt that he meant exactly what he’d said. She hugged herself tightly for a moment and watched his angry retreat.

  He was crazy. He had to be. But, she was hopelessly at his mercy. Those other men were killers. It would take a killer to protect her from them, if everything he said was true. Kate had no alternative but to follow him and do whatever he told her.

  And she did, still feeling dazed and brushing the dirt from her rumpled attire.

  The last of the sun’s warmth showered down on them through the opening canopy of tree branches as they neared the parking area. Kate noticed that her breath fogged the cold air. She wondered, as she marched behind Raine like a prisoner being led to her execution, where in the world they were. She had no idea even what state they were in.

  Without warning, Raine stopped and Kate smacked into his wide back. He motioned for her to keep quiet as he stepped closer to the edge of the woods and surveyed the parking lot.

  Kate peeked around him. A uniformed man was inspecting their car—the car they’d left in the parking lot, she amended. It wasn’t really theirs, it belonged to the two goons. After the man in uniform circled the vehicle, he returned to his truck and spoke into his radio mike. He wasn’t a policeman. Kate strained to make out the markings on the truck.

  A park ranger.

  So they must be…she suddenly made out the rest of the words: Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. A ranger! He could help them. If only… She looked at Raine.

  “Damn.” Raine pulled back from his viewing position. He glanced at Kate and then frowned. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “What’s he doing?” she asked innocently, as if she had no idea what he’d insinuated. How could he know that she’d had the overwhelming urge to scream her head off?

  “He’s running the plates.” He swore. “They’re strict about abandoned vehicles around here. Let’s get moving.” Raine turned and headed back up the trail.

  “Where are you going? We can’t go that way,” Kate exclaimed in a stage whisper. She flung her arms heavenward in mute frustration and then muttered heatedly, “There’s nothing back there but trees and mountains.” Kate stood her ground. She wasn’t about to go back into those woods, not when a perfectly good car waited in the parking lot. If Raine didn’t want to talk to the ranger, all they had to do was wait. He would leave eventually.

  Raine glared at her impatiently. “The guys who are after us will be monitoring reports made by the local authorities, especially the report of an abandoned car with a bullet hole in the roof. Not to mention a couple of loaded nine millimeters under the seat. When that ranger ran those plates he gave them our exact location. They’ll be here soon, you can bet on it.”

  “Don’t you mean the guys who are after you?” Kate set her hands on her hips and glared back at him, all memory of the promise she’d made gone.

  “Same difference. You’re either going or you’re staying. I’m going.” Raine stalked off, leaving her to decide for herself.

  “But the ranger could help us!” Kate called after him, still clinging to the hope that she might separate herself from this whole nasty mess.

  “Dream on,” he called back without stopping.

  Kate rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. What was she supposed to do? Run to that park ranger and risk being turned over to the other bad guys, or follow a man who could very well be a deranged killer himself?

  One thing was certain, Raine could have killed her already if that had been his intent, but he hadn’t. He had, in fact, done everything he could to protect her. She hadn’t forgotten how he’d stepped between her and Vinny.

  Maybe Raine was a good guy. Instinct told her to go with the known rather than the unknown. But could she trust her instincts? She didn’t even know who she was, how could she know whether to trust her judgment?

  Still less than convinced, Kate headed in the direction into which Raine had already disappeared.

  Chapter Three

  Crossing the primitive footbridge again, Kate reminded herself that following Raine was her only logical option. Besides, even if she had decided to make a mad dash for the park ranger, Raine could easily have stopped her. She watched his strong, confident strides. He moved with more fluid grace than a man his height and size had any right to. And quietly as well. Hardly any sound at all accompanied his steps.

  Raine.

  Kate concentrated with all her might to grasp that fleeting hint of recognition that flitted through her consciousness each time she looked into those piercing blue eyes or considered his name. She just couldn’t quite latch on to it. She knew him, yet he was a total stranger.

  Maybe in another life? Right, Kate, you can’t even remember this life.

  Kate shook off the mental frustration and climbed the steps that would take her back through the large, unique rock formation. She paused to admire the natural beauty of the awesome rocks. She smoothed her hand over the cold, rough surface, tracing the imprints time and the elements had left forever embedded.

  Maybe, Kate thought with a smile, she was a geologist.

  “You’re wasting daylight.”

  Startled by the sharpness of his voice cutting through the silence, Kate snatched her hand back like a child caught reaching into the cookie jar.

  He stood some ten yards away, as still as the stone she’d been admiring, hands on hips, glaring at her. Damned if he didn’t make a hell of a picture when he was angry, she suddenly thought. Tight jeans encased muscular thighs and a worn leather bomber jacket filled to capacity covered his broad shoulders.

  He glanced up at the sky and then directed his scowl back at Kate. “The sky’s clear, it’s going to get really cold tonight. Unless you plan to sleep under the stars, you’d better get a move on. I won’t stop to remind you again,” he added before he turned and continued.

  Kate had the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to click her heels and salute. God, he would make a great drill sergeant. She quickly scanned the vast, blue sky. It looked much bigger somehow from here. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen. He could be right, Kate supposed. Obviously she wasn’t a meteorologist. She didn’t know one cloud from another, or what their absence meant in regards to their current circumstances. She shrugged and forced her weak, wobbly legs into gear. She’d have to hurry to catch up or risk being left behind.

  The trail climbed steadily upward. Kate was a little winded by the time she got within conversational distance of Raine. Not that he would be interested in conversation—he’d made that point quite clear. Her chest still ached, but she attributed the discomfort to fear. This man, she glowered at her leader, scared her. His friends—no, make that his enemies—scared her.

  The trail took a hard right, which brought them into an area of total and unexpected devastation—a raw, open gash in the side of the mountain. Kate was taken aback by the stark contrast to only moments before.

  There was absolutely nothing growing—no trees, no bushes, no nothing. The large expanse looked like the aftermath of a savage hurricane. Massive boulders lay scattered like marbles. Huge trees had been tossed about like toothpicks. In the distance, trees, logs, mud and rocks lay piled at least fifty feet high, a decaying monument to whatever had taken place to wreak such destruction.

  Raine trudged on relentlessly, taking little note of their surroundings. Kate had been so engrossed in the unnatural phenomenon that she’d fallen way behind again. True to his word, Raine didn’t appear concerned about whether she kept up or not. Pushing herself to move faster, Kate soon caught up with him.

  “What caused all that? It looks like an artillery battle was fough
t here.” She took one final look back over her shoulder at the naked area. In some stretches the earth had been scraped down to the bedrock. How could that spot look as if it had been hit by a holocaust and everything around it still appear so lovely and tranquil?

  “A flash flood.” Raine stopped and looked back as if he’d only just noticed his surroundings. He stared at the devastation for a long moment.

  Just when Kate was sure he didn’t intend to say anything else, he continued. “They say a monster storm hit, dumping massive amounts of water in a matter of minutes. Cresting at—” he shrugged “—more than twenty feet, it was like a highland tidal wave surging through and taking with it everything in its path.”

  Kate looked around warily. “That doesn’t happen on a regular basis around here, does it?”

  One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “You don’t have anything to worry about as long as you don’t stand in one place too long,” he said, and then pushed off, heading ever upward toward wherever the hell they were going.

  Kate didn’t find his little jab amusing. She heaved a frustrated breath and obediently trudged after him. In her efforts to keep up with his long legs, she tripped over every exposed root and loose rock in the trail. She glared at his broad back. Raine seemed to know exactly where to place each step. His self-assuredness frustrated her all the more. Just once she’d like to see him lose his footing or trip over one of nature’s obstacles, she mused as she kicked another rock out of her path.

  Kate shivered in her parka. The sun was dropping slowly but surely behind the mountains in the distance, taking its waning warmth with it. Orange and purple streaks slanted across the sky behind the slope of majestic trees that gave way to the valley below. The view was breathtaking. Though Kate felt sure she had heard of the Smoky Mountains, somehow she knew she’d never before seen a view like this one.

  An occasional squirrel scampered into the open, gave Kate a curious look and then disappeared back into the forest. Birds went about their business, flying overhead or squawking from their perch on a nearby tree limb. Kate didn’t readily recognize any of the varieties. She obviously wasn’t a bird-watcher.

  Raine, on the other hand, seemed to know his way around this place. How did he know so much about the mountains? she wondered. Had he always lived around here? For that matter, what did she really know about him at this point?

  Nothing.

  Except that he was dangerous, she reminded herself. She had no idea where they were headed, either. She was cold and achy. Dusk had descended upon them. And she was starving.

  She had a right to know where he was leading her, didn’t she?

  Damn straight, she did.

  Kate stamped off after him. “Excuse me!” she shouted to his back.

  As she had anticipated, he ignored her.

  Her anger brought with it a burst of energy, Kate broke into a dead run. “I said, excuse me,” she repeated when she skidded to a halt right beside him.

  He paused, turned to her and lifted one eyebrow, a look of bored amusement on his too-handsome face. “I’d be more careful where I stand if I were you,” he warned. He inclined his head toward her side of the trail.

  Kate glared at him for half a beat before looking in the direction he’d indicated. Her eyes widened in fear when she realized she stood on the edge of a precipice. Instinctively, Kate flung herself at Raine. His arms went instantly around her as her feet shifted in the loose dirt and rocks that scattered over the edge.

  “Holy cow,” she muttered as she clung to his jacket. His arms felt strong and reassuring around her. “I didn’t even see it.”

  Raine set her away from him and on solid ground. “You should be more careful,” he said smugly, giving her an amused look.

  “Thanks for the warning,” she retorted, her heart still thundering painfully in her chest. She called him every vile name she could think of under her breath.

  Raine reached out and grasped a heavy wire cable that had been strung alongside the trail for some sixty or seventy feet. “Hold on tight and watch your step,” he called back to her.

  Kate uttered a nasty four-letter word, one she didn’t even realize she knew until it rolled off her tongue.

  Raine didn’t have to tell her twice to be careful. She held on to the cable with both hands as she cautiously edged forward. She took one hesitant look at the drop-off and cringed. It plunged a good hundred feet down. If a person survived the rolling, tumbling fall, climbing back up would be a real problem. Kate felt fairly certain that Raine wouldn’t be interested in helping her climb back up.

  To her surprise, he waited for her on the other side of the drop-off. When Kate made it to his position, she wrinkled her nose and asked, “What’s that smell?” The deep woodsy scent was gone, replaced by some sort of chemical odor. She couldn’t quite identify it, almost a metal smell.

  “Alum Cave Bluff. The rain and subsequent slides bring out the metallic odor,” he told her flatly. He offered no further explanation, just turned and continued forward.

  Kate stuck our her tongue at his broad back, but followed obediently. A regular Mr. Personality, she fumed.

  The trail grew steadily steeper as the ground beneath her feet became more powdery and less rocky. Her close encounter with the precipice had caused her to forget the demand for information she had intended to make. She still didn’t know where they were headed.

  The trail led them underneath the overhang of a bluff. The interesting terrain momentarily distracted Kate as she squinted to make out the formations. The natural beauty of the rocks and landscape grew more and more difficult to see as darkness closed in around them.

  “Watch out for the icicles.”

  Kate shifted her gaze from the rock wall to him. He pointed skyward and then moved swiftly beyond the craggy overhang.

  “Icicles?” Kate frowned. What icicles? She looked up just in time to see a rather large one drop like a heavy dagger. The ice crashed to the ground a mere three or four feet in front of her. No further explanation required, she thought as she hurried past the overhang.

  Raine had already resumed his trek upward. Kate plodded after him. They passed two more drop-off areas. She held her breath past both—each time seemed worse than the last with nothing more than moonlight to guide them.

  Kate was freezing now. As she peered into the dense black forest, she wondered how long it would take to find a person’s body in this environment. A body out in the middle of nowhere like this probably wouldn’t be found until spring and by then it would have been something’s lunch. She shivered at the thought.

  Bears. She suddenly wondered if there were bears in these woods. She opened her mouth to ask, but then snapped it shut. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of knowing her concerns.

  Lost in thought, Kate looked up to find that she’d almost run into Raine again. He stood waiting near a particularly steep area. The trail inclined so sharply that log steps had been embedded in the mountainside to assist with the climb. Raine took the steps two at a time. Kate swallowed tightly. If he could do it, she could do it. By the time she reached the top her heart fluttered wildly, but she had done it.

  Before long the trail leveled out somewhat and Kate’s breathing finally returned to normal. She hoped they would get to their destination soon, her feet and ankles were aching. Her head joined in the symphony of pain and her chest felt oddly tight.

  The trees grew dense, almost blocking out the moonlight and making their trek even more precarious. Fraser firs soared high into the sky like giant Christmas trees. The crisp evergreen scent teased Kate’s senses. She smiled and wondered if there were evergreens where she came from.

  Virginia. Raine had said she was from Virginia. Virginia had evergreens, didn’t it?

  Her next step sent her feet in opposite directions. Ice, she realized too late. A shriek escaped her lips at the same time that her feet skated out from under her.

  Raine’s arms encircled her waist, catching her a split s
econd before her bottom slammed against the hard dirt. He steadied her on her feet, but kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.

  “I guess I’m not an ice skater,” Kate whispered hoarsely.

  “Guess not,” he said, his warm breath feathered across her mouth. His ice-blue gaze seemed to capture the sparse moonlight and do strange things with it. Kate found herself mesmerized by his eyes, his nearness. She couldn’t move or take a breath, she could only hold on to that worn-soft bomber jacket and absorb the heat emanating from his powerful body. Her mouth traitorously yearned for the taste of his, her fingers tightened on fistsful of leather.

  “We’re almost there,” he said finally, breaking the charged silence. Raine dropped his arms, turned and strode off into the darkness.

  Kate’s legs moved of their own volition. She was too stunned to do anything but operate on autopilot. She blew out a long, slow puff of air that fogged against the cold night.

  Get a grip, Kate. It was nothing. Just exhaustion, hunger and the play of moonlight.

  A sign welcoming hikers to LeConte Lodge came into view. Kate silently thanked God for some form of civilization. She hoped this was their intended destination. Rustic though it might be, she added when they entered the clearing and the unobstructed light of the moon gave her a better look.

  Several cabins, maybe a dozen or so of varying sizes, dotted the clearing. Not a single light pierced the night. It wasn’t that late, someone should still be up.

  The trail wound to the right of the lodge compound and disappeared into the blackness. A welcome center of sorts stood at the entrance. To Kate’s distress, rather than enter the compound, Raine stayed with the trail.

  “We’re not staying here?” Kate hastened her pace to catch up with him again.

  “The lodge is closed for the winter. There’s no one here except maybe a caretaker, and we can’t chance him seeing us.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.