Marked For Revenge (Emergency Responders Book 2)

by Valerie Hansen

  No, he decided as he pushed himself to his feet; that was not going to happen. Even if he got out of this mess alive, which was plan A, there was no way he’d ask her to uproot and follow him all the way to St. Louis. She’d found her niche in a small town. Paradise was her home now.

  And his goals? There was a time when he’d been certain he was on the right path, in the right job. Now? Not so much. Admitting that, however, did not mean he should abandon his own career to pursue a self-confident woman who might never decide to settle down the way he’d envisioned. Kaitlin had come from a dysfunctional family so she had no model of how a man and wife could raise happy children as well as be personally content. Her parents had fought all the time, with her trapped in the middle. No wonder she’d felt like a hapless tennis ball being batted back and forth in a game that no one ever won.

  The closest Kaitlin had come to victory as a teen was her runaway life on the streets. That was another reason she’d never want to return to St. Louis. It not only held her controlling, warring parents, it was the place where she’d made her worst mistakes. At least, as far as he knew.

  “I should have asked her more about her past,” he muttered, starting for his makeshift bed in the back of the truck. “I should have made a stupid joke and pretended I was dating somebody who would be impossible, like a supermodel or movie star. In Hollywood maybe,” he told himself. “In Missouri? I don’t think so.”

  Besides, he reasoned, Kaitlin might half believe his wild tales and then where would he be?

  “Right where I am now,” he whispered.

  Night birds had been singing, calling to each other from a distance. The moon gave off enough light to tell where everything was in the camp, which was advantageous since they had no other source of illumination.

  Daniel started to work himself onto the bed, careful to safeguard his sore leg, then he remembered he hadn’t taken his bedtime pill. Rummaging in their supplies and coming up empty he realized his meds had to be up in the cab. With Kaitlin. Who was probably sound asleep by now.

  Although he did consider skipping that dose, he knew doing so was foolish. He needed to be as well and as able as possible by the time they reached their destination. No way was he messing with a schedule that was clearly working.

  Abandoning the cane because he had the side of the truck to lean on, Daniel worked his way from the rear to the driver’s-side door, hoping he could reach what he needed without waking his companion.

  The minute the door latch snicked Kaitlin bolted upright. “What’s wrong?”

  “Forgot my pill. Sorry to wake you.”

  “I wasn’t sleeping.”

  A sniffle caught his attention. “You catching a cold?”

  “I hope not.” She reached into a sack on the floor and produced the medication he needed. “Put a couple of extra in your pocket so you can take one in the middle of the night if you happen to wake up. Just be sure you drink plenty of water with it. Eat a bite, too, if you can manage to choke down part of an energy bar.”

  “They’re not so bad.” Business concluded, he knew he should slam the door and back away, but something held him there.

  What should he say to her? How could he apologize for hurting her feelings without doing more damage? Deciding the situation was best left alone, he took a step back. “Well, good night again.”

  “Good night, Daniel.”

  There was so much despair in her tone his gut wrenched. Would one simple hug hurt? Oh, yeah. If he embraced Kaitlin again, feeling the way he currently did, there was no telling what might happen. He cared for her. A lot. Too much to make a misstep and ruin any chances they might have to get to know each other better in the future.

  You’re back on that derailed train again, are you? his brain asked. What good is it going to do to stoke the boiler when the wheels are off the tracks?

  Disgusted with his analogy he slammed the door and was starting to turn away when he heard it. A motor. Car? Truck? A hunter on a personal transport vehicle, maybe?

  He froze, straining to hear, to make up his mind where the noise originated and what it might be. It didn’t occur to him that Kaitlin might be watching him until she rolled down the window and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Listen.” Hand up, he gestured for her to stop and hoped she’d tell him he was imagining things.

  “I do hear something. Where’s it coming from?”

  “Can’t tell. But this white truck stands out in the moonlight like a beacon. We have to camouflage it.”

  “With what?”

  The bed in the back caught his eye. “The branches you gathered. Help me lay them over the reflective surfaces. We can use the blankets to drape the sides if we have to.”

  Kaitlin not only gave him no argument, she jumped out barefoot to help. He didn’t have to tell her the sound was getting louder, he could tell by her frantic movements that she knew.

  When they had done the best they could, he held out his hand. “Tape. Unless you have a screwdriver.”

  “Not with me,” she said breathlessly. “Do you need the tape for your bandage?”

  “No. To cover the door switches. If we can’t get the bulb out of the interior light we need to keep it from coming on when we open the doors.”

  “And showing whoever is out there where we are. Brilliant!” Her enthusiasm was oddly uplifting. She might be upset with him about his reluctance to share private information but she clearly admired his ingenuity.

  He taped one side, then passed the roll to her and she did the other. “So far so good,” Kaitlin whispered. “Now what?”

  “Keys in the ignition?”

  “Yes. Shall I pull them?”

  “No. If we have to make a quick getaway it’ll be better to have them in place.”

  “Shall I get back in?”

  “No. Put your shoes on and grab the half blanket we didn’t use for camouflage. We’re going to hide in the woods.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Oh, yes, Kaitlin. Ease your door closed. We’ll watch from a hiding place. If it looks like they’re getting too close, we’ll decide whether to stay where we are or hop in and drive off.”

  “Sounds better than standing around in the dark in that creepy forest,” she countered, tying her shoes.

  Daniel made a command decision, one he prayed was for the best. “Give me the clip and that extra bullet for the chamber,” he said, a hand held out. “I’m going to load before we leave the truck.”

  “Now you’re making sense.”

  “I sure hope so,” he said quietly. “I sure hope so.”

  * * *

  Sound bounced off the irregular terrain and trees as if the vehicle they were listening for was in three or four places at once. Knowing it was an echo and accepting the presence of only one car or truck didn’t help Kaitlin’s nerves. She wished the section of gray blanket was a sleeping bag, with tight seams to keep out the creeping, crawling denizens of the forest. Not to mention bigger threats. Like mountain lions, for instance.

  Tension pushed her closer to Daniel until he put both the blanket and an arm around her shoulders. She would gladly have complained if she hadn’t been silently wishing for exactly that to happen.

  “Where do you think they are now?” she whispered.

  It wasn’t necessary for him to lean closer to hear her, yet he did, anyway. “Sounds farther away.”

  “I thought so, too.” That was the plain truth. It was also not nearly enough to make her duck out from under his arm. Even when she didn’t feel totally safe and sure of herself she intended to act the part—except in special circumstances like this one.

  Keeping up a pretense of unshakable courage wasn’t only for Daniel’s benefit. She needed to make herself believe they were out of immediate danger in order to function well if the need arose.

  “You’re shive
ring.” His hold tightened. He pulled her closer.

  “So are you.” Kaitlin drew a corner of the blanket across, enfolding them both and trying to share the warmth.

  “We need to get you back in the truck. You’re freezing.”

  “You, too.”

  “I’ll be okay standing guard.”

  “You are not okay standing anything,” she argued.

  “So I’ll sit.”

  Where fear and the comfort of his closeness had not been enough to convince her to pull away, anger succeeded. “Yes, you will. Inside the cab with me. That’s the only way this will work and keep both of us from getting sick.”

  She could see enough of his face by moonlight to tell that he was not pleased. Well, tough.

  “The other thing we could do is hit the road,” Daniel said. “Our supplies are already on board.”

  “How do you know killers aren’t parked out there somewhere, waiting for us to show ourselves?”

  “How do you know they won’t wait all night, anyway?” Daniel asked.

  “Because we were watching my truck and they never got close enough to spot it yet.”

  “You know this because?”

  “Because they didn’t stop and check out the camp. Our camouflage job worked.”

  Kaitlin heard him make a guttural noise that was not a distinguishable word. Nevertheless, she knew exactly what message it conveyed. Their conflict had become a battle of wills rather than being defined by cause. Common sense, which she felt was always on her side, and the practice of medicine dictated rest and caution, while police instinct was currently against staying put.

  That was understandable. Daniel was a man of action. He didn’t want to just sit there and wait to be discovered by the next person who might be on his trail. As far as she could discern, he was thinking like a hunter, not like prey.

  “Listen, even little rabbits know enough to freeze when they’re being stalked,” Kaitlin said.

  “And they get eaten.”

  “Not the ones who don’t panic and bolt before the predator gives up and goes away.”

  “I’m not a rabbit.”

  “No,” she said, making special effort to keep her voice calm and even-toned, “you’re not. But you are who every crook in the state seems to be hunting.”

  “We can be spotted more easily in daylight.”

  “We can also see who or what is after us and escape better,” Kaitlin countered. “You can’t have it both ways and your leg is far from healed.”

  “That will take weeks and you know it.”

  “Make it months if you don’t want to limp the rest of your life.”

  He snorted derisively. “Depends on how long that is.”

  “Which brings me back to our original problem. You’ll have the best chance—we both will—of making it to your chief in one piece if you’re alert and rested.”

  Instead of answering, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward the clearing. Reaching the truck, he jerked open the door, tossed the blanket in first, then literally lifted her to the edge of the seat and dropped her there.

  Kaitlin put up with the macho act that far. When he took a step back and tried to close the door she balked. “No. No way. You get in here and keep warm or I’ll be out the other door faster than you can get around to stop me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “You’re the ridiculous one.” Her lips pressed into a thin line and she pointed at him. “Look at yourself and use a little common sense. You’re hurt. You’ve had a fever that has only recently broken. Everything you do that uses your sore leg not only taxes your stamina, it sets you up to reopen the wound. Then you’ll be ripe for another, worse infection on top of the initial one.” She scooted away from the door to make room. “So, what’ll it be? My way or the wrong way?”

  As she observed him and judged what kinds of ideas might be spinning through his brain, she sensed a partial change. Perhaps a softening. At least she hoped so.

  “All right,” Daniel began, “this is how it will go.”

  Kaitlin almost stopped him right there. Discretion slowed her negative response enough for him to finish expressing his thoughts.

  “We’ll wait until just before dawn and try to get some rest in the meantime, even if we can’t sleep sitting up. As soon as the sky starts to lighten we’ll be on our way whether we feel ready or not. Clear?”

  “As a bell,” Kaitlin said, holding back her reservations. She wasn’t afraid of sharing the cab of the truck with him. After all, they’d been in those same circumstances ever since leaving the hospital and he’d been a perfect gentleman. Any plan that resulted in his sleeping, even fitfully, was okay with her. It wasn’t as if they were romantically involved.

  She shoved aside the small cooler and scooted over farther to give him as much foot room as possible. Elevation would be best, of course, but that wasn’t possible. Or was it?

  The moment she reached past the cooler for the door handle he grasped and held her other wrist.

  “I’m not running off. I promise. I just want to move the cooler into the back to give us more room.”

  “Okay. Sorry. I thought...”

  “I know. You’re all keyed up and ready to suspect betrayal from all sides.” Sighing, she touched his forearm before opening the driver’s door. “I will never turn against you, Daniel. You have my word.”

  Tension visibly left him. He nodded and leaned his head to the side, resting it and his shoulder against the closed passenger door.

  As soon as Kaitlin returned she shoved a small bag of clothing at him. “Put this behind you as a pillow and turn to face me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to put your foot in my lap. We need to get that leg up or it’ll swell more than before.”

  “I should argue with you,” he said, “but I’m too tired.”

  Grimacing and biting back groans, he did as she’d instructed. Kaitlin quickly discovered that wasn’t the most comfortable position for her, yet made up her mind to tolerate it for as long as possible. She removed his sandal and dropped it on the floor, then turned the blanket segment sideways and spread it out to cover them both.

  Daniel gathered his portion close and closed his eyes.

  Kaitlin was still awake when his breathing slowed and deepened. Listening to that steady rhythm lulled her and finally brought much needed sleep to her, too.

  SIXTEEN

  Sunshine warming his face through the windows woke Daniel. Ready to snap at Kaitlin for letting him oversleep he saw that she was asleep, too. As soon as he tried to lift his leg she stirred.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  “Did so. You wanted to be on the road long before now.” Yawning, arms overhead, she stretched. “Is the coffee ready?”

  He had to chuckle between exclamations caused by shooting pains in his leg. “Ow, ooh, not good.”

  “It would have been much worse if you hadn’t elevated it,” Kaitlin assured him. “Let’s get out and walk around a bit to limber up, then clear off the truck’s silly decorations and get a move on.”

  “Hey, that’s my bedding you’re complaining about. It was a sacrifice for the cause.”

  “And fully appreciated,” Kaitlin said. “It’s just not something I care to haul across the state, flapping in the breeze.” She opened her door and slid out. “I’ll shake the twigs and what have you out of the outside blanket while you dump your lovely cedar bedding. If worse comes to worst we can gather more tonight.”

  He didn’t like the sound of that. “Whoa. It shouldn’t take us two days to cross the state. It’s not that far.”

  “It will be if we take back roads and stay off the main drags. Highways are faster, sure, but they’re also exactly what your enemies would expect. I say we fool them, cross to the oppo
site side of the lake the first chance we get and work our way around. The drive will be prettier.”

  “That’s not a medical decision,” he reminded her. “We’ll go straight in.”

  Expecting plenty of argument, Daniel waited. Apparently, Kaitlin was silently capitulating because she just shrugged, scooted closer to the door on her side and climbed out. She was pulling branches off the hood when he started on the opposite side.

  “Since you’ve been here before, where can I fill my gas tank?”

  “I think I remember a couple of stations where Highway 65 crosses the lake. That goes toward Sedalia.” He paused, visualizing the map. “Never mind. That’ll be too far out of our way. We’ll find something closer.”

  “Whatever. I still have almost half a tank. I just didn’t want to go on without planning for every possible glitch.”

  “Understood.” Cautious, Daniel remained disturbed by her lack of argument. It wasn’t like Kaitlin to give in so easily. Either she was no longer upset by his decision to head straight for St. Louis or something else was going on in that inventive brain of hers. No telling.

  He didn’t think she’d ever betray him, but he did assume she would defy his orders if she thought he was acting foolishly. When he was feverish and needed care, that was permissible. Now that he was back to his old self, however, it was not.

  “I’ll want coffee,” Kaitlin said flatly, sliding behind the wheel. “Lots of it.” She patted the dashboard as if the truck was a house pet. “Gas for the nice truck, coffee for the nice driver.”

  “Fine with me.” He clicked his seat belt. “We may even find a place that has sandwiches or something.”

  “Truck stop sandwiches? Ewww. I’ll pass. We have enough problems already.”

  “I’ve eaten lots of those sandwiches and never had a problem,” he answered.

  “Nuts and berries are safer.”

  The brief look she shot his way was troubling. “Kaitlin...what are you up to?”

  He saw her hands tighten on the steering wheel before she replied. “I’m doing my best to get us out of this mess, that’s what. My arm muscles are sore from driving, my back is stiff from sleeping sitting up and I have a pounding headache.”