God, this was trickier than she’d thought, tucking it against his side before he noticed the canine furnace move away. Wade shuffled, his breathing hitching once, twice, before he settled back to sleep again. Hopefully he was out for the count. She couldn’t risk him following her to her home and learning about her brother. And if she went with Wade back to the outside world, authorities could make the connection between her and her brother. This was the easiest way.
Wriggling her toes in her dry but stiff wool socks, she stuffed her feet into her boots and motioned for Chewie to join her. Once they made it out the cave door and melted into the mountainside, it would be impossible for Wade to find her again.
While she had a birth certificate, a social security number, she didn’t have utility bills—and neither did her neighbors. Neither did her brother. There wasn’t any record of her since her family had moved to the self-sustaining community when she was in junior high school.
There was virtually no paper trail to their town. Some came for the more natural style of living. But she knew all too well that others came to hide. Like her brother. She couldn’t let someone she’d only known a few hours make her forget the importance of family loyalty—no matter how compelling that man might be.
If only he would let her just walk away. But this man had come to rescue her off the mountain and she knew he wouldn’t stop until he delivered her lock, stock, and barrel into the military’s custody.
The sun was rising. The storm had passed. The time was now.
She couldn’t resist glancing back for a final look at Wade. His unshaven face sported heavier stubble the same dark shade as his long lashes against his cheeks. Her fingers itched inside her gloves to touch him, test the texture of those lashes the same way he’d obviously lingered over the feel of her hair in his hand last night. She swallowed hard. Damn inconvenient time to find a guy who turned her on, after a three-year dry spell. But delaying would be a frivolous indulgence that would cost her too much. She would not risk losing the chance to say good-bye to her sister.
Steeling her will, she turned away, hand on her dog’s head.
“Going somewhere?”
Wade’s question stopped her short.
She looked back sharply. Wade stared back at her, wide awake, his muscles bunched.
Her heart lurched. She glanced around the cave quickly, took in his clothes still drying on rocks and stalagmites. It would cost him at least a couple of minutes to dress and he couldn’t plunge outside in his thermal underwear.
Decision made, she ran.
Okay, more like she plodded and slid and even skated down the snowy path, Chewie loping alongside. She had to get away. She’d told Wade she would be safe. He’d seen her ability to take care of herself. Why couldn’t he accept she could survive out here on her own? She refused to feel guilty for ditching him, but she couldn’t climb on board his military helicopter and answer all their questions.
Questions that could lead them to her brother, lead her brother to a court-martial.
Tears stung her eyes for the first time since she’d seen Wade parachute through the storm. She listened for footsteps behind her, but the huffs of her panting dog filled her ears. How far had she run? She’d lost track and was relying on instincts from years of exploring. But she knew better than to let her attention wander. Something she should have thought of yesterday.
Her foot slipped.
A scream burst past her lips before she could hold it back. She scrambled for balance on a loose rock under a knee-deep bank of snow. Her arms flailed for something to grab hold of, but trees were small, scrubby. Not to mention, few and far between. She landed hard on her hip against an icy boulder. An arctic fox darted out and away. The hackles rose along Chewie’s back.
She rolled to the side and fell on her butt. Snow edged into a gap in her bib overalls where her coat had ridden up. A critical mistake.
Keep moving. Don’t stop. She braced a hand on Chewie’s back, found her balance again, and plowed forward.
Every frozen breath stabbed at her lungs, already hungry for oxygen. She glanced over her shoulder. Wade trekked after her, surefooted and gaining fast. As seasoned as she was navigating this region, he was far more adept.
And stronger.
Most would have given out at this altitude long ago. But not him. She had a serious problem on her hands.
The rocky path narrowed ahead. Yes, she was racing in the opposite direction from the pass that would take her to the valley where she lived, but she refused to lead him to her brother’s doorstep. And if she remembered correctly, there was another cave to duck into a couple of miles away, which in these conditions could mean walking for hours, but she couldn’t dwell on that. Focus instead on the hot springs in the cave ahead, bubbling waters heated from a volcano, which could provide warmth through to her cold core.
Her guilty core.
A stitch started in her side. She forced her feet to move, one in front of the other, even when the stitch turned into a stab. Her legs felt like lead—
Wade tackled her from behind. She slammed into the ground. The weight of him pressing against her back knocked the breath from her. Rock and ice chunks bit into the exposed patches of her face. God, he was solid as a tank.
Chewie’s growl echoed lowly in the distance, but for some reason her dog didn’t lend a helping paw. The traitor.
“Let me go, damn it.” She bucked underneath him, desperate for air and freedom. “I’m not your prisoner. You can’t force me to stay here with you.”
He clamped his hands around her wrists. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing or who you’re running from, but we can’t keep playing this game of freeze tag.”