Rules In Blackmail. Nichole Severn

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СКАЧАТЬ Take this.” He thrust the lighter duffel bag from the trunk at Jane. He grabbed a thick coat and the heavier bag for himself. Boy Scouts, SEALs and Alaskans all had one motto in common: Never Get Caught in the Wilderness Unprepared.

      She unzipped the bag he’d handed her. “Food and guns. You’re officially the man of my dreams.”

      She’d meant it as a joke, but, hell, the compliment forced him to pause.

      “Wait until you see what’s in this bag. Between us, we’ll be able to survive out here for at least three days.” He didn’t bother closing the tailgate. Some civilian would drive past and put a call in to the cops, or the SUV would sink. Either way, he and Jane weren’t sticking around to find out. He couldn’t take the risk of her stalker coming back to the scene to make sure the job was done. “We’re heading northeast.” He pointed toward the thick outcropping of trees as he pulled on his thick coat. “It’s a three-mile hike. We need to leave now in case your stalker realizes he didn’t finish the job.”

      “Where are we going?” She brought up the hood on her cargo jacket. Smart move. The Alaskan wilderness wasn’t any place to screw around. They had to stay warm and dry or risk hypothermia.

      Sullivan covered his head to conserve body heat. A gust of freezing wind whipped one side of his body as he headed into the forest. “Somewhere no one will find us.”

      * * *

      HE’D CALLED HER Jane back on the embankment. Not Captain Reise. She’d heard him clear as day. Because even in the midst of suffocating unconsciousness, Jane had locked on to his voice. The man she was blackmailing had brought her out of the darkness. Why? He had no allegiance to her.

      Sullivan cleared a path through the thickest parts of the forest with one of the extra blades from his duffel bag a few feet up ahead of her. Shadows cast across his features from the beam from his flashlight. Snow had worked down into her boots, turning to slush. Her jeans were soaked through. How long had they been out here? An hour? Two? Three miles didn’t seem like much until deep snow and freezing temperatures added to the misery. Not to mention it was dark and difficult to see. Her toes had gone numb long ago, fingers following close behind, but Jane kept her mouth shut. They had to be close, right? She swiped away a few drops of water from her cheek, wincing as pain radiated up toward her temple. The sooner they made it to their destination—wherever that was—the better.

      Distraction. She had to keep her mind off her frozen limbs. “Bet you’ve never had to walk through the Alaskan wilderness with a client to escape a crazed psychopath before.”

      “You’re right.” He laughed, a deep guttural rumble she felt down into her bones. It was real, warming. Swinging his arm out, he held back a large branch so she could pass. He stared down at her while she maneuvered around him, those sea-blue eyes brightening in the muted beam from his flashlight. “I usually reserve these kinds of trips for people I’ve been assigned to hunt down.”

      “Is that a nice way of putting that you’ve killed people for a living?” She instantly regretted the words, and her heart rate rocketed. “I mean, I read your military record during the trial. I know you used to be a SEAL, one of the best. You don’t have to lie to me or sugarcoat anything.”

      “Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. You never really retire. It stays in your blood, makes you who you are. Forever.” Defensiveness tinted his words as Jane followed in his sunken footsteps. But, faster than she thought possible, he latched onto her arm and spun her into his chest. The hard set to his eyes said Sullivan Bishop could be a very dangerous enemy, but she’d known that before throwing his secrets in his face. Right now, in this moment, her instincts said he wouldn’t hurt her. She’d learned to trust those instincts to get her through the past few years. “And, as a prosecutor, you of all people should understand that the best defense against evil men is good men who deal in violence.”

      Jane took a deep breath. One, two. She couldn’t get enough air. Staring up at him, she noted the gash across his cheek he must’ve suffered during the wreck. He’d protected her back there because she was a lead. Nothing more. He’d said as much, but why did being this close to him change her breathing patterns? “And what about now?”

      “What do you mean?” Sullivan narrowed his eyes, his features turning to stone.

      “Do you still ‘hunt down’ people for a living?” she asked.

      Seconds ticked by, then a minute. Something in her heart froze. Sullivan was a killer. It’d been part of the job description, part of his past, but Jane couldn’t keep track of how long he held her there as snow fell from branches around them. His mesmerizing gaze held hers, but Jane had a feeling he wasn’t really seeing her at all. His fingers dug into her, keeping his hold light enough not to bruise. He wasn’t trying to hurt her. Maybe...he didn’t want to let her go.

      “Isn’t that why you blackmailed me into helping you?” The demons were evident in his eyes, but Sullivan released his grip on her arm and put a few inches of freezing Alaska air between them as he turned his back on her and pushed forward.

      “No. I blackmailed you to find the man doing this to me so we can turn him over to the police.” Her skin tingled through her thin coat where he’d latched onto her arm. Phantom sensations. There was no way he could affect her like that. Not in these temperatures. She studied him from behind, the way his back stretched each time he took a step, the way he carried himself as though nothing could get through him if a threat arose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

      What? Pry into his life? Doubt his reasons for doing what needed to be done overseas and here in the United States?

      Pushing on up ahead, he worked to clear branches. After a few seconds, Sullivan halted in his tracks, turning back toward her. Stubble speckled with ice and snow, he swayed on his feet. Good to know she wasn’t the only one suffering from exhaustion. He scanned over her from head to toe. “Don’t worry about it.”

      “I appreciate everything you’ve done for your country and what you’re doing now. I’m sure every American does. It’s admirable.” She fought for a full lungful of air. Despite the dropping temperatures, her skin heated when he looked at her like that. Like she was a threat. She stepped over the remnants of a few branches he’d demolished along the way, nearly losing her footing. In that moment, something between them shifted. An understanding of sorts. No messy blackmail. No psychotic lunatic trying to run them down with his tow truck. Not even security consultant and client. Just two people trying to survive in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Together. “You don’t have to do all this work yourself, you know. I can help.”

      “You’re more than welcome to...” His mouth went slack as though he couldn’t get enough oxygen. Probably couldn’t. Freezing temperatures didn’t discriminate against SEALs or lawyers. Mother Nature treated everyone equally.

      “Are you okay?” she asked. “Sullivan?”

      They’d crossed at least two and a half miles of heavy snow and growth, maybe more. She was tired and couldn’t feel her toes, but her instincts urged her to get to him. Now.

      Sullivan doubled over, dropping his gear before he collapsed onto his side.

      “Sullivan!” Jane discarded the duffel bag and lunged toward him. Her feet felt like frozen blocks of ice, but she fought the piling snow with everything she had. Hands outstretched, she checked his pulse. Weak. “No, no, no, no. Come on. Get up.”

      Gripping his jawline, she brought one ear to his mouth. Still breathing. Would anyone hear her СКАЧАТЬ