Lone Defender. Shirlee McCoy

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СКАЧАТЬ make it out on foot. Like it or not, we’re stuck here until dawn.”

      “Then I guess we’ll be walking all night, because there is no way I’m going to bunk down and accept my fate.” She started walking, and Jonas pulled her to a stop.

      “Even if we walk all night we won’t reach the highway before morning, and there’s no way you’re going to make it that long.”

      “I’ve been walking for days. One more night won’t hurt me.” Her teeth chattered on the last word, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She felt cold to the bone, tired to the core. Every muscle in her body ached, but if it meant a hot meal, dry clothes and a warm bed, she’d walk all night.

      “That’s what most people probably think before the desert takes them.”

      “Nice, Jonas.”

      “I’m not nice. I’m realistic. You probably haven’t eaten in a week and if you make it another mile, I’ll be surprised. So, how about we do things my way? We head to the mesa, find some shelter and hunker down until first light.” He handed her a water bottle, and she took a long swallow, letting the lukewarm liquid pour down her parched throat. Her hand shook as she wiped moisture from her lips, her stomach heaving in protest. Empty. That’s what she was running on, and as much as she wanted to deny it, Jonas was right.

      Her brain might be telling her to keep going, but her body was giving out. Quickly. As much as it aggravated her to depend on anyone, she’d have to follow Jonas’s lead in this. “All right. Let’s do this your way.”

      She didn’t give him time to respond, just moved toward the mesa, hoping she didn’t lose the water that seemed to be sloshing around in her empty stomach.

      That’s all she needed. Humiliation on top of exhaustion and pain.

      “That was quick.” His words rumbled through the darkness, a reminder that she might be cold and tired and sick, but she was not alone anymore.

      That, at least, was something to be thankful for.

      “What?”

      “Convincing you to go along with my plan. Kane said you’d probably fight me tooth and nail on everything.”

      “Kane talks too much.”

      “That worked out well for you this time. If he hadn’t told me that you were too stubborn to die, I wouldn’t have agreed to help with the search.” He didn’t say what he must be thinking, what Skylar knew to be the truth. If not for Kane’s intervention, she’d be facing another night alone in the desert. She might even be facing her last night alone in the desert. Her last night period.

      She wasn’t, though.

      That was the important thing. Kane had sent help. Skylar would survive her trip to Arizona and her six-day hike through the desert. One more night. That’s all she had to do, then she’d get a hot shower, a warm bed. Food. Her stomach rumbled loudly, the sound spilling out into the darkness.

      “Hungry, huh?”

      “What would make you say that?” She’d didn’t hold back the snarky response, but maybe she should have. Jonas was, after all, her way out of the mess she was in. No sense getting on his bad side.

      “Just a guess.” He pulled something out of his pocket, barely breaking stride as he handed it to her. “Eat that, but take it slow. We don’t have time to stop while you empty your guts.”

      “Your concern is touching.” She glanced down at the protein bar, her mouth watering. Not a juicy burger, but she’d eat cardboard if it meant easing the gnawing hunger she’d been feeling for days. She tore the wrapper off, took the first bite and the second and the third.

      Jonas grabbed the bar from her hand before she could take another.

      “Hey!”

      “I said take it slow. Not inhale it.”

      “If I were inhaling it, it would already be gone.” She snatched the bar back, took another bite, actually managing to taste the nutty flavor before she swallowed. “It’s good.”

      “I have more. I’ll get them out when we stop.”

      “How about we stop now? Because I could eat another dozen of those.” She licked crumbs from her fingers, thought about dragging Jonas to a stop and demanding whatever food he was carrying.

      “Weren’t you just saying you wanted to walk all night?”

      “That was before I realized you had food.”

      “Three more miles and you can eat all the protein bars you want.”

      “Is that a bribe?”

      “Whatever keeps you moving.”

      “More food would do it.”

      “Sorry. Everything else is in my pack. Getting it out would slow us down.”

      “Are we in a hurry?”

      “Only if we want to beat the storm.”

      “I’ve weathered several storms already. One more won’t kill me.”

      “The storm isn’t the only thing I’m worried about.” His pace had increased, and Skylar struggled to keep up, her sluggish movements no match for his long, easy stride.

      “Please, don’t tell me there are mountain lions out here. I really don’t want to end up being cat food.”

      “Mountain lions aren’t the worst predator we might run into. I’ve seen campfires the past couple nights. I thought members of the search party were following my trail, but the search-and-rescue coordinator said none of his people were out here.”

      “Maybe it’s someone enjoying the desert,” she offered, but she didn’t believe it any more than she believed the person who’d drugged her and left her in the desert hadn’t meant her any harm.

      “That’s what I thought, until you told me what happened to you.”

      “How far away were the fires?”

      “A few miles the first night. Closer last night.”

      “So the people who built them could be right behind us.”

      “Could be.”

      “You’re a man of few words, Jonas, and I find that truly annoying,” she muttered, and he chuckled, the sound gritty and rough.

      “I’ve never felt a need to waste words, but if you want me to expound on the kind of trouble we might be in, I will. You said someone drove you out here and left you—”

      “I’m not just saying it. It happened.”

      “A person who goes to that kind of effort probably isn’t going to sit around hoping that you’re dead. Not when your face has been splashed on every local news station and not when every newspaper in the Phoenix СКАЧАТЬ