Crystal Clear (11 page)

Chase turned to the stranger, he didn’t trust anyone involved with the military.  Many within the Agency didn’t trust the government in any form. 

“Really, what makes you qualified?  Do you have experience?”  Chase eyed him up and down.  He looked like he could handle himself in a fight. 

The man grinned though
his eyes didn’t quite light up.
“I have enough.  As you’ve likel
y been informed;
Washington wants me to help you complete your mission.  I’m also a regular guide for these parts.  I can get you to where you need to go without any more incidents.  Your partner here may think the threat to her has been nullified, but I don’t believe so.  They tried to take her out on the rapids using some pretty high
-
tech gear.  They’ll look for the body, and when none is found they’ll try to come after her again.  We had best get a move on.  You should also
be aware;
she was injured in the fall, and can barely walk.  We may have to take turns helping her along the way.” 

Cindy grimaced.
“Look, you don’t
need
to help me, I can walk just fine.  I’ll get a branch or something to help until I can walk normally.  I can keep up.”  She raised her chin and Chase watched the byplay between Cindy and Wilde,
there
was
the flash of fire in her eyes. 

“Chase,” her fiery gaze turned towar
d him, “Jaguar has a head start. A
re you ready to move?”

Chase caught the looks between her and Wilde, and frowned, “Yes, get your gear.  I’ll be waiting outside.”

He turned and walked out shutting the door firmly behind him.  Something was going on between Cindy and
Wilde
.  He didn’t like it.  She
acted
differently around him.  Her lips were pink and swollen like she had just gotten done
being thoroughly kissed,
and her cheeks were flushed. 

Chase felt a strange twinge in the area of his heart, he shook his head.  He had never seen Cindy take to any man other than him before.  Lucy hadn’t mentioned anything about Cindy liking this other guy, and Cindy told her everything.  His sister knew that he
cared
for her friend, and she would tell him if something was wrong, wouldn’t she?  He took a deep breath and tried to ease his thoughts, he was probably imagining things. 

The door opened behind him and he turned.  Cindy smiled at him and his mind eased a little.  She would tell him what was going on as soon as they were alone.  Jack followed behind her carrying a pack, and closed the door firmly after letting out the dog. 

The dog came up to him and sniffed
his pant leg
, with a low growl it turned and trotted back to Wilde’s side
, with a bark it ran off into the nearby woods
.  The man looked over at him and gave that cold smile again.

“You ready?”  Wilde hefted a pack on his shoulders.  Chase watched as Wilde glanced at Cindy while she pushed the pa
ck on her own shoulders higher. He
didn’t like the way the man’s eyes roamed over her body.

There was definitely something going on here, and as soon as he had Cindy alone, she
would
explain. 

Cindy started forward, her limp pronounced. 

“Perhaps we had better find you a walking stick before we go much farther.”  Wilde walked to the edge of the trees and rooted around in the fallen debris for a moment.  He came back with a sturdy limb.  “There,” he hand
ed
the stick to Cindy, “that should help some.  If you get too tired let us know and we can stop for a rest.” 

Wilde
stroked a hand down her cheek and Chase felt the anger build.  What right did this man have to touch her?  Cindy lifted a hand up to move Wilde’s touch away.  Her fingers lingered for a moment.

“Okay,” she turned to Chase
, “Let’s get a move on.  They'
ve
got a good start on us. I
f they get there before we do, who knows what kind of trouble they’ll cause. Jack, we’re headed to the lava fields.  The satellite should be located between here and there.  The signal is strongest not three miles from this spot.”  She showed her
GPS
to Wilde
and
Chase.  Sure enough, the signal
pinged
only a few miles from where they
stood
currently. 

“Great, it shouldn’t take long to get there.  If we follow the animal trails we should be alright.  The deer and other animals around here make good walking paths.” 

“What are you going to do with the dog? He can’t come with us.” Chase eyed the dog
which had come back and was sitting patiently next to Wilde
like it was one of the Hounds of Hell.

“I have a friend coming to take care of him.  We shouldn’t be that long, but I don’t want him getting hurt in case something happens.” Jack rubbed Copper’s ears and opened the cabin door to let the dog back inside. “Let’s go.”
He headed out and Cindy and Chase fell into step behind him. 

The path Jack chose was narrow. T
hey walk
ed
single file.  This didn’t give Chase the opportunity he wanted to talk with Cindy.  He stared at her luscious backside and tried to think about the mission.  Chase ducked as a branch snapped back almost hitting his head. 
He c
a
ught
it just in time to
stop it from slapping his face. Chase
pushed it to the side and his gaze narrowed as Wilde glanced back.

“You okay?”  Wilde asked with
an annoying grin on his face.

“
F
ine.”  He wasn’t about to let Wilde show him up. 
Chase didn’t have time for this. I
f Jaguar got to the satellite before them, all the information would be lost. They would be set back months in the investigation of the fanatics
who
creat
ed
so much havoc in the States
recently
.  Trying to avoid the roots and rocks litter
ing
the path
,
Chase tried to focus on the case at hand.

The newest hit had been on the FBI building.  Someone hacked into the security and corrupted hundreds of criminal files.  They had a team of retrieval experts trying to repair the damage done before bad things happened. 

All the data was lost on several known terrorists in the States. 
Thoughts
about the case
helped
Chase to keep his mind off what might be going on between Jack and Cindy.  The last thing he needed to do was lose his temper. 

He
pictured
his sister laughing at him for losing a case over a girl, but Cindy wasn’t
only
a girl to him.  She was special, talented, and had a sense of humor that could make him laugh when he didn’t want to.  He needed that in his life.  Where would he ever find anyone
to measure up if he lost her? 

Cindy trudged along behind Jack, trying not to put too much weight on her injured leg. She
didn’t want Jag
to get the satellite. T
hey already had a head start of about four hours.  Jag did
n’t have a guide of course, which
would slow them down some, but it was still a likelihood they would get to the satellite before Cindy had a chance to destroy it.  She didn’t know what kind of information it contained, but it had to be important.  If Jag was willing to kill an
agent of F.I.U.W. to obtain the
data, it had to be something worth while. 

She
felt
Chase’s gaz
e on her back. H
e must be thinking the worst about her.  He would have
seen
when Jack touched her cheek.  She had to tell him the moment they had some time alone.  Jack would hopefully understand her need to talk with Chase.  She had to clear the air.  She
felt
the tension between them, and she had a need to c
ut it out of the equation
if possible
.  Cindy just
wasn’t sure how Chase was go
ing to take the news about Jack;
or that she
just didn’t want to be in a serious relationship with him
. 

Stumbling over some roots, Cindy had to catch her balance for a moment.  Jack glanced back at her
, concern on his face
.  She smiled and he turned to continue on.  She wondered
what
thoughts went on inside the gorgeous head
of his. 

Jack continued to be an enigma. She didn’t
have much information on him
other than
the fact that he was
a trained guide and a reserve remote for the US Government.  She knew that he had military training from the way he handled his knife.
He was a SEAL, after all.
He
was
efficient, and the government would make sure that anyone they sent would be competent enough to deal with terrorist situations.

The trail became too steep and Cindy
had
trouble holding her footing.  She watched as Jack angled his feet and went down the side of the incline.  Rocks and dirt tumbled down the hill in front of him.  Cindy
saw
the beginnings of the porous rock
which
made up the lava beds. 

The river rushed by and the water became wild as they moved on due to the rock it traveled over.  Cindy winced.  If she had gone any further downriver when she fell she would she would have been a goner,
Filet Cindy
.

She tried to concentrate on the trail and kept reminding herself she could do this, even with a hurt ankle, “Sure no problem.” Cindy said mostly to herself as she took another step forward. “Just keep moving.” 

Jack l
ooked back at her and nodded; h
is f
ace impassive.
  She stumbled over a small root and Chase caught her elbow steadying her. 

“Thank you.”  Smiling at him she gently, but firmly removed her elbow from his hand. 
She glanced back quickly and noticed Chase frown,
but
he
stepped back and kept his distance.  They traveled for about an hour,
and Cindy’s foot
throbb
ed
in pain. 

Jack looked back occasionally
noticing the frown on her face. H
e admired her for not complaining.  He
had first-hand
experience that you could put the body through more than one would anticipate.  Jack shook his head to clear the morbid thoughts that form
ed
.  Training for Special Forces was harsh by anyone’s standards.  He absent-mindedly rubbed his knee as they climbed up a steep incline on the other side of the valley they’d crossed.  He stopped at the top and put his pack down.

“What’re we stopping for?”  Chase demanded.  He glared at Jack.

“I need to take a brea
ther.  I have a bum knee.”  I
f he
felt
the physical excursion
,
Cindy must be in terrible pain.  The stony look on her beautiful face told its own story. 

She sat on a nearby log and flexed her foot.  Her gaze met his and he
saw
more green than brown in her hazel eyes.  He wondered if that had more to do with
the
pain she
experienced
or the conflicting emotions she must be go
ing through.  Jack knew Cindy and Chase had a history
.  He could tell by the way their body language spoke
they were uncomfortable. S
he crossed her l
egs away from Montgomery, and his
angled towards her where he stood. 

Cindy eyes kept shifting and he
sensed
she didn’t want him digging too deeply into her situation, yet.  He didn’t blame her after all, they had just met.  He wasn’t one to share too much information about his own personal life either, but he
knew
he wouldn’t hold too much back if she asked him.

Cindy
tried
hard not to look at either man. 
She p
ull
ed
a Snickers
bar
out of her pack
and
concentrated on reducing
the
pain in her foot by taking
in
copious amounts of chocolate. 

The problem lay in two areas, well, no, three.  One, how she
would explain to Chase
she
decided to be with
a man who was virtually a stranger to her; two, how
would
she
keep
see
ing
a man
who expected her to be “trouble
”
;
and three, how
would she
stop Chase from killing Jack when she told him about her newly formed relationship?  And to top that off, long distance relationships were no good, and she lived clear across the country.  Life sucked sometimes.