Heartstealer (Women of Character3 (15 page)

She stifled a moan of pure
pleasure. "I have the strangest desire to purr like a cat. I think
I’m out of shape."

"Looks pretty good from where
I'm standing," he murmured provocatively. Jacie just about jumped out of
her skin when his mouth touched the back of her neck.

His hands across her back and
shoulders made her clench her stomach muscles. "How curious. I feel
relaxed and tense at the same time."

Images floated just beyond the
perimeter of her vision. She and Sloan. She closed her eyes to enjoy the power
of her imagination.

"How does that feel?" he
asked, his voice husky and low. Intimate, she thought.

"Bring out that Jacuzzi."

His hands on her shoulders
tightened, then slid down her back and away.

She twisted around and studied his
face in the firelight. His cheekbones were prominent, his eyes partially hidden
in shadow. "You’re magic," she said sincerely, slowly rotating
her shoulders. "Don't tell me you're a masseuse, too?"

"I used to do it for my
mom," he admitted quietly, sitting back on his heels. "She was
bedridden several months before she died."

"Oh." She felt an instant
welling of concern. "How frightening that must have been, since you were
only a child."

He looked away from her, searching
the darkness beyond the perimeter of the camp as the horses whinnied to each
other. "You learn to deal with losses. In time everything loses its sharp
edges."

"Does a child ever get over
seeing his mother suffer?"

"Not entirely, I guess."

"Well," Jacie said
quickly, not wanting him to think she was being too probing. "It was a
great massage. You’ve got the touch." Her shoulders weren't the only
part of her body that had responded to his touch. Did he guess that? Of course
he would. He was a man who looked like he knew what women wanted. She sighed.
Now all she needed to figure out was what she wanted.

She drew him over to a fallen tree.
"Here, sit down." She knelt behind him. "Now it’s your
turn." She grinned slyly. "Don’t look so surprised. Fair is
fair," she added lightly.

She clasped the warm skin of his
neck, feeling the fine hair at the base of his skull as she kneaded gently. She
moved down his shoulders. The muscle beneath her fingers was hard and well
defined. Her mouth went dry. He’d look fabulous without a shirt.

She leaned into him, moving her
hands down his back, working at the muscles. "Boy, are you tense."
She touched his side, kneaded her fingers along his ribs and he scooted
sideways and grabbed her hands with a low growl. She laughed in delight.
"You’re ticklish! How very interesting. This could be fun."

Just then someone clapped their
hands. "Now that we’ve eaten, I think we should get the low-down on
everybody," MaryAnn said.

"Sure," John said.
"Sounds good to me."

Jacie looked away from the heated
look in Sloan’s eyes. For a moment she wished they alone.

"Come on." Sloan held his
hand out and Jacie took it, following him back toward the campfire. She dropped
into her vacated seat and Sloan pulled another camp chair over to the fire next
to her. She needed time to wind down from the sensory experience of touching
him.

MaryAnn laughed. "Since you're
all bashful, I'll go first."

"She's never at a loss for
words," her husband Leo agreed.

"Leo and I own a computer
business. We heard about Timber Falls through a friend. We've been trying to
take a break for a while, so here we are. It’s like a second
honeymoon." MaryAnn turned to Emma and John. "Your turn."

"Emma and I hail from Vermont
where we run an inn. We're on our honeymoon. It’s a second marriage for
both of us."

Jacie let the lighthearted banter
wash over her. It reminded her of home and late night camp-outs in the backyard
with her brothers. A dab of homesickness touched her. She hadn't talked to her
family since she had come here. They were off on a job, but she missed them
suddenly.

Aware of silence, she looked up and
found expectant faces staring at her. Reluctantly, she said, "I suppose
it's my turn? I live about an hour and a half outside of the city and I'm not
married." Her eyes slid past Sloan's speculative glance.

"Well?" MaryAnn prompted.

Jacie looked at her and raised her
brows. "What? Oh, I love photography. If I wasn’t skydiving
I’d probably be a photographer."

The other woman wore an openly
curious expression. "I'm not trying to pry, but when I first met you I
kept thinking I knew you. It's not every day you meet a celebrity."

"I'm not a celebrity,"
Jacie protested.

"I saw a documentary about
five years ago about skydiving and exhibition jumps. I remembered because you
were the first woman to do a certain type of stunt."

Jacie shrugged. "Yes, I
remember that, it was filmed to document parachuting as a sport. But it wasn't
me they highlighted, it was my mother, who is also Jacie. Back in the sixties
she was a member of the US Army women's team. In sixty-four they won individual
championships in parachuting and spot jumping."

"Wow," John said.

The entire group seemed awestruck.
To break through that, she said lightly, "My father feels pretty much the
same way. He’s never jumped out of a plane. I have a really
unconventional family."

"It was exciting watching you
parachute into Timber Falls the first day," MaryAnn said. "Before
last week I would never have imagined myself jumping out of a plane. It
terrified me, but now I’m really looking forward to it."

Jacie studied Sloan intently. He
poked at the fire, his face absorbed as he watched the flames.

"It grabs you and doesn't let
you go," she agreed.

She was disturbed by the closed
look on his face, his features harsh and drawn. Had talking about her skydiving
put that look on his face?

"What’s the next job
after this, Jacie?" someone asked.

She deliberately watched Sloan's face,
which was half-turned away from her. "I'm sure there will be something in
the works when I get back." He jabbed at the fire with a long stick,
causing sparks to fly upward.

"Do you ever get afraid up
there?" John asked.

"You'd be crazy if you didn't have
some healthy fear. The business is a risk. You know it and you live with
it."

Sloan stood up and disappeared into
the shadows. She felt a momentary chill, but ignored it and continued to answer
questions as best she could. People were naturally curious about her work; she
didn't hold it against them.

Jacie finally decided to call it a
night about nine o’clock. Early by any standard, after riding and hiking
most of the day she was beat.

Once in her tent she reflected on
the day's events. Perhaps there was no significance, yet a strange ache twisted
through her as she recalled how Sloan had left the group. She knew it had
something to do with her. He had returned to check the fire at a later point,
but he had not joined in the conversation. He had reservations about her line
of work. He regarded jumping out of planes as something foolish.

Listening to the sizzle and crack
of the dying fire, Jacie began to drift off to sleep. Suddenly, she suddenly
heard a different noise. Recalling what Sloan had said about bears when she
first arrived, she rolled over and looked through her tent mesh. Beyond the
glowing embers, on the edge of camp, she could make out a dark silhouette by
the horse pen.

An odd, warning prickle touched
her. Sloan and James had set up their tent on the opposite side of camp. Was it
her imagination or was there someone over by the horse pen? She concentrated
her attention on the shadow, but it seemed to melt away. Quietly, she crawled
out of her tent and hurried over to where Sloan and James stood talking.

As she drew closer perhaps her
expression must have alerted Sloan something wasn't right. He stopped
mid-conversation and stepped forward, a hand going out to her arm. "Jacie,
what is it?"

"I had the strangest feeling
someone was over by the horses. Something was crouched down in the brush. Then
it disappeared."

Sloan and James walked to the area
she indicated.

When Donny suddenly appeared out of
the brush Jacie gave a small screech. Sloan jumped toward her and grabbed her
arm.

"Donny, it’s you"
she said with relief.

"Sorry," he said
sheepishly. "Just checking everything before I turn in." He shifted
his feet nervously.

"Did you see anyone out
here?" Sloan asked with a frown.

"No. What’s going
on?"

Jacie put her arms around herself.
"I thought I saw someone crouched down in the brush."

"What were you doing out
there, Donny?" James asked.

Jacie saw Donny swallow as he
looked back and forth between the brothers. "N-nothing."

Sloan and James produced
flashlights and combed the immediate area. After several moments she joined
them at the fenced corral.

"Maybe I’m seeing
things," she said ruefully. "It's been a long day."

Sloan swept his flashlight over the
ground one more time, then abruptly stopped. He crouched down. "Maybe
not," he said grimly.

She followed the light beam, her
eyes widening as she saw a syringe and needle lying in the grass. Fear ripped
through her. An indrawn breath had her turning to Donny, who stood behind her.
With dismay, she noticed Donny’s frightened expression.

"Donny, have you ever seen
that before?" Sloan asked quietly.

"No, I swear I
haven’t." Donny looked beseechingly at Sloan. "I swear,"
he repeated, his eyes darting back and forth between them.

"I believe him," she said
quietly.

Sloan threw her an impatient glance
as he stepped closer to the teenager. "I’m not accusing you Donny.
You’ve been with us two years and I’ve come to trust you. Just
explain to me what’s going on that’s making you so nervous."

Donny nodded quickly. "I know
I was in a lot of trouble when you hired me on two years ago Sloan, but
I’ve kept my nose clean." He clenched his fists and stared earnestly
at each of them in turn. "I like working here." He looked down at his
feet. "I’ve been seeing Michelle. I know I’m not good enough,
what with all the trouble I caused back then, but I like her and I’d
never hurt her."

Sloan clasped Donny’s
shoulder. "I know you wouldn’t harm her. There’s no reason you
can’t see Michelle, Donny."

Jacie smiled, expecting nothing
less of Sloan. He wouldn’t accuse anyone unjustly.

Donny gave him a look of relief.
"Michelle said that too, but I figured since she’s your cousin and
all, that you might not want me hanging around with her. We were down by the
creek, you know, just talking. I thought it would be better if nobody saw us
coming back together so I had her go on ahead."

"Okay, Donny, why don’t
you turn in," Sloan said. "God knows it’s been a long
day."

"I’ll get a pair of
pliers and a plastic bag for that syringe," James said grimly when Donny
ambled off to his tent.

Sloan kept his flashlight trained
on it. "Good idea. We’ll have to have it looked at. Maybe it’s
something as innocent as an insulin needle from the last set of campers."

Jacie wished it was something as
simple as that but she had a bad feeling about it.

Using the pliers Sloan gingerly
placed the syringe with the needle inside a plastic bag. "I’ll keep
this in my tent," he said. No one argued.

She didn’t want to be
anywhere near it.

"In the morning we’ll
see if anyone lays claim to it."

"Why don’t you turn in
for the night?" Sloan said to her.

Troubled, she knew he was right,
but wondered if she’d be able to sleep.

"I’ll keep watch during
the night, so don’t worry about anyone coming back."

"We’ll split the
watch," James said. "I think we should break camp earlier than we
planned in the morning."

"Do you think that needle
could be the cause of why Dandy acted so strange?" she asked hesitantly,
finally voicing the fear which had steadily grown. "Could someone have
given him something?"

Sloan looked at her sharply.
"Anything is possible, but we won’t know until it’s
tested." As if he sensed her apprehension, he put his arm around her.
"Come on, I’ll walk you to your tent."

"Thanks, Sloan."

"Try to get some rest, Jacie.
One way or the other I’m going to get to the bottom of this."

He leaned down and gently, firmly
placed a kiss on her lips. The brief contact wasn’t enough. She reached
up and gripped the collar of his shirt on both sides. She held him close to her
for a moment, savoring his scent. She placed a lingering kiss on his firm
mouth, then a quick kiss on his jaw. She watched his mouth curve into a smile.

"Thanks, Sloan."

He waited until she was settled in
the tent, the mesh flap zipped and snapped. Even under the tense circumstances,
he showed her consideration. She watched him walk back toward the dying fire as
she burrowed into her bedroll, shivers of reaction taking over as she wondered
what was really going on out here. Who would want to harm her or the horse?

When Jacie woke daylight was just
beginning to break and the sky beyond the mountains was a fiery orange red.

She had never thought of herself as
a person who scared easily, but between her skydiving accident last year and
the suspicions Sloan had voiced about someone trying to hurt her, she began to
feel incredibly paranoid.

She looked outside her tent but she
didn’t see anyone stirring. She quickly put on some clean clothes and
climbed out of the tent, wondering if coffee was available. She reached down to
close her tent flap and heard a noise behind her.

"Were you able to sleep?"
Sloan asked and she almost jumped out of her skin.