Rescue Me (24 page)

"Must have been looking… for a chance… to get at us."

Elena nodded. "Probably read about the event in the papers. But why track us here? Why not just wait for their chance and kill us inFlagstaff ?"

Seth shifted slightly, groaned. "Think about it."

She thought. Got the connection. "Right. The headlines would read something like 'Assistant DA andFlagstaff police detective die in unfortunateGrand Canyon hiking accident.'"

"Bingo. They can rough us up real… good out here. It'll look like damage from say… a bad fall. No fingers… pointing Devine's way."

His voice was so faint, she could hardly hear him over the wild, racing beat of her heart. "So what do we do?"

"Darlin', for the moment… we do nothing. Time's on our side until… the old man arrives. They can't contact him. No cell tower in the… world has enough power to catch a signal from this deep in the Canyon.Gotta figure Daddy won't show up… He stopped, caught his breath. "… until morning. He can't hike in, in the dark. Can't chopper in tonight either. So… we wait for these yahoos to fall… asleep.

They're in no shape for the… hike they made today. They have to be…hurtin ' bad."

"And you've probably got a concussion and we're both trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys," she pointed out, working hard not to give in to panic.

"Be a pretty… dull life without… a little challenge now… and then."

"You'll forgive me if your warped sense ofhumor just doesn't cut it for me at the moment."

"Just…keepin ' it real, babe. We'll get out of this. For now… just… just watch them… okay? And…

keep me awake. Don't… let me fall… asleep. Talk to me. Who's… who's the other guy, do you know?"

"Jake called him Benny."

"BennyCravets ," Seth surmised. "Gottabe. He's Jake's watchdog."

The guilt that had been working on Elena since Devine had shown up reached a boiling point. "This is my fault."

"It's your fault… that these guys are scum? I don't… think so."

"Devine threatened me," she confessed, searching his dark eyes in the night, looking for signs that he was going to pass out again. "After Joey's sentencing."

She told Seth what Devine had promised would happen to her if Joey ended up dead. "I should have told someone."

"Yeah," Seth agreed, "you should have. We should have had… a detail watching you. But the bottom line is, this should… have been the safest place you could be. No one would have thought Devine

would… track you here."

"And yet he has."

"Look, we're going to get out of this. Those two… they're in a bad way. Out of shape… hurting and pissed off about it. In those shoes… they probably have bleeding blisters. They'll… fade soon, okay?

Then we'll figure something out. Just don't… panic on me. You need to… keep it together."

She nodded, shored herself up. "I'm okay. You're the one I'm worried about."

She watched his face as he tried to find a more comfortable position. "I'm fine. Move on over here, though. It's going to get damn… cold before this night is over. We need to share body heat since it's…

obvious who's going to be using our bedrolls tonight."

Elena glanced at the two men. Jake was already settling into her sleeping bag. Benny, evidently, had been tagged with first watch. He sat with his back against a rock, watching them, the pistol clutched loosely in his hand.

As clichéd as it sounded, Seth was right about needing to share body heat. Moving slowly and quietly, she rolled to her other side so her back was facing Seth's front. Then she scooted back against him, pressing as much of her back to as much of him as she could to share heat.

His big body shivered against hers and she felt a sick knot of dread.

"Closer," he said, his breath feathering along her nape. "We've got to keep warm."

"You're going into shock," she whispered spooning her body back against his.

"No. I'm fine. Just a little… chilled. I'm counting on that hotMartinez temper to warm me up."

He breathed deep and nuzzled his face deeper into her neck. "Workin' already," he whispered, and Elena realized exactly what might be heating him up.

Her bottom was pressed tight against his groin. Very tight as his erection grew against her.

"You have
got
to be kidding," she whispered, astonished.

"Sorry,darlin '." Seth rocked his hips closer to her. "It's the adrenaline. But there's good news. It's working. I'm getting warmer by the minute."

Oh, God. She couldn't believe he'd actually made her smile. "Adrenaline, huh?"

"Cut me a break, here,Martinez . It's not like I… have a lot of control over this."

No, she thought, feeling her own body respond with warmth as his heated up behind her. It wasn't as if either of them had any control. All that stuff about life or death situations and heightened senses were apparently true. She was acutely aware of everything around her—including the raw sexuality of the man at her back.

They lapsed into silence. Above them the sky spread out like a bolt of velvet, littered with millions of stars. A night breeze danced around the canyon walls. It was so quiet she could hear the rhythm of

theColorado cutting its endless path fifty or so yards below them in the base of the canyon.

"Seth? You still awake?"

"Yeah," he said sluggishly. "I'm awake. Talk to me. I need you to talk to me."

A snore drew their attention toward the lean-to.

"One down," Seth whispered. "Which one is it?"

Elena strained to see in the dark. "Jake."

"How'sCravets holding up?"

"Doing a lot of face rubbing and shaking his head. He's struggling."

"So we wait a little longer. Keep talking, okay? Just talk."

"About what? What do you want to hear?"

"Whatcolor panties are you wearing?"

She let out her breath on a disbelieving huff. "You are really too much, you know that?"

"Red?" he guessed, a smile in his voice.

Which made her smile, too. Which is exactly what he'd wanted her to do, she realized. "You wish."

"Okay, fine. Spoil my fantasy. Tell me about your family then. Tell me about your childhood. Hell, tell me about your grocery list. Just talk to me."

Chapter Five

Seth's head hurt like a bitch. Elena was probably right. Concussion. Slight, but there. Enough to make him nauseated if he moved too fast. Enough to make him light-headed if he moved at all. Enough that he knew he had to stay awake because if he let down his guard and slept, he might be out for the duration.

In front of him, Elena's body warmed him like a mini furnace. In more ways than one. No problems in that area. And it
was
adrenaline. Plus basic, carnal instinct. A lush, curvy bottom pressed with decided familiarity into his crotch. A pair of soft hands pressed against his belly. He'd like to meet the man who wouldn't have a knee jerk reaction to that kind of stimulus. His head might hurt, but he wasn't dead.

And dead was exactly what these cretins wanted. For Elena, too. And that just wasn't going to happen.

Concussion or not.

He'd wait. And he'd find an opening. He just hoped to hell he didn't pass out before the time came.

He tuned back in to Elena. Drifted on the sound of her voice as she told him about her three brothers.

All still inArizona . All professionals. Seemed she came from a family of overachievers. That was all good.

"That why you work your ass off all the time? Not because you want to be… top dog in the DA's office but because you want to keep up with… your brothers?"

"A little of both, I guess. My father is very old school. He thinks a woman belongs in the home. Raising babies and fetching slippers for the man of the house. This is my way of showing him times have changed and I've changed with them."

"I'm sure he's proud of you."

She drew a deep breath. "Very quietly, but yeah. I think he is.

"What about you?" she asked after a moment. "Brothers? Sisters?"

"Yeah," he said. "One of each. My sis is a teacher… like the old man. Lives in LA. Married. Two kids.

One on the way."

"And your brother?"

He wondered how much to tell her. Finally decided to spill it all. "My brother is the reason I'm a cop.

And he'd say I'm the reason he's a screw-up."

She didn't say anything. Just waited, evidently sensing this wasn't easy for him.

"Brian always had a bug up his ass, you know? If there was trouble to be had, made or gotten into, he was in the thick of it. I don't know… don't know why he felt the need."

"And why would he say that
you're
the reason?"

Seth moved even closer to her warmth. "Because I was Mr. Boy Scout.Honor role. Athlete. I guess he felt he couldn't measure up to big brother… so he took the low road."

"And you feel bad about that," she said intuitively.

"Yeah. I do. Could never connect with him, you know?"

"What's he doing now?"

"Don't know. He left home when he was seventeen. That was, hell, over ten years ago. Hasn't been in contact with any of the family since."

She was silent for a moment. "That has to be hard. Especially for your mom and dad."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It was hard. On everyone."

"It's not your fault, you know. He made his own decisions."

"Right."

"So why don't you sound convinced of that?"

"Because I always figured I should have been able to… I don't know. Help him. Straighten him out."

"That why you became a cop? To help straighten people out?"

He shrugged, felt the effort in his throbbing head. "Maybe. I don't know."

"I think I do," she said softly. "I think that's exactly why you do what you do. It's a good thing, Seth.

You've done a good thing."

Whatever, he thought, feeling the fatigue and the physical strain of the rap on his skull. Bottom line was, he hadn't helped his brother, the one person in the world he should have been able to help.

"What's happening over there?"

"Jake's still snoring.Cravets is still awake."

"Probably figures he'll go down with us if he screws up and falls asleep."

"As incentives go, it's a good one."

"Still, I don't figure he'll last much longer. They gorged themselves on water and food. It's going to take a toll soon. We need to be ready. You need to do something for me now, sweetheart. Very slowly, scoot down. I'll bring my knees up. See if you can reach in my right boot. MyLeatherman is tucked in there."

The all-in-one knife had been a birthday gift from his dad what now seemed like a hundred years ago. It was just one of many things he had to thank the old man for. In his estimation, it was the knife to end all knives.

Titanium handles, pliers, wire cutters, knife, saw, scissors. Hell, it even had screwdrivers and a bottle opener—all packed in less than five flat inches and less than half a pound.

TheLeatherman was like his credit card—he never left home without it.

"Oh, thank you, God," Elena breathed when she realized he was actually armed. "I was certain you didn't really have a plan."

"O ye of little faith." He smiled against her neck then kissed her there. Just a little "trust me" kiss. A little,

"everything will be all right" kiss before she started slowly moving down.

"Got it," she whispered after several minutes of struggling to remove the knife from his boot. "Now what?"

"Do you think you can work it open?"

"I'll try."

"Take your time," he whispered, encouragingly, when she made a sound of frustration. "Just take your

time."

"It's open." She sounded breathless and winded after struggling and fumbling for several minutes.

"Good girl. I'm going to slowly turn to my other side, okay? When we're back to back, you're going to start sawing on the ropes around my wrists."

"What if I cut you?"

"Darlin', cutting me is the least of our worries."

It took everything in him to roll to his back thenmaneuver to his opposite side. Sweat beaded on his brow and his stiff limbs screamed in protest. His head throbbed like a gong, his vision was blurry by the time he'd settled, exhausted, with his back against Elena's—and she'd actually done most of the maneuvering to push them together.

"What if he sees us?"

"He won't. It's dark. He's already half asleep."

Seth assured her. "Now start sawing. And don't worry about cutting me. I'll let you know if you hit an artery."

"That is so not funny."

"I'm with you on that one,darlin '. Just get it done. We'll worry about bleeding later."

It turned out that it was Elena who was bleeding by the time she finally sawed through the ropes binding Seth's wrists. The rope burned her wrists raw from the constant pressure and friction as she worked to free him. She toughed out the pain, knew it would be minor compared to what Clyde Devine had in mind for them.

"You're through," Seth whispered and slipped the knife out of her aching fingers. "Good girl."

Amazed at the toll that small task had taken on her energy, she sagged in relief.

"What's happening over there?"

She lifted her head, looked down the length of her body to the darkened camp area. "Jake's still asleep.

Cravets is awake," she whispered. "And fidgeting. Wait. He's getting up."

"Fake sleep," Seth ordered.

Heart hammering, Elena closed her eyes and made her body relax, made herself lay as still as stone as the crunch ofCravets ' footsteps on the rough ground grew closer.

She heard him stop at their feet, stand there for a moment, then turn and limp away.

She lifted her head, watched as he walked in ever larger circles, as if trying to keep himself awake with

exercise. Then he disappeared behind a rock—probably to relieve himself.

"He's out of sight," she said, energized by the excitement of a possible opportunity to escape.

Seth sat up, leaned forward and made quick work of the rope around his ankles, then around hers.

"Hurry," she whispered as he moved to her hands and quickly freed her. "He might come back soon."