Whistleblower (6 page)

The draw to watch her sleep was strong, but they needed to get moving. Having to bypass the two closest towns, they’d be lucky if they could make it to a town by evening as it was. Taking one last second to study her in the predawn glow, he reached out to shake her.

“Wake up, the sun’s going to be up soon.” He pushed away his emotions and slipped back into his authoritative demeanor. “We need to get moving. You have five minutes to prepare.”

He stood, moving off into the trees to give her a minute of privacy and a chance to bring his own emotions under control. Keeping Marley safe was his responsibility for now. That was his focus. Not how she blinked up at him sleepily with those amber eyes or the way her lips crested when she smiled.

***

Marley pushed her hair back and looked out into the shadowy world after the man she’d only known for a dozen hours but knew her life depended on. She wondered which was the real Zan Masters, the gentle man who had found and cared for her, or the almost cold and austere man who gave her orders, and instinctively, she knew could’ve killed if he deemed it necessary. She wanted to debate the idea, but there was no time. She had no doubt in five minutes they’d be moving.

The morning chill hit her as she slithered out of the sleeping bag. She shivered and longed to crawl back into the bag. Instead, she pulled on the rain poncho and her shoes then stepped into the trees the opposite way Zan went. When she returned three minutes later, Zan had the sleeping bag stuffed back into his pack, and any sign that they had been there had been obliterated.

“Let’s go,” he said abruptly, and they were off.

For the first while, the woods where wrapped in shadowed darkness, making her work to see where she stepped. Before long the sun rose, but it remained locked behind a heavy cloud cover, leaving an oppressive gloom hanging over them.

“I think it’ll burn off, and we might get some clear sky today.” Zan offered, breaking the silence after they’d hiked what Marley guessed was a couple miles.

“Where are we going?” Their trail was taking them uphill, and Marley couldn’t keep back the question.

“Over the hills to the next town.” He stopped and pointed up at the mountain visible above the trees. “See that outcropping?”

She found the place he indicated. “Yes.”

“If we get separated, I want you to climb up and wait for me under it. I will come for you there.”

A chill of dread went through her. “Why would we get separated?”

“If whoever’s following you gets too close, I’ll lead them away and slow them down.”

“Zan.” Marley wasn’t sure what she was going to say in objection, but it didn’t matter, Zan didn’t give her a chance.

“No, Marley. You do what I say. There is no debate. When I say move, you move. If I say drop, you hit the ground. No hesitation. You got me?” His eyes burned down at her, hot as coals in a fire.

“Y-yes.” Her stumbling over the word seemed to soften him. His hand came up to touch her cheek in the barest of a brush that Marley felt through her whole body.

“I’m sorry, Marley, but that’s how it’s got to be. I’ll get you through this.” The gentleness came back to his voice.

“I know. I’ll do what you say. I’d just like you to tell me the plan, so I know what to expect.”

He held himself rigid for about fifteen seconds. Marley knew he debated over the thought of giving out information. He was used to giving orders and having them followed without question.

Marley couldn’t believe the feeling of pleasure she got when he nodded. “Fair enough. How do you feel about mountain climbing?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done it.”

“Well, we’ll find out. That outcropping, we’re going to climb the rock face above it. If we can do that, it will save us about four to five miles of rough trail. Okay?” He stiffened his body as if waiting for her to object.

“Okay,” Marley said simply.

He stood staring down at her a second before he turned, moving in his long stride. They went another half hour before he paused and handed her an energy bar. “Eat this,” he said, breaking into one for himself before starting off again.

They came to what probably was a stream normally but had become swollen to a raging torrent about ten feet across. They followed it awhile, climbing over rocks and shrubs, until they found a downed tree. Zan didn’t say a word, mounting it, making his way to the other side. Not to be thought a coward, Marley followed his motions.

She swallowed hard watching the water boil only inches below her feet, but kept moving. Her eyes were still locked on the log for the next step when Zan’s hands clamped down on her waist, and he lifted her off, setting her on the ground. Her head shot up to meet his gaze.

A smile crested his lips and twinkled in his eyes. “Pretty good, Doc, your first log walking?”

“No, I’ve done it before, just never with the water so turbulent and the log so slick,” she added, when his eyebrow arched slightly. Defensively, she kept going. “I like to go hiking on some of the trails around here. I usually jog the ones down by the lake. This is just a little rougher than I’m used to. I don’t have anyone to hike with, and it’d be foolish for me to go someplace like this by myself.”

“I agree. Tell you what. I’ll go hiking with you in future.”

His eyes seemed to caress her face, and she felt the air catch in her.

“There’s a lot I’d like to show you.” His voice dropped low and husky with promise. For a second, his head dipped toward her, and Marley thought he’d kiss her then he pulled back, dropping his hands. “We’ve got to move.”

He made it ten feet in front of her before Marley could get her legs working. She wondered if she’d imagined that Zan had almost kissed her and decided she had. Why would a handsome hunk like Zan Masters want to kiss a skinny geek like her?

***

Zan couldn’t get the vision of Marley’s face turned up to him in innocent offering out of his mind. He wanted to kiss her more than he wanted his next breath. She was something else, not even hesitating to follow him out on the log when he knew it was way out of her experience.

He figured if he’d ever let himself be attracted to another woman, he’d look for someone who enjoyed the outdoors like he did. He just didn’t think it’d be someone that he’d have to teach all about it. Not that he was thinking of Marley in his life. He tried to counter his thoughts. It didn’t do much good. Marley interested him, from her resolve to keep up, to the gentle fragrance he could pick up as she followed.

He forced his thoughts on to what they were attempting. He needed to concentrate on getting a warning to the proper people instead of on Marley. It hit him that he didn’t know hardly anything about what they were trying to do, except that Marley had said it had to do with a drug for the military. She said men were dying, and someone was definitely trying to get her.

Zan let his mind play devil’s advocate and wondered if she’d told him the truth, or if she had just said it to gain his help. He quickly discarded it as a trick. He’d seen her panic clearly when she’d learned his brother was still active in special ops. Her reaction hadn’t been faked.

He didn’t doubt her, but they’d need more proof than just her word to stop the program, though it might be enough to get them to open up an investigation. Still, he wondered. “Marley, you said you copied the file. Will you be able to access it?”

“Yes, I have it.”

Zan stopped in mid-step and turned to her. “You have it? With you? On you?”

She nodded.

“They didn’t take it before they tried to send you off the road?”

“They s-searched but didn’t find it.” A tremor shook her voice. He could see what the thought of them searching her cost.

Zan couldn’t keep his own eyes from going up and down her body. He jerked his eyes back to her face when she shuddered. “Sorry. You have it still?” he asked again, unable to stop himself.

Again, she nodded. “In my j-jacket. I copied it to my m-memory chip for my MP3 player. They took the player, but I’d taken out the chip. I wrapped it in plastic and wedged it in the seam of my jacket. There’s a small hole in one of the pockets.”

He thought back. “That’s why you wanted your jacket.” He thought some more. “All right, we’ll leave it there. That’s probably the safest place for it. That was brilliant, Doc.”

She blushed under his gaze.

He wanted to say more, what he wasn’t sure, so he changed the subject. “I’m going to backtrack and make sure our trail is covered and set a false one. I want you to keep heading for the cliff. Can you do that?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine.” She headed off, leaving him standing. Zan watched her go, once again awed by her courage, before turning to retrace their trail.

***

Marley forced herself to keep walking. She wanted to return to Zan. Though he didn’t talk much as they hiked, she felt comforted having him there. She tried to relax. If she didn’t know men wanted her dead, she would’ve enjoyed the hike. The rains had left the air crisp and clear. Water still dripped from foliage. The ground was muddy, but everything glistened with freshness.

The trail became rougher as she climbed up the hillside. She made it to the cliff face. Figuring she shouldn’t be out in the open, she settled down behind some boulders to wait. She just hoped Zan could find her. The thought hardly crossed her mind when he came around the rocks right below her.

It only took him a minute to reach her. He slid his pack from his back. “We’ll take a ten minute rest. Here.” He handed her a small foil type package.

“What’s this?” She studied the pouch.

“Breakfast. A food pack. They’re not too bad. Go ahead.” He motioned. “You need to eat.”

Marley shrugged, opened it and started to eat. “What’s next?”

“We climb. Do you have a problem with heights? I should’ve asked earlier.”

“No, not that I know of.”

“Good, then I’ll go first. We don’t have time and equipment to do a belay system so I’ll tie you to me. That way, if you fall I can catch you.”

“I’d pull you off too.” Her protest came immediately.

“I can hold you. But if you feel yourself slipping, yell out ‘falling’ so I can prepare.”

She gave him her first skeptical look but, after a second, nodded.

“Think you can make it?”

She glanced up at the cliff. “I think so.”

An hour later, Marley felt the pull of muscle as she reached for another handhold. Gripping the rock, she raised her foot to a crack in the rock face and pushed her way up another two feet before repeating the process. Five feet above her, she could hear Zan and tilted her head back to look up at him. It was an intriguing view. He moved with cat-like ease, as if it was as simple as walking through the trees. Then again, to him, it probably was.

A sense of pride filled her. She knew it wasn’t a tough climb. There were plenty of handholds and not much loose rock, but she was able to keep up with Zan. True, she was certain he slowed his pace some for her, but not much. The first few feet were tentative for her, but she quickly decided she liked the stretch of her muscles and the adventure of the challenge.

She glanced back behind her. She also found she was definitely not afraid of heights. She felt a wave of exaltation at the view. They were about three-quarters of the way up; a good three hundred feet. Above her, she heard Zan move and turned her attention on her next handhold.

“Doing good, Doc.”

Marley gave up trying to figure out if it was a question, compliment or a phrase just to keep her going. She decided she liked the way he called her Doc. His voice almost seemed to drop, making it a caress. Though she was probably just starved for male attention, it felt like an endearment to her. Especially, after he commented several times on how good she was doing.

“This is,” she paused then, unable to keep it back, “amazing,” she said finishing out the sentence.

“You are definitely a natural climber. I can’t believe you haven’t done this before.”

“Me either. Even on my own, I still let work take over too much of my life. I thought I was doing better, going out running and putting in my garden, but I’m still missing out a lot.”

“You like to garden?” he asked keeping his voice in the same hushed tones he’d encouraged her to use earlier so the sound wouldn’t carry far.

“I’m not sure if ‘like’ is the word. I feel satisfaction in it and love the flowers. My condo doesn’t have much yard, but I’ve made a wonderful place to relax and unwind.”

“What else do you like to do in your spare time?”

“I like to cook. After I graduated and got my own place, I took some cooking classes and found I was quite good at it. It’s kind of like doing a chemistry experiment.” Above her, she heard Zan laugh softly.

“I don’t think I’ve thought of it that way. Usually, I’m thinking of it as something to eat, that tastes good. Guy thing, but I’m not bad in the kitchen.”

“Your chili was good.”

“Thank you.” He was silent a minute then asked. “Tell me about your sister. Does she still live at home?”

“No, she married right after high school. Julie and her husband live not far from my parents. Her husband manages one of his father’s car dealerships. They have a little girl now. Julie is the complete opposite of me. She takes after my mother’s side, while I take after my father’s. She’s petite, blonde and peppy. She can play the helpless airhead very well, but she’s not.”