Always a Warrior(7)
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Damien loaded Laurie and Stacy’s two suitcases and his duffel bag into the back of a rented four-wheel-drive pickup truck then climbed in behind the steering wheel. Laurie buckled Stacy into the middle of the bench seat and fastened her own safety belt. Worried, she looked at Damien over her daughter’s head. She clamped her teeth on her lower lip. Damien glanced at her and reached under the seat. He pulled out a holstered handgun and peered at her.
“Do you know how to use a gun?” he demanded stonily as he removed the weapon from the holster and checked the load.
She shook her head, staring at him. She twisted her fingers together to stop the nervous tremors. She had no experience with guns. She did not want to touch it.
With a grim expression, he slid the gun back into the holster and handed it to her. She barely managed not to flinch at handling the deadly object.
“It’s ready to fire,” he advised curtly. “Just don’t point it at anyone unless you intend to use it.”
Uncertain, Laurie stared at the gun, tempted to hand it right back to him. Her glance moved to her daughter’s head and she let out a slow breath as she tightened her grip on the gun.
“Just point and pull the trigger?” She cursed the fear in her voice.
He nodded, held her gaze for a moment, then started the engine and backed out of the driveway. Laurie cast a last lingering glance at her home and wondered how soon she might return.
ALWAYS A WARRIOR Patricia Bruening
12
Chapter Two
Several hours later they had left the city of Wilcox behind. Damien drove deeper into the mountains but Laurie wanted to stop soon. She barely refrained from asking ‘how much longer’, like a small child. Her lips twitched at the notion. She glanced down at Stacy snuggled beside her. She was sound asleep.
Laurie smothered a yawn and blinked at the fatigue pulling at her. She lifted her weary gaze to Damien as he kept his attention focused on the road. His grim expression testified to intense concentration. Long lean fingers gripped the steering wheel as he turned it, forcing the truck off the asphalt onto a narrow dirt road.
As she packed he had showered and changed into street clothes. Wearing faded jeans and a white sweatshirt under a black vest full of pockets, Damien appeared very much an outdoorsman. Rugged, strong, he handled the truck expertly on the rough road. He drove slowly.
Her gaze lingered on his hands. She imagined those same hands on her, gliding smoothly over her bare skin. Her breath caught and she nearly choked. Her vivid imagination burned the tantalizing images into her mind.
She yanked her gaze from his hands and stared out the window. The road, little more than a dirt trail, twisted through the dense wilderness. In the gathering dusk, huge gnarled trees crept past. Glimpses of a steep drop on the right kept Laurie peering out the window.
The truck’s headlights lit the road, pushing back the encroaching gloom to show the trail more clearly. The trail twisted sharply, dangerously, as it climbed and curved through the trees.
Darkness fell quickly, leaving only a few stars to peek through the treetops. A log cabin came into view and Damien slowed the truck to a stop. He shut off the engine and quietly opened the door.
“Stay here,” he ordered tersely. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Laurie shivered in the cool mountain air and pulled Stacy, still sleeping, into her lap.
Damien disappeared around the side of the cabin. Her gaze wandered but Laurie saw very little in the moonlight filtering into the small clearing. The front wall and door of the cabin stood stark and plain, distinctly unwelcoming in the dark. The two windows were dark. The forest surrounded the overgrown clearing and the cabin. No one who did not know exactly where the cabin was would ever find it.
Minutes later, movement snagged her attention. Damien emerged from the darkness on the other side of the cabin and went to the front door. Actually, she thought, watching him duck under the window, he sneaked up on the door. He braced himself, gun drawn, and feet shoulder-width apart. He pointed the gun skyward, reached forward, and grasped the doorknob.
He pushed open the door, ducked around the doorjamb, and slipped inside. Seconds later, the lights blazed in the two front windows and spilled out the open door, a welcome sight to Laurie’s tired eyes. Relieved that no danger awaited them, she opened the truck door and climbed out. Stacy slept in her arms. Looking very dark and dangerous, Damien strode past her, gun on his hip, to retrieve their supplies.
ALWAYS A WARRIOR Patricia Bruening
13
Laurie shivered again, cold, as she followed him inside. A cold wind blew around them, whistling morosely through the trees. She kicked the door shut behind her. Stacy stirred in her arms, opened her eyes, and Laurie set her on the floor.