Her Cowboy Distraction(37)

"What was it that you saw that scared you so bad you ran?" he asked.

She lifted her chin a notch and although her lips trembled slightly  there was defiance in her stance as she straightened her shoulders and  squared off to him. "I'm not saying anything more until I know who you  are and what you intend to do with me."

"I'm Micah Grayson, Samuel's brother. I'm here to take him down, but  right now I'm going to take you to the safe house. Stay close, move fast  and keep quiet." With these words he turned his back to her and began  to move.

* * *

Samuel's brother.

Those words were enough to shoot complete terror through Olivia's heart.  She had no idea if she could trust him or not, but she knew with  certainty that she and her baby boy couldn't survive much more time in  the woods all alone without food or water. She hadn't slept for two days  and nights, afraid of each and every sound the forest made as she'd  tried to find the safe house and stay hidden from danger at the same  time.

At the moment she felt as if she had no other choice but to trust him  and so she hurried after him, her heart pounding a million miles a  minute.

The only thing that gave her comfort was that he was leading her in a  direction deeper into the woods rather than back toward the little town  she'd recently escaped.

She cuddled Sam to her chest, hoping he'd fall asleep. He'd been fussy  off and on throughout the evening and she knew he was hungry and tired  of the sling. She'd managed to stave off some of his hunger pangs over  the last couple days with the snacks she always kept stored in her  backpack, but earlier that evening she'd given him the last of the  crackers and the last sip of juice.

Nights on the mountain weren't kind at this time of year. Although a  September day could be warm and pleasant, the nights turned cold and she  hadn't been prepared or equipped with the supplies or the survival  skills she'd needed.

She had to trust Micah because she had no other choice. He was a  daunting man, tall and with shoulders the size of a small county. In the  moonlight his green eyes had looked icy cold-deadly-but she had run out  of options.

He kept up a fast pace, moving through the woods like a shadow as she  hurried to keep up with him. As he led her to a narrow crevice in the  side of the mountain, she realized that if this really was the way to  the safe house she would have never been able to find it on her own.

It felt like they had walked for miles in the narrow crevice where only  the faint beam of his flashlight lit the way. He paused as they appeared  to be at a dead end and once again her heart banged frantically. Had he  brought her here to kill her? Was he really working for his brother or  had he told the truth and was working against him?

Despite the appearance of a dead end, he twisted his body into a  seemingly invisible space and as she followed, she realized they'd  entered a cave tunnel. She could feel a faint breeze on her face and  knew the end wasn't far.

He paused once again, this time to pull a radio from his pocket. "It's Micah. I'm coming in with two."

"Copy," a faint voice replied.

Micah dropped the radio back in his pocket and moved forward. Within  moments they had left the cave and entered a small valley. The moonlight  was brighter now and she could see a man standing in front of a rocky  entrance of a half-hidden cave.

He was armed, but greeted Micah by name. "I told June you're coming in," he said.

"Thanks, Jesse." Micah grabbed her by the elbow, his big hand warm on her skin.

They went through another small narrow passage and that opened into a huge cave that had been transformed into living quarters.

Olivia felt her mouth drop open as she took in her surroundings. It was  like entering an alien world with huge ceilings and furnished  comfortably with wood, bone, animal skins and whatever else the forest  could yield.

"Follow me," Micah said. "June will probably be in the kitchen area and we have questions for you."

She had plenty of questions for him, too. She'd expected the rumored  safe house to be a little cabin in the woods where people were spirited  in and out of the area in the middle of the night.

But, as she heard the sound of laughter coming from someplace in the  distance and followed Micah through the huge main room where the scent  of something cooking wafted in the air, this place felt more like a  thriving community than a pit stop on the way to safety.                       
       
           



       

Micah led her into a kitchen where the focal point of the room was a  huge rough-hewn wooden table above which hung a chandelier fashioned  from antlers.

A woman stood at a stove stirring what smelled like some sort of stew.  She turned at the sight of them and offered Olivia a tentative smile.  "Got the news there were two incoming, didn't realize it was really one  and a half."

Olivia looked down at Sam, who had fallen asleep against her chest and fought the tears that pressed hot against her eyes.

"She says she's been in the woods for two days," Micah said as he gestured Olivia into a chair at the table.

"And you must be starving," the tall, willowy, red-haired woman said as  Olivia took off her backpack and sank into one of the chairs. Micah took  the chair next to her and she was instantly aware of two things-he  smelled like the forest, fresh, wild, yet clean and utterly male. And  even though he looked amazingly like his brother, Samuel Grayson was  really just a pale imitation of the handsome, hard-featured man seated  to her right.

"I'm June Farrow," the woman said as she set a bowl of hot stew in front  of Olivia. "And I'd be more than happy to hold that sleeping little boy  so you can eat."

Olivia looked down at Sam and for a moment the last thing she wanted to  do was relinquish possession of the one child she had with her. Once  again as she thought of her missing three-year-old, her eyes welled up  with tears that she desperately tried to control.

"What's his name?" June asked softly.

"Sam. His name is Sam." Olivia pulled the child from the front sling and  handed him into June's awaiting arms. She had to trust these people,  she had no choice and the scent of the food cramped her empty stomach.  She'd had nothing to eat for the last two days, afraid that if she took a  single bite of anything that had been in her backpack, it might mean  Sam going hungry.

Micah sat silently as she ate. She tried not to shovel the savory stew  into her mouth like a wild animal. She had no idea what exactly was in  the stew, but nothing had ever tasted so good.

When she was finished she looked at June. "Is there milk? I have a  bottle for Sam in my backpack but he emptied it the first night we were  in the woods."

The area where she sat was warmer than it had been outside and with her  belly full, all she really wanted to do was sleep. She'd only had  unanticipated fitful dozes while in the forest; she'd been too afraid to  allow herself any real sleep. The forest had been filled with critters,  both animal and human.

"How about I get a bottle ready for Sam and put him down in the nursery?" June asked.

Panic once again clawed up Olivia's throat. "Nursery? Where is that? What, exactly, is this place?"

"You're safe here and nobody will hurt you or your son," Micah finally  spoke. "Why don't you and June get the boy settled in for the night and  then the three of us will talk some more."

Olivia hesitated for a long moment, so many questions whirling around in  her head, coupled with the crushing fear for the child she had left  behind.

She finally got up from the table and rummaged in the now nearly empty  backpack for the empty bottle. June handed Sam back to her and Olivia  watched as the woman washed the bottle and then filled it with milk.  "Come with me," she then said.

The cave was a maze of rooms, some small, some much larger, some with  wooden doors and some without. The temperature was slightly cooler away  from the kitchen area, but not unpleasantly so.

They finally came to a medium-sized room that held several cribs and  child-sized cots. "We have a couple three-year-olds, but they're  sleeping with their mommy in another room, so right now he's the only  little one we have here," June said as she motioned for Olivia to place  Sam in one of the cribs.

Sam awakened and as always gave his mother a beatific smile and then  when he saw the bottle June held, his fingers worked in a gimme fashion.  "Bot," he exclaimed.

June smiled and gave him the bottle and as he began to drink it, his  eyes drifted closed once again. The two women backed out of the nursery  and June showed her the room next door. "We'll put you in here, that way  you can hear if he needs anything throughout the night."

This area was small, with a door and a double bed covered with what  appeared to be clean sheets and a lightweight blanket. A small rustic  wooden table sat next to the bed with an oil lantern burning to light  the room. "I'm afraid it isn't exactly the Ritz, but we all manage."