Page 43 of Close Quarters

She tipped her head. That was a good point. She leaned forward to rest her forehead against his chest. “I’m not really mad. Not about that. I’m sorry.” She looked up. “I love you too.”

Alex pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips. “As much as I would love to savor this moment, we still have a couple problems.” He looked past her. She turned to follow his gaze, her eyes hesitating on Amanda’s body before landing on Reeves, who still sat propped against the tree. He was breathing, but not well. God, what a mess!

She looked back at Alex. “We need to take care of Amanda’s dad, too.”

Alex’s eyes hardened, flickering to his friend lying on the ground. “Yeah. Let’s load Reeves in the van and go find the bastard.” He bent down and rummaged in Tony’s pocket, locating his knife, then using it to cut Katie’s wrists apart.

“Thank you.” She rubbed her wrists.

“Check his pockets for a phone. And get the car keys and his gun.” Alex walked over to Reeves.

Katie looked down at Tony’s still form and wrinkled her nose before crouching down next to him. Thankfully, she could see the outline of a cell in his back pocket. She slid her fingers just inside the edge and plucked it out.

“Found it!” Turning it on, she touched the emergency call button, but it showed no service.

Because, of course, we’re in the boonies. She tucked the phone into her pocket with a sigh of disgust, then rolled Tony enough to reach into his front pants pocket for the keys. Trying not to think about what she was doing, she wiggled her hand into his pocket. Her fingers hit the key ring, and she hooked it, pulling it free. Picking up the gun that laid on the ground by his hand, she pushed to her feet, then hurried over to see if Alex needed help.

“No signal?” he asked, looking up at her from his position crouched next to Reeves.

She shook her head, frowning. “Nope. Maybe there will be one closer to the cabin.”

“Let’s hope so. I don’t know how much longer he’s going to hang on. He’s unconscious now.” He looped Reeves’s arm over his shoulder and snagged his leg, then stood, muscles flexing and bulging with the effort of deadlifting the two-hundred-pound deputy. With a quick readjustment to better distribute Reeves’s weight, he started toward the van at a fast walk.

Even carrying the man and knowing where they were going, it still took them nearly ten minutes to walk through the forest. By the time they reached the car, sweat dripped off Alex’s brow in rivulets. When the car came into sight, Katie ran ahead and opened the back doors for him, then helped get Reeves settled. Once the deputy was as comfortable as they could get him, she ran around toward the passenger seat.

“You drive,” Alex said.

She paused. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I need a minute.”

She stared at him a moment longer, then ran around the front of the van and hopped into the driver’s seat. Thrusting the key into the ignition, she started the vehicle and put it into drive as Alex closed the door.

Katie drove as fast as she dared over the rough terrain. She hit a bump that threw them forward so hard, she was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. Or break an axle on the van.

“What’s the plan?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the ground ahead of them.

“Not sure.” Alex braced a hand against the dash, trying not to bounce out of his seat.

She hit another nasty pothole, and they heard Reeves groan from the back.

“Sorry,” she whispered. At least they knew he was still alive, though.

“Damn, this car is not built for this terrain.”

No, it was not. She really should slow down, but time wasn’t on their side.

“We can’t go into this with no plan. I mean, I know I usually fly by the seat of my pants, but in this case it feels wrong. So, what’s our plan? Why don’t you have a plan? You always have a plan.” Her voice rose with each question until she was a couple octaves above her normal range. Tears pressed behind her eyes, and she blinked furiously to keep them away.

Alex touched her leg, his touch grounding her.

“Take a breath, honey. We’ll figure it out. Everything hinges on where Pressley is when we arrive. I don’t want to have to sneak inside to get to him, so if he isn’t outside, we need to lure him there.”

Katie’s mind cleared at his gentle, no-nonsense tone, before filling with ways to lure Pressley out. She pointed at the glove box. “Open that and tell me what’s in there.”

He pulled the latch and rummaged through it. “What am I looking for?”

“Stuff.”

---