Page 47 of Snow River

“There’s a dome light?Who knew?”he asked wryly.“That’s what headlamps are for.”

“Or phone flashlights, which aren’t much use when it comes to finding your phone.”She laughed, a breathless, fluttery sound that told him she was more shaken than she wanted to admit.“I’m so sorry about your truck, Bear.I’ll pay to fix it.”

“No, you won’t,” he growled.“Forget the truck.”He didn’t give a crap about his truck.He just wanted to get her out of here, make sure she wasn’t hurt, get her home…he felt something brush against the top of his head, and knew it was her lips.

“I knew you’d find me,” she said softly.“Do you know I wasn’t even scared, all alone in the woods like this?That’s because I knew you’d come.”

He grunted.Of course he’d come.

Finally he managed to unjam the seatbelt and lift it away from her body.She rubbed her chest where it had held her pinned to the seat.Shit…broken ribs?Bruises?

Gingerly, he snaked one arm around her back and the other under her knees and lifted her from the seat.She looped her arms around his neck and snuggled against him as he picked his way across the forest floor to his Toyota.He’d left the headlights on and engine running so the cab would stay warm.

Lila moaned as he deposited her on the passenger seat.“It’s so cozy in here.I guess I was pretty cold.I didn’t even realize it.”

Was she in shock?He took a coat from his box of emergency supplies in the backseat and covered her with it.“I’ll be right back with your things.”

“What about your poor truck?”

“I’ll deal with it tomorrow.A night in the woods won’t bother it.”

As he pulled away from her, she grabbed his shoulder.“Thank you, Bear,” she whispered.“I don’t know what I would have?—”

“Everything’s okay.You’re fine.I’m going to take you home?—”

“No,” she interrupted.

“What?”

“I don’t want to go home.I want to go to your place.”In the light of the dashboard, her violet eyes pleaded with him.He’d much rather have her close by so he could keep an eye on her anyway.

“Should I call Ani?”

“No.I’m fine.You have EMT training, you can check me out.I just want to be with you.”She was shivering even with the heater blasting.

He closed the door and hurried to collect her bag and her phone, which had slid under the rubber floor mat.He also grabbed the piece of sketch paper she’d mentioned.As he played the beam of his headlamp over it, his first impression was that he’d seen that face before.But he couldn’t pin it down, and the next time he looked at it, the likeness rang no bells at all.

Lila had dozed off by the time he got back to the truck, but she woke up as soon as he got in.“You got the drawing?”

“Yup.”He handed everything to her and put the truck in gear.“Who is that?”

“Do you know him?”she asked sharply.

“At first I thought so, but no.”

Disappointed, she yawned.“It’s a crazy story.”As they drove, she gave him a quick rundown of everything Paulina had told her.“I forgot to ask her where exactly she saw him.The location might tell us something.”

He set a hand on her knee.“How about you rest that imagination of yours until tomorrow?We can’t solve anything tonight.”

“Of course we can.”

“Oh yeah?”

“There’s the question of how you knew to come look for me.How you knew I was in trouble.”She interlaced her fingers with his, causing his heart to jump and other body parts to respond just as forcefully.

“You were late coming back.”

“Not that late.”She flashed her phone at him.“It’s only nine o’clock.I could have been having dinner with Paulina.But you knew something wasn’t right, didn’t you?”

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