Page 79 of Hunter

“What happens to me is not important,” he said dismissively.

She turned him toward her, clasped his shoulders, wished she could see him better in the darkness. “It is to me.”

He didn’t answer, and she added, “You’re going to have to adjust your thinking.”

“Right now, I have to get you away from Stratford Creek.” He paused, and she heard him swallow. “If anything happens to me, you must try to escape. This timeIam givingyouan order.”

“I—”

“Do not go to Colonel Emerson,” he clipped out. “Do not trust him.”

“I don’t.”

“Kathryn,” he said in a thick voice, folding her close. “What I feel for you is very strong. If it is possible for a man created the way I was created to love, then I love you.”

“Hunter,” she whispered, holding on to him for dear life.

“This isn’t a good time to speak of my feelings. But I want you to know. In case I don’t get another chance to tell you.”

“You will,” she vowed.

“You make me want to believe that.” For several heartbeats he clasped her tighter, then eased away from her.

She shivered as the warmth of his body left her. When she saw him watching her closely, she stood up straighter, determined to show him she wasn’t going to fall apart.

“Wait here. I will put the plates on a car and come back for you.”

She gave a tight little nod and watched him walk toward the parking lot. As he drew abreast of the gate, a guard stepped out of a small building.

A guard. She hadn’t even been thinking about that, she realized. But she was sure Hunter had seen the guard when he’d checked the motor pool earlier. She couldn’t hear what the man was saying, but she heard the note of challenge in his tone.

Kathryn held her breath.

“I have orders to report to the administration building with a sedan,” Hunter said, reaching inside his jacket. Instead of pulling out a piece of paper, he brought his hand out in a lightning quick stroke that connected with the guard’s neck.

The man gasped, yet he was also well trained. At the last second, he moved a fraction of an inch, deflecting the worst of the blow. Then he spun around, coming back at Hunter with his own martial arts move.

As they circled each other, Kathryn wondered if somehow she could tip the odds in Hunter’s favor. What if she caused a distraction, she thought, starting forward? Before she had taken two steps, another man materialized silently out of the shadows. She bit back a tiny sound as he raised a gun and landed a hard chop on the guard’s head. Confused, she tried to figure out what was happening.

Before the combatant hit the ground, the newcomer took a quick step back and pointed the gun squarely at Hunter. Until that moment, she hadn’t gotten a clear view of his face. When he raised his head, she saw it was Reid, the security man who had lured her down to the cabin, then set the fuses and tried to blow her up.

Hunter started forward.

“Don’t come any closer.” Reid gestured with the gun. “Just pick him up nice and easy and dump him behind a car,” he ordered.

When Hunter hesitated, he gestured with the gun. “Do it. Then turn around slowly.”

Hunter complied.

“Don’t move a muscle—except to put your hands up,” Reid hissed.

Slowly, Hunter raised his hands. He was facing in her direction, but he didn’t once look at her, and she knew he was doing it to protect her hiding place.

“Where’s the Kelley woman?” Reid demanded.

“You wanted to kill her,” Hunter said in a flat voice. “You did an excellent job of setting the explosives.”

“You’d better not be lying to me.”

---