Page 59 of Deceptive Lies

“Okay, honey, time to call it quits.” Hands circled her shoulders, gently massaging the tight muscles around the back of her neck.

With a sigh of contentment, Willow sank back against Cooper’s sturdy frame. Other than the blood and tears to his clothing, youwouldn't guess he’d just been kidnapped and in a helicopter crash. He looked so strong, so confident, his movements were sure and smooth, he was something else, and she found she liked watching him, even when all he was doing was kicking sand on a smoldering wreck of a helicopter.

“You think they know the helicopter didn't arrive by now?” she asked. Out there it was hard to keep track of the time. The sky was still inky black, stars twinkled merrily like they weren't shining down on death and destruction. The moon was moving across the sky like it always did, but she didn't know enough to figure out how to approximate time based on its position.

“I’m guessing they do.”

“You think they’re already looking for us?”

There was a slight pause, and his hands tightened their grip on her. “My guess is yes, they’re assembling a search party and heading out here now to try to find us.”

A shiver rocketed through her, and the overheated feeling she’d had while they threw sand at the smoldering helicopter suddenly disappeared leaving her feeling icy cold.

Of course, she’d known they’d be looking for her.

Professor Mahmoudhadto look for her if he wanted even a chance at saving himself. What she’d told the mercenaries was true. She’d used Cooper’s phone to call her boss, given him the passwords to the drive that held all her work files, and instructions to go ahead and put it all together in an article in a week if he didn't hear from her again. That same intel would also be sent to the appropriate authorities.

Regardless of whether she lived or died, the professor’s life as he knew it was over.

Not that he’d stop coming after her.

Not until either he was dead or she was.

Revenge would eat away at him, even if he was battling charges, he would need to see her punished. Even if it wound up painting him in a worse light. He placed no value on women, and to be bested by one would be more than he could bear. In his mind, at least if he punished her and took her life, he would regain some of his standing and respect amongst the warriors.

“Hey, we’re alive, and right now that counts for a lot,” Cooperreminded her as he turned her around so she was facing him. “Don’t lose hope now. We can’t be all that far from where we came from, we can walk our way out of the desert.”

Although she nodded in agreement, anxiety settled heavily in her stomach.

Sure, theycouldwalk out of the desert and back to civilization. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. But they were both injured, and as soon as the sun came up the temperature would rise, high and fast, and they had no water and no real likelihood of finding any.

Their situation wasn't just dangerous, it was precarious.

“I’ll get you out of here, Willow. That’s a promise.”

There was so much determination behind those words that, despite all her doubts, she nodded again, this time a little more forcefully.

Cooper was right. They couldn’t give up now. It was nothing short of a miracle that they were alive. That they’d survived the crash defied all odds. Giving up now would be almost disrespectful to the universe that had handed them this chance. A chance they couldn’t waste.

“Okay,” she agreed. “We give this everything we have. No giving up. If anyone can find their way out of the desert, then it’s us for sure.”

“That’s my girl.” The smile he beamed down at her warmed her, melting away a little of the icy fear that still clung to her body along with exhaustion. What warmed her more were his words.

He’d called her his girl.

A slip of the tongue or something he meant and had consciously decided to say?

Willow was too cowardly to ask.

Instead, she just leaned forward, pressed her cheek to Cooper’s solid chest, tucked her head beneath his chin, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Maybe it made her selfish, but she was glad he was there with her. Of all the people who could have seen her in the professor’s house, she was so grateful it was a man with enough honor and integrity to do something about it.

“We need to rest for a while,” Cooper said, one of his hands absently stroking the length of her spine while the other palmed the back of her head.

“Shouldn’t we start walking?” If the professor’s men were alreadygoing to be heading out to search for the missing helicopter, they needed to put as much distance between themselves and the wreckage as quickly as possible.

“It’s dark and we’re both exhausted and hurting. If we try to walk now, we’re likely to stumble, trip on the rocks, lose our footing in the sand, and hurt ourselves more. There were no lights around as we were going down, wherever we are, we’re not close enough to a village that anyone should have reported the crash, which means, they’ve got no idea where to start looking. We need a couple of hours rest. We can afford this break,” he added as though knowing she needed a little extra reassurance.

As badly as her body begged her for rest, Willow couldn’t help but feel like they needed to just run as far and as fast as they could get from the helicopter.

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