Page 38 of Protective Assignment
His hair had grown out slightly, hanging in a shaggy mess to his shoulders, and his clothes were dirty and ragged.His wolf-like eyes cut through her, and that predatory grin spread over his face.The combination was startling and chilled her to the bone.
“You miss me?”he asked her, reaching out to cup herchin tightly in his hand.She tried to pull her face away, but his grip was too strong.Being this close to him again after the past few months on the run was enough to turn her stomach.
No.She couldn’t do this.Not again.She couldn’t have gotten so far from him just to end up back in his grasp.She should never have left the safety of the lodge.She was so stupid to believe she’d actually escaped him when she knew, sheknew, there was no way.Ryker would never let her go.
She lowered her eyes to the ground.She wasn’t going to give him her attention, no matter how much he seemed to think he was entitled to it.No matter how much he wanted it.
“You’ve been out for six hours, sweetheart,” he continued, letting go of her face, though she could still feel the grip of his finger on her jaw.
Six hours?Her heart sank.Cade.What was going through his mind?Would he be looking for her?How would he even find her?She prayed he wouldn’t give up on her.
And Hannah!What had happened to Hannah?She had been with her when River was abducted.What if something had happened to her?What if she had been hurt, or worse?
She wanted to ask the questions but she couldn’t get her mouth to form the words.Was afraid of the answers she’d get if she did.She couldn’t bear it if something happened to one of her friends because of her.
“Don’t worry, River,” Ryker continued.“We’re going to get you back home.Back where you belong, right?”
River tensed but didn’t say a word to him.She knew he would twist up anything she said and use it against her.He would find some way to make it seem like she had agreed togo back with him, even though they both knew she’d never willingly go back.Especially not with him.
Before he could continue, another man stepped into the small room with them.It looked like an old hunting cabin or something, paint peeling off the walls and old cans of food stacked in the cabinets with doors that seemed to be half hanging off their hinges.
“We need to move, boss,” the man told him.
River recognized him—one of her father’s friends.She wanted to scream at him, ask him if this was what her father would have wanted him to do.What would he have thought if he had been able to see this man, a friend of his, involved in the kidnapping of his daughter?He couldn’t even make eye contact with River, and it didn’t surprise her.He knew what he was doing was twisted and wrong.Ryker let out a snarl of irritation.“You should never have let that other girl get away,” he snapped at the other man.
The other girl?Hannah?She had managed to get away?River felt a flood of relief hit her.Thank God.
“And now she’s going to bring the pigs to our door,” he continued.“Get everyone together, tell them we’re ready to move out.”
Move out?Move out where?River glanced between the men, trying to pick up on anything she could, but it was no good.They weren’t interested in dealing with her right now; they were intent on doing whatever they could to make sure they didn’t get caught.
Ryker flipped out a knife and cut the bindings tying her to the chair before yanking her up with a hard jerk that rattled her teeth.Before she could protest, he had her arms gripped in front of her and fastened more ties around herwrists.She felt a cold chill whipping in from outside, and she wished she had Cade’s winter coat with her—something to keep her warm, and something to remind her of him.
“Come on.Move,” Ryker ordered, and he dragged her toward the door of the cabin.His grip was tight and unyielding.She tried to pull herself away, but he hung on even tighter.He wasn’t letting her go anywhere now that he had her where he wanted her.
Outside, it had started to snow just the slightest bit.There was maybe half an inch lying on the well-trodden ground and it was still coming down.That was going to make it harder for them to find her, or even a trail.
But as she stumbled behind Ryker, who was dragging her roughly through the dense woods, she had to trust that Cade meant it when he said he could protect her.No matter how easy it would have been to let her fear and doubt get the better of her, she was going to trust in him until she was given a reason not to.
Because right now, he was her only chance of getting out of here in one piece.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“What the hell do we do now?”
“Cade, I know this is tough for you, but—”
“Tough?”Cade exploded at Carter.He knew it wasn’t going to do him any good to be mean to the people around him, but he felt like he was going crazy.He’d felt like this ever since Hannah had rushed back from their trip to town to tell them that some men had snatched up River off the street and she had no idea where they had taken her.
He’d never forget the look of panic and fear on Hannah’s face when she’d burst into their meeting in Lawson’s office to tell them what happened.
After kissing River goodbye at their cabin, Cade had called Lawson to see if he and Xavier were available to talk about River’s past with the Shepards.Lawson was still miffed that Cade had never gotten back to him the night before but agreed that he and Xavier would meet him in Lawson’s office to discuss the specifics and make a plan for what came next.Cade had barely finished telling them what River told him before Hannah had exploded into the office.
“She could be anywhere!”Cade continued as Xavier got to his feet to try and calm him.“It’s been hours.Where the hell is she?”
“We’re doing everything we can to find out,” Lawson reminded him as Cade began to pace once more.“We’ve got guys out doing another patrol of the woods.”
“She’s not in the woods,” he muttered, shaking his head.“They couldn’t have gotten their cars up there, it’s too dense.”
