Page 39 of Resisting His Target
“What is it?” she asked.
“Chopper. Move! Move! Move!”
Panic was intense and quick, spurring her into action. They ran hard toward an area of taller brush some hundred yards away, the distance leaving them exposed in the open for long seconds before reaching the cover of the trees.
She was gasping for breath when they got there, the sound of the rotors now clearly audible in the distance. “How far can they see?” she asked.
He put his arm around her shoulders, the first time he’d touched her all day. “Far enough, but that doesn’t mean they did. I give us a fifty-fifty chance on this one. Get down on the ground.” He lay next to her as the chopper got closer and closer, the thump of its rotors seeming to drum on her lungs.
“Thanks for last night,” she yelled over the din.
“You’re telling me this now?”
“I might not have another chance.” Sand blew in her face and she ducked her head, covering herself as best she could with her hands. Razorback brought his arm around her face, too.
The noise got so loud she knew Border Patrol had spotted them and was hovering overhead. Any minute now agents would swoop in by car and take them into custody.
One minute stretched into the next, the sound violently intense as her exposed skin was pelted with sand. This was it. They’d been caught just eleven miles into their journey, not even halfway. There would be no scene at the Democratic National Convention, no scandal to knock Doug McGrath out of the presidential race.
There would be no peace.
No safety, no freedom, no hope.
“It’s moving away,” he yelled in her ear.
Was it? She lifted her head and squinted her eyes to see. There was less noise, less sand blowing along the ground than there had been before. She looked up, the chopper now past them and still going, and broke out in a huge smile. “It’s moving away!” She squeezed him, Razorback seeming to hesitate before returning the embrace, but she was too elated to worry about that. “We’re going to make it, aren’t we?”
“Never doubted it for a moment.”
She stood with renewed energy, more determined than ever to complete their hike successfully no matter the physical challenge. Her steps grew easier. She no longer noticed the heat, the humidity. There was only the stumble and stride of her feet through the sand, the rhythmic sound of her breathing, and the steady progress gained by sheer force of will.
By the time they made camp for the night, she was exhausted. The sun was setting in the sky, its warm tones bathing the landscape in orange and gold, and she sat on a thin sleeping bag Razorback set out for her. “We’re going to make it,” she said again. She’d been saying it all day.
Razorback chuckled. “Remind me not to fuck with you.” He was strikingly handsome, the panoramic view of the valley below stretching up to the horizon behind him, and she smiled a tired smile.
He unlaced her shoes. “You don’t have to do that,” she said, but he slipped them off and removed her socks. It felt oddly personal, especially strange given that they’d slept together. She wiggled her toes, the freedom of movement feeling heavenly, and when he rubbed her arches, she thought she might die.
He gestured to the MRE he’d set out for her. “Eat your dinner before you fall asleep.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She was hungrier than she realized, her body insisting she devour the whole thing once she allowed it a single bite, but the moment she’d finished eating, it was a struggle to stay awake.
He cleaned up their garbage and packed it away, hanging his rucksack in a tree before lying down beside her. “Don’t fight it,” he said, opening his arm to her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
We’re going to make it.
She was out like a light.
23
Razorback walked behind Jackie, letting her set the pace as he’d done since the beginning. She’d sped up each day instead of slowing down, he the sole witness to the steely determination that rose up within her as artifice fell away.
They were both dirty, her hair now curly where it had once been straight. It crowded around her face like a wild woman’s, and he was sure he hadn’t seen the real Jackie until now.
She was amazing.
