Lisa Harris - Deadly Safari

He moved around to the front of the Jeep to assess the damage. The entire front end was smashed against the tree. Even if it could be fixed, it was going to be a massive repair job. Alex rubbed his temples, wishing he could erase the headache beginning to pulse. There was another, bigger issue to consider. Even though Meghan had driven out in a different Jeep, he couldn’t discount the possibility that the accident was connected to the threats against her life.

TWO

Alex kicked the side of the bumper that now sat askew. Then, pushing the frustration down, he forced himself to think logically, like the investigator he was. “Who has access to the lodge’s vehicles?”

“Access?” Meghan hobbled to the front of the vehicle to make her own assessment, her knee clearly painful. “Everyone, I suppose—or rather, the small number of people who are in the area. They’re not exactly kept under tight security. We’re in the bush, twenty minutes from the nearest town. Except for poaching, crime isn’t exactly a huge issue here.”

“And at night?”

“They’re not locked up, if that’s what you mean. They sit in the parking lot when they aren’t being used in the bush or in for maintenance. The terrain is rough on them, so it’s a lot of work to keep them running.”

“So, in other words, anyone who wanted to could have access to them.”

She rested her hands against her hips and caught his gaze. “Are you implying this wasn’t an accident? Because if you are, that’s absolutely ridiculous. Like I said, the terrain is rough. Mechanical issues with the vehicles are the norm rather than the exception.”

“I’m not implying anything. I just...”

He closed his mouth, reminding himself that he wasn’t allowed to say more to warn her about the chance of danger. It wasn’t the first time he’d questioned Ambassador Jordan’s explicit instructions. He’d prefer to simply lay out the entire truth for Meghan. By the way, your father is worried someone is trying to kill you. And while you think I’m your new assistant, the truth is that your father just convinced me to blow my vacation time by working as your bodyguard and talked your boss into playing along so you wouldn’t suspect the truth. Hope you don’t mind.

He looked to where she stood. Brow furrowed. Questioning. No matter what he would like to say, he was pretty certain her father had been right about one thing. While he might not be her choice of assistant on her documentary team, she’d definitely send him packing if she realized he was here as her personal guard detail. From what he’d already seen, the girl had just enough spunk and stubbornness to make her believe she could handle things on her own. Which put it back on his shoulders to find a way to keep her out of trouble whether she wanted him to or not.

“You know, I’m sorry.” He tried to erase the look of worry from his expression. “It’s been one of these weeks. I missed my flight out of Amsterdam, which resulted in them losing my bag. Then there was a flat tire on the way here, and now all of this....”

She slammed her open door shut with her hip. “Today might just be your lucky day after all.”

He leaned against the side of the vehicle and shot her a surprised look. “Lucky? Right. I always consider myself lucky when I’m chased by a rhino before wrapping a vehicle around a tree.”

“Think of it this way. We were scheduled to take this vehicle out today.” Alex kept his expression neutral, not visibly reacting to the information even as he mentally stored it away. “But Samuel noticed that the radio wasn’t working, so we swapped out vehicles.” She smiled at him. He wasn’t sure if she was flirting with him or simply being sarcastic. “So if it weren’t for the rhino incident, I’d be back safe and sound at the lodge, but you’d be here by yourself with no idea how to get back and no radio. Lucky you, though, I’m here, and I know the way back to the lodge.”

“That’s a very...optimistic way of looking at it.” He had to laugh. So Meghan was one of those eternal optimists? “What now? There’s no radio, but you have to have a cell phone on you, right?”

“A cell phone? No. Even if I did, there isn’t any service out here.”

Great. He glanced back at the Jeep. “Which is why you use radios.”

“Precisely.”

“Here’s another crazy question.” He hesitated, hoping he didn’t sound as worried as he felt. “What kind of predators might show up, besides our favorite rhino and a handful of poachers? Because this wreck isn’t going anywhere.”

“Don’t you have predators back in Texas?”

“I’ve tangled with a coyote or two.”

He tried to play down his concern, but his unease went far beyond what might be hiding on the other side of the bushes. Not only did she see the cup half-full, she was unaware that they faced any problem other than getting out of the bush. He was looking at an entirely different scenario. Maybe he was reading things into the situation, but if the vehicle had been sabotaged, someone had just sent a very clear message that they could get to her.

Something rustled behind him in the bushes. Alex pressed his back against the vehicle, ready to grab Meghan and bolt the pair of them up the nearest tree if necessary.

“It’s okay.” Meghan laughed. “It’s just an impala.”

“An impala.”

“An antelope. A lot of people mistake them for deer, but they actually come from different families. An impala’s color is more reddish-brown and they have permanent horns—”

“I know what an impala is.”

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

He held up his hand. He shouldn’t have snapped, but he couldn’t take any chances if someone had just tried to kill her. Nor was he thrilled about being out in the bush unarmed, where there were predators that would be more than happy to have him for dinner. He knew enough to realize that the hunter could quickly become the hunted. And unless someone came to their rescue, they were going to have to walk back to the lodge. At this point he wasn’t even sure which direction it was.

She took a step and winced, reminding him of their other problem. They were going to have to walk, and she clearly wasn’t going to make it far. The discoloration on her knee was already beginning to show.

“From the looks of it, you’re not going anywhere, either. At least not quickly.”

So much for outrunning the next animal that decided to have some fun with them.

“I’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “And besides, Kate and Samuel know I’m out here. They probably assumed you drove me back to the lodge, but once they realize we’re not there, they’ll come looking for us. They know the area where we are, so it shouldn’t take them long to find us.”

He wasn’t convinced. “Not to be a pessimist or anything, but what if they don’t show up? Do you really think you can walk back to the lodge?

“Do you always worry like this?”

“Yes.”

His caution tended to go hand in hand with a job of hunting down the bad guys. For the past thirteen months he’d been after Dimitri Stamos, who’d left six people dead in his latest crime spree. Being on the alert for danger came as easily as breathing and was just as necessary in his life. He knew how to track and hunt down criminals, but trekking through the bush eluding wild animals—and possibly dangerous humans, too—was different.

He glanced down at her again, in her khaki shorts and boots, looking completely at home in the middle of the African bush—and compellingly attractive despite his best intentions not to notice. What he couldn’t avoid noticing was her refusal to back down.

“There is nothing to worry about.” She didn’t seem to notice his conflicted mood. “I’ve been working out here for months, and while we typically go out with a gun, we’ve never had to use it.”