Barb Han - Sudden Setup

Holden walked another circle around the room.

Questions ate at him. First of which, what kind of fool hiked alone in one of the most remote and barren places of the Butler property? There were all kinds of dangerous creatures out there, and he should know because he’d found a scorpion in his boot yesterday morning and had crossed paths with a coral snake by lunch. He recalled the childhood saying he’d been taught to tell the difference between a coral and a harmless snake with similar markings: red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, venom lack. This part of the country had no shortage of venomous creatures.

There were other concerns about leaving her alone. Did she know there was no ready water supply? He’d had to hike for miles to locate a decent place to dig to find the lifesaving liquid when he first arrived. Making the trek had become part of his daily routine after morning push-ups and was the reason he’d seen her in the first place. His daily schedule had been the dividing line between life and death for Ella Butler.

Holden had kept an eye on her to ensure that she didn’t get too close to his camp. The place sat on the westernmost boundary of the Butler property referred to as Tierra del Fuego, meaning land of fire in Spanish.

If he was being completely honest, he’d admit to being intrigued by Ella. He’d chalked it up to too many days without female companionship and his dread at realizing the time had come to move on from Cattle Barge.

He’d spent a little more than two years on the run. Two years of not speaking to another person. Two years of eating every meal by himself without anyone to share his life with. And yet in a strange way, Holden had felt alone his entire life.

Scouting a new location was a lot of work, but his diligence had kept him alive so far. He’d been on the move twenty-five consecutive months, never pausing for more than a pair of weeks in one spot. This was the longest he’d stayed in one place, and his instincts had told him that it was time to go even before he’d witnessed the assault.

The problem was that he liked Cattle Barge. Holden felt an unexplainable connection to the land. He’d let his emotions win over logic in staying on too long. He’d erred by not listening to his instincts. And there’d be a price to pay for that lapse in judgment, he thought as he looked down at her.

* * *

ELLA’S EYES BURNED as harsh light and a sharp pain in that spot right in the center of her forehead, like a brain freeze, nailed her. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the blur. The outline of a very large man looming over her came into focus, causing very real fear to surge through her. Ella tried to force herself awake but darkness pulled. Her mind screamed to get up and run. Her limbs couldn’t comply and so no matter how hard she fought against it, her eyes closed and she gave in to sleep.

It was dark by the time Ella woke again. She vaguely remembered being helped outside to go to the bathroom once, or maybe it was twice, but then she might’ve dreamed the whole episode.

Glancing around, she tried to get her bearings. Her head pounded as she strained to figure out where she was. The bed was hard but comfortable. There was a blanket draped over her. It was clean and soft.

Instincts kicked in and she felt around to make sure she had clothes on. Movement sent shards of pain needling through her skin. A flicker of relief washed over her when she realized her shirt and shorts were on. The respite was short-lived. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness when she saw the silhouette of a man folded forward in a chair in the corner. Based on his steady breathing, she surmised that he was asleep.

Ella couldn’t make out his face from across the room but a warning buzz shot through her at the sheer size of him. Questions raced through her mind but she couldn’t bring one into focus. Exhaustion kicked in again and it felt like she’d run a marathon in the August Texas heat. All she could do was close her eyes and rest. So she did.

“What time is it?” Ella asked, unsure how long she’d dozed. She’d been awake for a few minutes, assessing whether or not it was safe to talk. The sun was up. Her thoughts had been engaged in a battle of good versus evil, debating the intentions of the stranger in the room. Eventually, logic won out. If this man had wanted to hurt her, he could’ve done so already. Still, she’d walk a fine line with him and make sure she didn’t provoke him.

“You’re asking the wrong question,” the strong male voice said—a voice that sent electric chills up her back.

“What should I be asking then?” She tried to push up to sit but her arms were too weak. The male figure made no move to help her.

“It’s Thursday.” He turned his back to her in a surprising show of trust and picked up whatever was on his plate. He popped something into his mouth. It must be what smelled so amazing. Her stomach growled despite being convinced that she wasn’t hungry.

She scanned the room for anything she could use as a weapon while he wasn’t watching. Her vision was improving even though looking around still made her eyes hurt. She glanced at the door, hoping to find a baseball bat or something she could use if push came to shove. There had to be one around there somewhere, her head would argue because it felt like one had been used to crack it open.

The room was sparse. There was the makeshift bed in the corner that she was presently resting on. A very uncomfortable-looking lawn chair—the one he’d slept on last night—was pushed up to a table, which was nothing more than a piece of drift board propped up by stick legs tied off by rope. Either this guy was a survivalist or a former Boy Scout. She couldn’t decide which one.

Ella remembered that the stranger had slept hunched forward on that chair made of lightweight aluminum and cheap material. Only a gentleman would give up his bed...right?

Embarrassment heated her cheeks as she recalled him helping her outside to use the bathroom. If he’d wanted to take advantage of her, he’d had plenty of opportunity. And yet he wasn’t being welcoming.

The plate the stranger ate from was some kind of metal, like she’d used for camping with her brothers and sister when they were old enough to set up a tent in the backyard. It had come in an outdoorsman kit, she remembered.

She performed a mental calculation that took longer than it should have and made her brain pound against her skull. “I’ve been out for two days?”

“In and out,” the stranger said. She didn’t recognize his voice at all and she knew she would remember such a deep baritone if she’d heard it before. There was an intense but calming quality and it sent a trill of awareness through her, which was totally inappropriate and unwelcomed. She chalked her reaction up to hitting her head too hard.

“I’m sorry, have we met before?” she asked, hoping to place him. Her mind was fuzzy and she was having a hard time processing information.

“No.”

“Then can I ask who you are?” Ella racked her brain trying to figure out who he could be.

“No.” There was finality to his tone that sent a different kind of shiver down her spine, an icy chill that said he was a man with secrets.

The thought of being alone with a person who wouldn’t identify himself made Ella want to curl into a ball to protect herself. Her father was one of the richest men in Cattle Barge, Texas, and her life had turned upside down after being given the news of his death a few days ago. When she really thought about it, this man could be after her father’s money. She was still fuzzy as to why she was here in the first place, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t come up with a good explanation. She’d lost more than the last two days because she didn’t even remember why she’d gone hiking in the first place.