Carol Ericson - Delta Force Daddy

“Here! I’m here!”

He emerged through the trees, the hospital gown flapping around his bare legs, a pair of socks the only barrier between his feet and the sharp needles and twigs that formed the forest floor.

She rushed to him. “Asher. Oh my God, Asher.”

He grabbed her hands and held her off from throwing herself in his arms.

“You’ve gotta help me. You’ve gotta get me out of this place...whoever you are.”

Chapter Three

His words chipped off a piece of her heart, but she squared her shoulders and stepped back from him. “We have to go through these woods and down a steep hill. Can you make it dressed like that?”

“I could make it naked with one arm tied behind my back to get out of here. Lead the way.”

“Let’s go. You should’ve kept that jacket though.”

“That jacket might buy me some time if someone happens to look out the window at the drugged-out invalid to make sure he’s still drooling in his chair.”

“You’re not drugged?”

“I’ve been spitting them out—and pretending.”

She held a branch to the side for him. “They still didn’t trust you enough to give you clothes.”

“They underestimated me.” He charged after her. “Don’t worry about clearing a path for me. Just go. I’ll follow you.”

“Your physical health is okay?”

“Strong as an ox.” He nudged her back. “Stop talking. You’re wasting energy.”

She scrabbled and stumbled her way to the forest’s edge. When they reached the path down to the access road, she made a half turn. “You can make it down?”

“I survived a tumble off a mountain in Afghanistan. I can traverse a wooded hill in Vermont.”

He didn’t need her to show him the way anymore, and he barreled past her into the descent, reaching back with one hand. “Keep up now.”

As his gown gaped open in the back, her eyebrows shot up. “You’re naked under that thing.”

“Their way of keeping me tame. Like I said. They underestimated me.” He craned his head over his shoulder. “If you’re really my fiancée like you said, my bare backside shouldn’t shock you.”

“I’m not shocked.” She twisted her fingers out of his grasp. “And stop dragging me or we’ll both end up in a freefall to the bottom of this hill.”

They had no words left as they negotiated their way down. When they hit the access road, Asher peeled off his socks, now decorated with dirt, small pebbles and pine needles.

He bunched them in his hand and stuffed them into the pack on her back. “I don’t want to leave any evidence.”

He hung back as the access road spilled onto the main drag. “It’s too exposed here.”

“The car’s less than half a mile away. Wait here and I’ll pick you up.”

As she started to turn away, he grabbed her hand. “You’ll be back?”

“I didn’t come all the way out here to leave you behind, Asher Knight...even if you don’t know who the hell I am.”

Paige ran to the car, the pack jostling on her back. She wished she had some clothes in there for Asher. She never would’ve imagined she’d be rescuing him in a hospital gown and nothing else.

When she reached the car, she lunged at the door and threw it open. She gunned the engine and swung into a wide U-turn.

The empty road in front of the access entrance stretched before her, and a wave of panic washed through her body. When Asher stepped out from behind a bush, a sob escaped from Paige’s lips.

“Get hold of yourself, girl.” She flipped a U-turn again and pulled over.

Before she even stopped the car, Asher had yanked at the door and jumped inside. “Go!”

She didn’t have to be told twice—or even once. Her foot punched the accelerator and the little rental roared in protest before switching gears and lurching forward.

The tires ate up the road, and Asher put a hand on her arm. “Slow down. We don’t want to get a ticket.”

Glancing in the rearview mirror, she eased off the gas. “But if we do get pulled over, we can tell the police what’s going on. You’re not a prisoner. You haven’t been committed.”

“Really?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t know what the hell is going on right now. That’s the US Army, the United States government. They can tell the cops whatever they want and, I guarantee you, I’ll be back in their clutches.”

Paige’s heart flip-flopped, and she tried to swallow her fear. She was the daughter of a police officer, had always trusted law enforcement, had always trusted authority. Now she had to rely on herself.

Asher jerked his head toward her and braced his hands against the dashboard. “Unless that’s what you want? Where are you taking me?”

Paige drew in her bottom lip. Great. Now she had to deal with Asher’s paranoia. Was it real or imagined? She slid a sideways gaze at him. Maybe his mental issues involved more than amnesia. Maybe he’d been kept naked and drugged because he did pose a threat to himself...and others.

She could feel his hard stare boring into the side of her face. A stranger’s stare.

“Is that it? Are you one of them?”

His harsh voice grated against her ear, and she took a deep breath. If he could listen to reason and think logically, that would tell her a lot about his mental state.

“I’m taking you to my motel right now. We should leave as soon as I can check out. This is a small town and the people at that house of horrors will most likely fan out there first to look for you.”

He nodded, his mouth still tight.

“Why would I contact you secretly and help you escape if I were in cahoots with the hospital and planned to deliver you back to them? What would be the plan? To test you? They don’t need to test you. They have you captive and a pharmaceutical cornucopia to keep you complacent.”

His firm jaw softened and he blinked his eyes.

“What did they tell you about the woods yesterday? Because I can tell you right now, one of those stooges who came after you, Lewis or Granger, shot a dart in the side of your neck to take you down.”

Asher clapped his hand against the left side of his neck. “They said I passed out.”

“Yeah, like a lion passes out after a few hundred blow darts sink into him.”

“I suspected something but didn’t let on.” He touched the back of his head. “I’m still pretty confused, but I pretended everything was great so that I’d have another opportunity to go outside...in case you came back.”

“Well, I did.” She reached for his thigh and stopped herself. He still thought of her as a stranger, but she planned to remedy that.

She grabbed the bottle of water in the cup holder instead. “Do you want some water?” She shook the bottle and the water sloshed back and forth. “It’s not laced with anything—except my germs.”

His hand hovered near the bottle for a couple of seconds and then he snatched it from her. He downed the rest of the water. “Sorry. Those damned drugs make me thirsty.”

She looked away from the road and pointed to his feet. “We’re going to have to take care of those.”

“My feet are the least of my worries right now—and I have plenty.”

About a half hour later, they hit the outskirts of Mooseville and Paige tapped Asher’s shoulder. “You should slump down in about five minutes, just until we get through the town. My motel is tucked away from the main drag. I can sneak you inside without a problem.”

“I’m not going anywhere sitting in this car.”

“Excuse me?” She always did have to deal with Asher’s stubbornness, but his stubbornness combined with amnesia and fear just catapulted it to another dimension.

“It’s too risky. Pull over now and I’ll get in the trunk.”