Terri Reed - Danger at the Border

“It’s a lovely city.” She went on to tell him all the many reasons he should take a trip to the Windy City. He liked listening to her voice. The melodic tone was soothing. He detected a hint of an accent in the way she dropped her th sound in the and replaced it with a d. So the lake became d’lake. The accent became more pronounced the longer they traveled. A clear sign of her fatigue.

The forest deepened, the trees growing more dense, shutting out the setting sun. Time seemed suspended. Sweat broke out on Jeff’s back despite the dropping temperature. The electrical humming sound remained a background noise like an annoying mosquito, underscoring the chirp of birds, the ticking of insects. The vibrating noise wasn’t necessarily growing louder, but not quieter, either.

Whatever was making the humming wasn’t a small generator attached to a video camera. He wouldn’t stake his life or Tessa’s on the belief that finding the source of the sound would bring them anything but trouble. Like the toxin, it was out of place, an intrusion that shouldn’t be there in the forest. A possible danger. One that may or may not prove to be deadly.

“Shouldn’t we have hit the fire road by now?” Tessa asked, the strain of the afternoon trembling in her voice. Or was that a shiver from the cold?

All around them the world turned from bright and vibrant colors to monochrome grays as the waning light of dusk slowly and surely disappeared.

“We have to have traveled twenty miles by now.”

He hated to disappoint her but he’d guess more like six miles. He kept that to himself. He checked the time on his phone. They’d been in the woods for nearly seven hours. And unfortunately still no cell service.

She stumbled on an exposed root.

He clamped his hand around her elbow. “You okay?”

She took a deep breath and straightened. “I’m good.”

The woman wouldn’t admit to any weakness. He let go and admired her willingness to endure. So much for his assumption that she was too high maintenance for the outdoors.

They trudged on as the oppressive darkness closed in around them. A wolf howled. Uncomfortably close. The glacial air invading the forest seeped through his shirt.

Hiking at night wasn’t wise, especially as the terrain climbed, making the going more arduous. They didn’t have a trail to follow through the dense foliage. Despite keeping up the constant dialogue, they could easily startle a wary animal in the dark or stumble over a fallen branch. “We need to stop and make camp until daylight.”

“Shouldn’t we keep going? The fire road can’t be that far. I have a flashlight and headlamp.”

Of course she did. “Not a good idea. It’s getting colder, a wind has picked up and even with light it’s dangerous out here at night.”

“Won’t stopping make us sitting ducks?” she asked, her voice rising slightly. “The bad guys aren’t going to stop, are they?”

“If they’re smart, they are. Though if they’d wanted us dead, they’d have killed us by now. They want us in these woods.”

“Maybe to give them time to clean up the toxic waste.”

“That could be it.” Or they were to be made into human targets. In which case, any light would be their enemy. “But injuring ourselves stumbling around in the dark isn’t the only thing we have to worry about. It’s what hunts in the dark. And if we’re moving, we’re prey.”

“And stopping, we’re not?”

“Hunkered down, we have a better shot of not being caught unawares.”

There was the briefest of pauses before she said, “We’ll need to build some sort of windbreak.”

He shifted her duffel bag. “You wouldn’t happen to have one in here, would you?” The thing weighed heavy across his shoulder.

“Unfortunately, no. But I do have a raincoat.”

That would help. “You were smart to bring this. I should have listened to you and packed a bag.”

“I wish I’d packed more food. We gave the bear the last of my bars,” she said, her voice quiet.

As if on cue his stomach grumbled. “I can skip a meal or two.”

“Let’s hope it’s only the one.”

To their left was the visible outline of a fallen tree stump. He ushered her over to the round chuck of wood and slipped the bag off his shoulder. “Can you check the stump roots to make sure they aren’t wet? I’ll gather some sticks.”

He walked away in search of some sturdy, full branches to use as a shield against the wind. When he had an armful gathered, he returned to the stump and laid them on the ground. “This should be enough.”

Working side by side, they quickly created a windbreak from the chilling wind. Soon they had the evergreen tree boughs in place with the raincoat hanging over them, blocking the gusts of frigid air whistling through the trees.

“There,” Tessa said, wiping her hands on her pants. “I haven’t made one of these since college.”

“Part of a class?”

“No, actually, the forestry club. We went nature camping at least twice a year.”

She was full of surprises. “You have a seat,” he said. “I’ll stand watch.”

“There’s room for both of us to sit,” she said. “You can keep watch from a seated position, can’t you?”

The tone in her voice held an edge of challenge. And no doubt if he refused to sit, she’d refuse, too. He sat. She followed suit and tucked her bag between them.

Armrest or boundary?

She had nothing to worry about from him. He had no intention of crossing the boundary.

He may like the fish doctor and, sure, found her attractive and quick-witted and resourceful and generally good company, but a budding romance that had nowhere to go and would only end in heartache wasn’t on his agenda.

Despite how self-reliant and independent Tessa was, she struck him as the type of woman who wanted a happily-ever-after. He didn’t believe such a thing existed.

Despite his parents’ long marriage, he couldn’t say they were happy. But then he’d never asked them if they were.

Frowning as he turned the thought over in his head, he settled into a semicomfortable position with his back propped against the stump, his hand on the butt of his holstered weapon.

Not ready to commit to approaching his parents with the question of their happiness, he tucked all thoughts of his family away.

Getting to safety and putting a stop to the water pollutant were his priorities. Until he knew this situation wasn’t going to turn into an international crisis, he had to bring on his A-game. That meant staying alert and ignoring his attraction to the woman beside him or thoughts of marriage or family or happily-ever-afters.

The sound of Tessa’s jacket scraping along the tree roots as she moved to a more comfortable position brought his attention to the moment. She was a trouper, that was for sure. Not one complaint about being cold or tired or uncomfortable. His respect for her continued to grow.

She shifted again. Her head came to rest against his biceps.

His blood pressure spiked. He gritted his teeth. Not for the life of him would he shake her off.

She jerked upright. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re welcome to use my shoulder as a pillow.”

“No, we should stay awake.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Ranger Harris and the sheriff have a search party out looking for us. We’ll make it back to civilization long before we starve or freeze to death.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” There was a smile in her voice.

Though her face was shadowed, there was enough ambient light for him to see the fatigue around her eyes and in the tightness of her shoulders.

“Tell me about Seattle,” she said, her voice low. “I hear it rains all the time.”

He laughed. “That’s just something we tell people so they don’t move there.”