herself as a mere curiosity in the white-hot realm of his spotlight. But the paparazzi had never focused on her as an individual. Axel had warned her the abduction would change that. He was probably right.
“I know it’s inconvenient, but it’s not a bad idea. I’d rather have you safe and slightly annoyed than fighting for your life again.”
He was right about that, too. She nodded. “Do you have any idea why all this happened? I’d thought it was to extract money from my dad, but the fact that he never received a ransom note makes me wonder.”
Axel shook his head, directing a concerned gaze down at her. “Sorry. You might find out as the investigation continues. But if you don’t learn who engineered your kidnapping, you may never know.”
That would be a bitter pill to swallow. And she had to believe that if her father had managed to pull the right strings to find her, then he’d find out this madman’s reason for taking her in the first place.
The wind picked up, whistled past her as if singing an eerie tune. In the distance, a coyote howled. Mystery curled her arms around her knees and froze.
Axel slung his arm around her. “It’s okay. The wind is normal. The coyote sounds miles away.”
“Everything makes me jumpy right now, I guess.”
His face softened. “That’s normal, too. Close your eyes and try to relax.”
Their faces were so close. His body was plastered against hers from shoulder to knee. Her heart thumped. Desire was probably the wrong response to this situation, but she couldn’t deny it existed as she blinked up into his face.
“Go on,” he urged.
She was still wearing Alvarez’s jacket to ward off the cold, so she had no pillow. Axel made up for that by cradling the side of her face in one of his large hands and leading her cheek down to the slab of his chest. Mystery went willingly, her eyes sliding shut. His heart beat a steady rhythm in her ear.
He wrapped her tighter in his arms. “You’re safe, princess.”
Yes, she felt that. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Just close your eyes and rest.”
She was never going to sleep on a rock, against an unfamiliar man, with the wind whipping around her. She wasn’t comfortable and wasn’t sure she could get tired enough to stop the terrible abduction from playing in her head over and over like a bad horror film. The drugs her captor had given her left her in a groggy waking state for the most part. She hadn’t really slept, just been out of it. When she had drifted off, nightmares had plagued her. Terror crept in and disturbed her. She wouldn’t sleep tonight, but Axel had done so much. She would humor him.
“Sure,” she murmured and closed her eyes to play along. “I’ll try not to hog the bed.”
He chuckled in her ear. “If you do, that’s all right. I’m just happy you’re safe.”
* * *
HEAT overwhelmed her. Suddenly, Mystery felt sweltering. Sweat broke out along her hairline, between her breasts, along her back. Sleep dragged her back down, but the need for cooler air and a bathroom brought her back.
She cracked her eyes open. Sunlight sliced at them like a pickaxe. She gasped. Where was she? What time was it?
The last few days came rushing back to her, then she realized that the rock at her back was moving gently, a rise and fall that emulated breathing.
“Hold still,” he muttered in her ear.
Axel—beside her with his arm around her waist, holding her against a body that felt hard everywhere. But something in his voice warned her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard a helicopter fly overhead. It could be one of the good guys or nothing to do with us at all, but . . .”
It could also be whoever had paid for her kidnapping wondering where his investment had escaped to. She swallowed. “What do we do?”
“We wait. When daylight wanes, looking for us on the desert floor will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Whoever it is seems to be flying pretty low, which tells me it’s either a search-and-rescue mission or someone determined not to let you get away. The less we move now, the more we look like part of the scenery. The more likely they simply fly over us and away.”
That made sense, but her heart beat a hundred miles an hour. The distant sound of chopper blades seemed to get closer, closer. Axel tensed.
“Son of a bitch,” he breathed. “That’s the third time I’ve heard them fly overhead. I’d hoped the wind would blow away some of our tracks in the sand, but I’m guessing not enough.”
What if the helicopter landed? What if someone got out with guns and hunted them down? Axel was good, but he was still one man with one gun against people who would be better rested and prepared . . . It sounded like a recipe for death.
To her right, the helicopter swerved and headed straight toward them.
Chapter Four
WHAT are we going to do?” she asked. “Tell me how I can help.”
Axel pulled the desert camo blanket over their heads and tightened his hold around her waist. “Right now, we’re just laying low and hoping they go away. It’s about noon, maybe a little after. We might be hanging here for a while. It depends on how determined they are.”
That wasn’t good news. She wasn’t sure she could lie in this same position for the next five hours and wait for night to fall. For starters, her bladder was full. Worse, fear spiked her bloodstream. She wasn’t ready to face danger again. She certainly didn’t want to die.
And somehow, above all that, being pressed up against Axel aroused her.
Beside him, she breathed hard, trying to steady herself.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured. “Slow your breathing down. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
Mystery didn’t doubt that for a minute. She gave him a little nod. “What if they land? What if they come looking for us? What if—”
He shifted slightly, cupping her cheek. “I’ll handle it. I’m armed. I’m trained.”
But these ruthless people chasing her had already eliminated two of his comrades. How did Axel expect to take out whoever was in the helicopter by himself?
He pried open one of the Velcro pockets in his fatigue pants and thrust a gun in her hands. Mystery shrank back as if it was an enormous hairy spider come to eat her.
“Take it,” he demanded. “The safety is on. To turn it off, you flip this switch down.” He demonstrated, then quickly flipped the lever back in place. “Once the safety is off, squeeze the trigger hard. The gun will kick you back good, so be ready or it will knock you on your ass.”
He was preparing her to defend herself in case he couldn’t. And she could only think of one reason he’d be unable to keep her safe.
Panic surged. She rolled closer and lunged, throwing herself against his chest. “No.”
He grabbed her chin. “You have to be ready. If that chopper lands, there are anywhere between two and four men on board. They will split up and search for us. If your abductor sent them, I’m extraneous. They’ll simply kill me. What happens to you depends on their orders.”
“Meaning?” Her voice shook.
“Either they’ll take you to a new location to finish what your captor started or they’ll end you. In either event, you need to be prepared to defend yourself.”
“I don’t know how to use this.” She didn’t even want to touch the gun but it was sandwiched between them, sitting on her chest, seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.
“I’m telling you,” he bit out.
The helicopter drew closer, hovered not far from their location. She risked a peek over the top of the blanket and saw the vehicle make a slow sweep over the landscape.
Then it drew closer to the ground, kicking up sand and spewing it everywhere. Mystery gasped, tensed. They were coming for her.
Beside her, Axel clenched his jaw. When he turned to her, his expression looked bleak. “Listen to me. We’re going to get off this rock. You’re go
ing to run ahead of me. I’ll stay and fend them off.”
“No!” Splitting from him terrified her.
She could get lost. She could die. Funny that her biggest fear was never seeing him again.
He went on as if he hadn’t heard her objection at all. “Go west southwest.” He pointed that direction. “Keep walking. I’ve told you about some of the dangers around the landscape. Take your pack. I’m going to give you the water. Keep walking as long and as fast as you can. You should come to a town named Keeler. Not many people there, but find someone who has a phone. Call 911.”
“I’m staying with you.”
The helicopter went vertical, setting down beyond the next ridge, just out of sight. As soon as the sound of the blades slowed, Axel took that as his cue to stand. “You’re going. That’s final.”
He grabbed her pack, took the water bottles from his and shoved them into hers. Then he wadded up the blanket and jammed it into one of the pack’s side pockets. It wouldn’t zip but he deemed that good enough because he dragged her to her feet, thrust the gun on top of the pack, shoved it into her hands, then gave her a jerk of his head. “Go.”
Mystery froze for a moment. “What will you do?”
He reached for his rifle, then withdrew a scope from his pack, along with extra ammunition. He slithered to his belly along the top of the flat rock. “I also went to sniper school.”
As he started assembling his weapon and lining up shots, he completely tuned her out. His breathing evened. He looked utterly focused on the ridge ahead.
She couldn’t fall apart. It wouldn’t help either of them.
Dragging the overstuffed pack onto her back, she sucked back a groan at the additional weight. Already, her feet hurt from yesterday’s trek and were protesting now. But she heard the helicopter’s engine cut off. Adrenaline shot through her, and she welcomed the chemical. It staved off pain, made her sharp, gave her courage.
She slid off the rock just as Axel began wrapping his finger around the trigger.
On her trek down the first tier of rocks, she scraped her leg. Damn dress. The silvery sequin fabric had looked awesome catching the light in the club she’d gone to. It hadn’t held up at all in a survival situation. It certainly hadn’t protected her skin as she’d slid down the stone facing.
As Mystery brushed the debris from her thigh, her hand came back slightly wet. Blood. She winced, remembering what Axel had said about injury, but infection wasn’t her biggest threat now.
She moved on and clawed her way down the next face of the rocks, holding on by her fingernails. As she dangled, she looked down—and gulped. The ground seemed too far away, like she might hurt her leg or break an ankle if she simply let go. Shaking, scared, she forced herself to study the stone in front of her for any foot or handholds. Nothing.
If she remained hanging here, she was easy bait. Dead meat. Closing her eyes and saying a prayer, she released her hold. The ground rushed up to meet her with a thud. Thankfully, the soil just around the rock seemed a bit more sandy than the hard-baked soil of the dried-up riverbed. Though the landing still jarred every bone in her body, the loamy quality of the dirt immediately below cushioned her fall enough. Juggling her pack on her back again, she darted away from the outcropping, hugging the sides of the hill, clinging to what was left of the shadows.
She’d barely taken five steps before Axel’s first shot rang out above her.
Mystery tensed. That would certainly give away their position and send whoever was in that chopper running after them. What if they were another search-and-rescue sent by her father? Then again, if Axel was shooting, he must have reason to believe they weren’t.
A second shot rang out less than twenty seconds later. She swallowed, paused. He’d told her to go, run to the nearest town.
But she couldn’t leave him.
Mystery took the gun from her pack and headed back to Axel. This weapon would be far more useful in his hands.
Just as she reached the outcropping again, she saw him sliding down the facing of the rock as if his ass was on fire. The second he landed, he turned to find her. He barely had time for a glower before he rushed over and grabbed her arm, staying her.
“I picked two of them off. There were two others. The first headed back to the chopper before I even fired a shot. The second scrambled down the hill. I expect him to try to hunt us down.”
She put her hand in his and tugged in the direction he’d told her to trek. “Let’s go.”
Axel yanked on her hand and shook his head. “This way.”
Mystery frowned. She hadn’t misunderstood what he told her previously. When he turned and pulled on her hand, she got the picture immediately. “Toward the helicopter?”
And the bad guys? Was he crazy?
“With one guy searching the valley for us, we might be able to sneak our way past the other and either radio for help or get the hell to civilization. Walking through this valley without anywhere to hide or adequate camouflage isn’t my first choice. But if we run toward civilization, they head back to the chopper and find us in five minutes. We don’t have better options.”
The idea filled her with fear. Dashing across the valley was risky, probably close to insane. But Axel knew far more about staying alive in a combat situation than she did. He’d gotten her this far. She trusted him with her life.
“All right.”
Nodding, he pulled her along as he hugged the outcropping of rock. Before he rounded the corner, he grabbed his rifle, at the ready, and peeked at the vast expanse beyond.
Her heart thrummed as she waited for him to say something—anything. The interminable seconds slid by in silence.
“We’re going to make a dash across the long stretch of nothing between us and that hill. They’ll probably see us and give chase. Or shoot. Keep running, no matter what. Got it?”
She nodded frantically.
“Answer me,” he demanded.
“Yes, Axel.”
He let out a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a curse. “Follow me.”
They stepped out from behind the stone facing. Instantly, sun beat directly on them. Intense heat shimmered up from the hard-baked ground. Mystery didn’t bother wishing she had sunglasses or a hat, but she blessed Axel for insisting they cover as much ground as possible at night.
“Any idea where they are now?” she murmured.
“Nope. One will probably head in our direction but climb that northern ridge to get above us for a better shot.” He pointed. “The other will probably stay by the helicopter. He’s likely the pilot. They’ll have some comm device going between them to keep tabs on us. We have to stay alert for surprises. Ready?”
No. “Yes, Axel.”
He grabbed her hand. “Go!”
They set off across the dusty, brush-dotted landscape at a full run. Mystery gazed frantically between the rocks littering the ground beneath her feet and the endless desert in front of her, shielding the men likely trying to kill them. Her breath rushed out of her chest. Terror crowded every part of her body. And she clung to Axel, knowing he was the only way she’d possibly survive this.
As they ran, time had no meaning. A few seconds? A few minutes? Then a shot rang out, skipping the dirt directly in front of Axel. She yelped.
He jerked on her arm and sent them running in a random zigzag pattern. Not a single hill, tree, bush, or rock to shield them in this low, brush-scrubbed valley. A few hundred yards in any direction would take them to some sort of shelter, but that might as well have been a million miles. As another shot rang out and kicked up the soil less than a foot from her, she wondered if there was any chance they’d make it to safety alive.
“Keep running!” he called over his shoulder.
It was either that or die. “I’m with you.”