Backfire (19 page)
Authors: Elizabeth Goddard
“Yep, but you're not going anywhere on that bum ankle.” He eyed the darkening sky. “I'll call it in.”
“No, there's no time to wait for SAR.”
“Hey, I've got everything we need to stay warm and dry.”
“But the federal agentsâ”
“Are going to hightail it back down once they sense the storm's coming. Relax. It'll be okay.”
He tried his cell phone but couldn't get a signal. Thankfully, he'd brought his radio.
“Base, this is Aiden, over.” As he waited for a response from resort staff, he studied Nia. She looked younger in her hiking outfit, quite different than her office dress of dark suit and crisp white shirt.
“Why aren't they picking up?” she asked.
“Give them a minute,” he said in a calm voice, to counterbalance her anxiety.
“Base, come in, over,” he tried again.
A few tense seconds passed.
“Read you loud and clear, over,” a voice finally answered.
“Harvey, is that you, over?” Aiden asked.
“Affirmative. I'm helping the new kid organize his marbles, over.”
Aiden smiled to himself. Harvey, the resort's former security manager, was always the jokester, and Aiden appreciated him helping Scott, the new security manager, get acclimated.
“We have a situation,” Aiden said. “Nia came looking for me and took a tumble.”
“How serious, over?”
“I'm fine,” Nia interjected as Aiden was about to answer.
“Injured ankle, so she can't walk, over.”
“You mean you can't carry her down by yourself, over?”
“Very funny, over.”
“Give me your location, over.”
Aiden dug out his topographical map and gave Harvey the coordinates.
“I'll contact the sheriff's department. There was a minor mud slide north of Rockland. I'm guessing most SAR volunteers are headed up there, over.”
“Okay, keep me posted, over.”
“Will do, over and out.”
Aiden turned to Nia. “Let's get you comfortable.”
“This is ridiculous. I can manage to walk down.”
“And make your ankle worse? Not happening. I won't risk losing my best employee to bed rest because she aggravated her injury trying to hike down on a bum ankle.”
She glanced away, her eyes drifting across the horizon.
Way to go, McBride.
He knew he'd sounded concerned for her only as an employee, nothing more. Not what anyone wanted to hear. It wasn't true, but she could never know that.
“I'll set up shelter.” He pulled equipment off his pack and got to work. It didn't make sense to pitch his small tent since the ground wasn't level and there was room for only one. Scanning his surroundings, Aiden figured out a way to anchor the tent fly to surrounding trees.
He was glad he had something to do to distract him from the cute brunette sitting a few feet away. He realized they'd never been alone together for more than a few minutes. They were always surrounded by people at the resort, either guests or employees, and Aiden made it a point to keep his distance from Nia outside of work.
“What if the agents find us?” Nia said softly.
“I doubt they're experienced enough to rappel down here,” he offered.
He got the shelter up and helped her shift beneath it just as the rain started to fall.
“We've got a good sight line from here,” he said. “Plus, the green tent fly offers good camouflage.”
She sighed. “So, maybe the men won't see us.”
He adjusted himself next to her, making sure their bodies didn't touch. “Why did they upset you so much?”
“People often are not what they seem,” she said.
He wondered if she was talking about the agents or someone from her past. “You want to expand on that?”
“The men weren't forthcoming about who they really were when they checked in. Plus, they were trying to get me to say something bad about you.”
“That shouldn't be too hard,” he teased.
She glanced at him. “The one guy said there's more to your service record than has been made public. What did he mean?”
“I have no idea.” And he didn't. Aiden had completed his tour of duty in an honorable fashion. Well, except for not being able to save Yates...
“What if they're not even federal agents?”
“Nia, don't let your imagination hijack your common sense. I'm sure it's nothing sinister.”
The crack of a gunshot echoed across the mountains.
Copyright © 2015 by Pat White
ISBN-13: 9781460383216
Backfire
Copyright © 2015 by Elizabeth Goddard
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