When she walked away, Tori pulled Sam into another hug. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
They went to help Andrea, then Tori bumped her shoulder playfully. “Did you really eat a squirrel?”
Chapter Twenty
Andrea actually moaned as she stood under the warm spray of water in their shower. It was glorious. She heard Cameron on the phone and assumed it was Murdock getting an update.
They’d been picked up at the highway and taken back to the campground where their motorhome was parked. Tori and Sam were being put up in one of the cabins that the Forest Service rented out. Cameron had given them two hours of downtime. Then they were to all four meet for Sam’s debriefing.
The only sign of Angel Figueroa had been tire tracks leaving the forest and heading onto the highway. He’d apparently had a car stashed there. Why he’d killed that family and abducted Sam to trek across the mountain to a car was anyone’s guess. Cameron hoped Sam could shed some light on Angel’s plan based on any conversations they may have had.
But right now, she didn’t want to think about it. Right now, she wanted to relish her shower. She had just rinsed the shampoo from her hair when she heard the bathroom door open. She smiled as she pictured Cameron contemplating joining her. They’d tried that before but the motorhome’s shower was a bit too small for both of them.
“Saving me some hot water?”
“Only if I have to,” she said as she turned the water off. Cameron was holding her towel and Andrea stepped from the shower, meeting Cameron’s eyes as she took it. “Your turn.”
“You know, if I hurry, we’ll have some time before they get here.”
Andrea grinned as she moved to the side. “Then by all means hurry.”
* * *
Sam’s eyes closed as Tori’s lips nibbled below her ear, and she let a quiet moan slip out. They didn’t really have time for this, but they needed this closeness, they needed to reconnect.
“I love you,” Tori whispered against her skin. “And I was so afraid I wouldn’t ever get to tell you that again.”
Sam’s eyes fluttered open for a second, then closed again. She smiled, her hands moving across Tori’s bare back to hold her closer.
“I knew you would find me,” she murmured. “I never doubted it. It was like…I could feel you coming for me.”
Tori raised her head. “If Cameron hadn’t been there, I don’t know if I could have found you. She was good.” Tori’s hand moved lazily between her breasts. “I was…I was terrified of what he was doing to you.”
Sam touched her cheek, letting her thumb rake across her lips. “He didn’t hurt me, sweetheart. The first night…well, I was afraid he would. But he didn’t touch me.”
Tori met her eyes. “When you said you’d bonded with him…what does that mean?”
Sam sighed. She had been wondering when Tori would bring that up. “I’m not sure,” she said truthfully. “At first, he was all business. He told me he would kill me when he didn’t need me anymore. I believed him. But we started talking. Both of us. And at the end, I was Sam, a person. Not merely some random woman he’d abducted. I think he thought of me almost as a friend.”
“He left you his tent.”
“And food and water,” she said. “Tori, I know what he did. I know he’s a killer. I haven’t lost sight of that. But with me, he was almost a gentleman. And I admit, when he left, I had a hard time reconciling the Angel that I knew with the man who had killed so many.”
Tori nodded. “Cameron will want to know everything you talked about.”
“I know.” She closed her eyes again and pulled Tori into a kiss. “But I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she said. “I want you to make love to me. I want to forget about it for a little while. Take me away for a few minutes.”
Tori ducked her head, her tongue lightly touching one nipple. Sam took a deep breath, trying to chase thoughts of Angel from her mind. Tori’s familiar touch did just that.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cameron stole a pepperoni from the pizza as Andrea took it out of the box. The nearest café had loaded them up with burgers and fries to go, but Andrea had surprised her by getting a pizza too.
“Figured you were having withdrawals,” Andrea said.
“Yes. I could eat the whole thing myself,” she said. She looked at her watch. “They should have been here by now.”
“They’re at the mercy of the ranger, remember. It’s not like they have a car,” Andrea reminded her.
Cameron scooped up Lola as she was about to jump on the counter to inspect the pizza. “No, you don’t,” she said. “That’s mine.”
Andrea moved the plates aside, then bent down and kissed Lola on the head. “I missed her.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Andrea took Lola from her and let her slip to the ground, then moved closer, looping her arms across Cameron’s shoulders. “And I missed us,” Andrea said as she kissed her.
Cameron smiled against her lips. “I know. We haven’t had much alone time.” She kissed her again. “Earlier was kinda nice.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Since Angel is on the run, Murdock may bring in another team. We might be able to get out of here. Head back north to the mountains.”
Andrea pulled back. “Really? I thought he’d want us to finish it.”
“Our mission was to rescue Samantha Kennedy, not apprehend Angel,” she said. “Of course, we didn’t so much as rescue her as Angel left her behind.” She stepped away from Andrea with a shake of her head. “And like I told her, it’s not like him to leave loose ends. She’s damn lucky.”
“But?”
“But something doesn’t feel right,” she said. “Why did he take her in the first place? He could have disappeared into the mountains on his own.”
“Maybe he didn’t know that,” Andrea said. “Maybe he thought someone was right behind him, tracking him from the beginning.”
“Knowing Angel, he was probably just taking precautions. And if he did have a car stashed out there, then this was Plan B, or even C,” she said. “He’s not in the military anymore, but I’m sure he’s remembered his training. Every mission, you always have a backup plan that’s as detailed and as practiced as the original.”
“What about—” But a knock on the door interrupted her and she frowned. “No alarm?”
Cameron smiled as she went to open it. “I didn’t want to scare them. Or make them think that I’m paranoid,” she added with a quick laugh.
Tori and Sam stood outside, and Cameron motioned for them to enter.
“The ranger,” Tori said. “He wanted to know if he needed to pick us up later.”
“No, we’ll take you back to your cabin,” Cameron said. “Come on in.”
Tori waved the ranger off, then followed Sam inside. Sam was already looking around.
“Wow. This is so much bigger than the one we rented,” Sam said. “Nice.”
“Only this is not rented,” Tori said. “FBI owns it.”
“Really?” Sam looked at Cameron questioningly. “Sorry. I don’t know the history.”
“This is our home,” Andrea said. “And office.”
“Our assignments are mostly remote,” Cameron explained.
“Beats the hell out of an office in the city,” Sam said with a smile.
“Yes.” She turned to Tori. “So…everything okay? Downtime helped?” She was surprised by the subtle blush on Tori’s face.
“Yes, it was very nice.”
“Great.” She glanced at Andrea and smiled. “Our downtime was too.”
Sam laughed and linked arms with Tori. “I like this FBI team much more than the one you have in Dallas.”
“Figured you would,” Tori said with a quick glance at Cameron.