She drew her legs farther into her, molding them against her belly. She dropped her head to her knees as anger worked over her skin, hot and itchy.
If she hadn’t gone to Sam, she wouldn’t have felt hope. She wouldn’t have touched the sun for one brief, shining moment, only to have that warmth and joy extinguished.
She’d been a fool, and now she not only had to keep ahead of her uncle, but she had to keep from being taken into custody and having God knows what done with her by whatever agency Resnick represented. If he represented one at all.
Goddamn them. Damn them all. Especially Sam.
Whoever Resnick was, the U.S. government wanted her father enough that they’d do whatever it took to achieve their goal. She was expendable. Her child was expendable. They might suspect her father was dead, but they didn’t know it. Not yet. And while they could do nothing with the knowledge that she’d killed him, they could certainly use the information that he was dead to their advantage.
She leaned against the cool rock face and closed her eyes wearily. Just last night she’d lain in Sam’s arms and summoned the courage to confess that she’d killed a man in cold blood. She already had so much working against her in Sam’s eyes. What would he think about the mother of his child being a killer?
Then she’d woken up feeling certain that everything would be okay. Sam would understand. He wouldn’t judge her. She would confess everything to him, he’d take the necessary steps to take her uncle out, and then she could live in safety—finally—with her child. Sam’s child. They could be a family.
Only Sam had never had any intention of them being anything.
For hours she sat there, until her muscles screamed in protest. Her bladder ached and she grew twitchier with each passing minute. Still, she wouldn’t move. Not yet. She’d wait until nightfall if it killed her.
She dozed lightly, her sleep interrupted every time she heard the slightest sound. Her neck was sore and her back was killing her. She had to shift her position.
Inch by inch, she adjusted, until she stretched her legs across the small area shielded by the rocks. A sigh of relief whispered past her lips as she curled on her side.
She looked upward to the sky, watching thin, wispy clouds roll by and the blue grow pale as the sun began to set. It wouldn’t be much longer now. Her patience would be rewarded.
She slept again, and when she woke this time, she was surprised by the darkness surrounding her. She’d slept longer than she’d thought she would, and now she was disoriented as to time. It was well past dusk and already stars had popped above her. Maybe Sam had given up, or broadened the search radius such that he would be miles away by now.
She rolled to her knees, braced her palms on the ground and slowly pushed herself upward. Her knees creaked, her back popped, and her wound protested the strain she was putting on it.
For several seconds she stood and stretched, working the kinks out of her stiff body. She was cold and hungry, but she shrugged off both discomforts. Neither was new to her.
As carefully as possible, she climbed over the shortest rock facing, testing her footholds to make sure she didn’t fall or make unnecessary noise.
On her way over, she slipped and landed with a thump that knocked the breath from her. She wrapped her arms around her belly and lay there, mentally examining herself for any injury.
After catching her breath, she picked herself up and stared around, trying to gain her bearings. It was dark as a well bottom and there was no moonlight to guide her. Good for not being seen. Not so good for being able to see.
She crept through the trees and the underbrush a lot slower and stealthier than she’d done hours before. She’d had all day to come up with a plan, but the only thing that stood out was that she had to find transportation. She couldn’t make it on foot if she hoped to put any distance between her and her immediate threat.
When she was but a short distance from the cabin, she paused and rubbed at the stitch in her side. She could barely make out where the trees fell away, and she inched forward, trying to make out whether the lights were on in the cabin and if the trucks were still parked out front. She didn’t know how stubborn Sam would be or how long he would persist in searching for her or if he’d searched at all.
“Going somewhere?”
She whirled around and slapped a hand over her mouth to stanch the reflexive scream. The light from a flashlight blinded her, and she threw up her other arm to block it.
Poised for flight, she shot to the right, but Garrett’s hand snapped around her wrist, and he hauled her up short.
“Let me go,” she said desperately.
“You’re going to hurt yourself. Stop struggling,” he said in a calm voice.
Tears knotted her throat. “Damn you.”
The light went down, and then he turned it upward so the immediate area was illuminated. She expected his face to be his usual thundercloud, but he wasn’t frowning.
“Let me go,” she pleaded. “You don’t even like me. You haven’t liked me from the beginning. Let me go and I’ll never bother you or Sam again. But at least give me a chance to protect my baby.”
Something that looked like regret and unease flashed across his face. His features softened and his grip lessened on her arm. For a moment hope sparked in her chest. He was going to let her go. But when she tried to pull away, his grip tightened again.
“Listen to me, Sophie. Sam is frantic with worry. Whatever you heard or think you heard, he isn’t about to sell you out.”
“He already did,” she said bitterly. “I shouldn’t have expected anything else. He doesn’t owe me anything. I was just some chick he picked up in a bar. Knocking me up wasn’t part of the deal.”
“If you knew Sam, you wouldn’t be spouting that horse shit,” Garrett said. “I get that you’re hurt. I get that you feel betrayed. But give him a chance to explain. We will protect you, but we can’t do that if you take off on us.”
“ ‘We’?” she questioned. “Are you including yourself in that promise?”
“I am,” he said evenly.
“Why?” she blurted. “You’ve made no secret of the fact you despise me. You don’t trust me. You don’t want me anywhere near your brother.”
“You’re carrying my niece or nephew. You’re important to Sam.” There was resignation in his voice, as if acknowledging that left a bad taste in his mouth. “That makes you important to me.”
She stared back at him and he met her gaze. There was no anger, none of the disapproval she’d grown so used to in his eyes. She swayed in his grip, suddenly so fatigued that she would have fallen if he hadn’t reached his other hand out to steady her.
“Let me take you back, Sophie. You’re tired, you’re hurt and you have no business running like you’ve been running with you carrying a baby.”
“I can’t.”
Her voice turned pleading, and she stared imploringly at him, hoping she could sway him.
“I can’t go with that Resnick guy. Don’t you understand? I’m expendable to him. I’m nothing in comparison to what they gain by taking down my family’s network. They won’t care about me or my baby. I want her to have better than I had. Please, just let me take care of my baby.”
Garrett’s entire face softened, but he didn’t let go of her arms.
“I swear to you, Sophie, Sam will never allow Resnick to take you anywhere. That was never his intention. Not only that, I won’t allow it. You have my word.”
“You aren’t really offering me a choice,” she said dully.
He sighed. “No, I’m not. I’d like you to come back willingly, but if you don’t, I’ll be forced to bring you back by whatever means necessary.”