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“Good girl. Now can you eat up?”
“I guess. Gamey and tough?”
“It’s not bad. I killed a young one.”
She pulled a face at that. He handed over some meat and kept pulling pieces off for both or them until she held up a hand that she was done. He handed her a leaf filled with berries. “Dessert.”
“Perfect.”
They both ate the berries, drank from the waterskin, and then he doused the fire that he’d let burn low with the rest of the waterskin. He helped her put on her own GoPro headband.
“Cute.”
“I’m sure.”
She was cute, beautiful, angelic, irresistible.
He kept the knife in his pocket and slung the waterskin across his chest, but he didn’t plan on taking anything else with him. Kingston had explained to just leave the gear all together and Samson would come clean it up and carve up the meat they hadn’t used to take to someone who needed it.
“Can we go?” she asked.
He studied the mountain, waiting for that sun. Finally, a ray. “Let’s go.”
They headed for the river and started jogging at a quick pace down the side of it. They were making decent time, and he didn’t see any smoke from a fire or hear anything from Lemuel and Hays. He knew they were farther up the river, and unless they’d cheated and started before the sun rose, there was no way they were ahead of them.
He heard a shot and then multiple squawks. He smiled as Chalisa jumped.
“What was that?” she whispered, quickening her pace.
“Lemuel and Hays found their turkey and scared the entire flock.”
“We’re ahead of them?”
“For sure.”
“Sweet.”
“When they come, they’ll come fast. Let’s keep up our pace.”
“All right.”
As they jog-walked down the path, they talked about her charity and her family. They drank from the waterskin and listened for footsteps behind them. They also had a chance to talk like they’d never had. She told him more about her dad’s cancer and death, and then she told him Kingston and Reagan’s story.
“I can’t wrap my mind around this,” he said, even after she’d finished with Kingston rescuing Reagan from ‘Snake Tattoo’ as Princess Leah, Wes’s wife, had originally named him. “You are telling me the truth that Kingston—stoic, untouchable, never said a curse word in his life Kingston—lost all control and slept with your sister on their first date?”
She laughed. “Yep. Sadly, we can’t tease him about it. Well, maybe you could. You can actually beat him in a fistfight.”
“Yes! Do you realize the ammo you’ve given me?”
“You wouldn’t.” She glanced at him. “I know Kingston seems all gruff, but he’d be humiliated if you teased him about that.”
“I know.” He turned serious. “I’ll never say a word unless he brings it up.”
“He won’t.” She took a drink from the waterskin and handed it to him.
He took a long drink, strapped it back on, and they resumed a jog. Over two hours had passed since they’d left and at least an hour and a half since they’d heard the shot.
The SEALs would catch them. Soon. They were both still on active duty and in top shape. They’d run down the route he and Chalisa had been walking slash jogging. He didn’t want to push her, but this was about winning the money for her charity and admittedly a little about his pride. He’d given them a great head start. Would Chalisa be able to double time? They had to be less than a mile and a half out. They’d kept a quick pace, but nothing like Lemuel and Hays were capable of.
