Jack leaned toward her and whispered, “I guess they’re done waiting.”
“How long will it take?”
“Depends on if he comes up fast and reckless or tries to be sneaky.”
“Which do you think?”
“Sneaky.”
“Same.”
They sat quietly for several minutes before she said, “Where do you think he is?”
He glanced at her and shook his head. “Not on the rocks yet, I don’t think.”
“Agreed.” She turned halfway, looking at the space behind them. Where they were, it’d be difficult for one of the poachers to sneak up on them. Difficult, but not impossible. And it’d take considerable time.
Part of him wanted Steph to keep going. Pick her way through the rocks, push through the formation and out the other side, and keep going until she reached the lodge and the rescuers. He considered suggesting it, but he knew she wouldn’t leave him to face the poachers alone. She’d already proven that.
And, as much as he hated to admit it, he was glad about that. Glad and still a little unsettled. The comparison between what happened with Celeste and his fear he would get Steph killed, too, was still there.
Realistically, he knew Celeste’s death had been an accident. A tragic accident. But part of him believed it could’ve been avoided if Jack had made different decisions. He knew what the weather was and had expected the race to be canceled. When it wasn’t, he considered dropping and staying at the hotel with Celeste, having a well-earned snow day. But that wasn’t in his make-up.
Sitting out a race because of a little weather wasn’t part of who he was. His team counted on him, and he wouldn’t have let them down. He should’ve been firm with Celeste when he called to tell her to stay put. Should have made it clear the roads were deadly. Maybe she would’ve listened.
But Jack knew better. Celeste was just as stubborn as Steph.
That was one of the first things he’d noticed about Steph. Before he’d ever met her in person, during their phone call, he caught the tone. A tone that was so much like Celeste’s it had caused him to lose his train of thought.
Like Celeste, yet incredibly different.
As he got to know Steph better, he agreed there were similarities between the two women but vast differences. Celeste was full of passion, and sometimes that passion led to recklessness.
Steph was passionate, but she did nothing without thinking it through. She could calculate the outcomes and weigh them in almost record time. Steph had years of experience and education in the outdoors and in various situations. She relied on that to make the proper choices.
Steph touched his leg. When he looked at her, she reached up and touched her ear. He gave a nod and closed his eyes, straining to hear what she was hearing.
The scrape of a boot on rock. The shift of a pebble. The noises were faint in the crisp air but there. Graham was starting up. He could almost picture him carefully making the climb, trying to be quiet, while Rick waited by the machines with a bead on the rocks, ready for Steph or Jack to come into view.
She leaned close to him, her mouth next to his ear. “I think there’s only one.”
He gave a nod.
Still close, she said, “I’m going to go up one more level. See if I can catch a glimpse of him.”
He reached out and grabbed her hand as he shook his head. “We need to stay together.”
“We need to see where the other guy is. You need to be here...” She motioned toward the narrow bottleneck. “With the rifle. To do what needs to be done.”
The scraping was closer now. He was nearing the spot where Jack and Steph had formed their plan. A plan that Jack hated at the time but understood and agreed with. Steph going off on her own was not part of that plan.
“I’ll look and find out where he is and come right back.” She rose to a crouch and paused. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, a gentle, fluttery brush against his lips.
Jack grabbed her hand. Their eyes met before they came together again. This kiss was no longer soft and fluttery butfull of raw passion. In it, Jack tried to convey everything he felt. He tried to promise her that as soon as they were out of this, as soon as they were safe, he would be there. They’d be together.
He pulled back and mouthed,Be careful.
She smiled and dipped her chin before silently scurrying around the rock and to the next level.
