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The memory of his words echoed, adding another layer of terror.
As Giovanni’s face rushed into the forefront of my mind, I tumbled again. Going down. Down. Down. Then I hit a hard surface with a thud, stars floating in front of my eyes and…
CHAPTER3
Maverick
“Goddamn snow,” I grumbled as I peered out the windshield then twisted the knob on the defroster onto high. If the girl was still out here, she was in a bad place. I grabbed the photograph, cursing under my breath. She had a freaking light jacket on. What the hell was she thinking coming up here wearing a single sweater and a coat meant for fifty-degree days?
I pulled to a stop, trying to think where she’d go. I hadn’t seen a single sign of her. After slamming the gear into park, I climbed out, moving around the truck and searching the area. The snow had already picked up in intensity, the covering deep enough I doubted I’d find any trace of her tire tracks. I walked a few paces then hunkered down, brushing away the freshly fallen snow.
Shit. I got lucky, the clear marks from worn tires providing an indication that I was on the right track. I jogged back to the Cherokee, jumping inside. The old vehicle was a tank, what I used for tracking, equipped with everything I needed for hunting. I pushed the old girl forward, passing two turnoffs. Had she ventured further or turned around and I hadn’t seen her? I allowed my gut to take over, continuing on the same path.
The sky was darkening, and my cabin was miles away. While the old girl could likely make it, I wasn’t in the mood to push my luck. If I didn’t find Ms. Sanborn’s vehicle in a few minutes, I was bagging it.
Even if the ugly voice inside my head told me otherwise. I’d never left anyone on the mountain. Not one. I’d risked my life countless times, a broken leg and cracked skull to prove it. Fuck me.
A sick feeling slammed into my gut, the ugliness of my past never far from the dark edges of my damaged soul. Lying to myself all these years hadn’t made anything easier nor had it erased the truth.
There’d been one person I’d left on the mountain. Her death continued to haunt me. I’d spent years doing everything I could to drive the agony and near madness from my mind. Meditation. Pain meds. Hell, I’d almost choked the therapist my commanding officer had sent me to while serving in the Marines. Alcohol had done nothing but give rocket fuel to the nightmares that had plagued me for years, but I’d continued to drink heavily until my doctor told me my liver couldn’t take much more.
Even sex hadn’t dulled the ache behind my eyes. The only thing that had dampened the agony had been hunting down insurgents while serving in the Marines. My unit had taken to calling me the Killing Machine, the Wolf, both monikers I’d grown accustomed to. Then the ability to kill indiscriminately had been stripped away and I’d been forced back into the land of the living.
At least my career choice allowed me to stay the fuck away from people, almost all of whom I found repulsive.
Huffing, I leaned forward, noticing something just up ahead. There it was. A broken-down vehicle. Upon initial inspection, it was easy to see the truck had seen better days. I pulled to a stop, grabbing my gear and weapon then headed toward it. I had to brush the snow off the window to peer inside, but that offered nothing in the way of information.
If she was some photographer, she’d find the mountains a perfect backdrop, heading across the ridge. It was a longshot but the only one I had. I hoisted my bag and followed my gut, stopping every so often to brush snow away, trying to find any footprints.
I got lucky a couple of times, the prints a clear indication by the size a woman was alone in the woods. Damn girl. She was a fool to be out here, and I planned on giving her a piece of my mind.
Just as soon as I had her stuck behind the blasting heater in my truck. There was no way her truck could make it back, not with the slickened tires she had on it.
I forged on, scanning the perimeter for any signs. With every sound, I stopped and listened. Soon, I’d start calling her name.
After going even deeper, I realized I could be heading in the wrong direction, but my instinct was working overtime, the same little bird I used to help me in my endeavors telling me the woman was in danger. Experts said I had a gift, the ability to sense dangerous situations, feeling the terror that always built inside a person when they realized they were lost. There was a distinct stench to terror, and I could smell it from hundreds of yards away.
And even with the fresh falling snow, the odor was distinct.
Something had happened to her.
I picked up my pace, taking long strides over fallen logs. There was a lot of debris, more so than normal given the rough few seasons of weather. There were also dozens of drop-off points that could easily be missed if someone didn’t know the territory like I did. I knew almost every square inch of the mountain range, my photographic mind holding pictures of the most dangerous areas.
If I was right, and I was never wrong, Lily Sanborn was headed to one perilous area, some of the drop-offs a hundred feet or more. If she’d fallen over one of those, she was likely dead. Shit. I couldn’t think that way. I’d lost one person in my tumultuous life. I wasn’t going to lose another.
“Lily!” I called, knowing the deep bellow of my voice wouldn’t go very far in the snow. I heard nothing, not a peep. I continued on, stopping every so often to listen. “Come on, girl. Cry out. Fucking cry.” I muttered the words, shifting my path slightly. When I bent down, I found one precious footprint. “Lily!”
The silence was annoying.
I was about to head to the right when I could swear I heard a rustle. “Lily.”
The slight moan was all I needed. I bolted forward to the edge of a ravine, dropping to my knees and peering over. Fuck. She’d fallen over, clinging to the side and I had a feeling she was hurt. As I tossed my bag to the ground, unzipping and reaching for the rope I carried with me, I assessed the situation. “Lily. Can you hear me?”
When she slowly lifted her head, the distance couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes or the stunning vision of her beauty. I was momentarily taken aback, something that never happened to me. Shit. I had to get my act together. “Listen to me. Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you. Can you hear me?”
“Yyyeeesss…”
“Are you hurt?”
