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“Back or neck injury?”
“I hope not but possibly. Ma’am?” He stared into her eyes. “Do you feel any pain or tingling in your back or neck?”
She seemed to think then murmured, “No.”
That was encouraging.
“Can you move your fingers and toes?”
She wiggled her fingers and he couldn’t see her toes through her Solomon’s but she rolled her ankles around.
“Good,” he said.
“Have her just lie still,” Chad said. “I’ll come to you.”
“I’m at the upper waterfall and lake.”
“Be there in …” Chad paused, probably calculating distance. “Thirty.” He hung up.
She moved as if to sit up. Curt put his hand gently on her shoulder. The warmth of her soft skin against his palm traced through him like electricity. He startled and her eyes got even bigger, her mouth softening.
“What’s your name?” he asked to distract himself from how it felt to touch her, but he found he wanted to know her name. He hadn’t even considered dating, hadn’t really been around women since Suzanne’s death. Why an injured woman would cause a reaction in him wasn’t something he wanted to explore.
She stared at him for a beat and then said slowly, “Ali … Aliya …” Another pause. “Drummond.”
“I’m Curtis Augustine.”
She gave him a very, very pretty smile and then tried to sit up again.
“Don’t move,” he cautioned, “You must’ve hit your head when you fell from the falls. I think it’s stopped bleeding but I’m not sure. You could have a spinal injury.”
“We have to move in a jiffy,” she said, panic suddenly filling her voice and eyes, “We have to go.”
‘A jiffy?’ She had an interesting accent. Definitely American. He swallowed and tried to think rationally, not just give in to a pretty pair of eyes that were capturing him. He could still remember Suzanne’s blue eyes as she’d talked him into letting her ascend the cliff first. If only he’d led out. He was stronger. Even though she’d been a climbing instructor he had more practical experience. She was dead because he’d let her go first.
“Just lie still, ma’am, and a helicopter will come take us to the hospital then we’ll get you home safe.”
Her eyes got intense and terrified at the same time. She grabbed onto his arm and begged, “Please. There’s something wronger than a preacher at a strip club in my head.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at that but he sobered quickly as her eyes were full of terror.
“I cain’t remember. But something bad is coming. Someone is after me.”
He glanced around, cataloguing, listening, while keeping his hand pressed against her head wound. It was hard to hear over the falls.
He tucked the edges of his shirt around her head to keep it in place. “Don’t move,” he cautioned.
Standing, he slid his pistol out of his backpack. His eyes slowly traveled over the forest surrounding the lake and meadow. Was someone really after her or was it the head injury talking? Why would she have come off the waterfall as awkwardly as she had if someone wasn’t chasing her? He glanced up at the top of the waterfall and around but again he saw nothing. How many minutes had it been? Alone he’d take any threat. With a beautiful, injured woman relying on him, he’d prefer to have his brother Ray, General Augustine, by his side. He should’ve told Chad to pick Ray up. Had his lack of seeing the situation clearly endangered another innocent woman?
He crouched back down by the lady’s side but kept looking around and kept his gun out.
“Who’s after you?” he asked.
“I don’t rightly know,” she said, her voice sounded terrified. She was definitely American, maybe from the south.
How did she not know? Had the hit to her head hurt her memory?
“Why did you jump off the waterfall?” he asked. Jumped wasn’t the right word. She hadn’t jumped. From his vantage point she’d been flung off by the fast-flowing creek. Maybe somebody threw her off? Had he scared them off, or were they waiting and watching?
