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“I’m at the upper waterfall and lake.”
“Be there in …” Chad paused, probably calculating distance. “Twenty.” He hung up.
The woman moved as if to sit up, but Curt put his hand gently on her shoulder. The 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 besides his backpacking visitors 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 August.”
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 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 can’t remember. But something bad is coming. Someone is after me.”
He glanced around, cataloguing, listening, 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.”
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, sounding terrified. She was definitely American, maybe from the South.
How did she not know? Had the hit to her head damaged 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 she’d ridden in the creek for a while? Maybe somebody threw her off the cliff? Had he scared them off, or were they waiting and watching?
“I don’t rightly know,” she repeated.
He looked down at her, frustrated. “What do you remember?” he asked, trying to soften his tone.
“I came to Europe for a tour,” she said slowly. “I met a friend … Gracie.” She closed her eyes, as if remembering Gracie was painful for some reason. “We were going to do something together after the tour. Explore the mountains … maybe? Then Gracie was screaming.” Her eyes flew open. She shivered. From cold or fear or both? “Why was she screaming?”
He lifted his hands. Her fear was palpable, and his own heart rate picked up.
“She was hurt. Someone was hurting her. I think a man was hurting Gracie.”
Tears brightened her brown eyes and then rolled down her cheeks. He wished he could comfort her, but he didn’t know her well enough to offer comfort.
“I can’t remember. I can’t see the men in my mind. But they were there.” She paused, her forehead furrowed in concentration. “Darn it … nothing is coming. I woke up, and you were here.” She stared at him as if he’d rescued her. He sort of had, but she’d been out of it so she wouldn’t remember that.
