Minutes passed. Still no Nate. Every noise made her jump, gun aimed and ready. God help her if she actually had to use it. Just the thought made her stomach turn.
Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to relax. Every muscle in her body felt like it was coiled tighter than a spring. Fight or flight response. Although, the former wasn’t exactly an option with the way her leg throbbed. Blood tinged her pants where it had seeped through the bandage. Right now, that didn’t bother her as much as being alone and worrying about Nate. What if he didn’t come back? What if something happened to him? She’d be alone out here.
Granted, she knew to follow the river in order to reach civilization, but where could she really go? With a bounty on her head, she could trust no one. With her wounded leg, walking and running wasn’t an option. Nate practically carried her everywhere now. On her own, she wouldn’t get far.
But, if necessary she would do whatever it took to survive. She’d suffered worse in that hellhole of a room Aziz had kept her in. She’d survived that, she could this too. Although she could use a little break from the crapstorm raining down on her. Her nerves were fried.
Nate would come back. She had to believe that. He was the most capable man she’d ever met. Strong, smart, tenacious. With skills that went beyond the ordinary. There was definitely more to him than meets the eye. And she wanted to dig deeper to find out what lay beneath that handsome outer layer.
The thought sobered her. That wasn’t going to happen. Nate knew her as a broken woman. How would he ever see past that? Hell, even she worried she’d never be who she’d once been. Impulsive, spontaneous, with a passion for her work that overwhelmed some people who didn’t understand her. Avery had. Probably why they became such good friends as well as coworkers. Avery was like her kindred spirit. Determined to make a difference in the world one girl at a time. And they had forged through opposition, hostility, resentment and pure hatred.
Until that fateful day when they crossed paths with Ramil Diakameli.
Images of her coworkers and friends burning alive filled her head. The deafening sound of a missile hitting their vehicle, sending her, Avery, and Scott careening down the mountain. Scott yelling at them to stay down as he tried to save them. The heat. The pain. The raw terror of being burned alive.
Macy shuddered. That would have been a cakewalk compared to what she’d gone through. Capture was so much worse. The pain went on with no end in sight. Until it became one endless cycle of misery.
One that lived on inside her head every time she closed her eyes.
Her head began to swim. She forced the memories back. Not the time. Or the place. A breakdown was inevitable, but not now. Not here. Once she was home, safe in her apartment in New York she’d purge the past six weeks from her system. There, she could grieve and ugly cry without anyone around to witness it. She didn’t like people seeing her cry. It wasn’t pretty. And, it made her vulnerable. She hated that. It wasn’t her. She was an all-in, gung-ho, let’s-do-this kind of woman. No time for tears.
Blame it on her mother who saw it as a weakness to show emotion and got angry whenever Macy cried. Until eventually she stopped showing it and cried in the privacy of her room after her mother had gone to bed. She’d never once seen her mother cry. Or show much of anything except anger. That seemed to be her go-to response. Nothing Macy or her father did earned them an I Love You, a hug, or even a word of encouragement. She tried to rein in her impulsive nature to make her mother happy, but it only seemed to upset her more. Her dad used to tell her that her mother wasn’t really mad; she was just having a bad day. Then he’d kiss her on the top of the head and quietly leave the room. To Macy, her mom had a lot of bad days.
Shaking herself out of the past, Macy laid the gun across her lap. Sweat rolled down her back. Her hair stuck to her neck. Good God it was hot here. She glanced at the river gurgling over smooth rocks. What she wouldn’t give to lay down in that water and let it cool her off. Cleanse the dirt and grime from her body. Wash her hair.
She groaned.
The water beckoned her.
“Don’t even think about it.”
At the sound of Nate’s voice, she jumped, the gun falling off her lap to the ground.
“Christ.” He sprung to pick up the weapon, tucking it in his pack before turning back to her. “You could have shot yourself. Or me.”
Heart pounding from the scare he’d given her, she glared at him. “You could have announced yourself instead of barking at me. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Truce.”
She nodded. “Did you find anything?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Her stomach dropped. “I was hoping you’d say no.”
“There’s nothing for you to be concerned with. It’s only one man.”
He said it as if reading off the lunch menu at a restaurant. Casual, unconcerned. “You saw him?”
“No, but I know he’s there.”
Great. An enemy they couldn’t see but knew existed. Not reassuring at all. “What are we going to do?”
“Make a camp. Tend to your wound.”
“There’s still a couple good hours of daylight left. Shouldn’t we keep moving?”
He unzipped his pack. “No.”
“But won’t he find us?”
“He already knows where we are.”
Macy’s stomach dropped to her feet. Of course he did. He’d been hunting them for God knows how long. “Why hasn’t he made a move?”
“Thrill of the hunt. Toying with us. Take your pick.”
She shuddered. “Not helping.”
Nate was busy setting up the tent. “I have it under control.”
“Then why do I feel like a sitting duck?”
He finished the tent, tossed a sleeping bag inside. “No sense in hiding. He’s probably watching us right now.”
Macy wrapped her arms around her waist. “You’re creeping me out. What kind of monster does that?”
Nate moved to her side and rested a hand on her leg. “Do you trust me?”
She met his gaze. How could she not trust this man? He’d saved her life. Put his own at risk for her. “Yes.”
“Then let me handle this. I know what I’m doing.”
“This happens a lot as a bodyguard?” She asked with a faltering smile.
“I was a Navy SEAL before I became a…bodyguard.”
Her brows lifted in surprise. Not that she should be surprised. Obviously, there was more to this handsome man than meets the eye. A SEAL. Did that make him sexier or what? Definitely made her feel safer. SEALs were tough SOBs.
“A SEAL, huh?” She asked, giving him a thoughtful look.
The corner of his mouth lifted in an adorable half-smile. “Feel better?”
“Yes.” And she did. A little anyway. The fact someone was stalking them still lingered in the back of her mind. “Do you have a plan, Navy?”
“I do. Get you settled and when night falls I’m going hunting.”
She sobered. “You’re going to hunt this guy? What happens when you find him?”
“Better if you don’t know. All you need to worry about is resting that leg and healing.”
Right. If only it was that easy. If something happened to him she would be on her own. The odds would definitely be against her without him.
Pushing those thoughts from her head, she gripped his hand. “Just come back to me, okay?”
****
Come back to me.
The words echoed through Nate’s head as he prepared to go find the bastard playing with them. He’d never had anyone waiting for him to return home except for his family. And they understood the risk each of the boys took every time they accepted a job. With five of them in the Wolff family it was a constant.
He’d managed to sidestep Macy’s request and knew she noticed, although she didn’t say anything. He wasn’t one to make promises he couldn’t keep. Odds were he’d come back, but the risk remained. The pressure he felt right now in his chest was exactly the reason he didn’t get involved in serious relationships. Just too damn much. His brother had left behind a fiancé and she fell apart, her life blasted to pieces in a split second. And they were the ones picking those up. He couldn’t do that to a woman. Couldn’t walk out the door and leave her behind, wondering, worrying, hoping he came home. Nope. Too much stress. Better if he remained single so he wouldn’t break someone’s heart.
Then why the hell did Macy’s words keep echoing through his head? She was a survivor. If anything happened to him, not likely, but possible, then she would be fine. He’d make sure of it. She’d have weapons, a map to safety. Hell, he’d leave his sat phone so she could contact his brothers. They’d drop everything to bring her home.
Irritation marked his movements as he checked the magazine in his Sig. Full. Good. With luck, he wouldn’t have to use it. This op called for stealth. Hand-to-hand combat. His K-Bar. Right now, he looked forward to releasing some pent-up tension. That only made him more annoyed. The woman was messing with his head and she wasn’t even awake to do it.
Fuck.
His brothers would kick his ass for letting a woman—a charge, no less—get under his skin. Then they’d kick it again just for good measure. And he’d deserve the beating. His focus needed to stay sharp or shit would happen. Bad shit.
He slapped an extra magazine in his Kevlar vest, shoved his K-Bar into the sheath attached to his thigh and grabbed his night vision goggles. He refused a last glance at the tent where Macy slept and melted into the darkness.
Time to go hunting.