Alex sighed with relief when Nina picked up her cell phone. Alex was afraid her cousin wouldn’t answer because she didn’t recognize the number. Nina’s voice came through crackly with the spotty coverage.

“If this is a solicitor, I’m so blocking your number,” she said.

Despite her dire situation, Alex laughed. Nina always had a way of making her laugh. She was glad the lady was related to her. That way they would never be away from each other too long. The annual family gathering would make sure of that.

“Nina, it’s A-Alex.” She barely had the strength to talk.

“What’s the matter, girl? You sound tired. Everything okay up there?”

“Define okay and I’ll tell you.”

“Nuh uh. You’re scaring me, girl. Are you having some kind of delayed reaction from the bomb? Do I need to call 911?”

“No,” Alex said quickly, “don’t call anyone.” She took a second to figure out how to say she dodged death for a second time today. “I fell into the river.”

“You what!? Oh my god. How could you fall in? We played there as kids.”

“Okay, technically, I jumped in.”

“What?! That’s worse. Are you sure you don’t have a concussion or something?”

“I was being chased.”

Nina was quiet for a second. “Chased by what? A bear? You know bears aren’t afraid of people up there. Tourists feed them too much.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Yes, Nina, I remember that much.” Nina would be pissed when she accused her of telling Robert of the cabin. She had to word it correctly and her brain was swimming in a thick quagmire.

“Nina, who did you tell about me coming to the cabin?”

“I only told Mr. Sholes. Like we talked about. Why?” That didn’t make sense. How would Robert know about this place? Unless he was eavesdropping.

“Have you by chance brought Robert from accounting to the cabin or ever talked about it?” Alex asked.

“Robert from accounting? Why would I tell him?” Alex heard the disgust in Nina’s voice. Guess there was more than just her who didn’t care for the man’s unpleasant disposition.

“Whoever was chasing me had a rifle and was aiming at me.”

“What?!” she screamed. Alex heard a horn from Nina’s side of the line. “Hey, you prick. Pick a goddamn lane and stay in it. Stupid son of a bitch. Alex, oh my god. Who was shooting at you?”

“It’d have to be Robert. Who else could it be?” She started shaking uncontrollably.

“It’s okay, girlfriend. Calm down. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“You what?” Alex didn’t think she heard right. “You’re here? You drove all the way up here!”

“Of course. You think I’m gonna let my favorite cousin party by herself all week? Hardly. Mr. Sholes let me leave early. We’ve got some talking to do. You and me.”

“We do?” Alex asked.

“Yes, ma’am, and you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”

Alex sighed. It had to be about Andrew. That was the only thing wrong. Except that someone was trying to kill her. “Oh, I’m not at the cabin anymore.”

“Where are you then?”

“I’m at the ranger station on the trail that goes to the waterfall. They’re putting me up somewhere safe.”

“That makes sense. Did cross my mind that you’d still be in danger. I know where that is. I’ll be there soon. Don’t go anywhere.”

“You got it, boss. My ass is planted in this chair.”

“Good. All your stuff is at my place, right?”

“Including groceries,” Alex replied.

“Yeah, okay. Sit tight. Be there in a minute.”

Alex hung up the landline, her shakes more under control now. She wrapped her hands around the mug of tea and sipped another warm swallow. She wondered about calling the police. Then she mentally slapped herself.

Park rangers were the police. Her father was pulled over once for speeding in the park. He griped that park rangers weren’t real cops and couldn’t give out tickets. The ranger proved him wrong and we bailed Dad out within a couple hours. Such grand memories of those times.

She laid her chin on her chest and let out a slow, deep breath. Next she knew, her head snapped up at the sound of voices. The ranger and Nina were talking.

Nina said something about taking care of her tonight and thanked the woman for letting us use the vacation rental for the night.

Her cousin hooked an arm under hers. “Okay, sunshine, time to get going.”

Alex couldn’t voice her gratitude to these two women. She would be nowhere without them.

Stepping outside, she was surprised by all the park vehicles and park-uniformed men and women standing around. “What’s going on?”

“Alex,” Nina said, “you had a killer chasing you through the woods. We’ve all seen that movie. Do you think they aren’t going to have a massive manhunt?”

“Oh,” she said. “I guess they would. I’m not thinking clearly.”

Nina open her car’s passenger door and helped Alex into the seat. “We’ll get you home and in a hot bath and you’ll be right as rain.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Alex mumbled. Nina got in and buckled up, starting the car. “Are we going to talk about Andrew?”

“Do you want to talk about Andrew?” They backed from the parking space and pulled onto the asphalt road.

Alex didn’t know what she wanted. Nix that. She did—a hot tub on full blast, a gallon of hot chocolate, and a fluffy pillow. And Andrew snuggled around her. She let out a sigh.

Nina commented, “I stopped by the cabin and got your stuff and the groceries. We’ll get you in a bath and I’ll cook up a bowl of mac and cheese and all the other healthy foods you bought.”

Alex wasn’t sure why, but Nina’s tone struck her as funny. She broke into giggles and then laughter that led to snorting. Her cousin shook her head.

The rentals were a mile up the main road, making them easy to get to. With Nina’s place, there were narrow bridges and deep ruts to pass through.

Nina turned right into a small parking area with three cabins spread out in the wooded area. Two cars were parked opposite where she stopped. So it was semi-private, which was fine by Alex. Being secluded at this moment didn’t seem as ideal as it had earlier in the day. Nina was right—she had seen that movie, too. She had no desire to be the dumb blonde who went into the basement no matter how loud you screamed for her not to.

“Let’s get you inside and in the tub. I’ll take care of everything else,” Nina cooed.

She owed Nina big time after this. She’d have to save up money and pay for them both to go to one of those resorts where women had a choice of men to “make them comfortable” for the duration of the vacation.

Andrew popped into her head. Her heart wasn’t interested in some strange man rubbing oil on her back, or her clit into a big O. It was only interested in one man.