Shuddering at the possibilities, she bent lower. His wet face was turned toward her and she could see raindrops shimmering on his lashes and in his dark hair. He looked young, probably not much older than her own twenty-four years. His angular face was shadowed but unlined, and Claudia found something heart-tuggingly innocent about his features, about his present vulnerability.
Tearing her gaze from the unconscious man, she rose and glanced around. They were miles from anywhere. What on earth was she supposed to do with him?
She wouldnt be able to call the police or an ambulance until she got back to the cabin, and maybe not even then if the storm had knocked out the phone lines. It could be hours or even days before service was restored. She could go for help, but with the temperature dropping, he might freeze to death before she made it back.
Pulling her parka tightly around her, she shifted indecisively in the cold rain. She hated to admit it, but there really was only one thing she could do. She had to drive him back to Rapid City. Self-preservation had consumed her for two whole years, but even she wasnt single-minded enough to leave an unconscious man stranded in a rainstorm.
Yet when she thought about the trail of gore that had led her to Dr. Lashers mutilated body in the lab, her heart started to flail even harder. She didnt like this setup. It seemed too staged. Like an ambush.
That notion caused her to glance around anxiously, her eyes peering through the wet darkness for any sign of movement as she listened for the slightest sound. But all was quiet except for the rain pelting the pavement and the hood of the car. And the strangers face. She needed to get him inside. He was already drenched. If he didnt die of exposure or internal injuries, he might succumb to pneumonia.
Hurrying back around to the door, Claudia climbed inside the SUV and rummaged in the glove box yet again, this time for a roll of duct tape. It was on every survivalists short list, and shed made sure to stock up when she first moved to the woods.
Returning to the unconscious man, she slipped the revolver into her coat pocket, then secured his wrists and ankles with the tape.
Mindful of any possible injuries, she took as much care as she could in moving him, but a certain amount of manhandling was necessary just to get him around to the door.
The old Claudia had been something of a couch potato, but Fugitive Claudia followed a strenuous workout routine to keep in peak form. Despite her fitness and the mans lean frame, however, dragging an unconscious body in a freezing downpour was not exactly a piece of cake.
After several minutes of pushing and prodding and hoisting, she finally managed to get him inside the vehicle. Winded, she climbed over the back of the seat and got behind the wheel. She was shivering so badly she took a moment to compose herself as she turned up the heat and put the gun within easy reach.
At least with his hands and feet secured, he wouldnt be able to catch her by surprise.
That was her hope, at least.
It took forever to turn the vehicle on the narrow road. Taking her time, she backed toward the wall of trees, eased forward over fallen twigs and leaves, then reversed again inch by slippery inch. Even with every precaution, though, she skirted too close to the edge and the rear tires slid off the pavement, spun uselessly for a heart-stopping moment before once again finding purchase.
A groan from the backseat snapped her head around, and she switched on the interior light to check on her unwelcome passenger. He lay on his back, eyes closed, his face ghostlike in the harsh glare.
You okay?
Nothing. Not so much as an answering whimper. Hey, you. Still no answer.
Who are you? she wondered aloud.
And why am I doing this? Why, why, why?
The painstaking maneuvering had kept her on pins and needles, but once she had the vehicle turned and headed back toward town, she breathed a little easier. The sooner she could dump the stranger at the hospital where hed receive proper medical attention, the better.
Dump might be a harsh word, but she had no intention of lingering any longer than was necessary. Ever since shed arrived in Rapid City, Claudia had made a point of keeping a low profile, though she didnt try to make herself invisible.
To the contrary, she drove into town every few days to shop, dine out and go to a movie. She didnt want the locals to think of her as a recluse because that could also draw unwelcome attention and speculation. The trick was to seamlessly blend in, and up until tonight, shed managed to do a pretty credible job. But the unconscious stranger in her backseat now threatened to throw a monkey wrench into her carefully scripted life.
Nothing she could do about that tonight. All she could do was get him to a doctor and hope for the best.
Fog crept over the windows, and Claudia switched the heater to defrost. Not that it would help much with the visibility. The rain was coming down so hard, she could barely make out the road in front of her and the lightning strikes were getting closer. A little too close, judging by the blast of thunder directly overhead and the static electricity that tingled her scalp.
As she rounded a curve, she caught a glimpse of something else in the road. Not a body this time, but a downed tree. Lightning had split a giant spruce endways, cleaving it cleanly in two so that one vast trunk came down across the road while the other side smashed back into the forest. Claudia braked and sat for a moment, gazing through the windshield at the tangled black mass of heavy limbs and leaves, still glittering and dripping with raindrops.
She had a rope in the back of the SUV, but the splintered trunk was so huge she wasnt at all sure her engine had enough power to pull it out of the way. And that was assuming she could tie a knot tightly enough to hold. All she might succeed in doing was overheating the motor, and then theyd be stuck here indefinitely.
So what were her options?
The man stirred in the back seat and she glanced nervously over her shoulder. She still didnt like this situation. Not one bit. Alone with a stranger was not how shed planned to spend the rest of her evening. What if he was a killer?
The hair at the back of her neck rose, not from static electricity, but from pure, unadulterated fear. Her hand crept to the gun on the seat beside her. She knew how to use the weapon. Shed made certain of that. And since his wrists and ankles were bound, she definitely had the upper hand.
So why was she sitting there paralyzed by fear?
This was no good. She had to do something. She couldnt stay out on the road all night. If she stalled the engine or ran out of gas, theyd both freeze to death. Not to mention be sitting ducks.
She drew a quick breath. Okay, focus. Make a decision and live with it.
But the dripping chaos in front of her had made the decision for her. With the road blocked, she couldnt get the stranger to a hospital, and if she took him back and left him where shed found him, hed likely freeze to death. And that she couldnt live with because he might be just some poor guy down on his luck.
And, too, Claudia couldnt be absolutely certain the bumper had missed him. If her vehicle had struck him, she was somewhat responsible for his safety even though the idiot had been standing in the middle of the road.
Serve him right if I did kick him out.
Serve him right if I did kick him out.
But even as she grumbled to herself, she was already backing up and carefully turning the vehicle yet again on the slippery road.
Do not make me regret this, she muttered as she shot another anxious glance over her shoulder.
Chapter Three
Twenty minutes later they were home.
The electricity was off so Claudia had to get out in the storm and manually unlock and raise the garage door. Hurrying inside, she checked the phone for a dial tone, but just as shed feared, the line was dead.
Dammit!
Nothing was going her way tonight. If she were the superstitious type, she might think there was a bit of divine intervention working against her, but she had enough real problems to worry about. Like having a cold-blooded killer on her trail. Like dealing with an unconscious stranger in her backseat. She didnt exactly need to manufacture drama.
Going back out to the garage, Claudia positioned the flashlight to allow the beam to illuminate a trail back into the house. Then she wrestled the stranger out of the vehicle and onto the garage floor.
Hey. She knelt beside him and slapped his cheeks to try and bring him around. Come on, wake up. Im gonna need a little help here.
His lids fluttered open and he looked up at her. Claudia wasnt sure if it was the way the light hit his eyes or her own fanciful imagination, but his gaze seemed to have an unnatural glow. Otherworldly and completely devastating. She sat back on her heels, gob-smacked by the impact of that stare.
With some effort, she rallied her composure. Hey, can you hear me? We need to get you inside. Im going to take the tape off your ankles so you can walk, okay? But Im warning you dont try anything. I have a gun and Im fully prepared to use it.
She didnt know if hed heard her or not. He didnt nod or express even the slightest bit of awareness. But when she removed the tape and tugged on his arm, he struggled to his feet and allowed her to help him inside.
This is a good sign, she told him as she guided him through the kitchen and into the living room. Walking under your own steam like this. Im thinking maybe youre not hurt so badly after all.
He said nothing.
Claudia maneuvered him into the bedroom and, against her better judgment, unwrapped the tape around his wrists so that she could help him out of his wet clothing. She did the latter in almost complete darkness, not because she was a prude or anything, but because she respected his privacy.
If you turn out to be a killer, all bets are off, she warned as she tugged off his jacket. He didnt offer so much as a flicker of protest, even when she peeled away his soaked shirt.
Ill, uh, let you take care of the rest.
He stripped without a word.
The first thing that struck Claudia about himwell, maybe the secondwas his demeanor. Perhaps because he was barely conscious, but he seemed as docile as a child. He shrugged out of his drenched clothing without comment or protest, then climbed into bed and allowed her to re-tape his wrists and ankles. Curling himself into a ball, he drifted off.
The electricity couldnt have been off that long, but it was already cold inside the cabin. Grabbing extra blankets from the closet, Claudia piled them on the bed, then stood for a moment gazing down at him.
Angling the flashlight beam over his face, she told herself she was checking for injuries, but truth be told, she wanted to get a better look at him. Carefully, she took stock: Dark hair, high cheekbones, a firm jaw and chin. Full lips.
Very full lips.
He had what she and her high-school girlfriends used to call a kissable mouth. Her first crush had had a kissable mouth.
So did this guy. This naked stranger in her bed.
Naked. Stranger. In her bed.
If she were the swooning type, she might feel a little lightheaded at her current situation, but Claudia was no shrinking violet. She had a healthy respect for the human body and her own sexuality, but this little scenario pushed even her boundaries.
She reminded herself she was almost like a doctor here, and he, a patient in her care. She needed to make sure he wasnt seriously injured.
Or packing a concealed weapon somewhere.
Speaking of which
She turned and scooped up his dripping clothes and quickly searched through all the pockets. No ID, no money, no car keys. Nothing. So he wasnt just an unlucky motorist then.
Unless, of course, hed lost both his wallet and keys. Possible but not very likely.
So who are you? she murmured as she turned back to the bed.
Cold
As she drew the down comforter up to his chin and tucked the spare blankets around him, her knuckles brushed against his cheek.
He stirred in his sleep. Find her.
Find who?
Danger.
Claudia swallowed. Whos in danger? Silence.
She put her hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. Hey! Who were you looking for out there? Whos in danger? When he still didnt answer, she said in frustration, Who the hell are you? And what am I supposed to do with you?
kill me he whispered.
What?
He sighed in his sleep and was silent.
Chapter Four
Claudia left the bedroom door open so that she could hear him if he roused. Then she lit some candles, started a fire and after changing out of her wet clothes into some sweats, headed into the kitchen to put on the teakettle.
Ah, the luxury of a gas stove, she thought. At least the power outage wouldnt deprive her of a hot drink. Nothing like a nice cup of chamomile tea to warm chilled bones and relax taut nerves while waiting for the electricity to come back on.
The chamomile tea addiction was a by-product of her migration to the Black Hills. Back in Chicago, Claudia had preferred black coffeegallons of itto keep her alert during her long, tedious hours in the lab. Now she just needed to stay calm.
Her job as Dr. Lashers research assistant had been to painstakingly analyze the mountains of number graphs spit out daily by strategically placed REGsRandom Event Generators. It had been Dr. Lashers contention that each REG, which resembled a jetliners black box, held within it the power to change the world by predicting natural and manmade catastrophes before they happened. And his theory had seemingly been validated when just four short hours before the planes hit the World Trade towers on 9/11, unusual spikes had been observed in the number sequences generated by REGs placed all over the world. Anomalies had also occurred hours before the Asian Tsunami had struck.
Of course, it was one thing to predict a catastrophic event using fluctuations in the number sequences, quite another to determine when and where it would occur and how to stop it. To that end, Dr. Lasher had eventually teamed up with a mysterious colleague who had supplied him with a test subject exhibiting signs of extraordinary precognitive abilities. Their goal was to create a psychic machine that interfaced a human pre-cog with the REG in order to better pinpoint pending global disasters.