As if he’d read her mind, Hawkeye spoke again, this time, more softly. “I know you’re not happy. None of this would have been necessary if you’d have cooperated when I asked you to.”
The same argument. Again. She sank back into the seat.
“There’s a package waiting for you at the ranch. Some shoes and clothes, along with a secure cell phone—you’ll be able to call your parents as soon as you arrive. You’ll also be provided with a Bonds computer.”
“Seriously?” Even though she wouldn’t admit it, she was impressed. Because of her demanding graphic arts business, she’d lusted after one for years, but she’d never had that kind of money. Regardless, that wasn’t the point. Right now, she needed her own equipment. “My software and files are on my desktop.”
“You’ll find everything already loaded on the new system. Bonds himself handled it.”
She blinked. “What? Are you kidding me? You actually know Julien Bonds?” The genius of all things electronic. “And why would he do something like that?”
“We go back. And he loves getting involved in other people’s lives. World-class meddler.”
Even after all these years, Hawkeye still surprised her.
“Everything that was on your machine has been loaded on to your new computer.”
“Wait.” God, no. Her pulse stuttered, and when she managed to speak again, her words were a croaked whisper. “All of it?”
“All of it.” Hawkeye cleared his throat. “Bonds said there was some kinky shit on there.”
Unable to breathe, she stared straight ahead into the abyss of an endless highway.
“Kinky shit?”
She sensed that Jacob glanced at her, but she didn’t look in his direction. Instead, she wished the vehicle’s undercarriage would open up so she could sink through it. No one had a right to look at her personal gallery, let alone comment on the contents.
“Elissa?” Jacob asked.
Desperately she searched for an explanation. “Those pictures… It was… Uhm… A project. For a client. Sworn to secrecy.” The lie was the best she could come up with. No way was she confessing—to either one of these men—that the images were created from her own line drawings and inspired by her own vivid imagination.
“Bonds said he was impressed, that you have real talent.” Surprise was etched in Hawkeye’s tone. Despite the time they’d spent together, there was a lot he didn’t know about her. “He suggested you consider showing it.”
Not even if hell freezes over and starts selling the ice. She would never reveal her most intimate self to the world.
“You’re welcome to get in contact with him. He has some recommendations.”
“Thanks, but no.” Even if she didn’t have her own hesitations, she doubted there was a gallery on the planet interested in hanging her kind of paintings. “Let’s get back to the previous conversation, please.”
“I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
Of course the asshole of all assholes had continued talking as if she hadn’t said anything.
“I assure you that every resource is committed to this situation. Follow Commander Walker’s orders, and we’ll have you home before you know it.”
The connection ended.
“I hate him.”
In the darkness, her abductor looked at her.
“I hate this.”
“In your place, so would I. It takes a special person to be comfortable with this type of uncertainty.”
Jacob’s comments, uttered without even a ripple of emotion, intrigued her. “And you are?”
He was silent for so long that she wasn’t sure he’d answer. “It comes from practice.”
“Do you always speak so damn cryptically?” Like Hawkeye. Hadn’t she learned a lesson about trying to communicate with military men?
“It’s been safer that way.”
“Well, after this is over, you’ll never have to see me again, right? And it’s not like I’d tell anyone anything that you said.”
“The army teaches you a lot. At the time, I saw it as the only way out of a small town, the responsibilities of ranch life. I wanted adventure. You know, jumping out of helicopters, knocking down doors in a hail of gunfire.”
She angled herself toward him. “You did all that?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged “And more.”
“Did you like it?”
“Not as much as I imagined I would. The adrenaline? That’s fucking addictive. But I learned a lot that I never expected. Discipline. Patience—endless days, even weeks of waiting. Survival skills. Sleeping when I could, wherever I could. Eating even when I wasn’t hungry, existing on soup for days when it was the only thing available.” He adjusted one of the air-conditioning vents. “I learned how to make a plan and how to execute a new one when the first failed.”
“Like throwing me over your shoulder?”
“I asked nicely.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“Hmm.”
They settled into silence, and she turned over the events that had unfurled since Hawkeye had called the day before. If only she had made different decisions when he said she needed protection. But at the time, she hadn’t believed the threat was real. Even now, she wasn’t sure it was.
Some time later, the cowboy exited the interstate. “Don’t you think it’s time you tell me where we’re going? You have my phone, so it’s not like I can contact anyone.”
“The Starlight Mountain Ranch.”
“It’s yours?”
“Yeah.” He paused for so long she wasn’t sure he’d go on. “Fourth generation.”
More intrigued than ever, she turned as much as she could to face him. Too bad there wasn’t a little more ambient light so she could read his expressions. “And you live there with family?”
“It’s just me. I’m the last one.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Her family meant everything to her. Her dad’s recent health battle had only brought them closer together. She didn’t like to imagine a future without them in it.
“I’ve had some time to get used to it.”
“Is it a big place?”
“Depends on how you define that. Been added to throughout the years. The entire holding is around eight thousand acres.”
“And are you ever going to tell me where it is?”
“Not far from Steamboat Springs. About twenty-five minutes south. On Trout Creek, a tributary of the Yampa River.”
It was a beautiful area of the state, one she’d visited a few times. “We spent a couple of Christmases at one of the resorts near there.”
“Good memories?”
They were…a reminder of a time when life was simpler, when they’d been together as a family, away from the responsibilities of running a business, and they’d played cards and board games, worked a few jigsaw puzzles, then spent evenings sipping hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire. “That’s where I learned to ski and ice skate.”
“You might enjoy yourself at the ranch.”
“Vacations generally don’t include having a jailer.”