Her voice shook as she said, “I can hear water. I wanted to check it out. There’s a lot of streams that come down the mountain to make deep cuts in the forest floor. I was worried this might be one of them.”
“Fine. Keep moving.” Karl pushed her in her back, jerking her forwards.
She resisted the urge to scowl at him and hurried towards the source of the noise. Boulders littered the ground ahead of her and several of the trees started low to the ground from her perspective, which probably meant they were rooted in the side of a ravine.
Skye’s step slowed as she approached the gorge, her head canting as her gaze caught on something. She stared at the boot prints that cut across her path, awareness drumming inside her, telling her who had made them.
Knox.
Her gaze tracked them up towards the mountain.
He was probably there somewhere, waiting for her to lure Karl into his trap.
Waiting to kill him.
Was she really going to do this?
She clenched her fists.
She was.
“Over here,” she called over her shoulder, pulse ticking faster.
Karl hurried to her and she pointed at the ground. He crouched and inspected the boot prints, and then looked over his shoulder at Wade as the man caught up with them. Wade pushed his hood back, revealing short dark hair, and eased into a squat beside Karl, shifting his assault rifle to his hip. His dark eyebrows knitted hard as he reached out and touched the prints in the snow and then tracked them towards the mountain.
“Might be Jason. They’re about the right size.” Wade looked back at Karl. “Maybe he was trying to find shelter.”
“Or maybe he was tracking someone.” Karl pursed his lips as he studied the boot prints, his grey eyes roving over them and then the gorge just beyond them. He looked up at Skye. “Is there a way across this?”
She nodded and pointed in the direction the trail led. “Closer to the mountain the stream will be running over rock and not dirt. It’ll be shallow there. We should be able to cross it.”
“Might be why he headed that way.” Wade looked from the trail to Karl and then back towards the mountain. “It’s worth checking out.”
Relief beat through her as he said that, had the nerves that had been building inside her, a fear that they were going to see through this ploy, falling away. She schooled her features as Wade looked at her, hiding the disgust that rolled through her as he offered her an easy smile, one that did nothing to hide the banked heat in his brown eyes. There was a darkness in those eyes, a twisted side of him he had revealed when he had held her and had taken obvious pleasure in hurting her.
She looked away from him, lowering her gaze to the trail of boot prints. Knox. God, she hoped he had a good plan, one that wasn’t going to get him, and her, killed.
Her nerves began to rise again as Karl pushed to his feet and Wade did the same. Wade stepped to one side and raked his eyes over her. She ignored him and focused on Karl.
Karl swept his fingers through his mousy hair, neatening it as he continued to study the trail, and then sighed and looked across at her. “Is there a chance this trail might lead to the cabin you mentioned?”
She nodded. “It’s the route I would have taken. The cabin is quite a way away still, but this guy was heading in the right direction for it.”
Karl swept his hand out to his right. “Lead the way then.”
She shifted her pack on her shoulders to get it more comfortable and then trudged past him, making sure she trampled on the boot prints a little as she walked. Knox had done a good job of making them look as if they had been there some time, but she didn’t need Karl or the others getting a closer look at them and growing suspicious.
Wade stepped closer to her as she neared him, forcing her to brush past him, and she shuddered as they made contact. His hand brushed hers and sickness swept through her as she thought he might grab her, her heart racing as her adrenaline spiked, but his fingers dropped from her. She quickened her pace, trying to put some distance between her and Wade.
She was going to have to be careful around him.
Karl didn’t strike her as the sort of man who would stop Wade if he got a little too frisky with her.
Skye focused on Knox and the trail to purge her fear that Wade would try something, slowly relaxed again as she followed the boot prints and thought about the man who had made them. If she saw Knox again, she would find a way to make it clear to him that Wade was the biggest threat to her. She was sure in her heart that he wouldn’t let the man hurt her.
Christ, she was sure he wouldn’t let any of these men hurt her.
Ridiculous of her considering he had left her in the dead of night and disappeared.
She had no reason to believe he cared about her welfare or that he would protect her and make sure no one hurt her. No reason other than the feeling in her gut—one that screamed at her that Knox would take care of her. He would get her out of this mess.
She huffed at that. She wasn’t about to rely on him though. She would keep looking for a way to save herself. The second she saw an opening, she was taking it and getting as far from these men as she could manage.
The trees began to thin around her and she tilted her head back, her gaze tracking up the slope of the mountain that loomed over her. Its white cap was golden against the blue sky.
“It’s going to get dark soon.” She didn’t bother looking back at the men, could hear Karl was close behind her, his boots crunching in the snow as he tailed her. “We should find a place to rest.”
“We’ll keep going. We need to find whoever left this trail.” The way he said that made her feel he wasn’t convinced it was Jason who had left the boot prints.
“Your call.” She did glance back at him now. “But everyone is looking tired and I don’t think it’s wise to keep moving in the night. Plenty of wolves in these parts and they like to hunt in the dark.”
Not strictly true, but she wanted to slow the men down and she didn’t fancy trying to navigate the treacherous terrain that lay ahead of her in the pitch black. She had a flashlight, but the beam wouldn’t reach deep enough into the woods to be a comfort to her. The thought of walking in the forest in darkness while there were probably cougars and the odd wolf in the vicinity unsettled her, worsening her nerves.
“I mean, the storm only cleared up a day or two ago and the weather is nice and settled tonight. The wolf packs will probably be out hunting. It’s safer to make a fire and remain near it.” She looked beyond Karl to the others, and wanted to smile as she spotted how jittery Cooper looked again. “The trail isn’t going anywhere. We can pick it up again tomorrow.”
“I need to rest. This cold.” Cooper huddled down into his bright blue jacket.
“It might be the altitude. Are you from around here?” She smiled at him.
He shook his head. “I’m from Texas. Little place near Stanton.”
“I didn’t think you were a local with that accent.” Her smile widened and his green eyes brightened as he smiled back at her. “You sound like a cowboy. I always loved reading novels about cowboys. Do you know how to ride?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at her now. “I had a horse called—”
Wade stepped between them. “You need to give her your life story?”