“Pardon?” Kiera’s neck heated up as she got caught daydreaming. She tried not to trip and fall on her own two feet.
Stumpy didn’t deserve her inattention. But in her defense, her brain had locked up the moment she had seen Jake’s shirtless torso, glistening with sweat, his flat nipples tight in the cool air. Every muscle in his massive chest and arms had been pumped up, ropey with veins, and hard. The way his muscled abdomen narrowed down to a peek of hair showing above his low-slung shorts. Her world had tilted, and her mouth had made the desert seem humid. She still hadn’t regained her equilibrium.
“I was mentioning the sensitive perimeter protection we’ve got here, with the experimental mesh and the heat-detecting equipment layered outside of the compound.” He paused at a small black box on a low post next to the mesh, opened the device, and punched in some numbers. Closing the cover, he stood back up with a low grunt. “Perhaps we should enjoy the walk in peace and quiet.”
“I’m sorry. I appreciate you telling me about everything here. It’s impressive what you’ve created. I feel safer just hearing about the different levels of security.” Leaves crunched as she shuffled next to him. “The last two days have been beyond stressful.” Baby. Virus. Her chest tightened.
No. Stop. She didn’t have the bandwidth available to freak out. Not right now. Later. Doc had said everything looked good. Baby girl appeared healthy on ultrasound. That should reassure her. Her heart pounded. Not now. Kiera took a slow, deep breath in and out and compartmentalized her fear as best she could.
He was saying something. “… lots to process. Understandable.”
“Yeah.” She glanced at the thick foliage. “Um, you’re certain we’re okay here?”
The flash of his smile was blink-and-you-miss-it. “You bet.”
A thwacking in the distance got her attention and over the next twenty seconds grew louder. “Stumpy?”
He went still, muscles and posture primed. Stumpy patted the gun in his thigh holster. “Stand next to a tree.” It wasn’t a suggestion.
He tapped on his cell phone as he glanced upward, mouth pressing into a hard line.
Her hands shook as she felt the rough bark behind her. She scanned the obscured sky. “Why?” she whispered.
A furrow formed between his brows as the helicopter noise increased above them. “Not that our heat signature would likely make it up to the sky, but by staying close to the tree, you’ll be masked from anything else that might occur.”
“Occur?” Sweat formed between her breasts.
“From above.” He kept typing away, head bent over the phone as he leaned against her tree as well.
“I thought we were undetectable with your system.”
More taps on the screen. He glanced at her. “Of course we are.” Was that a bead of sweat on his brow?
The blades whumped above them, compressions of air loud, even despite the mesh muffling the sound. She pulled her shoulders forward, imagining Beau’s too-calm face pressed against the passenger window as he scanned the landscape. Oh, God. This had all been a horrible idea. Coming to the compound. This little walk. The mission. All of it.
He squinted up toward the tree canopy and tapped on the phone. “Ah, there we go. Nothing to see here, folks,” he muttered. “Nothing at all.”
A black helicopter passed over their position, moving slowly. Kiera didn’t move. “Someone’s looking for us.”
“Probably. Could also be a sightseeing flight over the Smokies, though it’s early in the season for it.”
“So, searching for us?”
“Likely.” His grin was cold, calculating. “But thanks to my smoke and mirrors, they’ll find nothing besides bland forest here.”
She sagged against the peeling birch trunk. “Until they look again.”
“With millions of other acres to cover? It’ll be a long time before anyone returns to this tiny box on the giant search grid.”
“There was a drone flying over this morning.”
“It found nothing then, too.”
She blew out a shaky breath. “It’s okay. You don’t have to sugarcoat anything for me. Shouldn’t we get back to the building?”
“No need now.” He beckoned her to follow him and spread his fingers over the top of the cane. “Let’s continue our walk.”
Like nothing had happened. The guy had nerves of steel. Catching up to him, she waited a minute for her heart rate to fall back to normal levels.
Shooting him a sheepish grin, she said, “You’d think I’d be used to being scared by now.”
“No one ever gets used to it.” Then his jaw clamped shut.
Another fifty feet, and Curly appeared, strolling toward them, rifle held across his chest.
The scowl and the deceptively casual grip of the gun made her skin crawl.
“Eyes in the sky gone?” he asked.
“Not looking here,” Stumpy said. “Anything interesting in your world?” Stumpy asked.
The bald man’s gaze slid past Kiera. “Nothing.” He didn’t break stride.
Glancing back a few seconds later, she peered into the woods. He had disappeared. A shiver scudded through her gut.
They shuffled along for another few paces. She wet her lips. “Amazing how I have any adrenaline left, after the past two days.”
“Understandable.” After a few more steps, he stopped and leaned on his cane. “After losing Mateo and … everything.”
“Well, yes.”
He cocked his head to the side while he paused at another small box and punched in more numbers before continuing the walk. “You two were close. Right?”
“Mateo was a good friend. To Brady and to me.” A prickle behind her eyelids reminded her there hadn’t been time to properly mourn Mateo.
Stumpy’s eyes cut to her belly and back. “Jake is acting like his guts are being ripped out when you’re around.”
She reared back. “Wow. Talk about a topic change.”
“I figured you and Jake were working things out…”
“There’s nothing between us,” she said, too harshly. She winced.
“Disagree.”
“We dated in high school. Then stopped. We had a lapse of judgment last summer.” Holding her hands over her belly, she said, “Now I’m an obligation. That’s all.”
He snorted. “Was there something serious once upon a time?” he asked.
“Yes. Long time ago. Ancient history.”
“Not so sure.”
She stopped and rested a hand on her hip. “Trying to become the next Dear Abby?”
“No, but I have sisters and they explained to me the multiple ways men can be idiots.” A flash of sadness drew his brows together, then it was gone. “I’ve made my fair share of mistakes in the relationship department over the years.” He rubbed his goatee. “Also, I’m not blind.”
“I’m not sure how to answer.”
“You don’t have to.” He stopped and crouched at another box, performing the same check on it.
“Everything working okay?” She motioned toward the mesh and the box.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” He presented a bland expression as he stood and began walking again.
“That’s not an answer.”
“Double-checking the hardware since we’re out here anyway.”
Stumpy’s shoe with the prosthetic foot in it scuffed against a root, and she slowed down to match his change in stride. Her injured calf muscle welcomed the slow pace.
He planted the cane with each step. “Jake’s a good guy. He’s given his all on the battlefield and tries to do the right things, even when it hurts him to do so.”
“What are you saying?”
The dull crunch of damp and decomposing leaves filled the silence. “That it’s obvious why he’s having issues with you, pregnant and all. At risk. With his past and with a virus which might cause … issues.”
Nausea swirled, and for once, the baby kicks didn’t reassure her. “I’m not feeling great about things right now, either.”
Holding up a hand, he said, “My bad. Sometimes my mouth gets in the way of good sense. So my sisters tell me.”
“You can say whatever you need to. Not like I haven’t had the thoughts.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her laugh came out thin, forced. “Nothing like something unknown growing inside of me.” Nothing funny about it at all. She had to force her weak legs to hold her up.
“I don’t…” He peered away, into the forest. A few crunches echoed in the trees. “What’s that?” He stepped in front of her. “Don’t move for a second.” Pushing a recessed button on his cane, he stabbed it into the ground so it stood upright. He then pulled out a cell phone and tapped on the screen.
Kiera sucked in a lungful of air and held it as she studied the thick forest, looking for a place to hide. Behind a mountain laurel? Or in a nearby rock-filled dry draw? Next to a tree again? Her heart pounded a drum beat against her ribs.
Another crunch made her jump. How many frights could a pregnant woman take before she became unglued?
A rustle of leaves answered her.