He halted and faced her, intensity vibrating off him. “We have to discover who is behind this and get you to Anchorage to testify.”
Blood trickled down his cheek. The urge to touch him and wipe it away assailed her. “This looks safe enough to stop for a few minutes. I need to take care of your cuts. You’re still bleeding.”
“A limb hit me in the face. Probably opened a few cuts that had clotted.” Brody glanced around. “How about over there?”
“Fine.” Arianna trekked to a less dense patch under a group of mountain alders. Dropping her pack on the ground, she relished the weight being off her shoulders for a few minutes. “Sit while I clean your cuts and bandage a couple of them.” She retrieved the first aid kit and opened it.
“Did I tell you I’m not a good patient?”
“No, but too bad. I can’t afford for you to get an infection.”
“I doubt—” At that moment, she wiped the deepest cut on his cheek with a pad doused in alcohol, and he yanked back. “It’s obvious you’re no Florence Nightingale.”
She grinned, winking at him. “Never claimed to be. I’m sure we shouldn’t stay here long so speed is important.” She moved on to the next wound.
“Yeah, the farther away we are from the cabin the safer we’ll be.”
He stayed perfectly still, his gaze fixed on her. She tried to ignore it, but it was hard. Her stomach clenched into a tight ball. His eyes seemed to penetrate deep into her—as though trying to discover her innermost secrets. She had no intention of sharing those with him or anyone.
“Close your eyes. I want to take care of the one near your left one. I wouldn’t want to get alcohol in your eye.”
His gaze narrowed for a few seconds before he shut it completely. She dabbed the pad on the cut, relieved for the short break from his intense look. Slowly the knots unraveled in her gut. With his eyes closed, she got a chance to scrutinize him without him seeing. His features weren’t handsome, but there was a strength and ruggedness to them that gave a person the impression he knew how to take care of himself. That appealed to her. Probably too much.
Caring about a person who was protecting you wasn’t wise. Just as caring about a person you were protecting wasn’t wise. Her hand quivered as she pressed a small bandage over the cut near his eye, then proceeded to put two more on the other ones that kept bleeding.
“What made you go into the private sector as a bodyguard?”
His question surprised her, and yet it shouldn’t have. He no doubt was assessing her and deciding if he could trust her to protect his back. Whether he liked it or not, they were in this as a team. “Instead of law enforcement?”
“Yes.”
“Money and the freedom my job allows me. When I left the service, I knew I wanted to use my skills to protect people. In my different tours in the army, I saw a lot of defenseless people who were victims of their circumstances. Guardians, Inc. is a business but Kyra Hunt, my boss, also helps people who can’t usually afford to have a paid bodyguard.”
“When I knew I would be protecting you, I did some checking into Guardians, Inc. It’s a top-notch company with a good reputation.”
“Kyra only employs the best.”
“And she hired you?”
She laughed. “I’ll try not to be offended by that remark.”
“Don’t be. I’ve read about your assignments. You’re very good at your job.”
Ignoring his remark, she taped the last bandage into place. “I’m finished. You’re not as good as new, but it will have to do.” She put the packaging from the items she’d used back into the first aid kit, not wanting to leave any evidence they had been there behind for someone to find.
His eyes remained closed.
“You didn’t fall asleep on me, did you?”
“No, I was running through my mind what went down at the cabin, trying to figure out what happened, how they might have known where we were. How did they get there? Who would have talked with them?”
“Any clues?”
His eyelids slowly rose, and his look snared hers. “No, and now we don’t have the time to dally and try to figure it out. Let’s go.” He pushed to his feet.
Arianna stood, stretching to ease the tightness in her shoulders and back. “I’m ready.” She reached for her pack when a roar echoed through the stand of trees. A familiar roar.
She shot up and whirled around. Through the woods a large grizzly bear standing on its hind legs stared right at them.
THREE
Forty yards separated Arianna from the grizzly, still perched on its hind legs. Watching. “Is this the same one that was at the cabin?”
“Don’t know. I don’t see any cubs around.”
“Oh, good. Another bear. What do we do? Run? Climb the tree behind us?”
Brody turned his head slightly but still kept tabs on the brown bear by slanting a glance toward it. “Don’t look directly at it.”
“But—”
Before she could finish her sentence Brody straightened as tall as he could, raised his arms and waved them. “Bears are curious. I’m challenging it. Follow suit.” Then in a shout he said, “Leave us alone,” over and over.
Arianna mimicked what Brody was doing, hoping he knew what he was doing. She was all for spinning around and running as fast as her legs could carry her.
The grizzly dropped to all four legs. It charged them but stopped about twenty-five yards away.
“This isn’t working.” Arianna’s heartbeat sped, her mouth dry. She might not have to worry about Rainwater’s men.
“Back away slowly, still waving your arms and shouting.”
“Isn’t this calling attention to us?”
“Yep, but a gunshot would make more noise. Carry farther.”
One step back. Then another. Arianna looked sideways at the bear. It stood on its hind legs again, pointing its nose up in the air as though the grizzly was sniffing it. She kept moving, going between two trees.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t climb a tree?”
“Grizzly bears can climb a tree.”
“What else can they do?” Arianna asked, watching the animal lower itself onto all fours again.
“Swim and run fast.”
The bear roared.
Arianna gasped while Brody brought the rifle up.
