her eyes shut, she thrust her hands in her hair and fisted them, wanting this to end. Wanting to curl into a ball and cry. But that wasn’t an option.
She couldn’t afford to reveal anything but her strong side. Hated that this stranger saw her moment of weakness. Except she needed this chance to release the anguish.
Though her knees shook, limbs trembled, she wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t release the racking sobs building up inside.
She needed to force strength into her shaky legs and walk out of here. Grab her gear at the place she’d rented—a remote cabin that the killer should never have been able to find. If she hadn’t seen him from a distance, she wouldn’t have been able to make a run for it into the wilderness.
That run for her life had only gained her a few moments, yet that had been enough time for an unexpected warrior to appear and fight on her behalf.
Drawing in a calming breath, she opened her eyes. The man was grimacing, and his own eyes were closed. Hadley focused on him instead of herself. He must have been stabbed or injured in some way.
“Where are you hurt?”
He opened his eyes. She could clearly see the pain in them, but it wasn’t physical. It looked like something more. Something deeper. “I asked if you’re hurt,” she repeated.
“Not in any way that can be fixed. What about you?”
She could have answered in the same way. “I’m okay.”
“Then let’s get you out of here.”
He grabbed her arm, but Hadley had no intention of going anywhere with him. “Let me go.”
He did as she asked.
She sucked in a breath. “Thank you for helping me. You saved my life.”
“You were holding your own there.”
“Barely. He would have killed me if you hadn’t come. Now, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get back to whatever you were doing and I’ll just be on my way.”
“Hold on.” He caught her again, and this time tightened his grip. “You sure you don’t know who he was or why he was trying to kill you? That man wasn’t just anyone. He was a trained killer. I want some answers. And you can’t just run off. We have to report what happened. A man is dead.”
Trust no one.
She couldn’t trust the police. But how did she explain this to her rescuer? He’d helped her...but she couldn’t rely on him. And even if she had been willing to trust him, she had no right to pull him into her troubles. It would be better and safer for them both if she pushed him away.
Hadley stared at his hand on her arm. “Like I said, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me go now. You know I can fight you if I have to.”
Immediately he released her. “I’m just trying to help. Let’s call the sheriff. I need to report what happened. That...someone fell over a cliff.” A deep agony edged his tone.
Hadley searched the woods for the direction she should hike. She didn’t like the way he was hanging on, trying to prevent her from escaping, though she could tell he meant well.
“I can’t wait around.”
The man stiffened at that. “Look, I’m no idiot. I know I just fought with an assassin, and likely what’s going on here is more than a backcountry sheriff can handle, but there are still channels to go through.”
Hadley had slowly started putting distance between them. The sooner she left him behind the better. But he seemed to be on to her plan and stepped forward. He held his palms out. “Don’t I have the right to know if by helping you that I’ve involved myself in something? What if someone is going to come looking for me now, too?”
His words reached across the way and grabbed her throat. Squeezed a few tears up into her eyes. Her father. The cabdriver. No more. No one else could die.
“That’s why I have to get out of here. Just stay away from me!” Hadley turned and ran toward the deeper woods.
“Look, what’s your name?” he called. “At least give me that. I’ll go first. My name is Cooper Wilde. I own and run Wilderness, Inc.”
She slowed then. Turned to face him. Please, don’t tell me any more. She couldn’t get further entangled with him.
Hadley had a few ideas of what sort of business that might be, but she wasn’t sure what name she could give him. Her alias? Or her real name? “Look. You’re a good guy, I can see that. But I need to disappear. I don’t know you and I can’t trust you. I can’t trust anyone. I don’t want to get you involved and risk getting you killed because of me.”
“I’m already involved. I just dispatched the bad guy, in case you hadn’t noticed.” His voice turned curt.
Sounded like he was running out of patience.
“And don’t make me have to fight the good guys, too. Okay?” Hadley started back the way she’d come, pushing through the brush, reminiscing each terrifying moment she’d spent trying to outsmart, outrun and out-hide a man who was trying to kill her, all because of her father.
Even he hadn’t known who was targeting them. Could only guess at a revenge contract.
What would it hurt to have someone to lean on? Someone she could trust?
But she didn’t know who that would be.
She glanced over her shoulder and didn’t see Cooper following her. The sharp pain of disappointment stabbed her, but she couldn’t let herself depend on anyone else.
To depend on someone else could be deadly.
Thirst drove her worse than her exhaustion as she hiked every miserable mile back to the rental cabin. This time, she failed to even bother to search the area for anyone waiting there to kill her.
With not one ounce of energy left, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Finally, there it was, tucked away in the greenery like something from a postcard. Seeing the cabin revived her. There, she could sit. Massage her aching feet. Drink a gallon of water.
She crept onto the porch. Cautiously, she pushed through the door, thinking back to that moment when she’d spotted the man who meant to kill her. She’d seen it in his stance, his prowling around the cabin, and then in his eyes.
But he wasn’t a problem right now. Even if he’d survived the fall, he had to be badly injured, and would need a recovery period before he could attack again. If someone else came for her, she was counting on that taking some time. Either way, she had a little breathing room—which was a very good thing. She needed a chance to catch her breath. Get her feet under her.
Hadley dropped in the old rickety chair in the corner and hugged herself, her insides turning over. She gulped the old musty air in the room. If she
