beautiful,” she said, and she meant it.
“Later, we’ll get you into a bath. For now, we need to warm you up slowly and get your blood circulating. You’re not frostbitten but close. Hurts, doesn’t it? You’re very brave.”
She appreciated the compliment. Though running away from those thugs didn’t seem particularly courageous, she’d survived what was clearly a bad situation. What if the bad guys came this way? “Danger,” she mumbled, “dangerous men...they’re after me.”
“You’re safe now. Clarence doesn’t look like a tiger, but he’s a very good protector.”
She fastened the last button on the warm, dry pajamas and stumbled to her feet so she wouldn’t fall asleep on the toilet. Though her skin still stung like fire, she felt stronger as she hobbled into the front room. After sinking onto the sofa, she pulled up the wool socks on her poor, frozen feet and tucked a fuzzy yellow blanket around her shoulders.
Pastor Clarence placed a mug of fragrant lemon tea on the coffee table. “Don’t drink too fast,” he warned.
“But you need to rehydrate,” Trudy said.
She nodded and took a sip. “I want...to thank you.”
“You’re doing much better.” Trudy handed her a tube of lip balm. “Are you well enough to recall your name?”
Carefully, she applied the salve to her cracked, chapped lips. Her mind was blank. “Maybe...in a minute.”
Trudy sat in the overstuffed chair nearest to the sofa and tucked her robe snugly around her. “You said there was danger.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s ease into your memories gradually,” Trudy said. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“A van...there was a van...men with guns.”
Trudy shot a nervous glance toward her husband, but her voice stayed calm. “What color was the van?”
She took another sip of tea. The liquid soothed her throat. “I think it was black...or dark blue.”
“I want you to concentrate,” Trudy said. “Tell me about the men. How many of them? Did they say each other’s names?”
“Four of them. One had an accent... Southern, I think.”
The pastor scowled. He went to a window at the front of the house and peered into the storm, on the lookout for danger.
“Where was the van parked?” Trudy asked.
“At a cabin...a log cabin.”
“And what did this cabin look like?”
“I think the door was painted green.”
“One story or two?”
She cleared her throat. The words came more easily if she whispered. “Don’t know... I couldn’t see it very well through the trees and the snow. Those men...they might come after me. I didn’t cover my tracks very well. I’m sorry.”
“You did the right thing, getting out of the storm, and I appreciate the warning.” Clarence opened the door to the front closet and reached up to a high shelf. “If we’ve got wild-eyed criminals running around in my forest, I sure as heck want to be ready for them. What else can you tell me?”
“Their weapons were HK417 assault rifles.”
“That’s mighty specific, little lady. How come you know so much about guns?”
She shrugged.
“You might be in the military.” He took a hunting rifle down from the shelf and set it by the door. Then he removed a long wooden box from the closet and carried it to the table.
A sign flashed in her mind. “Peterson Air Force Base.”
“That’s not too far from here. Is that where you’re stationed?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
Another image replaced the first. She was staring into the maw of a tunnel large enough to drive a couple of semitrucks through. This huge half circle abutted the mountain, Cheyenne Mountain. It was the entrance to the underground NORAD complex, and she wasn’t supposed to talk about it—not even with nice people like Trudy and the pastor.
She’d said too much already, should never have given her trust so freely. What did she really know about Pastor Clarence and his wife? Nothing! The pastor unloaded a SIG Sauer and two Colt revolvers from his wooden box. Plus there was the rifle by the front door. These two definitely weren’t helpless woodland creatures.
“Honestly, Clarence.” Trudy rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to play with your guns, put down some towels so you don’t scratch my table.”
He put the revolvers away in the box and tucked the SIG into his waistband beside his suspenders. “I’m going upstairs. The windows up there make better vantage points.”
“Before you go,” Trudy said, “would you please call 911? I’d like to get the sheriff up here. And an ambulance.”
“Not for me,” she said.
“I’m afraid it’s necessary, dear.”
She didn’t want to go to the hospital. Turning herself in would violate her mission. Her mission? What mission? “I’m already feeling a lot better.”
“Except you can’t remember your name.” Trudy leaned forward to pour. “More tea?”
“Yes, please.” She studied the older woman. Trudy’s movements were disjointed, her right arm seemed stiff, and her hands were twisted in a knot. Under her flannel gown and robe, she was very thin, possibly sickly. “If I can borrow a coat, I’ll be on my way.”
“Don’t be silly.” Trudy’s voice was sharp edged. “In this weather, you won’t make it a mile. I didn’t haul myself out of bed and help you get warm only to have you go running outside to freeze again.”
“You’re right.” She sank back against the sofa. “I’m sorry...for waking you up.”
“I wasn’t sleeping, just lying down. It’s too early for bed.”
“She has rheumatism and a nerve disorder,” Clarence explained as he picked up his cell phone. “There’s only so much we can do to alleviate the pain. The one thing that relaxes her is music.”
“I used to be a music teacher,” Trudy said with a wistful smile. “And I’m still the choir director at our church.”
When she’d first entered the cabin, she’d heard a symphony from upstairs. “You didn’t have to turn off your CDs because of me. I adore classical music.”
“You’re sweet to say so,” Trudy said.
She sat up straighter
